NBA Game Notes (June 12, 2024)
Here are the NBA game notes for games that were played on June 12, 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 ⭐️
Jaylen Brown scored 30 points as the Boston Celtics took a commanding 3-0 series lead with a 106-99 victory over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. The Celtics can complete the sweep with a win in Dallas Friday night.
Brown also snagged a team-high eight rebounds and dished out a game-high eight assists in 41 minutes played. He shot 12-22 from the floor (although just 2-9 on 3-pointers) and made four of his five free throw attempts.
Second ⭐️
Jayson Tatum scored a team-high 31 points for the Celtics, adding six rebounds and five assists. He went 11-26 from the field (4-13 from 3-point range) and 5-5 from the free throw line, committing just two turnovers in 42 minutes of action.
Third ⭐️
Kyrie Irving poured in a game-high 35 points to lead the Mavericks. Irving shot 13-28 from the floor — including 4-6 from 3-point range — and made all five of his free throw attempts. He was charged with just two turnovers in his game-high 45 minutes of playing time.
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Milestones
Brown and Tatum became the sixth duo in NBA Finals history to each record at least 30 points, five rebounds, and five assists in the same game. The others to accomplish the feat are Stephen Curry & Kevin Durant (twice), Hal Greer & Wali Jones, Jerry West & Elgin Baylor, Shaquille O’Neal & Anfernee Hardaway, and Nikola Jokic & Jamal Murray.
Brown and Tatum are just the second duo in Celtics history to each score at least 30 points in the same NBA Finals game. They join John Havlicek and Bailey Howell, who achieved the feat on May 2, 1968.
Brown and Tatum have each scored at least 25 points in the same playoff game 18 times, breaking a tie with Larry Bird & Kevin McHale for the most such games by a duo in Celtics history. It’s also the sixth-highest such total in NBA history.
The Mavericks’ Dereck Lively II pulled in a game-high 13 rebounds. At 20 years and 121 days old, he’s the youngest player in NBA Finals history to grab at least 10 rebounds in a game. Lively II is the first rookie to record double-digit rebounds in a Finals game since Richard Dumas on June 9, 1993.
Streaking
Brown has scored at least 20 points on 50% shooting from the field in seven straight games, tying Larry Bird (April 29 to May 13, 1984) for the longest such streak in Celtics postseason history.
The Celtics’ Derrick White (16 points, four 3-pointers made) has made at least one 3-pointer in each of his last 26 playoff games, the longest such streak in franchise history. He’s averaging 15.8 PPG with 47/43/90 shooting splits over that span.
Luka Doncic tallied 27 points, six rebounds, and six assists for the Mavericks, his 10th straight 25-point game. It’s the longest such streak in franchise postseason history by two games.
Doncic has made at least one 3-pointer in 48 consecutive playoff games, the third-longest 3-point streak in NBA postseason history. The two longest such streaks belong to the Splash Brothers, Stephen Curry (132 games) and Klay Thompson (54).
Irving has lost the last 13 games in which he’s played against the Celtics, one of his former teams. Irving is averaging 20.8 PPG in those contests, shooting just 41.7% from the field and 29.5% from 3-point range.
The Boston Celtics are the first team to score at least 100 points and allow fewer than 100 points in each of the first three games of an NBA Finals.
The Celtics have won 10 consecutive games, the longest postseason winning streak in franchise history by three games. They are the ninth team in NBA history to win at least 10 straight games in a single postseason.
Dating back to last year, the Celtics have won nine straight playoff games on the road, tying the Cleveland Cavaliers (2016-2017) for the second-longest such winning streak in NBA postseason history. The Toronto Raptors (2019-2020) also won nine straight playoff games in which they were listed as the visiting team, but the last five of those wins came in the neutral-site bubble in 2020.
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Miscellany
Irving led all scorers last night, bagging 35 points. Tatum (31), Brown (30), and Doncic (27) also produced 25-point efforts.
Lively II was the only player to record double-digit boards, hauling in 13 rebounds last night. Brown and the Mavericks’ P.J. Washington were next with eight boards apiece.
Brown was the night’s top playmaker, handing out eight assists. Doncic led the Mavericks with six dimes.
Doncic fouled out of a playoff game for the first time in his 48-game postseason career. He’s recorded six personal fouls in just two of his 400 regular season games: July 31, 2020 and Oct. 29, 2022.
The Celtics improved to 15-2 in the 2024 NBA Playoffs, including a 7-0 record on the road. They have outscored their opponents by 173 points, an average of 10.2 points per game.