NBA Game Notes (March 23, 2025)

Here are the NBA game notes for games that were played on March 23, 2025.

Mar 24, 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 ⭐️

Andrew Wiggins scored a season-high 42 points to lead the Miami Heat to a 122-105 win over the Charlotte Hornets, snapping Miami’s 10-game losing streak. Wiggins went 16-21 from the floor, including a 6-8 effort from 3-point range. He also contributed five assists, two steals, and one block, posting a rating of plus-22 points in 35 minutes of court time.

Second ⭐️

CJ McCollum poured in a game-high 40 points, but it wasn’t enough as the New Orleans Pelicans were outscored by the Detroit Pistons 136-130. McCollum shot 16-28 from the field, hitting five of his 12 attempts from 3-point range. He added seven assists, five rebounds, and one steal in 37 minutes played.

Third ⭐️

Jamal Murray scored a game-high 39 points as the Denver Nuggets halted the Houston Rockets’ nine-game winning streak with a 116-111 victory. Murray went 15-28 from the floor (4-6 on 3-pointers) and 5-6 from the free throw line. He also recorded seven assists and four rebounds, committing just one turnover in 38 minutes of action.

Milestones

The LA Clippers’ James Harden (17 points) raised his career total to 27,416 points in a 103-101 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, passing Moses Malone (27,409) to become the 11th-leading scorer in NBA history.
Harden (4-14 on threes) broke the franchise single-season record for 3-pointers attempted with 591, eclipsing Paul George’s 588 attempts in 2023-24.
Harden (six turnovers) also set a franchise record for most turnovers in a season with 302 (the NBA began tracking individual turnovers in 1977-78). The previous mark of 297 errors was set by World B. Free in 1978-79.
McCollum increased his career total to 1,989 3-pointers made, passing Jason Kidd (1,988) to take over 18th place on the NBA’s all-time list.
Dyson Daniels (five steals) recorded his 200th theft of the season in the Atlanta Hawks’ 132-119 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. At 22 years and six days old, he’s the youngest player to reach that mark since the NBA began tracking steals in 1973-74.
Daniels joined Mookie Blaylock (five times) as the only Atlanta Hawks to record at least 200 steals in a season. Leaguewide, he’s the first player to attain that milestone since Chris Paul in 2008-09.
Finally, Daniels has recorded at least five steals in a game 13 times this season, tying the franchise single-season record set by Blaylock in 1996-97. Leaguewide, the only player with more such games this century is Chris Paul with 14 in 2010-11.

Streaking

The Thunder’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (26 points) has scored at least 20 points in each of his last 64 games, tying Kevin Durant for the longest such streak in franchise history. He also tied Elgin Baylor for the ninth-longest such streak in NBA history.
Daniels has recorded at least one steal in 42 straight games, tying Blaylock for the second-longest such streak in Atlanta Hawks history. The franchise record of 46 such games in a row is held by Doc Rivers.
Jayson Tatum (30 points) scored at least 15 points for the 104th consecutive game in the Boston Celtics’ 129-116 win over the Portland Trail Blazers. It’s the longest such streak in franchise history and tied for the 17th-longest such streak in NBA history.
The Sixers’ Quentin Grimes (26 points) extended his streak of 25-point games to eight, the longest such streak of his career by six games. He’s averaging 30.3 PPG, 5.6 APG, and 2.3 SPG over that span, shooting 50.0% from the field and 40.3% from 3-point range.
Team(s) with a winning streak of five or more games: Oklahoma City Thunder (six) and Boston Celtics (five).
The Cleveland Cavaliers made 11 threes in a 120-91 rout of the Utah Jazz, the 76th consecutive game in which they’ve hit 10 or more triples. 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.

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Wiggins was the day’s leading scorer, bagging a season-high 42 points. He was followed by McCollum (40), Murray (39), the Rockets’ Jalen Green (30), and Tatum (30).
The Nuggets’ DeAndre Jordan was the top board man yesterday, snagging 15 rebounds. The Rockets’ Alperen Sengun ranked second with 14 boards, while the Hornets’ Miles Bridges, the Jazz’s Kyle Filipowski, and the Jazz’s Walker Kessler tied for third place with 13 each.
The Hawks’ Trae Young was the daily assist leader, delivering 12 dimes. The Hornets’ LaMelo Ball and Sengun also handed out double-digit helpers with 11 and 10, respectively.
Sengun recorded his eighth career triple-double, scoring 17 points to go with his 14 rebounds and 10 assists. He’s recorded half of those triple-doubles this season.
Harden is averaging 22.5 PPG on 39.6% shooting from the field this season. The last qualified player to end a season with a scoring average of at least 20 PPG while shooting less than 40% from the floor was Baron Davis in 2003-04 (22.9 PPG, 39.5%).