NBA Game Notes (March 5, 2025)

Here are the NBA game notes for games that were played on March 5, 2025.

Mar 06, 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 ⭐️

Payton Pritchard came off the bench to score a career-high 43 points as the shorthanded Boston Celtics defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 128-118. Pritchard went 14-20 from the field, sinking 10 of his 16 shots from 3-point range, and made all five of his free throw attempts. He also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds and dished out five assists in 43 turnover-free minutes.

Second ⭐️

James Harden recorded his 24th career 50-point game, scoring a season-high 50 points to lead the LA Clippers to a 123-115 victory over the Detroit Pistons. Harden shot 14-24 from the floor (6-13 on 3-pointers) and 16-20 from the free throw line. He added five assists, four rebounds, one steal, and one block in 38 minutes played.

Third ⭐️

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander produced his league-leading 10th 40-point game of the season, netting a game-high 41 points in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 120-103 blowout win over the Memphis Grizzlies. Gilgeous-Alexander went 14-25 from the field (3-5 on 3-pointers) and a perfect 10-10 from the charity stripe. He also contributed eight assists and two steals in 35 minutes of action.

Milestones

Pritchard became just the third player in NBA history to record a 40-point, 10-rebound game with 10 or more 3-pointers made, joining Harden (Jan. 3, 2019) and Damian Lillard (Jan. 20, 2020). Pritchard is the only player to do so in a regulation game.
Pritchard recorded an effective field goal percentage of 95.0%, the highest such figure by a bench player in a 40-point game since the NBA began tracking starters in 1970-71.
Pritchard is only the second Boston Celtic to record a 40-point, 10-rebound game without committing a turnover since the NBA began tracking individual turnovers in 1977-78. He joins Larry Bird, who achieved the feat on Feb. 24, 1988. Leaguewide, he’s the first bench player to record such a game.
Pritchard made his 200th 3-pointer of the season, the first time he’s reached that mark. He’s the fifth player in NBA history to attain that milestone when starts are excluded (Pritchard has come off the bench in each of his 61 games this season).
Harden is just the seventh player in NBA history (10th instance) to record a 50-point game after turning 35 years old. He joins Stephen Curry (three times), LeBron James (twice), Alex English, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Jamal Crawford.
Giannis Antetokounmpo (32 points in 25 minutes) reached the 20,000-point mark in the Milwaukee Bucks’ 137-107 rout of the depleted Dallas Mavericks. He’s the 52nd player in NBA history to attain that milestone, and at 30 years and 89 days old is the sixth-youngest player to do so.
The Sacramento Kings’ DeMar DeRozan (35 points) increased his career total to 24,824 points in a 116-110 loss to the Denver Nuggets, passing Patrick Ewing (24,815) to move into 27th place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.
Pritchard and Derrick White (41 points, nine 3-pointers made) are the first teammates in NBA history to each make nine or more 3-pointers in the same game.
Pritchard and White are the first duo in Boston Celtics history to each score at least 40 points in the same game, and they are the 12th teammates in NBA history to achieve the feat in a regulation game.
Pritchard and White are the first teammates to each score at least 40 points with one or fewer turnovers in the same game since the NBA began tracking individual turnovers in 1977-78.
The Boston Celtics now have three players who have made 200 or more 3-pointers this season: Jayson Tatum, White, and Pritchard. They are just the third team in NBA history to feature three such players, joining the 2016-17 Houston Rockets and the 2022-23 Golden State Warriors.
The Oklahoma City Thunder recorded their 40th double-digit win of the season. They reached that mark in 62 games, tying the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers and the 2015-16 San Antonio Spurs as the fastest teams in NBA history to do so.
The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Miami Heat 112-107 to become the first team to clinch a playoff berth this season. Cleveland owns the league’ best record at 52-10, a win total that has only been exceeded by seven teams in NBA history through the first 62 games of a season.

Streaking

Gilgeous-Alexander has scored at least 20 points in each of his last 57 games, the second-longest such streak in franchise history and tied for the 12th-longest such streak in NBA history. The only guards with a longer streak of 20-point games are Oscar Robertson (79), Michael Jordan (72 and 69), and Kobe Bryant (63).
The Cavaliers’ Donovan Mitchell hit four triples to extend his 3-point streak to 82 games. It’s the longest such streak in franchise history (by 40 games) and the 12th-longest such streak in NBA history.
Team(s) with a winning streak of five or more games: Cleveland Cavaliers (12) and Oklahoma City Thunder (five).
Team(s) with a losing streak of five or more games: Charlotte Hornets (eight).
The Cavaliers are just the second team in NBA history to record three winning streaks of at least a dozen games in the same season, joining the 2006-07 Dallas Mavericks.
The Thunder have scored at least 120 points in eight consecutive games, the longest such streak in franchise history. They are just the fourth team this century to record at least eight 120-point games in a row.
The Memphis Grizzlies are just the fifth team in NBA history to score at least 100 points in each of their first 62 games of a season. That streak extends to 64 games dating back to last regular season, the longest in franchise history by 29 games.
The Denver Nuggets have scored at least 100 points in each of their last 50 games, the franchise’s longest such streak since a 55-game run that ended in Jan. 1989.
The Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the reeling Charlotte Hornets 125-110, tying a franchise record with their 40th consecutive 100-point game. They also recorded 40 such games in a row last season.
The Cavaliers sank 14 threes, the 67th straight game in which they’ve made 10 or more 3-pointers. It’s the longest such streak in franchise history (by 41 games) and the third-longest such streak in NBA history.

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Harden paced all scorers last night with his season-high 50 points. He was followed by Pritchard (career-high 43), Gilgeous-Alexander (41), White (career-high 41), the Pistons’ Cade Cunningham (37), DeRozan (35), the Heat’s Bam Adebayo (season-high 34), the Bucks’ Damian Lillard (34), Antetokounmpo (32), and the Trail Blazers’ Anfernee Simons (30).
Antetokounmpo, the Thunder’s Isaiah Hartenstein, and the Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic shared nightly rebounding honors with 15 apiece. The Cavaliers’ Evan Mobley, the Kings’ Jonas Valanciunas, and Utah Jazz teammates Kyle Filipowski and Oscar Tshiebwe were next in line with 13 boards each.
The Bucks’ Kevin Porter Jr. was the leading playmaker last night, matching his career high with 14 assists. Cunningham and the Cavaliers’ Darius Garland also delivered double-digit dimes with 10 apiece.
Porter Jr. recorded his third career triple-double, tallying 10 points and 11 rebounds to go with his career-high 14 assists. He’s just the second bench player in Milwaukee Bucks history to record a triple-double, joining Larry Sanders (Nov. 30, 2012).
Harden has made at least 15 free throws in a game 74 times, 18 more such games than any other player in NBA history.
The Hornets have been outscored by 198 points over their last eight games, the third-worst point differential in NBA history over an eight-game span. The only teams with a lower such figure are the Oklahoma City Thunder in April 2021 (minus-219) and the Portland Trail Blazers in Jan. 2024 (minus-203).