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Winner, winner, turkey dinner.
Brandon Ingram called game to lift Toronto to 4-0 on the second-to-last night of Emirates NBA Cup Group Play.
Feasting: OKC & Toronto extend win streaks to stay unbeaten in Cup Play
More Streaks: Boston snaps Detroit’s historic heater, Herro lifts Miami to another dub
Setting The Stage: Three wins create three “win-and-in” Group Play finales on Friday
Roundup: Houston & Memphis pull off late rallies to cap a hectic 9-game slate
Season Of Giving: 20 years of NBA Cares and holiday support across the league
Friday Finale: After a day off to celebrate Thanksgiving, the NBA returns on Friday with an 11-game slate to close Emirates NBA Cup Group Play.
That includes a Prime doubleheader as the Bucks visit the Knicks (7:30 ET), before the Lakers welcome the Mavs (10 ET).

The Thunder entered Wednesday not only eyeing a crucial Group Play win, but one of the best starts in NBA history.
Standing in their way: Anthony Edwards and the Wolves, eager to avenge last year’s West Finals loss and cut into OKC’s push for more hardware.
But when Minnesota made its run, the champs responded.
Thunder 113, Wolves 105 (West A): Shai Gilgeous-Alexander put on an MVP performance (40 pts, 6 reb, 6 ast) to give OKC control, but the Wolves never went away and an Edwards 3 with 1:02 left made it a one-point game.
Twenty-four seconds later, Chet Holmgren (12 pts, 9 reb) answered with a lead-extending triple, and SGA sealed it at the line as OKC never allowed another bucket – closing on an 8-1 run to earn its 10th straight win, improving to 18-1 and 3-0 in Group Play. | Recap
All-Time Open: The Thunder are just the fifth team ever to start a season 18-1 or better and the second in three decades, joining the 2015-16 Warriors – who finished with the best record in NBA history (73-9).

Having already clinched East Group A, the red-hot Raptors eyed a 4-0 Group Play finish to boost their odds of homecourt advantage in the Quarterfinals.
With 0.6 seconds left on Wednesday, Brandon Ingram delivered for Jurassic Park.
Raptors 97, Pacers 95 (East A): Tied at 95, Jakob Poeltl blocked Indy’s attempted winner, setting up Ingram’s (26 pts, 8 reb) heroic jumper to complete Toronto’s perfect Group Play and grab its fifth clutch win in its 9-game W streak – now the hottest in the East. | Recap

A historic stretch of 14 games and 28 days of perfect results all culminated in 15 pivotal seconds Wednesday night.
That’s when Boston’s defense took control.
Celtics 117, Pistons 114 (East B): Derrick White (27 pts) closed with 11 4th-quarter points on three of a season-high six 3s, and forced one of two key turnovers in the final 15 seconds as Boston stood tall in a wild finish to snap Detroit’s 13-game win streak. | Recap

ICYMI: Tyler Herro is back – and the Heat can’t stop stacking dubs.
Heat 106, Bucks 103 (East C): After scoring 24 and the game-winner in his season debut on Monday, Herro led Miami again with 29 points and 7 dimes as the Heat held on to edge out Ryan Rollins (26 pts) and the Bucks, extending their win streak to six games. | Recap
While Orlando and Detroit entered Wednesday already locked in for an East B winner-take-all duel on Friday, three more teams earned group-clinching opportunities with victories last night.
Suns 112, Kings 100 (West A): In the Thanksgiving spirit, Mark Williams was eating (21 pts, 16 reb, 9-12 FG), while Collin Gillespie matched him with 21 points along with 9 helpers to power Phoenix to a wire-to-wire win, improving to 3-0 in West A. | Recap
The Blazers simply needed a win to punch their ticket to the Knockout Round.
De’Aaron Fox and the Spurs had other ideas.
Spurs 115, Blazers 102 (West C): With San Antonio up 2 at the half, Fox caught fire, pouring in 23 of his 37 points in the final two quarters, as the Spurs outscored Portland 59-48 to avoid elimination, despite Deni Avdija’s big night (37 pts, 6 reb, 8 ast). | Recap
Knicks 129, Hornets 101 (East C): For the first time in the play-by-play era, all five Knicks starters had 10+ points at the half, as New York jumped out to a 72-47 lead and didn’t look back to improve to 2-1 in Group Play, eliminating Charlotte (0-3). | Recap
Trailing by as many as 14 points in the 3rd quarter, Houston flipped a switch.
Rockets 104, Warriors 100 (West C): The Rockets outscored the Warriors 57-41 in the 2nd half on the strength of Reed Sheppard’s career night (31 pts, 9 reb, 5 ast), leading Alperen Sengun (16 pts, 6 reb, 6 ast) and five Rockets in double-digits to victory. | Recap

Grizzlies 133, Pelicans 128 (OT, West C): Vince Williams Jr. was feeling extra generous on Thanksgiving eve, dishing out a career-high 17 assists, while Jaren Jackson Jr. (27 pts, 5 3s), Jaylen Wells (25 pts, 5 3s) and Zach Edey (21 pts, 15 reb) all scored season-highs to rally the Grizz past the Pels in OT. | Recap
For 20 years, NBA Cares has helped bring people around the world together through the game of basketball.
Established in 2005 to unite the league’s community efforts and amplify positive impact of teams and players off the court, NBA Cares has continued to drive change on key issues facing fans and communities.
Now, as we head into the winter holidays, we also head into one of the key moments on the NBA Cares calendar: the NBA Cares Season of Giving.
Designed to brighten the winter holidays for children and families across the globe, the NBA Cares Season of Giving will reach thousands of children, families and those in need through hundreds of local events.
Join the NBA Family in making a difference this holiday season. Visit NBACares.com to learn how you can help, and follow #NBACares on social as the NBA family highlights charitable efforts from now through Dec. 31.
Want to share Starting 5 with a friend? Send them this link.
Shape the Starting 5. Email us here.
Don’t have the NBA App? Download it here.
Local News
A Boston woman is dealing with an unwelcome tenant on her front porch — a rat that has turned a baby stroller into a cozy winter hideaway.
The woman shared her ordeal Thursday on the r/Boston subreddit, explaining that she had left her stroller, complete with a muff, on her second-floor porch. When she checked on it later, she discovered a rat had moved in.
“I stupidly left our stroller with a muff out on the porch,” she wrote. “Today I found a big rat is nested in there. I can’t see clearly, but it seems it has chewed up the muff lining and is using the filling for a nest.”
The woman said she’s called a few pest control companies, but instead of offering immediate removal, they just tried to sell her a long-term bait boxing service.
“…Which is fine, but I urgently need someone to just safely remove the rat and the nest so I can clean or dispose of the stroller if needed,” she wrote, adding that she couldn’t secure a next-day appointment and felt Monday was too far away.
Turning to Reddit for advice, the woman asked whether she should attempt to remove the rat herself, saying she was worried about being bitten or contracting a disease. “Which professional can I call?” she asked.
Redditors reacted with a mix of humor and practical advice. The top comment began, “Sounds like it’s their porch now,” before offering an elaborate plan involving a bucket trap and joking that the rat could then “go on to be a Michelin star chef at a French restaurant,” a nod to the 2007 film “Ratatouille.”
Others suggested she evict the rat by vigorously shaking the stroller or whacking it with a broom, while many urged her to cut her losses entirely and throw the stroller out.
“I honestly wouldn’t ever use it for a small child after a rat had been cribbed up there,” one commenter wrote.
Pest control experts generally advise against handling rats without professional help. According to Terminix, rodents can become aggressive and scratch when threatened and may carry diseases such as hantavirus and leptospirosis.
“When it comes to getting rid of a rat’s nest in the house, DIY treatments won’t cut it,” the company warns on its website.
Boston has been grappling with heightened rat activity in recent years, prompting a citywide rodent action plan known as BRAP. City officials urge residents to “see something, squeak something!” and report rodent activity to 311. Officials said response teams are typically dispatched within one to two days.
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The Boston City Council is setting out on a new two-year term with a new council president at the helm.
City Councilor Liz Breadon, who represents District 9, won the gavel on a 7-6 contested vote, cobbling together her candidacy just hours before the council was set to vote.
“An opportunity presented itself and I took it,” Breadon said. “We’re in a very critical time, given politics, and I really feel that in this moment, we need to set steady leadership, and really to bring the council together.”
The process apparently including backroom conversations and late-night meetings as City Councilors Gabriella Coletta Zapata and Brian Worrell both pushed to become the next council president.
Breadon spoke on why support waned for her two colleagues.
“I think they had support that was moving,” said Breadon. “It was moving back and forward, it hadn’t solidified solidly in one place. There’s a lot of uncertainty in the moment.”
Political commentator Sue O’Connell talks about the last-minute maneuvering before the upset vote and what it says about Mayor Michelle Wu’s influence.
Some speculated that Mayor Michelle Wu’s administration was lobbying for a compromise candidate after Coletta Zapata dropped out of the race. Breadon disputes the mayor’s involvement.
“I would say not,” said Breadon. “I wasn’t in conversation with the mayor about any of this.”
Beyond the election, Breadon took a look ahead to how she will lead the body. Controversy has been known to crop up at City Hall, most recently when former District 7 Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges tied to a kickback scheme involving taxpayer dollars.
Breadon said it’s critical to stay calm and allow the facts to come out in those situations.
“I feel that it’s very important to be very deliberative in how we handle these things and not to sort of shoot from the hip and have a knee-jerk reaction to what’s happening,” said Breadon.
Tune in Sunday at 9:30 am for our extended @Issue Sitdown with Breadon, when we dig deeper into how her candidacy came together, the priorities she’ll pursue in the role and which colleagues she’ll place in key council positions.
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