A 24-point lead wasn’t enough to let Golden State relax. New York needed Jalen Brunson to pull them back from a 19-point hole. San Antonio had to survive overtime against an undermanned Utah team before Victor Wembanyama could finally close it out.

Then there was Nikola Jokić in New Orleans, putting up another triple-double — except this one was No. 200.

Wednesday had a little bit of everything: big leads, big comebacks, overtime drama, and a milestone that’s starting to feel almost routine. These four stars all put on a show.

Steph’s Still Making Everybody Work

Curry had four points after the first quarter in Minnesota. By halftime, he had 23.

There’s your reminder not to get too comfortable.

He scored 19 in the second quarter, knocked down five of seven threes, and finished Golden State’s 119-114 win with 44 points, eight rebounds, and six assists. He did all that in 31 minutes and 35 seconds, which feels like a pretty ridiculous amount of damage for a 38-year-old to do.

The thing that stood out was how well he was moving. Curry just kept working relentlessly without the ball. Around the basket, he was smooth and patient, using his body to create just enough space to get the finish.

That’s what makes guarding him so exhausting. You can chase him through the first action, feel good about keeping him from getting a clean look, and then realize he’s already headed into the next one. The possession isn’t done. Neither is he.

And when Minnesota made their push, Curry kept getting to the line. He went 16-for-16 on free throws. He shot 11-for-27 from the field, so this wasn’t just a night where every jumper looked perfect. He found another way to keep the points coming.

Golden State needed every one of them. The Wolves were playing their first game without Anthony Edwards after the knee-surgery news, and the Warriors still managed to turn a 24-point lead into a tense finish.

Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg offered a pretty fair assessment of what it’s like sharing the floor with Curry:

This guy is good as hell.

Yep. Still.

It was Curry’s 15th 40-point game since turning 35, tying LeBron James for the most in NBA history. The Warriors are trying to manage how much they ask of him, but every once in a while, he’s still capable of giving them a night like this.

Brunson Found His Pace Again

The Knicks had already made this a long night before Brunson started taking over.

They were playing the second half of a back-to-back and had barely gotten into Chicago around 2:30 a.m.. They eventually found themselves down 87-68 in the third quarter.

That’s usually when a team starts thinking, Maybe we’ll just try again Friday.

Instead, New York came all the way back to win 133-127, with Brunson finishing with 38 points and seven assists. He also knocked down six of 10 threes after coming into the game just 4-for-20 from deep on the season.

That shooting turnaround clearly gave him a boost. Brunson said he’d been putting “a lot of unnecessary commentary in my head.” He got some extra shots up in Chicago, saw a few go in, and finally found a little rhythm.

You could see the difference late.

Brunson has a way of making a possession feel calmer than everything happening around it. He’ll get into the paint, stop, pivot, give the defender something to think about, and take the shot when he’s ready. The clock and scoreboard can be screaming. His feet still move at his pace.

And when the three is there, he’s more than happy to make you pay from out there too.

He scored 14 in the fourth quarter. His last three, after Josh Hart kept the possession alive with an offensive rebound, put New York up 130-122 with 1:39 left.

The Knicks also needed their bench. Jordan Clarkson scored 18, Landry Shamet had 14, and Tyler Kolek chipped in nine points and nine assists. Clarkson didn't even play a minute the night before, but Mike Brown stuck with the guys who had it going, and they helped make the comeback possible.

Brunson handled a big chunk of the closing work, as usual. This is the same guy who scored 45 in New York’s championship clincher in June. The trust is there because he’s earned it.

After an 0-3 start, the defending champions have won two straight. They’ve still got plenty to clean up, including the part where they keep making games harder than they need to be. But having Brunson around when things get messy is still a pretty massive advantage.

Wemby Made Overtime His Problem to Solve

Utah played without Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr., but San Antonio still had to work for this one.

Keyonte George scored 31, while Ace Bailey and Darryn Peterson gave the Jazz some real offense. The young guys played with confidence and made the Spurs run a little more than they probably wanted to on the second night of a back-to-back.

Wembanyama finished with 36 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, and two blocks in a 117-111 overtime win. He shot 14-for-25 and knocked down four threes.

There was plenty to like before the extra five minutes. The lob finishes. The way he kept challenging shots around the rim. The passes he made whenever Utah sent extra attention his way. He gives you a ridiculous number of ways to get something useful out of a possession.

Even some of his misses are interesting. There’s just something about watching a guy that tall hold his follow-through like he’s a shooting guard waiting for the ball to fly through the net.

Overtime eventually gave the Spurs some breathing room, but it took a little while. Brice Sensabaugh hit a three to put Utah ahead 108-105. San Antonio answered with 12 straight points.

That’ll calm things down.

Wembanyama also finished the entire game without a turnover. For somebody doing that much with the ball over nearly 39 minutes, that’s a pretty useful detail.

The Spurs have won three straight after opening 0-2, and their best player is starting to look more like himself. After scoring 12 points on 1-for-13 shooting in the opener, he’s followed that up with 29 against Sacramento and now 36 in Utah.

Jokić’s Normal Is Getting Historically Stupid

Jokić never has to look particularly interested in being the leading scorer to end up controlling a huge chunk of the game.

Against New Orleans, he got his teammates involved early, throwing passes that look completely reasonable to him and a lot less reasonable to everybody else. That one-leg overhead pass that he likes to do in traffic falls into that category.

He finished Denver’s 104-91 win with 21 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists on 8-for-13 shooting.

That gave him 200 regular-season triple-doubles.

Two hundred.

Russell Westbrook's the only other player to reach that number. His record is 209, which leaves Jokić 10 from owning it outright.

It’s easy to get a little numb to these totals because Jokić keeps making historic games feel so routine. Denver runs their offense through their center. He finds a cutter, hits a shooter, takes the shot when it’s there, grabs some rebounds, and then somebody checks the box score and realizes we’re watching history again.

Wednesday wasn’t perfect, either. He had seven turnovers, and Denver’s lead got as high as 22 before New Orleans cut it to five in the fourth quarter.

Jamal Murray scored 23 and Christian Braun hit some important threes late. Aaron Gordon added 15 points and 11 rebounds. The Nuggets needed the guys on the other end of the Joker's passes to do their part.

They did enough. Denver assisted on 30 of their 37 made baskets. Jokić's passing was doing a lot more than just making the highlights fun to watch.

Now the Nuggets are 2-2, with both wins coming against the Pelicans. In the first meeting, they needed 35 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists from him to climb out of a 23-point hole and win in overtime. Wednesday at least started a little more smoothly.

There are still plenty of questions about this team, but their center being able to organize the offense is pretty far down the list.

All stats courtesy of NBA.com.

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