NBA Game Notes (May 7, 2025)

Here are the NBA game notes for games that were played on May 7, 2025.

May 08, 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 ⭐️

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 34 points to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder in a 149-106 rout of the Denver Nuggets, squaring their Western Conference Semifinals series at one game apiece. Gilgeous-Alexander shot a blistering 11-13 from the field and sank all 11 of his free throw attempts. He also dished out a game-high eight assists and grabbed four rebounds in 30 minutes of action.

Second ⭐️

Josh Hart scored a game-high 23 points as the New York Knicks erased a 20-point third-quarter deficit to defeat the Boston Celtics 91-90, giving New York a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference Semifinals series. Hart went 9-15 from the floor, hitting three of his six 3-point attempts. He also recorded six rebounds, three assists, and a game-high two blocks (tied with Derrick White) in 43 minutes played.

Third ⭐️

Chet Holmgren scored 15 points and pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds in the Thunder’s blowout victory over the Nuggets. Holmgren shot 3-8 from the field (2-3 on 3-pointers) and a perfect 7-7 from the free throw line. He added game highs of two steals (tied with two others) and two blocks (tied with Jalen Williams), and did not commit either a turnover or a personal foul in 26 minutes of court time.

Milestones

The Oklahoma City Thunder set an NBA record for most points scored in the first half of a playoff game with 87, besting the previous mark of 86 set by the Cleveland Cavaliers on June 9, 2017 versus the Golden State Warriors. They also tied the league record for most points scored in any half of a playoff game, matching the Milwaukee Bucks’ second-half output on April 23, 1978 versus the Denver Nuggets.
The Thunder set a franchise record for most points scored in a playoff game with 149, easily surpassing the previous mark of 133 set on May 9, 2011 versus the Memphis Grizzlies and tied on May 22, 2016 versus the Golden State Warriors.
The Thunder are the first team in NBA history to record two 40-point wins in a single postseason. They opened the playoffs with a 51-point victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.
Gilgeous-Alexander posted a rating of plus-51 points, the highest plus-minus recorded in a playoff game in the play-by-play era. The previous mark of plus-46 points had been shared by Jimmy Butler III (April 30, 2015), LeBron James (May 19, 2017), and Desmond Bane (May 11, 2022).
Gilgeous-Alexander shot 84.6% from the field, the highest such figure in Oklahoma City Thunder history in a 30-point playoff game. The previous mark of 76.9% was set by James Harden on May 29, 2012.
The Nuggets’ Russell Westbrook (19 points) became the 30th player in NBA history to reach 3,000 career points in the playoffs.
The Boston Celtics (10-40 on 3-pointers) have missed 75 threes over their last two games, the most over a two-game playoff span in NBA history. The previous record of 72 misfires was held by the Houston Rockets (Aug. 20 & 22, 2020).

Streaking

Gilgeous-Alexander has scored at least 30 points in each of his last four games. The Oklahoma City Thunder record of five straight 30-point playoff games is shared by Gus Williams and Gilgeous-Alexander himself.
Jaylen Brown (20 points) has scored at least 10 points in 94 consecutive playoff games, the third-longest such streak in Boston Celtics history and the 14th-longest such streak in NBA history.
Nikola Jokic has scored in double figures in each of his 89 career playoff games, the longest such streak in Denver Nuggets history by 30 games. He’s one of nine players in NBA history to start his playoff career with 89 such games in a row.
Jalen Brunson (17 points) has scored at least 15 points in each of his 32 playoff games with the New York Knicks, the longest such streak in franchise history by 11 games. He’s averaging 30.1 PPG and 6.9 APG in those contests.

Thanks for reading Statitudes! This post is public so feel free to share it.

Gilgeous-Alexander led the nightly scoring brigade, pouring in 34 points. He was followed by Hart with 23 points and the Knicks’ Karl-Anthony Towns with 21.
Towns was the night’s leading rebounder, hauling in 17 boards. Also collecting double-digit rebounds were the Celtics’ Jayson Tatum with 14 and Holmgren with 11.
Gilgeous-Alexander was the leading playmaker, handing out eight assists last night. Brunson and the Thunder’s Jalen Williams were runners-up with seven dimes each.
Gilgeous-Alexander is just the second player in NBA history to make at least 10 field goals and 10 free throws in a playoff game with shooting percentages of 80% and 100%, respectively. He joins Dirk Nowitzki, who did so twice (April 18, 2010 and May 17, 2011).