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 ⭐️
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored a game-high 41 points on 17-24 shooting from the field as the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Chicago Bulls 122-106. Antetokounmpo accounted for 25 of Milwaukee’s 29 points in the third quarter, going 11-13 from the floor. He also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds and dished out eight assists, committing just one turnover and one personal foul in 35 minutes of action.
Second ⭐️
Jalen Brunson produced game-high figures of 36 points and 10 assists (tied with Tyus Jones) in the New York Knicks’ 138-122 victory over the Phoenix Suns. Brunson shot 12-21 from the floor — including 7-11 from 3-point range — and made all five of his free throw attempts. He was charged with just one personal foul in 37 minutes played.
Third ⭐️
Jalen Williams recorded game highs of 30 points and eight assists (tied with Scoot Henderson) as the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 109-99. Williams went 11-19 from the field, making five of his nine 3-point attempts. He added seven rebounds, two steals, and two blocks in 36 minutes of playing time.
Milestones
Antetokounmpo recorded his 21st career game in which he scored at least 40 points on 70% shooting from the field, breaking a tie with Adrian Dantley for the most such games in NBA history.
Donovan Mitchell surpassed 12,000 career points as the Cleveland Cavaliers routed the New Orleans Pelicans 128-100. Mitchell scored 10 points in just 20 minutes played to raise his career total to 12,008. He’s the second player from the 2017 NBA Draft class to reach that mark, joining Jayson Tatum (12,301).
The Memphis Grizzlies knocked off the Philadelphia 76ers 117-111, giving head coach Taylor Jenkins his 215th career victory. That breaks a tie with Lionel Hollins for the most coaching wins in franchise history.
Streaking
Antetokounmpo has scored at least 20 points on 50% shooting from the field in each of his 14 games this season, breaking a tie with Karl Malone (1989-90) for the longest such streak to open a season in NBA history.
Bogdan Bogdanovic made one 3-pointer in the Atlanta Hawks’ 120-97 loss to the Golden State Warriors, extending his 3-point streak to 93 games. It’s the seventh-longest such streak in NBA history.
Team(s) with a losing streak of five or more games: Philadelphia 76ers (five) and Phoenix Suns (five).
Miscellany
Antetokounmpo led all players with 41 points last night. Also scoring at least 30 points were Brunson (36), the Sixers’ Joel Embiid (35), the Pelicans’ Antonio Reeves (career-high 34), the Knicks’ Karl-Anthony Towns (34), the Suns’ Devin Booker (33), the Houston Rockets’ Alperen Sengun (31), and Williams (30).
The Thunder’s Isaiah Hartenstein and the Hawks’ Jalen Johnson shared nightly rebounding honors with 14 apiece. Next in line with a dozen boards each were the Suns’ Jusuf Nurkic, Sengun, and the LA Clippers’ Ivica Zubac.
The Hawks’ Trae Young was the night’s top playmaker, handing out 11 assists. Brunson, the Suns’ Tyus Jones, and the Bucks’ Damian Lillard tied for second with 10 dimes apiece.
The Sixers’ Jared McCain has scored 153 points and dished out 27 assists over his last six games, scoring at least 20 points in each contest. The only other rookie in franchise history to record at least 150 points and 25 assists over a six-game span is Allen Iverson.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have won an NBA-high 11 games by double digits this season. Only two teams in league history have recorded more such wins through their first 16 games of a season: the 1969-70 New York Knicks and the 1984-85 Boston Celtics, each with 12.
The Sixers dropped their fifth consecutive game to fall to 2-12 on the season. Coming into this season, a total of 92 teams had started an NBA campaign 2-12 or worse; only six of those teams (6.5%) went on to qualify for the playoffs.
The Western Conference is now 41-20 (.672) versus the Eastern Conference this season. The West owns an average point differential of plus-4.7 PPG in interconference matchups.