NBA Game Notes (March 24, 2024)

Here are the NBA game notes for games that were played on March 24, 2024.

Mar 25, 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 ⭐️

Anthony Davis produced game highs of 36 points (tied with Pascal Siakam) and 16 rebounds as the Los Angeles Lakers outscored the Indiana Pacers 150-145. Davis made 15 of his 21 shots from the floor and connected on all five of his free throws.

Davis has recorded a double-double in 16 of his last 17 games, the exception being March 16 when he had to leave the game late in the first quarter with an eye injury. He’s averaging 24.1 PPG and 13.8 RPG over that span, shooting 56.7% from the field and 82.7% from the free throw line.

Second ⭐️

Zion Williamson matched his season high with 36 points in the New Orleans Pelicans’ 114-103 victory over the Detroit Pistons. Williamson went 13-14 from the field and 10-14 from the free throw line, adding seven rebounds, six assists, and two steals in 36 minutes played.

Williamson is the only player in franchise history to record a 30-point game with 90% shooting from the field. He’s now done so three times, the first two occurrences coming on Feb. 12, 2021 and Nov. 29, 2023.

Third ⭐️

Giannis Antetokounmpo tallied game highs of 30 points and 19 rebounds as the Milwaukee Bucks routed the Oklahoma City Thunder 118-93. Antetokounmpo made 13 of his 18 field goal attempts, the 47th time he’s recorded a 30-point game while shooting at least 70% from the floor. That’s 11 more such games than any other active player (LeBron James, 36).

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Milestones

Antetokounmpo reached 2,000 points in a season for the third time in his career. The only other players in Bucks history to record a 2,000-point season are Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (five times) and Michael Redd (once).
Stephen Curry scored a game-high 31 points in the Golden State Warriors’ 114-110 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Curry made nine shots from the floor, becoming the 42nd player in NBA history to reach 8,000 career field goals made.
The LA Clippers’ Paul George made four 3-pointers in a 121-107 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. George increased his career total to 2,223 3-pointers made, passing Jamal Crawford (2,221) to take over 11th place on the NBA’s all-time list.
George attempted eight 3-pointers, pushing his season total to 526. He broke a tie with Lou Williams (2017-18) for the most 3-pointers attempted in a single season in franchise history.
CJ McCollum scored 23 points with five 3-pointers made as the Pelicans beat the Pistons. McCollum raised his career total to 1,763 3-pointers made, moving past Peja Stojakovic (1,760) and into 28th place on the NBA’s all-time leaderboard.

Streaking

Antetokounmpo has scored at least 20 points in each of his last 15 games. He’s averaging 30.3 PPG, 11.5 RPG, and 6.6 APG with a field goal percentage of 64.1% over that span.
Antetokounmpo’s teammate, Damian Lillard, made two 3-pointers to extend his streak of regular season games with at least one 3-pointer made to 144. It’s the third-longest such streak in NBA history, trailing only 268-game and 157-game runs by Curry.
Team(s) with a losing streak of five or more games: Detroit Pistons (six).
The Indiana Pacers have scored at least 100 points in each of their last 80 regular season games, tying the San Antonio Spurs (Feb. 4, 1983 to Feb. 3, 1984) for the sixth-longest such streak in NBA history. The Pacers are the third team to open a season with 72 straight 100-point games, joining the 1979-80 San Antonio Spurs and the 1981-82 Denver Nuggets.

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Davis, Siakam, and Williamson led all scorers yesterday, pouring in 36 points apiece (Williamson matched his season high). Curry (31) and Antetokounmpo (30) also had 30-point outings.
Antetokounmpo was the day’s top glass cleaner with a season-high 19 rebounds. Five more players grabbed at least a dozen boards: the Miami Heat’s Bam Adebayo (16), Davis (16), Gobert (12), the Timberwolves’ Naz Reid (season-high-tying 12), and Siakam (12).
The Clippers’ James Harden was the leading playmaker, handing out 14 assists yesterday. The Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton, the Lakers’ LeBron James, and the Bucks’ Khris Middleton were next with 10 assists each.
The Los Angeles Lakers had four players score at least 25 points in their win over the Pacers: Davis (36), James (26), Spencer Dinwiddie (26), and Austin Reaves (25). They are the first Laker quartet to achieve this feat since Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West, Happy Hairston, and Keith Erickson on Jan. 24, 1971.
James now has 268 career 20-point, 10-assist games, the third-highest total in NBA history behind Oscar Robertson (417) and Magic Johnson (295). James has recorded nine 20-point, 10-assist games since turning 39 years old, one more such game than all other players in NBA history combined.
Middleton recorded his second career triple-double, compiling 11 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists in the Bucks’ win over the Thunder. Middleton played just 27 minutes, the third-lowest total in a triple-double in franchise history.
Adebayo had 15 points and five steals to go with his 16 rebounds as the Heat routed the Cleveland Cavaliers 121-84. Adebayo became just the second player in franchise history to record at least 15 points, 15 rebounds, and five steals in a game, joining Glen Rice (Nov. 26, 1993).
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored just 12 points in the Thunder’s loss to the Bucks, snapping streaks of 65 straight 15-point games and 29 straight 20-point games. They are the longest and second-longest such streaks of his career, respectively.
The Lakers’ 150-145 win over the Pacers was just the 14th non-overtime game in NBA history in which both teams scored at least 145 points. It’s the second such game this season (both involved the Pacers). The only other seasons to feature multiple such games are the 1990-91 (four) and 1983-84 (two) campaigns.
The Lakers attempted 27 more free throws than the Pacers (43-16), the third time this season they’ve had at least a 25-attempt advantage over their opponent at the free throw line. No other team has recorded more than one such game this season. The Lakers also recorded three such games last season. Again, no other team posted more than one such game.
The Pacers scored at least 140 points in a game for the ninth time this season, tying the 1962-63 Syracuse Nationals and the 2023-24 Milwaukee Bucks for the second-highest single-season total in NBA history. The record of 10 such games is held by the 1981-82 Denver Nuggets.
The Cleveland Cavaliers had just one player score in double figures in their loss to the Heat (Evan Mobley, 15), the first time since Jan. 30, 2008 they’ve had a single double-digit scorer in a game. Leaguewide, it’s the only time it’s happened in the last two seasons.