Jimmy Butler had the kind of sideline reaction that fit the moment when Al Horford put together one of the slicker plays of the night at Chase Center.
With the Warriors up 65-58 in the third quarter against the Orlando Magic, Horford worked at the top of the right shoulder, used a hesitation move on Nikola Vucevic and slipped by him for an easy layup. Butler, still on the road back from injury, was up celebrating as Golden State’s bench fed off the action in San Francisco.
Jimmy Butler was LOVING the hesi by Al Horford 😂 pic.twitter.com/cwu3f2JkRJ
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 8, 2026
The Warriors had already seen Stephen Curry add another highlight to his night, knocking down a three-pointer that helped him reach an impressive statistical milestone. Curry finished with 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting.
But the game shifted after Golden State’s burst. Orlando answered and moved in front 72-69 by the end of the third quarter, with Wagner leading the charge and pushing his total to 19 points before the fourth. Tristan da Silva added 13, while Anthony Black and Jamal Cain also reached double figures as the Magic closed the period strong.
Golden State needed more from the rest of the rotation, and Brandin Podziemski supplied 12 points. Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg had seven. Draymond Green, who entered with pre-game injury concerns, still managed six assists and five rebounds in 20 minutes.
By the time the third quarter wrapped, Orlando was still hanging on to an 83-80 edge as the battle at Chase Center kept tightening. Earlier in the game, the tension had already spilled over into an altercation between Georges Niang and Wendell Carter Jr.
In Other News...
Luka Doncic Is Forcing A New Lakers Question Fast
Luka Doncic keeps making the Lakers scoring conversation feel less like a nice problem and more like a nightly reality. In the 124-118 win over Portland, he poured in 53 points with five rebounds and five assists, carrying Los Angeles through a game that demanded nearly everything from him. It was the kind of performance that also had head coach JJ Redick praising him afterward, which has become a familiar refrain as Doncics workload and production keep climbing together.
The bigger question now is what this run means for the way the Lakers are built around him. Doncic has now put together four straight 40-point games, a stretch that places him in rare company in franchise history and underscores just how quickly he has become central to everything Los Angeles does on offense. For a team trying to balance winning now with finding a sustainable formula, his latest outburst only sharpens the debate about how far this version of the Lakers can go if he keeps carrying this kind of load. [Read more 🡒]
Blazers Loss To Lakers Put Portlands Biggest Role Questions Back In Focus
The first NBA Cup game of the season offered Portland a familiar kind of frustration, the sort that can make a promising night feel suddenly unfinished. The Trail Blazers had control early against the Lakers, building a double-digit cushion in the first half, and they got strong work from Deni Avdija, who came close to a triple-double, while Damian Lillard carried the scoring load for much of the night.
But the loss also pushed the Blazers biggest role questions right back into view, especially around the backcourt where Scoot Hendersons uneven night stood out. With Luka Doncic driving the Lakers comeback, Portland was left sorting through the same issues that have followed this group for stretches, and the result was another reminder that the team still has to find a cleaner balance when the game tightens and the pressure rises. [Read more 🡒]
Anthony Davis To Lakers Talk Comes With One Huge Problem
Anthony Davis midseason move to Washington has already created a new layer of intrigue for the Lakers, even if it is still early in the process. ESPNs Brian Windhorst said the Wizards are taking a measured approach, wanting to see Davis over a meaningful stretch before making any call on an extension, which naturally shapes how the rest of the league has to view him. He has gotten off to a productive start in Washington, averaging 23.4 points and 9.3 rebounds in his first eight games there, and that kind of production is enough to keep the speculation machine humming.
For the Lakers, though, the path back is not simple. Any talk of a reunion runs into the reality that Los Angeles does not have much left in the way of premium trade pieces, which makes a big swing far more complicated than the name value alone would suggest. Until Washington makes its long-term intentions clearer, Davis remains one of the more interesting players to monitor on the market, but the Lakers are hardly in position to chase him without serious hurdles. [Read more 🡒]