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 ⭐️
Alperen Sengun produced game highs of 26 points and 11 rebounds as the Houston Rockets edged the Golden State Warriors 91-90 in an NBA Cup quarterfinal, snapping Houston’s 15-game losing skid versus Golden State. Sengun went 10-18 from the floor and made six of his seven free throw attempts. He also recorded five assists and a game-high three steals, and did not commit a personal foul in 32 minutes of action.
Second ⭐️
Jalen Johnson compiled 21 points, a team-high 15 rebounds, and seven assists to lead the Atlanta Hawks to a 108-100 victory over the New York Knicks in an NBA Cup quarterfinal. He added team highs of two steals and two blocks (tied with Dyson Daniels), posting a game-high rating of plus-16 points in 41 minutes played. Johnson did not shoot particularly well, going 8-20 from the field (1-5 on 3-pointers) and 4-6 from the free throw line.
Third ⭐️
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 19 points to go with game highs of 19 rebounds, three steals, and three blocks (tied with OG Anunoby) in the Knicks’ loss to the Hawks. He also dished out five assists in 37 minutes of playing time. Towns was uncharacteristically inefficient, shooting 7-15 from the floor (2-6 from 3-point range) and 3-6 from the foul line.
Milestones
The Warriors’ Buddy Hield scored 15 points with three 3-pointers made, becoming the 17th player in NBA history to reach 2,000 career threes. He’s the second-fastest player to attain that milestone (656 games), trailing only teammate Stephen Curry (597).
Streaking
The Hawks' Bogdan Bogdanovic made just one of his seven attempts from long range, but that was all he needed to extend his 3-point streak to 101 games, the fifth-longest such streak in NBA history. Bogdanovic is averaging 16.0 PPG with 43.1/37.5/92.3 shooting splits over that stretch.
Towns has recorded 14 consecutive double-doubles, the second-longest such streak of his career. He's averaging 24.9 PPG and 14.4 RPG with 52.6/39.2/81.6 shooting splits over that span.
Miscellany
Sengun was the night’s leading scorer, bagging 26 points. The Hawks’ De’Andre Hunter ranked second with 24 points, while teammate Trae Young placed third with 22.
Towns was the top board man, securing 19 rebounds last night. He was followed by a trio of Hawks: Johnson with 15 boards, Clint Capela with 13, and Onyeka Okongwu with 11 (tied with Sengun).
Young was the leading playmaker last night, handing out 11 assists. The Knicks’ Jalen Brunson was runner-up with eight dimes.
Hunter has produced nine 20-point games coming off the bench this season, tying the Boston Celtics’ Payton Pritchard for the league lead. He’s averaging 19.6 PPG with 48.3/44.6/88.1 shooting splits in 15 games played. The Hawks are 11-4 when Hunter plays versus 3-8 when he does not.
Young now has 168 career 20-point, 10-assists games, good for 11th place on the NBA’s all-time list. Kevin Johnson and Tim Hardaway are one spot above him with 170 such games apiece.
Young (22 points, 11 assists), Johnson (21 points, 15 rebounds), and Capela (11 points, 13 rebounds) each recorded a double-double in the same game for the eighth time. That’s the most such games by any active trio.
Johnson, Capela, and Okongwu have each recorded double-digit rebounds in a game five times, also the most such games by any active trio.