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 ⭐️
Austin Reaves scored a career-high 45 points to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to their ninth win in the last 10 games with a 124-117 victory over the Indiana Pacers. Reaves shot 14-26 from the field (4-9 on 3-pointers) and a perfect 13-13 from the free throw line. He added seven rebounds, a team-high seven assists (tied with Gabe Vincent), and a game-high three steals in 41 minutes of playing time.
Second ⭐️
Jayson Tatum bagged a game-high 40 points as the Boston Celtics routed the New York Knicks 131-104. Tatum went 13-26 from the floor (7-14 on 3-pointers) and made seven of his nine free throw attempts. He also had six rebounds and four assists, committing just one turnover and one personal foul in 37 minutes of action.
Third ⭐️
Zion Williamson scored a season-high 40 points in only 28 minutes played, but that didn’t prevent the New Orleans Pelicans from dropping their eighth straight game in a 123-118 loss to the Sacramento Kings. Williamson made 16 of his 21 attempts from the field and went 8-11 from the free throw line. He also contributed four rebounds, four assists, and two steals.
Milestones
The Dallas Mavericks set a franchise record with 18 blocks in a 116-105 victory over the reeling Houston Rockets, losers of six in a row. The previous mark of 17 blocks was set on Feb. 22, 2013.
Streaking
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander struggled from the floor (8-26 field goals), but scored a game-high 32 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Memphis Grizzlies 125-112. Gilgeous-Alexander has scored at least 20 points in each of his last 46 games, the longest such streak of his career and the third-longest such streak in franchise history.
Gilgeous-Alexander has recorded 20 straight 25-point games, the longest usch streak of his career and the fourth-longest such streak in franchise history. He’s averaging 35.4 PPG and 5.9 APG with 54.5/36.1/92.5 shooting splits over that span.
The San Antonio Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama compiled 18 points, nine rebounds, four steals, and four blocks in a 112-111 loss to the Orlando Magic. He’s blocked at least one shot in each of his last 83 games, the longest such streak in franchise history (by 22 games) and the longest such streak in the NBA this century.
Wembanyama shot just 1-6 from long range, but that was enough to his extend streak of games with at least one 3-pointer made and one block to 40 games. It’s the longest such streak in NBA history by a whopping 19 games.
Team(s) with a winning streak of five or more games: Denver Nuggets (six), Los Angeles Lakers (five), and Oklahoma City Thunder (five).
Team(s) with a losing streak of five or more games: New Orleans Pelicans (eight) and Houston Rockets (six).
The Lakers have scored at least 120 points in five straight games for the first time since March 1987. They have won all five of those games, averaging 125.6 PPG over that span.
The Thunder have won five straight games, scoring at least 120 points in each contest. It’s just the second time in franchise history they’ve recorded five such wins in a row, the first coming in February 2024.
Miscellany
Reaves led the daily scoring brigade with his career-high 45 points. He was one a dozen players to score at least 30 points, the others being Tatum (40), Williamson (season-high 40), the Knicks’ Jalen Brunson (36), the Atlanta Hawks’ Trae Young (35), the Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (34), the Magic’s Franz Wagner (33), Gilgeous-Alexander (32), the Pelicans’ CJ McCollum (31), the Minnesota Timberwolves’ Jaden McDaniels (career-high 30), the Nuggets’ Jamal Murray (30) and the Rockets’ Alperen Sengun (30).
The Dallas Mavericks’ Anthony Davis and the Kings’ Domantas Sabonis were the top board men, each hauling in 16 rebounds yesterday. Next in line was the LA Clippers’ Ivica Zubac with 15 boards, followed by the Portland Trail Blazers’ Deandre Ayton and the Thunder’s Isaiah Hartenstein with 14 apiece.
The Clippers’ James Harden was the day’s leading playmaker, handing out a season-high 17 assists. Also delivering double-digit dimes were Young with 14 and the Phoenix Suns’ Tyus Jones with 10.
New Face, New Place (Part 1): Davis racked up 26 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists, and three blocks in his Dallas Mavericks debut. The last player to record at least 25 points, 15 rebounds, and five assists in his debut with a new team was Charles Barkley with the Phoenix Suns on Nov. 7, 1992.
New Face, New Place (Part 2): Jimmy Butler had a successful debut with the Golden State Warriors, scoring 25 points (7-12 field goals, 11-13 free throws) in a 132-111 rout of the Chicago Bulls.
The Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic fell one assist shy of a triple-double, tallying 26 points (11-13 field goals), 11 rebounds, and nine assists in a 122-105 win over the Suns. He’s recorded 12 triple-doubles in his last 20 games, narrowly missing five others by either a single rebound or a single assist.