| 100% | CELTS | 5 | N.B.A. team with the most Hall-of-Famers, familiarly |
| 56% | MAVS | 4 | N.B.A. team that shares an arena with the N.H.L.'s Stars, familiarly |
| 49% | ARI | 3 | N.F.L. team with a logo of a bird's head, for short |
| 45% | EMEKA | 5 | ___ Okafor, 2004-05 N.B.A. Rookie of the Year |
| 45% | LALAKERS | 8 | N.B.A. team with a 1980s "Showtime" era |
| 43% | SLC | 3 | Host location of the N.B.A.’s 2023 All-Star Weekend, for short |
| 43% | DEAD | 4 | With 8-Across, subject of a theory that claims that most of the activity on social media is generated by bots |
| 42% | OTT | 3 | Baseball Hall of Famer who signed with the Giants at 16 |
| 41% | TYCOBB | 6 | Baseball Hall of Famer with the record for highest career batting average |
| 41% | NETS | 4 | N.B.A. team whose fans include the Brooklyn Brigade |
| 40% | KRAKEN | 6 | N.H.L. team with a mythological eponym |
| 40% | ONEAL | 5 | Shaquille of the N.B.A. |
| 40% | BLUEJACKETS | 11 | N.H.L. team from Ohio … or a description of 93-Across? |
| 40% | RUDOLPHTHE | 10 | With 57 Across, a more accurate way to describe the guy who works the mother of all night jobs? |
| 40% | PISTON | 6 | Any of the "Bad Boys" in the 1980s-'90s N.B.A. |
| 40% | TUGOFWAR | 8 | Sport where two teams engage in a test of strength with a rope, last played in the Summer Olympics in 1920: 3 wds. |
| 39% | LIRPA | 5 | With 1-Across, a normal answer for a totally normal day of the year |
| 39% | ASSN | 4 | The "A" of N.B.A.: Abbr. |
| 38% | XANDY | 5 | With 30-Across, what most numbers in the clues of this year's puzzles represent |
| 38% | MANHATTAN | 9 | Most densely-populated NYC borough with Times Square and Central Park, and the birthplace of Bobby McFerrin |
| 38% | NASTIA | 6 | With 35-Across, 2008 Olympic gold medalist inducted into the International Gymnastics Hall of Fame in 2018 |
| 38% | RAPTORS | 7 | Toronto ___, Canadian basketball team in the NBA with a dinosaur-themed name |
| 37% | ENERO | 5 | First month of the year, to many a 5-Down character |
| 37% | FANTASTICFOUR | 13 | Superhero team with the physical features of 19-, 28-, 38-, and 46-Across |
| 37% | FLAMES | 6 | Calgary ___, Canadian ice hockey team in the NHL with a fiery-sounding name |
| 37% | ASSORTED | 8 | With many different varieties, like a box of chocolates |
| 37% | DABS | 4 | Touches gently, as with the corner of a napkin |
| 37% | ALLIE | 5 | ___ B. Latimer, civil rights activist in the National Women's Hall of Fame |
| 37% | ROME | 4 | First city to reach a population of one million people, in the second century B.C. |
| 36% | BFF | 3 | Person with the other half of a heart necklace, maybe |