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 ⭐️
Rudy Gobert produced game highs of 25 points, 19 rebounds, and five blocks as the Minnesota Timberwolves slipped past the Atlanta Hawks 109-106. Minnesota is tied with the Denver Nuggets and the Oklahoma City Thunder at the top of the Western Conference standings, each with a record of 56-25.
Gobert went a perfect 10-10 from the floor, setting a franchise record for most field goals made in a game without a miss. Gobert and Dikembe Mutombo (Dec. 14, 1999) are the only players to record a 25-point, 15-rebound, 5-block game with a field goal percentage of 100% since the NBA began tracking blocks in 1973-74.
Second ⭐️
Anthony Davis compiled 36 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, and two blocks in a team-high 43 minutes played as the Los Angeles Lakers escaped with a 123-120 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. Davis shot 11-22 from the field and made 13 of his 17 free throw attempts. The Lakers improved to 46-35 on the season, one game ahead of the Sacramento Kings and the Golden State Warriors for the eighth seed in the Western Conference.
Third ⭐️
Payton Pritchard scored a career-high 31 points on 14-22 shooting from the field as the shorthanded Boston Celtics routed the Charlotte Hornets 131-98. Pritchard also dished out a game-high 11 assists in 31 minutes of action. The top six players in the Celtics’ usual rotation — Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis, Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, and Al Horford — sat out the game with various ailments.
Milestones
The Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic scored 22 points and handed out a game-high 12 assists in a crushing 121-120 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. Jokic increased his season total to 703 assists, breaking Wilt Chamberlain’s NBA record for most assists in a season by a center (702, 1967-78).
Kevin Durant scored a game-high 28 points in the Phoenix Suns’ 108-107 win over the Sacramento Kings, surpassing 2,000 points for the season. He became the first player in NBA history to record a 2,000-point campaign for three different franchises.
Durant’s teammate, Grayson Allen, scored 19 points with four 3-pointers made, becoming the fourth player in franchise history to make 200 or more 3-pointers in a season. Allen (202) joins Quentin Richardson (226, 2004-05), Raja Bell (205, 2006-07), and Gerald Green (204, 2013-14).
The New Orleans Pelicans’ CJ McCollum scored a team-high 28 points with eight 3-pointers made in a 114-109 win over the Golden State Warriors. McCollum has made 235 3-pointers this season, breaking the franchise single-season record of 231 set by Peja Stojakovic in 2007-08.
LeBron James scored a game-high 37 points in the Lakers’ win over the Grizzlies, going 13-20 from the field and 8-11 from the free throw line. James raised his career total to 8,384 free throws made, passing Kobe Bryant (8,378) to move into third place on the NBA’s all-time list.
The Atlanta Hawks recorded 23 assists in their loss to the Timberwolves, giving them 2,155 for the season. They broke the franchise single-season record of 2,142 assists set in 1969-70.
The Boston Celtics have scored 9,755 points this season, the most in a single season in franchise history. The previous mark of 9,687 points was set in 1961-62.
The Celtics recorded their 10th win by 30 or more points this season, tying the 1971-72 Milwaukee Bucks for the most such wins in a single season in NBA history.
The Dallas Mavericks fell to the Detroit Pistons 107-89, but they scored enough points to break the franchise single-season scoring record. The Mavericks have scored 9,578 points this season, besting the previous mark of 9,567 set in 1986-87.
The Phoenix Suns made 12 3-pointers in their win over the Kings, setting a new franchise single-season record with 1,004 3-pointers made. The previous mark of 1,001 3-pointers made was established just last season.
Streaking
Jalen Brunson scored a team-high 30 points and delivered a game-high 11 assists in 37 turnover-free minutes as the New York Knicks got by the Brooklyn Nets 111-107. Brunson has recorded 11 straight 20-point games and six straight 30-point games. He’s averaging 35.6 PPG and 8.1 APG with 50/40/86 shooting splits over the former span.
Brunson’s teammate, Donte DiVincenzo scored 14 points with two 3-pointers made, the 39th consecutive game in which he’s made multiple threes. It’s the longest such streak in franchise history (by 18 games) and breaks a tie with Fred VanVleet (Dec. 2, 2021 to March 24, 2022) for the fifth-longest such streak in NBA history.
Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 17 points with two 3-pointers made in the Hawks’ loss to the Timberwolves, extending his streak of regular season games with at least one 3-pointer made to 89. That ties Dana Barros (Dec. 23, 1994 to Jan. 10, 1996) for the seventh-longest such streak in NBA history.
The Kings’ De’Aaron Fox tallied 23 points, six assists, five rebounds, and four steals in a loss to the Suns. Fox has recorded at least 15 points and one steal in each of his last 27 games, the longest such streak by a King since the NBA began tracking steals in 1973-74. Leaguewide, it’s the longest such streak since James Harden produced 28 such games in a row in 2012-13.
The second member of the Kings’ dynamic duo, Domantas Sabonis, scored a team-high 25 points to go with game highs of 12 rebounds and nine assists. He’s recorded double-digit rebounds in 38 consecutive games, the longest such streak by a King since Jerry Lucas had a 73-game run that spanned the 1967-68 and 1968-69 seasons. Leaguewide, the only player over the last 25 seasons to produce a longer such streak is Kevin Love in 2010-11 (56 in a row).
Victor Wembanyama racked up 34 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, and two blocks in the Spurs’ upset win over Nuggets. He’s recorded at least 10 points and one block in each of his last 39 games, the second-longest such streak by a rookie since the NBA began tracking blocks in 1973-74 (David Robinson, 41). The last player to record at least 39 such games in a row was Jermaine O’Neal with a 44-game run in the 2006-07 season.
McCollum has scored at least 25 points in each of his last six games, matching the second-longest such streak of his career. He’s averaging 31.0 PPG with 50/54/100 shooting splits over that stretch.
Team(s) with a winning streak of five or more games: Philadelphia 76ers (seven).
Team(s) with a losing streak of five or more games: Atlanta Hawks (five) and Washington Wizards (five).
Miscellany
The Nets’ Cam Thomas led all players with 41 points last night. A dozen more players produced a 30-point outing: James (37), Davis (36), the Toronto Raptors’ RJ Barrett (35), the Nuggets’ Jamal Murray (35), Wembanyama (34), the Warriors’ Stephen Curry (33), the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Donovan Mitchell (33), the Sixers’ Joel Embiid (32), the Grizzlies’ GG Jackson (31), Pritchard (career-high 31), Brunson (30), and the Portland Trail Blazers’ Scoot Henderson (30).
The Chicago Bulls’ Adama Sanogo was the night’s top board man, hauling in a career-high 20 rebounds. Gobert (19), the Grizzlies’ Jordan Goodwin (17), the Orlando Magic’s Paolo Banchero (season-high 15), the Bulls’ Torrey Craig (season-high 15), and the Rockets’ Amen Thompson (career-high-tying 15) also had 15-rebound efforts.
The Bulls’ Jevon Carter, the Indiana Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton, and Jokic were the leading playmakers, each dishing out 12 assists last night (Carter tied his career high). Also handing out double-digit dimes were Brunson (11), the Warriors’ Draymond Green (11), Pritchard (11), the Washington Wizards’ Jared Butler (10), the Timberwolves’ Mike Conley (season-high-tying 10), the Spurs’ Tre Jones (10), and the Lakers’ D’Angelo Russell (10).
Green recorded a double-double (12 rebounds, 11 assists) without scoring a point in the Warriors’ loss to the Pelicans. He’s just the fourth player in NBA history to record a double-double while being held scoreless, joining Norm Van Lier (Jan. 5, 1971), Josh Giddey (Dec. 26, 2021), and Tomas Satoransky (March 20, 2022).
Wembanyama has produced six 30-point, 10-rebound, 5-assist games this season. The only other rookies since the ABA-NBA merger to record at least six such games are Blake Griffin in 2010-11 (eight) and Michael Jordan in 1984-85 (seven).
Embiid had 13 rebounds and seven assists to go with his 32 points as the Sixers won their seventh consecutive game with a 125-113 decision over the Magic. It’s the 18th time Embiid has recorded at least 30 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists in a game this season. The only player in franchise history to produce more such games in a single season is Chamberlain with 33 in 1965-66.
Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen scored 29 points (13-14 field goals) and snagged a game-high 13 rebounds in a 129-120 victory over the Indiana Pacers. It’s the fourth time Allen has recorded a 25-point, 10-rebound game while shooting at least 90% from the field, tying Gobert and Jokic for the most such games since the ABA-NBA merger.
Sanogo scored a career-high 22 points to go with his 20 rebounds. He’s just the second rookie in Bulls history to record a 20-point, 20-rebound game, joining Charles Oakley (March 15, 1986).
Sanogo is the third different Bull to record a 20-rebound game this season, joining Andre Drummond and Nikola Vucevic. The last team with three such players in a season was the 2014-15 Sacramento Kings (DeMarcus Cousins, Jason Thompson, and Reggie Evans).
James (37 points, nine rebounds, five assists) and Davis (36 points, 14 rebounds, five assists) became the first Laker duo to each record at least 35 points, five rebounds, and five assists in the same game since Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal achieved the feat on Jan. 31, 2003.