NBA Game Notes (April 9, 2025)

Here are the NBA game notes for games that were played on April 9, 2025.

Apr 10, 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 ⭐️

Luka Doncic scored a game-high 45 points in his triumphant return to Dallas, leading the Los Angeles Lakers to a 112-97 victory over the Mavericks. Doncic shot 16-28 from the field, hitting seven of his 10 attempts from 3-point range. He added a team-high eight rebounds, a team-high six assists, and a game-high four steals in 38 minutes of action.

Second ⭐️

James Harden produced game highs of 35 points and 10 assists (tied with Ivica Zubac) as the LA Clippers beat the Houston Rockets 134-117 for their sixth consecutive win. Harden went 10-18 from the floor (5-11 on 3-pointers) and sank all 10 of his free throw attempts. He also swiped two steals and committed just one personal foul in 37 minutes played.

Third ⭐️

Josh Giddey recorded his seventh triple-double of the season, scoring a team-high 28 points to go with game highs of 16 rebounds and 11 assists in the Chicago Bulls’ 119-111 win over the Miami Heat. Giddey shot 11-19 from the field, making three of his six 3-point attempts. He also blocked a game-high three shots and swiped a team-high two steals (tied with Nikola Vucevic) in 40 minutes of court time.

Milestones

The Lakers’ LeBron James appeared in his 1,561st regular season game, breaking a tie with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for second place on the NBA’s career leaderboard. Robert Parish holds the record with 1,611 games played.
Harden recorded his 105th career 30-point, 10-assist game, tying James for second place on the NBA’s all-time list. Oscar Robertson is the runaway leader with 230 such games.
The Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (5-14 on threes) made his 300th 3-pointer of the season in a 114-111 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. It’s the sixth time he’s reached that mark, a feat no other player has accomplished more than once.
The Spurs’ Julian Champagnie (3-7 on threes) broke the franchise record for most 3-pointers attempted in a season with 465, surpassing Chuck Person’s 463 attempts in 1995-96.
Giddey reached 1,000 points and 500 assists for the season, becoming just the third player in Chicago Bulls history to record at least 1,000 points, 500 rebounds, and 500 assists. He joins Scottie Pippen (three times) and Michael Jordan (twice).
The Denver Nuggets (30 assists) tied the franchise single-season record for assists in a 124-116 victory over the Sacramento Kings. The Nuggets have delivered a league-leading 2,482 dimes, matching their total from the 1982-83 season.
The Oklahoma City Thunder (12-30 on threes) broke the franchise record for most 3-pointers attempted in a season in a 125-112 win over the Phoenix Suns. The Thunder have launched 3,084 shots from beyond the arc, eclipsing their 3,066 attempts in 2021-22.
The Portland Trail Blazers (11-45 on threes) set a franchise single-season record for 3-pointers attempted in a 133-126 double-overtime loss to the Utah Jazz. Portland’s 3,023 long-range attempts surpass the 3,017 they tried in the 2021-22 season.

Streaking

The Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic (20 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists) has tallied at least 20 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists in each of his last seven games, tying himself (twice) for the longest such streak in the NBA this season.
Clippers center Ivica Zubac (20 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists) recorded his 13th consecutive double-double and first career triple-double. He’s averaging 19.1 PPG and 13.4 RPG with a field goal percentage of 62.9% during the streak.
Zubac’s teammate, Kawhi Leonard (22 points), produced his 13th straight 20-point game. Over that stretch, he’s averaging 25.8 PPG on 55.0/48.5/85.4 shooting splits.
The Orlando Magic’s Franz Wagner (23 points) extended his streak of 20-point games to 12 in a 96-76 rout of the Boston Celtics. However, Wagner and teammate Paolo Banchero’s streak of dual 20-point efforts was ended at 11 games (Banchero scored 15 points).
Team(s) with a winning streak of five or more games: LA Clippers (six).
Team(s) with a losing streak of five or more games: Phoenix Suns (eight) and Charlotte Hornets (five).
The Chicago Bulls have scored at least 110 points in each of their last 26 games, the longest such streak in franchise history (by 17 games) and the 10th-longest such streak in NBA history. The last team to record at least 26 straight 110-point games was the 1981-82 Denver Nuggets, the highest-scoring team in league history.

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Doncic was the night’s scoring leader, matching his season high with 45 points. He was followed by the Trail Blazers’ Shaedon Sharpe (career-high 37), Harden (35), the Thunder’s Jalen Williams (33), Curry (30), the Philadelphia 76ers’ Jeff Dowtin Jr. (career-high 30), the Jazz’s Kyle Filipowski (career-high 30), and the Heat’s Tyler Herro (30).
Filipowski was the top board man last night, hauling in a career-high 18 rebounds. Giddey ranked second with 16 boards, while the Sixers’ Colin Castleton placed third with 14, matching his career high.
The Suns’ Devin Booker was the leading playmaker, handing out a season-high 14 assists. Also delivering double-digit dimes were Giddey (11), Jokic (11), the Kings’ Zach LaVine (season-high 11), the Toronto Raptors’ Jonathan Mogbo (career-high 11), Harden (10), the Celtics’ Payton Pritchard (season-high-tying 10), the Hornets’ Nick Smith Jr. (career-high 10), and Zubac (career-high 10).
Mogbo registered his first career triple-double, tallying 17 points and 10 rebounds to go with his career-high 11 assists. He’s just the second rookie in Toronto Raptors history to record a triple-double, joining Damon Stoudamire (Nov. 21, 1995).
Filipowski is the first rookie in Utah Jazz history to produce a 30-point, 15-rebound game. He went 13-17 from the floor, becoming the first rookie to record a 30-point, 15-rebound game with 75% shooting from the field since Yao Ming on Nov. 21, 2002.