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 36 points and dished out eight assists, both game-high figures, in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s 121-119 loss to the Dallas Mavericks. Gilgeous-Alexander went 13-19 from the floor and 9-11 from the free throw line. He also recorded game highs of two steals (tied with four others) and two blocks (tied with Dereck Lively II), committing just one turnover and one personal foul in 38 minutes played.
Second ⭐️
Devin Booker scored a season-high 44 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Phoenix Suns fell to the Minnesota Timberwolves 120-117. Booker shot 15-29 from the field (6-13 on 3-pointers) and made eight of his nine free throw attempts. He added seven assists, six rebounds, and one block in a game-high 40 minutes of action.
Third ⭐️
Julius Randle scored a team-high 35 points, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer, in the Timberwolves’ victory over the Suns.
Randle went 11-20 from the field (sinking five of his 11 attempts from 3-point range) and 8-9 from the free throw line. He also dished out a team-high seven assists in 34 minutes of court time.
Milestones
James Harden made two 3-pointers in the LA Clippers’ 116-105 win over the Utah Jazz, raising his career total to 2,975. Harden broke a tie with Ray Allen (2,973) for second place on the NBA’s all-time list.
The Indiana Pacers’ Pascal Siakam scored 23 points in a 119-110 victory over the Miami Heat, surpassing 10,000 points for his career (10,009, to be exact). Siakam is the third player from the 2016 NBA Draft class to reach that mark, joining Jaylen Brown (10,294) and Buddy Hield (10,032).
Cade Cunningham recorded his sixth career triple-double, compiling 21 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, and five steals as the Detroit Pistons routed the Washington Wizards 124-104. Cunningham broke a tie with Isiah Thomas for the second-most triple-doubles in franchise history (Grant Hill is the runaway leader with 29).
The Houston Rockets blew out the Chicago Bulls 143-107, collecting 52 defensive rebounds to break the franchise-single game record. The previous mark of 51 defensive boards was set on Nov. 29, 2021 and matched on Dec. 22, 2023 (the statistic has been tracked since the 1973-74 season).
The Chicago Bulls hoisted 56 shots from long range (making just 14 of them), breaking the franchise record for most 3-pointers attempted in a game. The previous mark of 53 attempts was set earlier this season, on October 26 and again on October 28.
The Bulls also set a franchise record for most 3-pointers missed in a game with 42, sailing past the previous mark of 38 misses set on Oct. 26, 2024. Only five teams in NBA history have missed more 3-pointers in a game.
Streaking
Rockets center Alperen Sengun produced his second straight triple-double, tallying 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists in just 26 minutes. At 22 years and 115 days old, Sengun is the youngest player in franchise history to record back-to-back triple-doubles.
The Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards scored 24 points on 9-14 shooting from the field, his 14th consecutive 20-point game. It’s the longest such streak of his career and the longest such streak to open a season in franchise history.
LaMelo Ball registered game highs of 31 points and 12 assists (tied with Darius Garland), but the Charlotte Hornets fell to the Cleveland Cavaliers 128-114. Ball has recorded at least 25 points and five assists in each of his last six games, the longest such streak in the NBA this season and the second-longest such streak in franchise history.
Team(s) with a winning streak of five or more games: Cleveland Cavaliers (15) and Houston Rockets (five).
Team(s) with a losing streak of five or more games: Washington Wizards (eight).
The Cavaliers became just the fourth team in NBA history to win each of their first 15 games of a season, joining the 1948-49 Washington Capitols, the 1993-94 Houston Rockets, and the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors. Each of the three previous teams reached the NBA Finals, but only the 1993-94 Rockets won a championship.
Miscellany
Booker led all scorers yesterday, pouring in 44 points. He was followed by Gilgeous-Alexander (36), Randle (35), the Pacers’ Myles Turner (34), the Portland Trail Blazers’ Shaedon Sharpe (32), and Ball (31).
The Mavericks’ P.J. Washington was the day’s top board man, hauling in a career-high 17 rebounds. Also snagging at least a dozen boards were the Cavaliers’ Jarrett Allen (15), the New York Knicks’ Karl-Anthony Towns (15), the Mavericks’ Daniel Gafford (12), and the Pacers’ Bennedict Mathurin (12).
The Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton was the leading playmaker, handing out 13 assists yesterday. Eight more players delivered double-digit dimes: Ball (12), the Cavaliers’ Darius Garland (12), Harden (11), the Suns’ Tyus Jones (11), Sengun (11), the Knicks’ Jalen Brunson (10), Cunningham (10), and the Trail Blazers’ Scoot Henderson (10).
Allen (21 points, 15 rebounds, 6-7 field goals) and Evan Mobley (23 points, 11 rebounds, 9-12 field goals) became the first duo in Cavaliers history to each record at least 20 points and 10 rebounds with 75% shooting from the floor in the same game.
Towns is averaging 26.4 PPG and 12.4 RPG in 12 games played this season. He’s just the third player in Knicks history to average at least 25 PPG and 10 RPG through his first 12 games of a season, joining Willis Reed (1967-68) and Patrick Ewing (1990-91).