NBA Game Notes (Dec. 7, 2023)
NBA Game Notes (Dec. 7, 2023)
Here are the NBA game notes for games that were played on December 7, 2023.
Pacers Rally, Beat Bucks
The Indiana Pacers outscored the Milwaukee Bucks 37-25 in the fourth quarter to pull out a 128-119 victory, advancing to the NBA’s inaugural In-Season Tournament championship game. They will face the Lakers in Saturday night’s final.
The Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton scored a team-high 27 points on 11-19 shooting from the field, adding a game-high 15 assists and seven rebounds. Haliburton has recorded at least 25 points and 15 assists in five of his last 10 games. The last player to produce five such games in a 10-game span was Magic Johnson in March 1987.
Haliburton did not commit a turnover, the third time he’s recorded a 25-point, 15-assist game with zero turnovers this season. Since the NBA began tracking individual turnovers in 1977-78, no other player has recorded more than one such game in their entire career.
Over his last two games, Haliburton has produced 53 points and 28 assists without committing a turnover. Only one player has matched or exceeded both of those totals over a two-game span with zero turnovers: Haliburton himself, with 58 points and 32 assists on Nov. 12 & 14, 2023.
Haliburton has scored at least 25 points with an effective field goal percentage of 60% in each of his last four games. That ties Reggie Miller (Jan. 19-27, 1990) for the longest such single-season streak in franchise history.
Pacers center Myles Turner recorded his third straight double-double, scoring 26 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. He shot 9-18 from the field, blocked a team-high three shots, and did not commit a turnover.
Haliburton and Turner are just the fifth duo over the last 30 seasons to each record a 25-point double-double with zero turnovers:
Dorian Finney-Smith & Kristaps Porzingis (Aug. 8, 2020)
Nickeil Alexander-Walker & Jonas Valanciunas (Nov. 10, 2021)
Anthony Davis & LeBron James (Dec. 2, 2022)
Nikola Jokic & Michael Porter Jr. (Nov. 29, 2023)
Tyrese Haliburton & Myles Turner (Dec. 7, 2023)
The Pacers have scored at least 120 points 16 times this season, tying the NBA record for most such games through a team’s first 20 games of a season:
Philadelphia Warriors, 1961-62
Denver Nuggets, 1988-89
Denver Nuggets, 1990-91
Indiana Pacers, 2023-24
Indiana is averaging 128.4 PPG this season. Only two teams in NBA history have recorded a higher scoring average through their first 20 games of a season: the 1990-91 and 1988-89 Denver Nuggets (129.0 and 128.7, respectively).
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored a game-high 37 points for the Bucks, also snagging a team-high 10 rebounds. Antetokounmpo shot 13-19 from the floor and made 11 of his 13 free throws.
Antetokounmpo has recorded a 30-point double-double with a field goal percentage of at least 65% in each of his last three games. He’s just the fifth player since the ABA-NBA merger to record three such games in a row:
Moses Malone (Jan. 14–19, 1979)
Karl Malone (Dec. 27, 1990–Jan. 2, 1991)
Shaquille O’Neal (March 1–5, 2002)
Nikola Jokic (March 30–April 3, 2022)
Giannis Antetokounmpo (Dec. 2–7, 2023)
Teammate Damian Lillard had 24 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists, but made just seven of his 20 attempts from the field. Lillard has scored at least 20 points in 11 of his last 12 games, averaging 27.4 PPG and 8.4 APG with 47/42/92 shooting splits over that span.
Lakers Rout Pelicans
The Los Angeles Lakers routed the New Orleans Pelicans 133-89 to advance to the In-Season Tournament championship game, where they will face the Indiana Pacers Saturday night. The Lakers’ 44-point margin of victory is their largest since a 55-point win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Jan. 11, 2011.
The Lakers’ LeBron James was the game’s leading scorer, producing 30 points on just 12 shots from the field. James made nine of those attempts (including all four of his 3-pointers) and went 8-8 from the free throw line. His true shooting percentage was 96.6%, the highest such figure he’s ever recorded in a 30-point game.
James also handed out a game-high eight assists, grabbed five rebounds, and did not commit a turnover. It’s the 18th time he’s recorded at least 30 points, five rebounds, and five assists in a game with zero turnovers, the most such games since the NBA began tracking individual turnovers in 1977-78.
Lakers center Anthony Davis compiled 16 points, a game-high 15 rebounds, five assists, two steals, and two blocks. Davis has recorded a double-double in each of his last 11 games, the second-longest such streak of his career.
Teammate Austin Reaves came off the bench to produce 17 points, seven assists, and five rebounds in just 23 minutes played. It’s the sixth time Reaves has recorded at least 15 points, five rebounds, and five assists in a game he did not start this season, the most such games in the NBA.
The Pelicans shot just 34-95 from the floor (35.8%), the worst field goal percentage they’ve recorded in a game this season. New Orleans made only seven of its 31 attempts from 3-point range (22.6%).
Holiday Special
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