There was no shortage of NBA action on Monday night, as eight games populated the league's schedule. The fun began with the Bucks squeaking out a win over the Pistons in Detroit, and it ended with the Blazers beating a struggling Clippers team in Los Angeles.

In between those bookend games, the Knicks were knocked off by the Suns, the Bulls were handled in Oklahoma City by the Thunder, the Jazz fell to the Rockets in Houston, the Wolves dominated the Kings in Minnesota, the Sixers were embarrassed by the Spurs in San Antonio, and the defending champion Warriors easily defeated the Grizzlies without Mike Conley in the lineup at Oracle Arena. 

Here's everything you need to know about Monday's games, along with Tuesday's schedule.

NBA scores for Monday, Dec. 17

NBA schedule for Tuesday, Dec. 18

*All times Eastern

Turner to Leonard for ferocious dunk

Evan Turner is quite the playmaker and Meyers Leonard is quite the dunker. While these two don't quite have the reputation of the aforementioned descriptions, they were exactly as described for one play versus the Clippers.

Curry reaches 15K points on 3-pointer versus Grizzlies

Stephen Curry reached the 15,000-point plateau the only way he knows how. The two-time NBA MVP eclipsed 15,000 points on a 3-pointer versus the Grizzlies.

Rockets' Harden explodes for 47 points in win over Jazz

The reigning NBA MVP showed that he is still just as dominant as ever on Monday night as he lifted his team to victory over a very game Jazz roster by exploding for 47 points in the showdown of potential playoff teams.

Gibson tries to block a shot with his shoe

Taj Gibson submitted a candidate for the funniest play of the season when he tried to block a shot with his shoe against the Kings. This might not be allowed, but it sure was cool. 

Rudy rocks the rim

Rudy Gay can really fly when he gets a bit of a running start, and he showed that against the Sixers. Joel Embiid made a wise decision not to jump on this one . 

Okogie flies for back-to-back slams

Timberwolves rookie Josh Okogie had himself a pretty impressive couple of minutes against the Kings. First, he got out on the fastbreak and flew for a nice slam, and narrowly avoided a serious injury when he fell off the rim. He was fine though, as he showed a short time later when he got up for a crazy alley-oop.

George shines in first half

Paul George kept up his strong play this season by going off for 23 points in the first half against the Bulls. Sure, Chicago is one of the worst teams in the league, but scoring 23 points in one half is impressive no matter the competition. 

Bucks' Antetokounmpo gets it done on both ends

Giannis Antetokounmpo is a human highlight reel and it did not take long for him to provide fans with some extremely impressive plays on both ends of the floor against the Pistons this evening as not long after his rejection on Andre Drummond, he attacked the basket and finished with authority.

Suns' Ayton goes all the way up to finish a lob pass

While Luke Doncic has stolen plenty of headlines since his rookie season started, Suns center DeAndre Ayton has been impressive in his own right and he continued that trend on Monday night by showing off his explosiveness on this alley-oop finish against the Knicks.

Pistons' Bullock gets off to a very hot start

Reggie Bullock and the Pistons still have a ways to go if they want to take down the Bucks in a Central Division showdown but the former Tar Heels standout is doing what he can to get the job done by scoring 10 points in the opening quarter, including the team's first eight points of the game. 

Warriors' Curry on the cusp of a career milestone

Regardless of the outcome of this evening's matchup between the Grizzlies and the Warriors, the odds are high that Stephen Curry will be heading home from Oracle Arena with a major accomplishment under his belt as he enters Monday night's game just 10 points shy of reaching 15,000 for his professional career.

Thunder reportedly pick up Donovan's option for 2019-20

The Oklahoma City Thunder have reportedly come to a final decision on what the future will hold for longtime head coach Billy Donovan after he helped lead the team to a mark of 18-10 over the course of the opening third of the 2018-19 regular season campaign. According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.com, Thunder general manager Sam Presti has elected to pick up the option in Donovan's contract for the 2019-20 season. 

Playoff contenders jockey for position in the Western Conference

There are a number of intriguing matchups this evening between teams currently in the top eight of the Western Conference standings as the Warriors will host the Grizzlies while the Trail Blazers will travel to Los Angeles for a matchup with the Clippers. Given the way the teams are jumbled together in the West, tonight's final scores will have a major impact on the way the standings look on Tuesday.