NBA Game Notes (March 14, 2025)

Here are the NBA game notes for games that were played on March 14, 2025.

Mar 15, 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 ⭐️

Ja Morant scored a season-high 44 points, but it wasn’t enough to stop the Cleveland Cavaliers from picking up their 16th straight win with a 133-124 victory over his Memphis Grizzlies. Morant shot a sizzling 17-22 from the field and made nine of his 10 free throw attempts. He also recorded team highs of eight rebounds and seven assists in 35 minutes played.

Second ⭐️

Austin Reaves compiled game highs of 37 points, 13 assists, eight rebounds, and four steals, but the shorthanded Los Angeles Lakers fell to the Denver Nuggets 131-126. Reaves went 13-26 from the floor (4-10 on 3-pointers) and a perfect 7-7 from the free throw line. He played a team-high 39 minutes as five Laker rotation players missed the game due to injury.

Third ⭐️

LaMelo Ball produced game highs of 27 points and 15 assists (matching his career high) as the Charlotte Hornets outscored the San Antonio Spurs 145-134. Ball shot 9-13 from the field, sinking seven of his 11 attempts from 3-point range. He also swiped one steal and did not commit a personal foul in 29 minutes of action.

Milestones

James Harden (25 points) passed Elvin Hayes to become the 12th-leading scorer in NBA history as the LA Clippers routed the Atlanta Hawks 121-98. Harden has 27,316 career points, needing 94 more to surpass Moses Malone and take over 11th place on the all-time list.
Morant (17-22 field goals, 77.3%) recorded the highest field goal percentage in Memphis Grizzlies history by a player in a 40-point game. The previous mark of 73.3% was also held by Morant (Feb. 28, 2022).
The Boston Celtics beat the Miami Heat 103-91 to become the third team to clinch a berth in the 2025 NBA Playoffs. They join the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Charlotte Hornets were red-hot from downtown, breaking the franchise record for most 3-pointers made in a game with 26. The previous mark of 24 triples was set on Jan. 5, 2022 and tied on Jan. 26, 2022.
Led by Ball’s career-high-tying 15 dimes, the Hornets tied the franchise single-game record with 42 assists. They also recorded 42 helpers on Feb. 11, 2014, when the franchise was known as the Charlotte Bobcats.

Streaking

The Indiana Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton (10 assists, one turnover) recorded his eighth straight game with double-digit assists and two or fewer turnovers in a 112-100 win over the Philadelphia 76ers. That breaks a tie with Muggsy Bogues for the longest such streak since the NBA began tracking individual turnovers in 1977-78.
Morant has scored at least 20 points in each of his last 10 games, the third time he’s recorded such a streak of 10 or more games. The only other player in Memphis Grizzlies history to produce at least 10 straight 20-point games is Shareef Abdur-Rahim, who did so twice.
Team(s) with a winning streak of five or more games: Cleveland Cavaliers (16), Minnesota Timberwolves (seven), and Houston Rockets (five).
Team(s) with a losing streak of five or more games: Utah Jazz (eight) and Miami Heat (six).
The Cavaliers won their 16th consecutive game, snapping a tie for the longest winning streak in franchise history. The previous record was set earlier this season, when they opened the campaign with 15 straight wins.
The Cavaliers went 19-51 from beyond the arc, extending their streak of games with 10 or more 3-pointers made to 71. It’s the third-longest such streak in NBA history, trailing only a 97-game run by the Houston Rockets and an 87-game run by the Utah Jazz.
The Memphis Grizzlies have scored at least 100 points in each of their last 69 regular season games, the longest such streak in franchise history (by 34 games) and the 18th-longest such streak in NBA history.

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Morant was the night’s top point producer, bagging a season-high 44 points. The Orlando Magic’s Paolo Banchero was next in line with 43 points, followed by Reaves with 37, the Lakers’ Dalton Knecht with 32, and the Rockets’ Tari Eason with a career-high 30.
The Rockets’ Alperen Sengun and the Sixers’ Guerschon Yabusele shared nightly rebounding honors with 15 apiece (a career high for Yabusele). The Timberwolves’ Rudy Gobert snagged 12 boards, while the Jazz’s Kyle Filipowski, the Cavaliers’ Evan Mobley, and the Sacramento Kings’ Domantas Sabonis collected 11 each.
Ball was the leading playmaker last night, matching his career high with 15 assists. Also delivering double-digit dimes were the Phoenix Suns’ Devin Booker (season-high 13), Reaves (13), Sabonis (12), and Haliburton (10).
Sabonis returned from a six-game absence to record his 67th career triple-double, tallying 12 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 assists in the Kings’ 122-106 loss to the Suns. He ranks 10th on the NBA’s all-time list, 11 triple-doubles behind Wilt Chamberlain in ninth place.