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 ⭐️
Aaron Gordon scored 27 points as the Denver Nuggets beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 115-107 in Game 4 of their Western Conference Semifinals series. The teams head back to Denver for Game 5 Tuesday night with the series knotted at two games apiece.
Gordon shot 11-12 from the field (2-2 on 3-pointers) and made all three of his free throw attempts. He added a team-high seven rebounds (tied with Nikola Jokic), six assists, and a game-high two blocks (tied with teammate Kentavious Caldwell-Pope) in his team-high 41 minutes of action.
Second ⭐️
Anthony Edwards scored a playoff career-high 44 points in the Timberwolves’ loss to the Nuggets. Edwards went 16-25 from the field — including 5-8 from 3-point range — and hit seven of his eight free throws. He also contributed five rebounds, five assists, and a team-high two steals in his game-high 45 minutes played.
Third ⭐️
Nikola Jokic scored a team-high 35 points — 16 of them in the fourth quarter — as the Nuggets defeated the Timberwolves. Jokic made 15 of his 26 field goal attempts, adding a team-high seven rebounds (tied with Gordon), seven assists, and a game-high three steals in 39 minutes of playing time.
Milestones
The Timberwolves’ Edwards broke his own franchise record for most points scored in a playoff game with 44. Just eight days prior, on May 4, he scored 43 points in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals.
Edwards now has four career 40-point games in the playoffs. The only other player in NBA history to record at least four such games before his 23rd birthday is Luka Doncic with five.
Edwards is the only player in franchise history to record at least 40 points, five rebounds, and five assists in a playoff game. He’s now done so twice. The only other players in NBA history to record multiple such games before their 23rd birthday are Doncic (five) and LeBron James (two).
Gordon shot 91.7% from the floor, the highest field goal percentage in a 20-point game in Nuggets postseason history. He also recorded the highest effective field goal percentage (100.0%) and the highest true shooting percentage (101.4%) in a 20-point playoff game in franchise history.
Gordon is just the third player in NBA history to record at least 25 points, five rebounds, and five assists with a field goal percentage of 90% or higher in a playoff game. He joins Mitch Richmond (May 2, 1989) and Chris Paul (April 28, 2022).
T.J. McConnell came off the bench to produce 15 points and 10 assists as the Indiana Pacers routed the New York Knicks 121-89, squaring their Eastern Conference Semifinals series at two games each. It’s McConnell’s second points-assists double-double in the last three games. Since the NBA began tracking starters in 1970-71, only two other reserves have recorded two such games in a three-game playoff span: Michael Cooper and Nate McMillan.
The Indiana Pacers held a 20-point lead at the end of the first quarter, the franchise’s largest such differential in a playoff game since the joining the NBA in 1976. Their halftime lead of 28 points was the largest in franchise postseason history, ABA seasons included.
On the flip side, the New York Knicks’ 20-point deficit matched the largest in franchise history after the opening quarter of a playoff game. They trailed by 28 points at halftime, the second-worst such differential in franchise postseason history.
The Pacers went 50-88 from the field (56.8%), tying a franchise record for most field goals made in a playoff game since joining the NBA in 1976. They previously recorded 50 field goals made on April 28, 1991 and April 23, 2024.
The Denver Nuggets shot a blistering 60.3% from the floor, the second-highest such figure in a playoff game in franchise history. On April 18, 1985, Denver recorded a field goal percentage of 62.0% in a 141-111 rout of the San Antonio Spurs.
Streaking
The Pacers have scored at least 110 points in five straight playoff games for the first time since joining the NBA in 1976. They previously recorded four straight 110-point games in a streak that spanned the 1991 and 1992 playoffs.
Meanwhile, the Knicks have allowed at least 110 points in each of their last six games, tying the second-largest such postseason streak in franchise history. Over a 10-year stretch from 1959 to 1968, the Knicks gave up at least 110 points in nine consecutive playoff games.
Miscellany
Edwards led all scorers yesterday with his playoff career-high 44 points. Jokic (35), Gordon (27), the Knicks’ Alec Burks (20), and the Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton (20) also had 20-point efforts.
The Timberwolves’ Rudy Gobert was the day’s top board man, hauling in 14 rebounds. Teammate Karl-Anthony Towns (12) and the Pacers’ Aaron Nesmith (12, playoff career high) also collected double-digit boards.
McConnell was the leading playmaker, handing out 10 assists yesterday. He was followed by the Timberwolves’ Mike Conley (nine) and the Nuggets’ Jamal Murray (eight).