December has arrived and the end of 2023 is soon upon us. The weather is getting colder, but NBA news and highlights are hotter than ever. Let's get the month started off right with another edition of The Morning Dunk, shall we?
Trae Young Scorches Spurs
The San Antonio Spurs' 27th-ranked defense once again allowed another star player to put up big numbers as Trae Young got his turn at the Frost Bank Center on Thursday.
Young finished with 45 points on 15-of-29 shooting to go with 14 assists in a high-scoring 137-135 (o243, -110) victory for the Atlanta Hawks. It's the sixth time in his career that Young has notched at least 45 points and 10 dimes in a game, passing Damian Lillard for the fifth-most such games in history.
Trae Young (45 PTS, 14 AST) put on A SHOW in Atlanta's 137-135 win in San Antonio 🤩
— NBA (@NBA) December 1, 2023
33 (!) of his 45 PTS came in the 2nd half 🤯 pic.twitter.com/etfNZm21po
The Hawks failed to cover as the 6.5-point favorites, falling to 1-7 ATS in their last eight outings while improving to 3-5 SU during that span.
Pistons Go Winless in November
This is the streak that never ends. It just goes on and on, my friends. The Pistons started losing games not knowing what it was, but they'll continue losing games forever just because...
It wouldn't be The Morning Dunk without some sort of update on Detroit's continued ineptitude. Thursday's 118-112 loss to the New York Knicks pushed the Pistons' franchise-worst losing skid to 16 games. It also meant the team didn't win a single game in the month of November.
The Detroit Pistons have done it. The winless month. pic.twitter.com/XRv33sEQtV
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) December 1, 2023
The Pistons were 12-point underdogs heading into the matchup, and are now 8-11 ATS on the season. They've been favored in just two of their 19 games.
Caruso Forces OT At Buzzer
Unlike the fictional character Robinson Crusoe, this Caruso's navigation didn't end in disaster.
Devoid of the services of teammates DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine, Alex Caruso took the Bull(s) by the horns in crunch time and drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer to force overtime against the Milwaukee Bucks before Chicago ultimately prevailed 120-113.
ALEX CARUSO THREE FOR OVERTIME.@NBCSChicago | @ACFresh21 pic.twitter.com/08RvMkwDLj
— Chicago Bulls (@chicagobulls) December 1, 2023
Caruso ended the night with 11 points and five assists, helping Chicago overcome the odds in a shocking victory as the 10.5-point underdogs.
