NBA Game Notes (Feb. 28, 2024)
Here are the NBA game notes for games that were played on February 28, 2024.
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 ⭐️
LeBron James scored a game-high 34 points as the Los Angeles Lakers stormed back from a 21-point deficit with 11:45 remaining to stun the LA Clippers 116-112. James personally outscored the Clippers 19-16 in the fourth quarter, either scoring or assisting on 11 of the Lakers’ 13 field goals in the period.
James also contributed a team-high eight assists, six rebounds, and two blocks in his 37 minutes played. He shot 13-21 from the floor, making seven of his 12 attempts from 3-point range.
Second ⭐️
Luka Doncic celebrated his 25th birthday with a triple-double, compiling game highs of 30 points, 16 assists, and 11 rebounds (tied with Scottie Barnes) in the Dallas Mavericks’ 136-125 victory over the Toronto Raptors. Doncic became the first player in NBA history to record a 30-point triple-double on his birthday.
Doncic now has 10 career games in which he’s recorded at least 30 points, 15 assists, and 10 rebounds. The only other player in NBA history to produce at least 10 such games is Oscar Robertson with 22.
Third ⭐️
Jamal Murray led all scorers with 32 points and handed out six assists as the Denver Nuggets routed the Sacramento Kings 117-96. He sank 13 of his 15 field goal attempts, including a 5-6 effort from 3-point range.
Murray became just the second player in franchise history to record a 30-point game with an effective field goal percentage greater than 100% (103.3%). He joins Nikola Jokic, who achieved the feat on Oct. 20, 2018.
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Milestones
DeMar DeRozan scored a game-high 35 points to go with 10 rebounds and five assists as the Chicago Bulls defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 132-123 in double overtime. DeRozan went 17-19 from the free throw line, becoming the 23rd player in NBA history to reach 6,000 career free throws made.
DeRozan’s teammate, Andre Drummond, scored 17 points, hauled in a season-high 26 rebounds, and blocked three shots. Drummond raised his career rebound total to 10,491, passing Tyson Chandler (10,467), DeAndre Jordan (10,476), and Ben Wallace (10,482) to move into 34th place on the NBA’s all-time list.
Streaking
Denver’s Nikola Jokic recorded his fourth straight triple-double, scoring 14 points to go with game highs of 14 rebounds, 11 assists, and three steals (tied with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope) in a blowout win over Sacramento. That matches the longest such streak of his career (fourth occurrence) and the longest such streak in franchise history.
Kings center Domantas Sabonis recorded his 41st consecutive double-double, tallying 13 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists in a loss to the Nuggets. It’s the second-longest such streak in franchise history (Jerry Lucas, 55) and the fourth-longest such streak since the ABA-NBA merger. Sabonis is averaging 20.4 PPG, 13.8 RPG, and 9.1 APG with a field goal percentage of 62.6% over that span.
James has scored at least 20 points in each of his last 16 games. No other player in NBA history has recorded more than five such games in a row after their 39th birthday. Over those 16 games, James is averaging 26.2 PPG, 7.1 RPG, and 8.5 APG, with shooting percentages of 53.6% from the field and 45.3% from 3-point range.
The Minnesota Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards scored a game-high 34 points in a 110-101 win over the Memphis Grizzlies, going 11-21 from the field and 11-11 from the free throw line. Edwards has scored at least 20 points in each of his last 11 games, the second-longest such streak of his career. He’s averaging 31.0 PPG with 48/35/83 shooting splits over that stretch.
Kyrie Irving scored 29 points in Dallas’ win over Toronto. He’s scored at least 25 points in each of his last seven games, matching the longest such streak of his career. Irving is averaging 28.9 PPG with 56/44/86 shooting splits over that span.
The Toronto Raptors have scored at least 120 points in five straight games, matching the longest such streak in franchise history. They’ve allowed at least 120 points in five of their last six games, tied for the most such games over a six-game span in franchise history.
The Indiana Pacers knocked off the New Orleans Pelicans 123-114, their fifth straight 120-point game. It’s the fifth time they’ve recorded at least five such games in a row since joining the NBA in 1976. Four of those streaks have occurred this season.
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Miscellany
DeRozan was the night’s top scorer with 35 points. He was followed by Edwards (34), James (34), the Grizzlies’ Jaren Jackson Jr. (33), Murray (32), Doncic (30), and the Pelicans’ Brandon Ingram (30).
Drummond was the top glass cleaner with 26 rebounds. Jokic was next with 14 boards, followed by Jackson Jr., Cleveland’s Evan Mobley, and Chicago’s Nikola Vucevic with 13 apiece (a career high for Jackson Jr.).
Doncic was the night’s leading playmaker with 16 assists. The Cavaliers’ Caris LeVert was second with a career-high 15 dimes, followed by the Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton (13), the Bulls’ Coby White (season-high 12), and Jokic (11).
Doncic is averaging 35.8 PPG, 10.0 RPG, and 10.6 APG over his last 18 games. The only other players in NBA history to average a 35-point triple-double over an 18-game span are Russell Westbrook (Feb. 26, 2017 to April 2, 2017) and Oscar Robertson (multiple non-overlapping spans).
DeRozan made just eight of his 26 shots from the floor, a field goal percentage of 30.8%. That’s the lowest such figure in franchise history by a player who scored at least 35 points in a game.
LeVert is just the second nonstarter in franchise history to record at least 15 assists in a game. He joins Bobby Washington, who came off the bench to distribute 15 assists versus the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 9, 1971.
The Chicago Bulls corralled 74 rebounds versus the Cleveland Cavaliers, the highest single-game total by a team since the Milwaukee Bucks snagged 81 boards on March 20, 2015 in a triple-overtime game versus the Brooklyn Nets.