NBA Game Notes (Feb. 3, 2025)
Here are the NBA game notes for games that were played on Feb. 3, 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 ⭐️
Jalen Brunson scored 42 points, 17 of them coming in the fourth quarter, as the New York Knicks rallied to defeat the Houston Rockets 124-118. Brunson shot 14-27 from the field and made 13 of his 14 free throw attempts. He also recorded a team-high 10 assists, six rebounds, and two steals in 37 minutes of playing time.
Second ⭐️
Trey Murphy III matched his career high with 41 points, but it wasn’t enough as the New Orleans Pelicans fell to the Denver Nuggets 125-113. Murphy III went 13-21 from the floor (8-12 on 3-pointers) and a perfect 7-7 from the free throw line. He added a game-high two steals (tied with three others) and one block in 38 turnover-free minutes.
Third ⭐️
Nikola Jokic recorded his league-leading 23rd triple-double of the season, scoring 27 points to go with game highs of 14 rebounds and 10 assists in the Nuggets’ win over the Pelicans. Jokic shot 9-13 from the field and made eight of his 10 free throw attempts. He also blocked a game-high two shots and committed just one turnover in 36 minutes of action.
Milestones
The Phoenix Suns’ Devin Booker scored a game-high 34 points in a 121-119 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. He raised his career total to 15,678 points, passing Walter Davis (15,666) to become the leading scorer in franchise history.
Brunson recorded his 18th career 40-point game as a Knick, breaking a tie with Carmelo Anthony for the third-most such game in franchise history. The top two spots are occupied by Patrick Ewing (30 such games) and Bernard King (23).
Jonas Valanciunas tallied 14 points and 17 rebounds in the Washington Wizards’ 124-114 win over the Charlotte Hornets. He ended the game with exactly 12,000 career points, becoming the eighth player from the 2011 NBA Draft class to reach that mark. Valanciunas owns the highest career field goal percentage in that group (56.0%).
Domantas Sabonis had 14 points and a team-high 11 rebounds as the Sacramento Kings edged the Minnesota Timberwolves 116-114. He surpassed 10,000 career points in this game, becoming the third-fastest player in NBA history to record at least 10,000 points, 6,000 rebounds, and 3,000 assists. Sabonis reached those marks in 622 games, trailing only Larry Bird (574) and Jokic (576).
Sabonis’ teammate, DeMar DeRozan, scored a game-high 33 points and dished out a team-high seven assists. DeRozan made three free throws to increase his career total to 6,375, tying Allen Iverson for 15th place on the NBA’s all-time list.
The Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards scored 21 points with three 3-pointers made. He’s made a league-leading 201 threes in 49 games this season, becoming just the fifth player in NBA history to reach 200 in fewer than 50 games. Edwards joins Stephen Curry (eight times), James Harden (three times), Damian Lillard (twice), and Klay Thompson.
Streaking
Murphy III became just the second player in NBA history to record back-to-back 40-point games with an effective field goal percentage of at least 80% in each game. Stephen Curry was the first player to accomplish the feat on Feb. 25 & 27, 2016.
Murphy III is also just the second player in league history to record three straight 30-point games with an effective field goal percentage of at least 80% in each game. He joins Bernard King, who did so from Dec. 30, 1980 to Jan 3, 1981.
Murphy III is only the second player in New Orleans Pelicans history to record back-to-back 40-point games, joining Anthony Davis (five times).
The San Antonio Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama racked up 27 points, 10 rebounds, five assists, two steals, and two blocks in a 128-109 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. He’s blocked at least one shot in 80 straight games, the longest such streak in franchise history (by 19 games) and the longest such streak in the NBA this century.
Wembanyama also went 2-6 from beyond the arc, the 36th consecutive game in which he’s recorded at least one 3-pointer made and one block. It’s the longest such streak in NBA history by 15 games.
The Oklahoma City Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 34 points (15-19 field goals) despite playing only 22 minutes in a 125-96 rout of the Milwaukee Bucks. He’s recorded 43 straight 20-point games, the longest such streak of his career and the third-longest such streak in franchise history.
Three more players have double-digit 20-point game streaks: the Orlando Magic’s Franz Wagner (15 games, career high), the Detroit Pistons’ Cade Cunningham (13, career high), and Edwards (11).
Team(s) with a losing streak of five or more games: New Orleans Pelicans (six) and Charlotte Hornets (five).
The Memphis Grizzlies have scored at least 100 points in each of their 50 games this season, becoming the 10th team in NBA history to start a season with 50 such games in a row. Their 100-point streak extends to 52 games dating back to last season, the longest such run in franchise history by 17 games.
Miscellany
A total of 11 players scored at least 30 points last night, led by Brunson’s 42-point effort. He was joined by Murphy III (career-high-tying 41), the Nuggets’ Michael Porter Jr. (season-high 36), Booker (34), Gilgeous-Alexander (34), the Atlanta Hawks’ Trae Young (34), DeRozan (33), the Grizzlies’ Jaren Jackson Jr. (31), Cunningham (30), the Pelicans’ CJ McCollum (30), and the Timberwolves’ Naz Reid (season-high 30).
The Trail Blazers’ Deandre Ayton was the night’s top board man, hauling in 20 rebounds. He was followed by Valanciunas with 17 boards and the Golden State Warriors’ Kevon Looney with 15. All three figures were season highs.
Cunningham paced nine players with double-digit assists last night, distributing 14 dimes. The others were the Utah Jazz’s Keyonte George (career-high-tying 11), the Grizzlies’ Ja Morant (11), the Rockets’ Amen Thompson (career-high 11), the Hornets’ Miles Bridges (season-high 10), Brunson (10), the Jazz’s Isaiah Collier (10), Jokic (10), and the Trail Blazers’ Anfernee Simons (season-high-tying 10).
Brunson recorded his first career 40-point, 10-assist game. He’s the first Knick to record a 40-point, 10-assist, 5-rebound game since Stephon Marbury on March 29, 2005.
Murphy III has scored 113 points with an effective field goal percentage of 88.8% over his last three games. No player in NBA history has recorded a higher effective field goal percentage over a three-game span in which they’ve scored at least 100 points.
Jokic has recorded 11 triple-doubles in his last 17 games, narrowly missing four others by either a single rebound or a single assist. He’s averaging 27.6 PPG, 13.4 RPG, 11.6 APG, and 2.1 SPG with 56.9/40.6/85.3 shooting splits over that span.
The 22-year old Thompson recorded his third career triple-double, compiling 25 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists. Over his last 14 games (all starts), Thompson is averaging 18.4 PPG, 10.6 RPG, 4.9 APG, 2.1 SPG, and 1.4 BPG with a field goal goal percentage of 52.7%.