NBA Game Notes (Jan. 3, 2025)
Here are the NBA game notes for games that were played on Jan. 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 ⭐️
CJ McCollum matched his career high with 50 points to lead the New Orleans Pelicans to a 132-120 victory over the Washington Wizards, snapping their 11-game losing skid. McCollum shot 18-27 from the field, sinking 10 of his 16 attempts from 3-point range. He was charged with just one turnover and posted a rating of plus-21 points in 31 minutes played.
Second ⭐️
Evan Mobley scored a game-high 34 points as the Cleveland Cavaliers outscored the Dallas Mavericks 134-122, extending their winning streak to nine games. Mobley went 14-21 from the floor, including a 3-6 effort from 3-point range. He added a team-high 10 rebounds and a game-high two blocks (tied with Dean Wade) in 30 turnover-free minutes.
Third ⭐️
Nikola Jokic produced game highs of 41 points and 18 rebounds (tied with Victor Wembanyama) in the Denver Nuggets’ 113-110 loss to the San Antonio Spurs. Jokic shot just 15-36 from the field (3-10 on 3-pointers), but made eight of his nine free throw attempts. He also contributed a team-high nine assists and a game-high two steals (tied with three others) in 37 minutes of action.
Find out why Atlanta Hawks play-by-play man Bob Rathbun says Statitudes is “a valuable part of my daily research and it is FUN!” Sign up using the special link below and get 25% off your first 12 months.
Milestones
LeBron James scored a team-high 30 points on 13-20 shooting from the field as the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Atlanta Hawks 119-102. It was his 563rd career 30-point game, breaking a tie with Michael Jordan for the most such games in NBA history.
James and Jordan (Feb. 21 & 23, 2003) are the only 40-year-olds in NBA history to record back-to-back 30-point games. In fact, the only other player to record even one 30-point game after turning 40 years old is Dirk Nowitzki on April 9, 2019, the second-to-last game of his career.
James appeared in his 1,523rd regular season game, giving him sole possession of fourth place on the NBA’s all-time list. He had been tied with Nowitzki.
Anthony Davis, the second member of the Lakers’ dynamic duo, blocked a game-high three shots to increase his career total to 1,771, tying Elvin Hayes for 25th place on the NBA’s career leaderboard. The league began tracking blocks in 1973-74, Hayes’ sixth season.
McCollum is the 11th player in NBA history (22nd instance) to score at least 50 points with 10 threes made in a game. The only player to do so while playing fewer minutes than McCollum’s 31 is Klay Thompson with 27 on Oct. 29, 2018.
Appearing in his 100th career game, Spurs center Victor Wembanyama tallied 35 points (14-22 field goals), 18 rebounds, and two blocks. He’s just the fourth player to average at least 20 PPG, 10 RPG, and 3 BPG through his first 100 games, joining David Robinson, Shaquille O’Neal, and Alonzo Mourning (the NBA began tracking blocks in 1973-74).
Wembanyama is the first player in NBA history to reach 200 threes made and 200 blocks through his first 100 games (225 and 366, respectively). In fact, no other player has even recorded 150 of each through 100 games.
The Sacramento Kings’ DeMar DeRozan scored 29 points (10-18 field goals) in a 138-133 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. He raised his career total to 8,672 field goals made, passing Paul Pierce (8,668) to take over 27th place on the NBA’s all-time list.
Streaking
The Atlanta Hawks’ Bogdan Bogdanovic made one three to extend his 3-point streak to 105 games. It’s the second-longest such streak in franchise history (Kyle Korver, 127) and the fifth-longest such streak in NBA history.
Trae Young, Bogdanovic’s teammate, registered game highs of 33 points and nine assists. Young has dished out at least five assists in 194 consecutive games, the third-longest such streak in NBA history behind John Stockton (336) and Isiah Thomas (209).
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 33 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder knocked off the New York Knicks 117-107. He’s recorded 30 straight 20-point games, averaging 31.9 PPG, 5.1 RPG, and 6.1 APG with 53.9/37.2/88.4 shooting splits over that span.
Wembanyama made four 3-pointers and blocked two shots, the 25th consecutive game in which he’s recorded at least one of each. It’s the longest such streak in NBA history by four games.
Wembanyama has blocked at least one shot in 68 straight games, the longest such streak in Spurs history and the second-longest such streak in the NBA this century (Josh Smith, 76).
The Wizards’ Jordan Poole (26 points, 3-10 on threes) and the Cavaliers’ Donovan Mitchell (15 points, 2-7 on threes) extended their 3-point streaks to 58 and 57 games, respectively. Both are the longest such streaks in franchise history.
Team(s) with a winning streak of five or more games: Oklahoma City Thunder (14) and Cleveland Cavaliers (nine).
Team(s) with a losing streak of five or more games: Charlotte Hornets (nine).
The Thunder’s 14-game winning streak matches the longest such streak in franchise history. They also won 14 consecutive games in the 1995-96 season, when they were known as the Seattle SuperSonics.
The Cavaliers scored at least 100 points for the 38th straight game, breaking a tie for the longest such streak in franchise history. They recorded 37 consecutive 100-point games from Jan. 15, 1980 to Oct. 10, 1980.
The Cavaliers went 15-40 from 3-point range, their ninth consecutive game with at least 15 threes made. That’s the longest such streak in franchise history (by three games) and tied for the eighth-longest such streak in NBA history.
Finally, the Cavaliers have scored at least 100 points with 10 or more 3-pointers made in each of their last 38 games, the third-longest such streak in NBA history. The league record of 49 such games in a row was set by the 2020-21 Utah Jazz.
Do you have family and friends who love the NBA as much as you do? Please consider sharing this publication with them. Your support is greatly appreciated.
Miscellany
CJ McCollum led all scorers last night with 50 points, tying his career high. He was followed by Jokic (41), Wembanyama (35), Mobley (34), Gilgeous-Alexander (33), Young (33), the Kings’ Malik Monk (season-high 31), James (30), and the Grizzlies’ Jaylen Wells (career-high 30).
The Knicks’ Karl-Anthony Towns was the night’s top board man, hauling in a season-high-tying 22 rebounds. Also grabbing at least a dozen boards were Davis (season-high-tying 19), Jokic (18), Wembanyama (18), the Detroit Pistons’ Jalen Duren (14), the Thunder’s Isaiah Hartenstein (14), and the Orlando Magic’s Goga Bitadze (13).
The Pelicans’ Dejounte Murray was the leading playmaker, handing out 12 assists last night. The Magic’s Cole Anthony (career-high-tying 11), the Spurs’ Chris Paul (11), and the Toronto Raptors’ Immanuel Quickley (11) also delivered double-digit dimes.
The Hawks’ Dyson Daniels swiped a game-high five steals, the ninth time he’s recorded at least five thefts in a game this season. No other player has produced more than three such games. The last Hawk to record at least nine such games in a season was Mookie Blaylock in 1997-98 with 12.
Jokic and Wembanyama are just the sixth pair of opposing players since the ABA-NBA merger to each record at least 35 points and 15 rebounds in the same game. It’s just the second such occurrence in the last 35 seasons, the first coming on March 17, 2019 when Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid performed the feat.
The Cavaliers have recorded 30 victories in 34 games this season. Only four teams in NBA history have reached 30 wins faster: the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors (32 games), the 1966-67 Philadelphia 76ers (33), the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers (33), and the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls (33).
The Cavaliers and the Thunder each picked up their 22nd double-digit win of the season. Only two teams in NBA history have recorded more such wins through their first 34 games of a season: the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers and the 2020-21 Utah Jazz, both with 23.
On the flip side, the Washington Wizards now have 24 losses by double figures this season. The only team in NBA history with more such losses through their first 32 games of a season is the 1992-93 Dallas Mavericks with 28.