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The Oklahoma City Thunder’s bench production helped complete an 18-point comeback while improving to 16-1 in a 144-112 NBA Cup win against the Utah Jazz. After a 30-2 run, the Thunder’s bench scoring production reached a historic 71 points, which is the second-highest in franchise history. Jaylin Williams’ 15 points off a career-high five threes set the tone offensively, as Isaiah Joe connected on four threes, and finished with three assists, and two steals. Williams and Joe also made their presence felt on the defensive end of the floor, where Alex Caruso (11 points, three assists) and Ajay Mitchell (12 points, two steals) disrupted the Jazz’s offensive rhythm. Depth on display in a big way Season-high 71 bench points last night, second most in Thunder history pic.twitter.com/TEAS8OeKhK — OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) November 22, 2025 Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault’s second unit helped hold the Jazz to 20 points in the third quarter, but for him, the second unit’s impact started toward the end of the first quarter and bled into the second. “I thought J-Will, I-Joe, Caruso, Ajay — those guys came into the game and elevated the tone, and got the game back into a stable spot, which allowed us to just build through the rest of the game,” Daigneault said. “I thought those were two very key things tonight.” The Thunder took a 22-point lead (110-88) at the end of the third quarter and never looked back against the Jazz. Oklahoma City’s bench averages 38.5 points per game this season, which is the sixth-best in the NBA. However, the Thunder’s second unit scoring production should spike once All-Star Jalen Williams makes his regular-season debut, and when Aaron Wiggins, who’s averaging 14.8 points per game, returns from a thigh injury. Wiggins has missed the previous eight games and is the bench’s second leading scorer behind Mitchell (15.9 points). Alex Caruso makes eye-opening declaration about the Thunder Rob Gray-Imagn Images Thunder veteran Alex Caruso believes he leads the best bench in the NBA and wasn’t afraid to make that declaration amidst his team’s best start in franchise history. The Thunder’s depth has kept the defending champion afloat between injuries to three starters in All-Star Jalen Williams, Chet Holmgren, and Lu Dort throughout the first 17 games of the regular season. Caruso says the Thunder’s best five players off the bench could go toe-to-toe with any other teams’ second unit. “I think whoever we put out — regardless of who’s in the lineup and who’s out — our second 5 is better than everybody else’s second 5 in the league,” Caruso said. “Humbly saying that. Obviously, it’s no disrespect to anybody, but that’s the confidence I have in myself and my teammates. “We play with that confidence when we’re out there, and a lot of that is the energy we play with, the connectivity on defense, and then our ability to kind of play random on offense with Shai. But also, when Shai steps off the floor, and even saying that, we’re missing some guys to start the year.” Caruso, alongside Ajay Mitchell, and Cason Wallace, who’s starting in place of Williams, but often strengthens the Thunder’s second-unit lineups, defend at a higher level than most opposing teams’ bench players. Plus, head coach Mark Daigneault has options with Jaylin Williams, a stretch center, who can defend the pick-and-roll, and mix with either Isaiah Hartenstein or Chet Holmgren. The post Thunder punishes Jazz with eye-popping bench production appeared first on ClutchPoints.

The San Francisco 49ers have dealt with injuries all season, with star receiver Brandon Aiyuk remaining the biggest wild card of the room. Although the 49ers are still hoping that Aiyuk can return in 2025, he has yet to be cleared to do so. The 27-year-old recently returned to the limelight when the team reportedly voided his contract, but that does not indicate any intentions of moving on, according to NFL insider Mike Garafolo. “As ‘The Athletic’ reported the other day, [Brandon Aiyuk] had $27 million for next season voided. But that was a couple of months ago, and since then, the 49ers have been committed to getting Aiyuk healthy and back on the field. “Just because next year was voided doesn’t necessarily mean that this was going to be a divorce. My understanding is the belief is Aiyuk is close to being cleared in his return from that ACL injury, but he hasn’t had it yet. Like Kyle Shanahan said every week, we’re kind of looking to see when that clearance is coming, when he’s going to go back to practice.” From @NFLGameDay Morning on the curious case of #49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk: The belief is he’s close to being cleared and can still work his way into being a Niner this year and beyond. For now, still in limbo. pic.twitter.com/RoVzFq5YMa — Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) November 23, 2025 Aiyuk has not played since October 2024, when he tore his ACL, MCL and meniscus against the Kansas City Chiefs. His 2024 campaign had been going poorly before the injury, with Aiyuk accumulating just 374 receiving yards in seven games. 49ers WR Brandon Aiyuk’s injury disrupts long-term plans Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports Players typically return from a torn ACL after about a year, but Aiyuk’s situation has been complex from the start. The 2023 All-Pro essentially had full reconstructive surgery on his entire knee and spent his entire summer slowly working his way back onto the field. Although Aiyuk was clearly the 49ers’ most talented pass-catcher before his injury, he will return to an entirely different team. His former running mate, Deebo Samuel, is no longer on the roster, while Ricky Pearsall is slowly emerging as the team’s new go-to target. Pearsall racked up 327 receiving yards in the first four games of 2025 before suffering his own knee injury that kept him sidelined for nearly two months. The 49ers extended Aiyuk late in the 2024 offseason, but not until after one of the most exaggerated contract holdouts in recent history. San Francisco eventually caved and gave him a four-year, $120 million extension, but not until after Aiyuk requested a trade. The post 49ers rumors: Brandon Aiyuk to be cleared soon. Will he actually play? appeared first on ClutchPoints.

It’s been a disastrous season thus far for the Sacramento Kings, but they did pick up one of the most surprising wins of the 2025-26 NBA campaign on Saturday night when they went on the road and knocked off the Denver Nuggets. Still, that likely won’t change anyone’s long-term view of the Kings, who have a roster full of aging veterans who do not fit with one another. This being the case, many are expecting the Kings to put on a full trade fire sale moving forward, and recently, NBA insider Jake Fischer shed some light on the organization’s line of thinking in that regard. “One team that is definitively open for business: Sacramento. Maybe this was inevitable after a 41-point loss to the Morant-less Grizzlies, but league sources say that the Kings are willing to listen to offers for players up and down their roster … particularly for Sacramento’s veterans,” reported Fischer on Marc Stein’s on Substack. However, he made note of two players that are unlikely to be included in trade talks. “Just don’t get your hopes up about your favorite team acquiring the recently re-signed Keegan Murray. … or last June’s prized first-round pick Nique Clifford. Sources say both will be off the table in upcoming trade talks,” he noted. Fischer also added that ‘general manager Scott Perry realistically understands that he has to undertake a multiyear rebuild,” instead of trying to scrap together a competent team with what they currently have in the locker room. At this point, it’s unclear what kind of value the Kings could get for players like DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine considering their respective ages, but it’s possible that there’s still a decent market for center Domantas Sabonis. In any case, the Kings will next take the floor on Monday evening at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The post Kings rumors: 2 trade untouchables with Sacramento ‘open for business’ appeared first on ClutchPoints.

The Cleveland Browns will be starting Shedeur Sanders against the Las Vegas Raiders, and it’s something that has been highly anticipated since he was drafted. It’s obvious that a lot of things had to go in his favor for this opportunity, and now it’s here for him. After Dillon Gabriel suffered an injury last week, Sanders came in for him, but he was not as prepared as he should have. This week, things have been different, and head coach Kevin Stefanski put a plan in place for the rookie called “Hungry Dawgs Period,” according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. “It is a brainchild of Kevin Stefanksi to help spur on the development of young players, specifically Shedeur Sanders,” Rapoport said. “After practice, and sometimes during practice, Shedeur and the rest of the young players get 8-10 reps of the game plan. Not scout team, of the game plan, to try and accelerate his development. This is where Sanders has been making most of his strides in practice. He did get full reps with the 1s this week. He is ready, expect plenty of deep shots for the Browns, considering the kind of touch he has on the deep ball.” From @NFLGameDay Morning: In anticipation of #Browns QB Shedeur Sanders' first start, insight into the Hungry Dawgs Period and how the rookie has been working behind the scenes. pic.twitter.com/PDzA6bkS0r — Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 23, 2025 It sounds like Sanders should be set up for success this week, and he has a good chance to impress the team as they go up against the Raiders, another team that has not had much success this season. Sanders will be the third Raiders quarterback to start this season, and he will be the second rookie to start. Joe Flacco began the season as the starter, but he ended up being benched by the Browns, and then he was eventually traded to the Cincinnati Bengals. From there, Gabriel was the starter, but he suffered a concussion last week and is now in protocol. The post What is ‘Hungry Dawgs Period?’ Kevin Stefanski’s special Shedeur Sanders plan revealed appeared first on ClutchPoints.

On Saturday evening, the Memphis Grizzlies picked up a narrow road win over the Dallas Mavericks to push their record to 6-11 on the young 2025-26 NBA season. The Grizzlies did it without point guard Ja Morant, who sat this game out due to injury but was still in attendance on the bench. At one point shortly after the game, Morant could be seen talking trash to Mavericks guard Klay Thompson, and now, a newly unearthed angle showed Morant pointing his finger right in Thompson’s face. This angle shows Ja Morant pointing his finger in Klay Thompson's face leading to their exchange pic.twitter.com/dzM5Bx0S9L https://t.co/rmBiVe7tb6 — ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 23, 2025 It’s unclear what exactly started the argument between the two, but the Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors, Thompson’s former team, certainly had history, particularly during the 2022 postseason, in which the Warriors sent Memphis home in six games in the Western Conference second round. Since then, quite a bit has changed, with Thompson taking his talents to Dallas and Morant becoming known more for his off-court antics than his basketball prowess, which has taken a significant dip so far this year. After the game, Thompson didn’t mince words when talking about Morant and the Grizzlies. “It was really just running his mouth, and he’s been running his mouth for a long time,” Thompson said, per Joseph Zucker of Bleacher Report. “It’s funny to run your mouth when you’re on the bench. It’s kind of the story of his career so far, just leaving us wanting more. “We all want to see him out there and do his best, but he’s just been letting a lot of other stuff get in the way of that.” Thompson has also seen significant regression this season, and misfired on a potential game-tying three from the logo in the closing seconds on Saturday. It will be interesting to see if there is any residual beef leftover between Morant and Thompson when the Mavericks and Grizzlies next face off in late February. The post Video shows Grizzlies’ Ja Morant sticking his finger right in Klay Thompson’s face appeared first on ClutchPoints.