NBA Game Notes (March 7, 2024)

Here are the NBA game notes for games that were played on March 7, 2024.

Mar 08, 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 ⭐️

Nikola Jokic recorded his 20th triple-double of the season, compiling 32 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists in the Denver Nuggets’ 115-109 victory over the Boston Celtics. Jokic made 11 of his 19 shots from the floor and went a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line.

Jokic was not charged with a turnover in a team-high 39 minutes played. It’s the fifth time he’s recorded a 30-point triple-double without committing a turnover. No other player has recorded more than one such game since the NBA began tracking individual turnovers in 1977-78.

Jokic became the fourth player in NBA history to record at least 20 triple-doubles in consecutive seasons, joining Oscar Robertson (five in a row), Russell Westbrook (three), and Wilt Chamberlain (two).

Second ⭐️

Luka Doncic produced game highs of 35 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists (tied with Terry Rozier) as the Dallas Mavericks beat the Miami Heat 114-108 to snap a three-game losing skid. Doncic shot 12-24 from the field, making seven of his 13 attempts from 3-point range.

Doncic became the first player in NBA history to record four straight 35-point triple-doubles. He’s just the second player in NBA history to record five consecutive 30-point triple-doubles, joining Russell Westbrook (March 26, 2017 to April 2, 2017).

Third ⭐️

Anthony Edwards tied his season high with 44 points in the Minnesota Timberwolves’ 113-111 win over the Indiana Pacers. Edwards made a mesmerizing block as time expired to seal the win, rejecting a layup attempt by the Pacers’ Aaron Nesmith.

Edwards connected on 18 of his 35 shots from the floor, setting career highs for field goals made and attempted. His 35 field goal attempts also tied the franchise single-game record held by Karl-Anthony Towns (Jan. 22, 2024). Edwards added six rebounds, two steals, and two blocks in 39 turnover-free minutes.

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Milestones

Jokic became the fourth player in NBA history to reach 125 career triple-doubles. He joins Russell Westbrook (198), Oscar Robertson (181), and Magic Johnson (138).
Doncic became the third player this season to reach 15 triple-doubles, joining Domantas Sabonis (22) and Jokic (20). It’s the first season in NBA history to feature three such players.
Doncic is the third player in NBA history to reach 25 career 35-point triple-doubles, joining Robertson (59) and Westbrook (29).
Doncic surpassed 11,000 career points (11,004 and counting). He’s the third-youngest player (25 years and eight days) and the sixth-fastest player (385 games) in NBA history to reach that mark.
The Phoenix Suns’ Bradley Beal scored 20 points and dished out a team-high eight assists in a 120-113 victory over the Toronto Raptors. He became the 15th active player to reach 16,000 career points (16,011 and counting).
The Golden State Warriors’ Draymond Green recorded his 32nd career triple-double, tallying 11 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists in a 125-123 loss to the Chicago Bulls. Green broke a tie with John Havlicek and moved into a tie with Rajon Rondo for 16th place on the NBA’s all-time triple-doubles list.
Green’s teammate, Stephen Curry, made three 3-pointers, increasing his season total to 290. He surpassed Buddy Hield (2022-23) and moved into ninth place on the NBA’s single-season leaderboard. Curry owns five of the top-nine spots on that list.
DeMar DeRozan scored 33 points in the Bulls’ win over the Warriors, going 10-17 from the field and 10-11 from the free throw line. DeRozan now has 6,040 free throws made, passing Dominique Wilkins (6,031) and David Robinson (6,035) to take over 21st place on the NBA’s career leaderboard.
Rudy Gobert had 18 points (7-11 field goals), a game-high 14 rebounds, and a team-high three blocks as the Timberwolves held off the Pacers. Gobert now has 1,583 career blocks, passing Benoit Benjamin (1,581) and moving into 35th place on the NBA’s all-time list (the league began tracking blocks in the 1973-74 season).

Streaking

Sabonis recorded his 45th consecutive double-double, notching 31 points (14-19 field goals), 17 rebounds, and nine assists as the Sacramento Kings edged the San Antonio Spurs 131-129. Sabonis broke a tie with Moses Malone and now owns the third-longest double-double streak since the ABA-NBA merger. The two longest such streaks in that span belong to Kevin Love (53 games) and Malone (51).
Sabonis has hauled in at least 15 rebounds in each of his last four games, matching the longest such streak of his career. The last King other than Sabonis to record four such games in a row was LaSalle Thompson in November 1984.
Doncic has numerous ongoing scoring streaks: four straight 35-point games (tying his franchise record), eight straight 30-point games, 11 straight 25-point games, 11 straight 20-point games, and 55 straight 15-point games.
Doncic has recorded at least 30 points and 10 assists in each of his last six games. He’s one game shy of the NBA record of seven straight 30-point, 10-assist games shared by Oscar Robertson and Trae Young.
Doncic has scored at least 15 points with one 3-pointer made in each of his 55 games this season. That ties James Harden (2018-19) for the longest such streak to open a season in NBA history.
The Suns’ Kevin Durant scored a game-high 35 points (11-19 field goals, 11-12 free throws) in a win over the Raptors. Durant has scored at least 20 points in each of his last 13 games, tied for the eighth-longest such streak in NBA history by a player age 35 years or older.
Durant’s teammate, Grayson Allen, scored 26 points on 8-14 shooting from the field (all 3-pointers). Allen became the first player in franchise history to make eight or more 3-pointers in back-to-back games. He also set a franchise record for most 3-pointers attempted in a game without a 2-point attempt.

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Edwards led all scorers with 44 points. He was one of 14 players to score at least 30 points in a night with just just seven games. The others were the Celtics’ Jaylen Brown (season-high 41), Doncic (35), Durant (35), the Detroit Pistons’ Jaden Ivey (34), DeRozan (33), the Kings’ De’Aaron Fox (33), the Bulls’ Nikola Vucevic (season-high 33), the Pistons’ Cade Cunningham (32), Jokic (32), Sabonis (31), the Toronto Raptors’ Dennis Schroder (season-high 31), the Raptors’ Gary Trent Jr. (season-high 30), and the Spurs’ Devin Vassell (30).
Sabonis was the top glass cleaner with 17 rebounds. He was followed by Brown (season-high 14), the Pistons’ Jalen Duren (14), Gobert (14), the Suns’ Jusuf Nurkic (14), Jokic (12), and the Celtics’ Kristaps Porzingis (12).
The Raptors’ Immanuel Quickley was the leading playmaker, handing out a career-high 18 assists. Seven other players delivered double-digit dimes: the Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton (13), Green (12), the Spurs’ Tre Jones (season-high-tying 12), Cunningham (11), Doncic (11), Jokic (11), and Rozier (11).
Ivey and Cunningham each recorded a 30-point game in the Pistons’ 118-112 win over the Brooklyn Nets. They became the first starting guards to each score at least 30 points in the same game for the Pistons since Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton on March 1, 2003.