Season of NBA moments: LeBron, Lillard, Mitchell and more

Some momentsfrom the 2022-23 NBA regular season:

Oct. 18:Boston defeats Philadelphia and Golden State beats the Los AngelesLakers on opening night. The Warriors received theirchampionship rings from last season in a ceremony precedingtheir game.

Oct. 20:NBA referee Tony Brown, 55, dies ofpancreatic cancer. He worked more than 1,100 games in atwo-decade career.

Nov. 4:Nike suspends its relationship withKyrie Irving and canceled plans to release his next signatureshoe, part of the massive fallout caused by the Brooklyn Nets’guard tweeting a link to a film containing antisemitic material.Nike and Irving eventually part ways; Irving eventually apologizesand returns to the Nets.

Nov. 5:Sacramento’s De’AaronFox hits from just inside the midcourt stripe at the buzzer ofovertime, giving the Kings a 126-123 win in Orlando.

Nov. 8:To commemorate Election Day, theNBA plays no games. The league encourages its teams and fans tospend the day participating in civic engagement.

Nov. 11: Thearena where the Miami Heat play starts the process of getting a newname, after the cryptocurrency exchange FTXcollapses. FTX was in the early stages of a 19-year, $135million naming rights deal with Miami-Dade County.

Nov. 13:Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid scores acareer-best 59 points in a win over Utah. He adds 11 rebounds,eight assists and seven blocked shots.

Nov. 28:Andrew Nembhard hits a 3-pointer atthe buzzer and Indiana stuns the Los Angeles Lakers 116-115.The Pacers trailed by 17 with 9:27 remaining; it was the biggestfourth-quarter comeback in the NBA this season.

Dec. 13: TheNBA announces a rebranding of its MVP award, revealing a new trophyand a new name — The Michael Jordan Trophy.

Dec. 17: InMexico City, Miami defeated San Antonio111-101. It was the NBA’s first game in Mexico City since2019.

Dec. 20:Mortgage billionaire Mat Ishbiastrikes a deal to purchase embattled Robert Sarver’s share of thePhoenix Suns and Phoenix Mercury in a deal that values thefranchise at $4 billion.

Dec. 25:Philadelphia tops New York, Dallas beats the Los Angeles Lakers,Boston beats Milwaukee, Golden State tops Memphis and Denver edgesPhoenix in the NBA’s Christmas quintupleheader.

Dec. 27:Dallas’ Luka Doncic has a 60-pointtriple-double in the Mavericks’ 126-121 win over New York. Headded 21 rebounds and 10 assists in the first 60-20-10 game in NBAhistory.

Jan. 2:Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell scores71 points in the Cavaliers’ 145-134 overtime win over Chicago.Mitchell was 22 of 34 from the field, 7 of 15 on 3-pointers and 20for 25 from the foul line. He also had 11 assists, marking thefirst time anyone had more than 70 points and 10 assists in an NBAgame.

Jan. 10:Miami goes 40 for 40 from the foulline in a one-point win over Oklahoma City. The 40-for-40breaks the previous NBA record of 39-for-39 by Utah in 1982.

Jan. 13:At the Alamodome in San Antonio,the Spurs sell an NBA-record 68,323 tickets for a game againstGolden State.

Jan. 19: Withpresumed 2023 No. 1 draft pick Victor Wembanyama sitting courtside,Zach LaVine scores 30 points and the Chicago Bulls ease past the DetroitPistons 126-108 in Paris. France was the seventh differentcountry to host an NBA practice or game this season.

Feb. 6:Brooklyn trades Kyrie Irving toDallas, ending his up-and-down stint with the Nets that wasmore memorable for off-the-court challenges than actual play.

Feb. 7:LeBron James makes a 14-foot jumperlate in the third quarter to break Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s career NBAscoring record. Abdul-Jabbar held the mark since 1984 and wasin Los Angeles to watch James’ record-breaker.

Feb. 9:Brooklyn trades Kevin Durant toPhoenix, a blockbuster on NBA trade-deadline day.

Feb. 16:Boston removes the interim titlefrom 34-year-old coach Joe Mazzulla, the former assistant whotook over the Celtics in September after now-former coach Ime Udokawas suspended by the team for having an inappropriate relationshipwith a woman in the organization.

Feb. 18:Philadelphia’s Mac McClung puts on ascintillating show to win the dunk contest at All-Star weekend.Portland’s Damian Lillard wins the 3-point contest and Utah playersJordan Clarkson, Walker Kessler and Collin Sexton combined to winthe Skills Challenge.

Feb. 19:Boston’s Jayson Tatum scores arecord 55 points and Team Giannis tops Team LeBron 184-175 towin the All-Star Game in Salt Lake City.

Feb. 24:Sacramento defeats the Los AngelesClippers 176-175. The 351 combined points are the second-mostin NBA history, behind only Detroit’s 186-184 win over Denver onDec. 13, 1983.

Feb. 26:Portland’s Damian Lillard scores 71points in the Trail Blazers’ 131-114 win over Houston. Lillardmade 22 of 38 shots from the field, 13 of 22 from 3-point range andall 14 of his free throws. He also led Portland in assists, withsix.

Feb. 27:Atlanta introduces Quin Snyderas its new coach, after firing Nate McMillan about a weekearlier.

March 4:Memphis guard Ja Morant live-streams himself holding a gun whileinside a Denver-area strip club. He quickly announces he was taking“some time away to get help” and ultimately was suspended for eight games by theNBA for his personal conduct.

March 17 and19: A tale of two comebacks. San Antonio blew a 29-point lead onMarch 17 and lost to Memphis 126-120; two nights later, the Spursrallied from a 24-point second-half deficit and beat Atlanta126-118. It was the biggest second-half comeback for the Spursunder coach Gregg Popovich.

March 29:Jrue Holiday has 51 points, eight assists and eight rebounds, whileGiannis Antetokounmpo adds 38 points, 17 rebounds and 12 assists,and Milwaukee tops Indiana 149-136. It’s the first time in NBAhistory two teammates have had at least 38 points, eightassists and eight rebounds in the same game.

April 1: Inthe early morning hours, the NBA and the National BasketballPlayers Association strike a handshake deal on what, ifapproved by owners and players, will be a seven-year CollectiveBargaining Agreement that will take effect in July and ensure laborpeace in the league until at least 2029.

April 7:Dallas sits several regulars, including Kyrie Irving, and playsLuka Doncic for only about a quarter in a loss to Chicago. The losseliminated the Mavericks from postseason contention and the team’smotivation for losing catches the eye of the NBA, which opens an investigation thenext day.

April 9:Udonis Haslem scores 24 points in his final regular season game, ashis 20-year career with the Miami Heat draws to an end. At 42, he’s nearly two yearsolder than anyone else to have scored at least 24 points in anNBA game.