NBA Game Notes (April 25, 2025)

Here are the NBA game notes for games that were played on April 25, 2025.

Apr 26, 2025

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 ⭐️

Gary Trent Jr. tied a franchise playoff record with nine 3-pointers made as the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Indiana Pacers 117-101, cutting Indiana’s lead to 2-1 in their Eastern Conference First Round series. Trent Jr. scored a playoff-career-high 37 points, going 11-16 from the field (9-12 on threes) and 6-7 from the free throw line. He also swiped a game-high four steals and was charged just one personal foul in 34 turnover-free minutes.

Second ⭐️

LeBron James produced game highs of 38 points and 10 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough as the Los Angeles Lakers fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves 116-104 to give Minnesota a 2-1 lead in their Western Conference First Round series. James went 13-21 from the floor (5-9 on 3-pointers) and 7-10 from the charity stripe. He added four assists, a game-high two steals (tied with three others), and a team-high two blocks, committing just one turnover and no personal fouls in 41 minutes played.

Third ⭐️

Giannis Antetokounmpo registered game highs of 37 points (tied with Trent Jr.) and 12 rebounds in the Bucks’ victory over the Pacers. Antetokounmpo shot 14-19 from the field and and made nine of his 10 free throw attempts. He also dished out a team-high six assists (tied with Kevin Porter Jr.) and swiped one steal in 32 minutes of action.

Milestones

As mentioned above, Trent Jr. tied the Milwaukee Bucks’ record for most 3-pointers made in a playoff game. He matched Ray Allen’s nine triples versus the Philadelphia 76ers on June 1, 2001.
Antetokounmpo increased his career playoff total to 483 free throws made, passing Sidney Moncrief (475) to take over first place on the Milwaukee Bucks’ all-time list.
Trent Jr. and Antetokounmpo are the first duo in Milwaukee Bucks history to each score at least 35 points in the same playoff game. Leaguewide, they are the 42nd duo to achieve the feat.
James’ 38 points are the most in NBA history by a player age 40 years or older in a playoff game. The previous record of 32 points was set by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on June 14, 1987.

Streaking

Antetokounmpo is just the second player in NBA playoff history to record back-to-back 30-point, 10-rebound games with 70% shooting from the field. He joins Nikola Jokic, who accomplished the feat May 11 & 16, 2023.
Antetokounmpo is also just the second player in league history to record at least 30 points and 10 rebounds with 60% shooting from the field in each of the first three games of a playoff series. Shaquille O’Neal was the first to achieve the feat in the 2000 NBA Finals.
Paolo Banchero (29 points) recorded his sixth straight 25-point playoff game as the Orlando Magic defeated the Boston Celtics 95-93, trimming Boston’s lead to 2-1 in their Eastern Conference First Round series. Banchero is averaging 33.5 PPG and 9.7 RPG over that span, shooting 48.6% from 3-point range.
Banchero and teammate Franz Wagner (32) are the first duo in Orlando Magic history to each score at least 20 points in three straight playoff games.
James has scored in double figures in 138 consecutive playoff games, breaking a tie with O’Neal for the fifth-longest such streak in NBA history. He’s scored 10 or more points in 288 career playoff games, 56 more such games than any other player.

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James was the night’s leading scorer, bagging 38 points. He was followed by Antetokounmpo (37), Trent Jr. (37), the Celtics’ Jayson Tatum (36), Wagner (32), and the Timberwolves’ Jaden McDaniels (30).
Antetokounmpo and the Magic’s Wendell Carter Jr. shared nightly rebounding honors with 12 apiece. James was the only other player to record double-digit boards with 10.
The Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton was the leading playmaker last night, handing out 10 assists. The Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards, the Lakers’ Luka Doncic, and Wagner tied for second place with eight dimes each.
Trent Jr. recorded an effective field goal percentage of 96.9%, the second-highest such figure in NBA playoff history by a player in a 35-point game. On May 19, 1992, Terry Porter scored 41 points with an effective field goal percentage of 100% (12-14 field goals, 4-5 on threes).
Tatum produced his 31st career 30-point playoff game, breaking a tie with John Havlicek for second place on the Boston Celtics’ all-time list. Larry Bird is the leader with 43 such games.