NBA Game Notes (March 18, 2026)
Here are the NBA game notes for games that were played on March 18, 2026.
Three Stars
Here are my “three stars” from yesterday’s NBA games, with the “first star” considered the top performer.
First ⭐️
Luka Doncic scored a game-high 40 points in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 124-116 win over the Houston Rockets. Doncic shot 12-25 from the field (7-17 on threes) and 9-14 from the free throw line. He also contributed a game-high 10 assists (tied with Alperen Sengun), a team-high nine rebounds, and one steal in 38 minutes played.
Second ⭐️
Donovan Clingan scored a career-high 28 points to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to a 127-119 victory over the Indiana Pacers. Clingan went 10-19 from the floor (3-5 on threes) and 5-6 from the charity stripe. He added a game-high 13 rebounds, a team-high two blocks, and one steal in just 25 minutes of action.
Third ⭐️
Alperen Sengun scored a team-high 27 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Rockets fell to the Lakers. Sengun was very efficient, going 10-15 from the field and 6-6 from the free throw line. He also recorded a game-high 10 assists (tied with Doncic), four rebounds, and one steal in 37 minutes played.
Milestones
Doncic recorded his 58th career 40-point game, tying Bob McAdoo for 16th place on the NBA’s all-time list. He now has 245 career 30-point games, tying Dirk Nowitzki for 24th place on the league’s leaderboard.
The Lakers’ LeBron James (30 points) surpassed 1,000 points for the season, his NBA-record 23rd time attaining that milestone. At 41 years and 78 days old, he’s the oldest player in NBA history to reach that mark, eclipsing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (40 years, 352 days).
James (five rebounds) became the 23rd player in NBA history to reach 12,000 career rebounds. He’s the only player in that group to never average at least 10 RPG in a season (career best of 8.6 RPG). Every other member recorded at least six such seasons.
Julius Randle (21 points) reached 15,000 career points as the Minnesota Timberwolves routed the Utah Jazz 147-111. He’s the third player from the 2014 NBA Draft class to attain that milestone, joining Nikola Jokic and Andrew Wiggins.
Trey Murphy III (4-12 on threes) made his 200th 3-pointer of the season in the New Orleans Pelicans’ 124-109 win over the LA Clippers. It’s the second time he’s reached that mark, joining CJ McCollum as the only players in franchise history to produce multiple such seasons.
Jalen Johnson (nine assists) registered his 500th assist of the season in the Atlanta Hawks’ 135-120 win over the Dallas Mavericks. He’s the first player in franchise history to record at least 500 rebounds and 500 assists in a season.
The Brooklyn Nets scored just 24 first-half points in a 121-92 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. That matches the lowest point total in a half in franchise history, a mark that was originally set on March 8, 2003 versus the Houston Rockets (also in the first half).
Streaking
The Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (20 points) extended his NBA-record streak of 20-point games to 130, a run in which he’s averaged 32.4 PPG and 6.5 APG with 53.6/38.5/89.5 shooting splits.
The Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard (25 points) scored at least 20 points for the 46th consecutive game, the second-longest such streak in franchise history and the 24th-longest such streak in NBA history. Over that stretch, he’s averaged 29.1 PPG with 50.6/38.1/88.9 shooting splits.
Doncic has recorded 15 straight 20-point games, 12 straight 25-point games, and seven straight 30-point games. He’s posted figures of 33.4 PPG, 8.3 RPG, and 8.3 APG over the former span.
Team(s) with a winning streak of five or more games: Atlanta Hawks (11), Oklahoma City Thunder (10), and Los Angeles Lakers (seven).
Team(s) with a losing streak of five or more games: Indiana Pacers (15) and Brooklyn Nets (five).
The Hawks picked up their 11th straight win, all by nine or more points. That ties the Washington Capitols (Nov. 30 to Dec. 30, 1946) for the longest such streak in NBA history.
The Pacers’ 15-game losing streak is the longest in franchise history and the second-longest in NBA history by a team that reached the Finals the previous season. The latter mark of 17 losses in a row is held by the 1964-65 San Francisco Warriors, who traded Wilt Chamberlain when their losing streak was at 11 games.
Miscellany
The Jazz’s Brice Sensabaugh led the nightly scoring brigade, bagging 41 points. He was followed by Doncic (40 points), the Trail Blazers’ Deni Avdija (32), the Boston Celtics’ Jaylen Brown (32), and James (30).
The Denver Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic was the chairman of the boards, collecting 14 rebounds last night. Clingan was runner-up with 13 rebounds, while the Timberwolves’ Rudy Gobert placed third with 12.
The Nuggets’ Jamal Murray and the Mavericks’ Ryan Nembhard were the night’s top playmakers, each handing out 12 assists. Also delivering double-digit dimes were the Pelicans’ Dejounte Murray (11), Doncic (10), the Pacers’ T.J. McConnell (10), and Sengun (10).
James (30 points, 13-14 field goals) recorded a field goal percentage of 92.9%, the highest such figure by a Los Angeles Laker in a 30-point game since James Worthy on Dec. 28, 1985 (31 points, 14-15 field goals).