The Good, Bad, and Ugly of Week 9 of the 2025-26 Season

Week 9 of the NBA season delivered a little bit of everything, from a historic individual performance to devastating injury setbacks and an utterly inexplicable collapse. In a week that saw a 37-year-old reminding fans he's still got it to a team failing to capitalize on a career night, let's break down the highlights and lowlights.

Currently averaging 28.8 points per game, at 37 years old, Steph Curry is defying Father Time in ways that surpass even Michael Jordan's late-career scoring. Week 9 delivered fans yet another reminder of Curry's greatness when he torched the Portland Trail Blazers for 48 points and 12 three-pointers on December 14th, two nights after dropping 39 points against the Minnesota Timberwolves. 

What made this performance historic wasn't just the scoring outburst; it was what it represented. Curry now has 45 games with 40+ points after turning 30, passing Jordan's mark of 44. The Warriors may have lost that game 136-131, but Curry's performance was a masterclass in shot-making. Even the Portland home crowd couldn't help but cheer as he rained down contested threes from ridiculous distances. 

The LA Lakers' injury report added another member on Saturday when Luka Dončić exited at halftime against the LA Clippers with a left leg contusion. The NBA's leading scorer, averaging 35.2 points per game, was visibly hobbling in the second quarter before telling coach JJ Redick he couldn't continue. He finished with just 12 points on 4-of-13 shooting in a miserable first half.

The timing couldn't be worse, as the Lakers were already missing Austin Reaves, DeAndre Ayton, and Rui Hachimura, and now they've possibly lost their best player just as they were building momentum. What's more concerning is the pattern: Dončić missed three games in late October with a similar lower leg issue, though sources say these injuries are unrelated. With the Lakers needing to navigate a crucial December stretch and Christmas Day fast approaching, losing Dončić for any significant time could have a serious impact on a promising season. 

Sometimes individual brilliance isn't enough, and Saturday's Grizzlies-Wizards game proved it in an unfortunate way. After starting the previous three games, Memphis forward Santi Aldama dropped a career-high 37 points on 15-of-23 shooting, adding 10 rebounds for a double-double, and played 36 minutes of inspired basketball off the bench. The result? Memphis blew a 20-point lead and lost 130-122 to the worst team in the league. The Washington Wizards, sitting at 5-21, rallied from a massive deficit to steal a road win in Memphis. 

Had this been against the Detroit Pistons, the Boston Celtics, the Cleveland Cavaliers, or even mid-tier teams like the Dallas Mavericks or the LA Clippers, it may have been understandable, as these teams feature some of the elite talent in the league today. But with all respect to the Wizards, Kyshawn George, Alex Sarr, and Bub Carrington aren't giving anyone pre-game nightmares. 

After a pair of solid victories over the Clippers and Minnesota Timberwolves, the Grizzlies headed into somewhat of a trap game against the hopeless Wizards. However, when you get a performance like Aldama's and still manage to lose to a tanking team, it just doesn't sit right. For Grizzlies fans, watching their team squander that kind of effort against the league's basement has to sting. Thankfully, they will have a shot at redemption when they take on the Wizards in Washington on December 28.