PHILADELPHIA _ There's a sense that January came early this season.

As the 76ers improve and the stakes are higher, earning top grades for the players is apparently becoming more difficult.

NEW YORK _ Kristaps Porzingis was on a mission Sunday night. He wasn't going to let the Knicks lose.

ORLANDO, Fla. _ The Orlando Magic entered Friday night as the best 3-point shooting team in the NBA. They had made 44.2 percent of their attempts from deep, an unfathomable success rate even this early in a season. Those long-range makes propelled the team to its best start in eight…

MINNEAPOLIS _ As has become recent custom for the Timberwolves, the shots were falling, including 10 from downtown.

DENVER _ The thought at the outset was this was unsustainable, the Miami Heat opening 10 of 11 from the field Friday night against the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center, converting seven first-period 3-pointers, moving to a quick nine-point lead.