Three Stars
The three stars in ice hockey are the three best players in a game, with the “first star” considered the best of the three players, similar to the player of the match in other sports. Here are my “three stars” from yesterday’s NBA games.
First ⭐️
Jalen Brunson scored a game-high 39 points as the New York Knicks defeated the Boston Celtics 118-109. Brunson shot 15-23 from the field, making six of his 11 attempts from 3-point range. He sat out the entire fourth quarter, as the Knicks held a commanding 29-point lead after the first three periods.
Second ⭐️
DeMar DeRozan poured in a game-high 39 points in the Chicago Bulls’ 127-105 rout of the Detroit Pistons. DeRozan shot 14-22 from the floor (4-6 on 3-pointers) and 7-8 from the free throw line, adding seven assists and three steals. He committed just one turnover and no personal fouls in 36 minutes played.
Third ⭐️
Fred VanVleet scored a season-high 42 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Houston Rockets fell to the Utah Jazz 124-121. VanVleet shot just 12-30 from the field, although he sank nine of his 13 attempts from 3-point range. VanVleet also went 9-10 from the free throw line. He added a game-high seven assists, seven rebounds, and two steals in 40 minutes of action.
Milestones
Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis recorded his 75th double-double of the season, scoring 18 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in a 135-123 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. The last player to reach that mark was Hall of Famer Moses Malone, who produced 77 double-doubles in the 1978-79 season.
The Bulls’ Coby White went 4-8 from 3-point range in a win over the Pistons, breaking the franchise record for most 3-pointers attempted in a season with 551. The previous mark of 544 was set by Zach LaVine last season.
The Detroit Pistons’ loss to the Bulls was their 67th of the season, breaking the franchise record for most losses in a season. The previous mark of 66 losses was set in 1979-80, when Dick Vitale was the team’s head coach for the first 12 games of the season.
The Boston Celtics made 16 3-pointers in their loss to the Knicks, increasing their season total to 1,321. That breaks the franchise record for most 3-pointers made in a season set in 2022-23 (1,315).
The New Orleans Pelicans sank 22 shots from 3-point range in their win over the Kings. They’ve made 988 3-pointers this season, breaking the franchise single-season record of 982 set in 2019-20.
The Pelicans picked up their 27th road win of the season, breaking the franchise single-season record of 26 set in 2007-08. The Pelicans are tied with the Celtics for the most road wins in the NBA this season.
The Chicago Bulls went 14-36 from 3-point range in their win over the Pistons, breaking the franchise records for most 3-pointers made and attempted in a season with totals of 919 and 2,564, respectively. The previous marks of 906 makes and 2,549 attempts had been established in 2017-18.
The Golden State Warriors beat the Portland Trail Blazers 100-92, notching their 25th win away from home this season. It’s the sixth time in franchise history they’ve won at least 25 games on the road, all coming within the last 10 seasons.
Streaking
Brunson has scored at least 35 points in each of his last five games. The only other players in Knicks history to record at least five straight 35-point games are Carmelo Anthony (six in a row) and Bernard King (five), each of whom did so once.
Brunson is just the fourth player in NBA history with a listed height of 6-feet-2-inches or shorter to record at least five 35-point games in a row. He joins Damian Lillard (six straight), Nate Archibald (five), and Allen Iverson (five). Archibald and Iverson each had multiple such streaks.
Brunson has also recorded 10 straight 20-point games. He’s averaging 36.2 PPG and 7.8 APG with 51/40/85 shooting splits over that span. The only player in franchise history to record a higher scoring average over a 10-game span is King.
DeRozan has produced 10 consecutive 20-point games as well. He’s averaging 29.4 PPG and 6.0 APG over that stretch, shooting 52.2% from the field and 81.0% from the free throw line.
CJ McCollum scored a team-high 31 points (tied with Zion Williamson) in the Pelicans’ win over the Kings, sinking nine of his 12 attempts from 3-point range. McCollum has scored at least 25 points in five straight games, averaging 31.6 PPG with 50/52/100 shooting splits over that span.
Donte DiVincenzo scored 17 points with three 3-pointers made in the Knicks’ win over the Celtics, the 38th consecutive game in which he’s made multiple threes. It’s the longest such streak in franchise history (by 17 games) and ties VanVleet for the fifth-longest such streak in NBA history.
De’Aaron Fox posted game highs of 33 points and eight assists to go with five rebounds and two steals in the Kings’ loss to the Pelicans. Fox has recorded at least 15 points and one steal in each of his last 26 games, the longest such streak by a King since the NBA began tracking steals in 1973-74. Chris Webber is a distant second with an 18-game run in 2001-02.
Fox’s teammate, Sabonis, has recorded at least 10 rebounds in each of his last 37 games. It’s the longest such streak by a King since Jerry Lucas had a 73-game run that spanned the 1967-68 and 1968-69 seasons.
Trail Blazers rookie Scoot Henderson scored 18 points and dished out a game-high 12 assists in a loss to the Warriors. He’s just the second rookie in franchise history to record at least 15 points and 10 assists in back-to-back games. Henderson joins Kelvin Ransey, who did so four times in the 1980-81 season.
Henderson’s teammate, Deandre Ayton, scored a game-high 25 points and secured 11 rebounds. Ayton has recorded at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in 13 of his last 17 games, including the last six in a row (the longest such streak of his career). Over that 17-game stretch, Ayton is averaging 23.6 PPG and 13.1 RPG with shooting percentages of 59.2% from the field and 84.4% from the free throw line.
Team(s) with a losing streak of five or more games: Detroit Pistons (six).
The Sacramento Kings made 16 3-pointers in their loss to the Pelicans. It’s the fifth consecutive game in which they’ve made at least 15 threes, matching the longest such streak in franchise history set earlier this season (Feb. 3-11, 2024).
Miscellany
VanVleet led all scorers last night with his season-high 42 points. He was followed by Brunson (39), DeRozan (39), Fox (33), McCollum (31), and the Pelicans’ Zion Williamson (31).
The Knicks’ Josh Hart and the Trail Blazers’ Jabari Walker were the night’s leading board men, snagging 16 rebounds apiece. Eight more players collected double-digit boards: the Knicks’ Isaiah Hartenstein (13), Ayton (11), the Pistons’ Jalen Duren (11), the Warriors’ Kevon Looney (11), the Bulls’ Nikola Vucevic (11), Sabonis (10), the Rockets’ Amen Thompson (10), and the Pelicans’ Jonas Valanciunas (10).
Henderson was the top playmaker with 12 assists last night. The Bulls’ Alex Caruso was the only other player to hand out double-digit dimes with a season-high 10.
The Utah Jazz snapped their 13-game losing skid with a win over the Rockets. It was the franchise’s longest losing streak since the 1981-82 season, when they dropped a franchise-record 18 consecutive games.