NBA Game Notes (March 4, 2025)

Here are the NBA game notes for games that were played on March 4, 2025.

Mar 05, 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 ⭐️

Paolo Banchero scored a game-high 41 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Orlando Magic fell to the Toronto Raptors 114-113. Banchero shot 14-20 from the field (4-5 on 3-pointers) and 9-10 from the free throw line. He also contributed team highs of eight rebounds and eight assists to go with a game-high four steals in 40 minutes of playing time.

Second ⭐️

Devin Vassell scored a career-high 37 points to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a 127-113 victory over the Brooklyn Nets. Vassell went 14-20 from the floor, hitting eight of his 11 attempts from 3-point range. He also recorded 11 rebounds (matching his career high), five assists, a game-high four steals, and one block in 35 minutes of action.

Third ⭐️

LeBron James became the first player in NBA history to reach 50,000 combined points (regular season and postseason), scoring a team-high 34 points in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 136-115 rout of the New Orleans Pelicans. James shot 10-18 from the field (5-10 on 3-pointers) and made all nine of his free throw attempts. He added eight rebounds, six assists, a game-high two blocks (tied with Jarred Vanderbilt), and one steal in 33 minutes played.

Milestones

As noted above, James became the first player in NBA history to score 50,000 combined points in the regular season and postseason. Only two other players have even reached the 40,000-point mark: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (44,149) and Karl Malone (41,689).
The Lakers’ Luka Doncic (30 points, 15 assists) became just the fourth player in franchise history to record a 30-point, 15-assist game. He joins Magic Johnson (19 games), Jerry West (six), and LeBron James (one).
Donovan Mitchell (28 points) reached 13,000 career points as the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Chicago Bulls 139-117. He’s the second player from the 2017 NBA Draft class to attain that milestone, joining Jayson Tatum.
Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen (25 points, 10-11 field goals) recorded his sixth career 25-point game with 90% shooting from the field, tying Artis Gilmore and Shaquille O’Neal for the second-most such games in NBA history. The record of 12 such games is held by Wilt Chamberlain.
The Pelicans’ Zion Williamson (37 points, 17-23 field goals) scored at least 30 points with 70% shooting from the floor for the 25th time. At 24 years and 241 days old, he’s the second-youngest player in NBA history to reach that mark, trailing only O’Neal.
The Los Angeles Lakers hoisted 52 shots from beyond the arc (making 19 of them), setting a franchise record for most 3-pointers attempted in a game. The previous mark of 51 attempts was set just last month on Feb. 19.

Streaking

Doncic (30 points, 6-13 threes) scored at least 10 points with one 3-pointer made for the 101st consecutive game, the longest such streak in NBA history. Points aside, his 101-game 3-point streak ranks sixth in league history.
Mitchell went just 1-6 from long range, but that was enough to extend his 3-point streak to 81 games. It’s the longest such streak in Cleveland Cavaliers history (by 40 games) and the 12th-longest such streak in NBA history.
The Indiana Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton (15 assists, two turnovers) has recorded at least 10 assists with two or fewer turnovers in six straight games, tying Muggsy Bogues for the second-longest such streak since the NBA began tracking individual turnovers in 1977-78. The record of seven such games in a row is held by Bogues (Feb. 2-18, 1994).
Team(s) with a winning streak of five or more games: Cleveland Cavaliers (11) and Los Angeles Lakers (seven).
Team(s) with a losing streak of five or more games: Brooklyn Nets (five).
The San Antonio Spurs dished out 37 assists last night, becoming the first team in NBA history to record at least 20 assists in 200 consecutive regular season games. The Indiana Pacers rank a distant second with a streak of 150 such games in a row (Dec. 14, 2022 to Nov. 18, 2024).
The Cavaliers have scored at least 120 points in each of their last six games, the longest such streak in franchise history. The previous record of five such games in a row was set earlier this season (Dec. 16-27, 2024).
The Cavaliers went 17-48 from beyond the arc, the 66th straight game in which they’ve made 10 or more 3-pointers. It’s the longest such streak in franchise history (by 40 games) and the third-longest such streak in NBA history.

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Banchero was the nightly scoring leader, netting 41 points. Also scoring at least 30 points were Vassell (career-high 37), the Pelicans’ Zion Williamson (37), the LA Clippers’ Ivica Zubac (career-high 35), the Phoenix Suns’ Kevin Durant (34), James (34), Doncic (30), and the Philadelphia 76ers’ Quentin Grimes (30).
Allen was the chairman of the boards, hauling in 17 rebounds last night. Next in line was the New York Knicks’ Precious Achiuwa with a season-high-tying 15 boards, followed by the Spurs’ Bismack Biyombo and the Houston Rockets’ Tari Eason with 14 apiece (a season high for Biyombo, while Eason matched his career high).
Doncic, Haliburton, and the Clippers’ James Harden were the night’s top playmakers, each handing out 15 assists. The Atlanta Hawks’ Trae Young (13) and the Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo (10) also delivered double-digit dimes.
Antetokounmpo recorded his 51st career triple-double, racking up 26 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists in a 127-121 win over the Hawks. The Bucks have won seven of their last eight games to move 10 games above .500.
Zubac scored a career-high 35 points on 15-19 shooting from the floor and also snagged a game-high 10 rebounds. Only two players in LA Clippers’ history have recorded a higher field goal percentage in a 35-point, 10-rebound game: Michael Brooks (88.9% on Oct. 17, 1980) and Blake Griffin (79.2% on Jan. 17, 2011).
The Lakers have won 17 of their last 20 games, surging to take sole possession of second place in the Western Conference standings. They have outscored their opponents by an average of 11.1 PPG over that span.
After entering the 2025 calendar year with a losing record (16-18), the Indiana Pacers have won 19 of their last 26 games to climb 10 games above .500 (35-25). The only Eastern Conference team with a better record over that stretch is the Cleveland Cavaliers (22-6).