NBA Game Notes (Nov. 30, 2022)

Here are the NBA game notes for games that were played on November 30, 2022.

Dec 01, 2022

Open Book

Devin Booker scored 51 points in just three quarters as the Suns blitzed the Bulls 132-113. The Suns have won six straight games — the longest active winning streak in the NBA — and own the best record in the Western Conference at 15-6.

Booker made 20 of his 25 shots from the field (80.0%). Throughout NBA history, there have been 566 50-point games recorded in the regular season. Booker’s effort is just the 13th in which a player shot at least 80% from the field.

Booker logged just 30:40 of action. Only four players have recorded a 50-point game with less playing time (a total of five instances):

26:33 — Klay Thompson (Oct. 29, 2018)
27:03 — Joel Embiid (Jan. 19, 2022)
29:03 — Thompson (Dec. 5, 2016)
29:16 — CJ MCCollum (Jan. 31, 2018)
29:29 — Damian Lillard (Feb. 9, 2018)

Booker has scored 44 and 51 points in his last two games. It’s the second time he’s scored at least 40 points in consecutive games. The only other player in franchise history to record consecutive 40-point games is Tom Chambers (March 7 & 9, 1990). Booker set the franchise record of three such games in a row in March 2019.

Suns center Deandre Ayton scored 30 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, shooting 11-17 from the field. It’s just the 10th time since the ABA-NBA merger teammates have recorded a 50-point game and a 30-point, 10-rebound game in the same game.

Tatum Powers Celtics

Jayson Tatum scored 49 points and snagged 11 rebounds to power the Celtics to a 134-121 win over the Heat. He shot 15-25 from the field — including 8-12 from 3-point range — and made 11 of his 12 free throws.

It’s the fifth time Tatum has scored at least 45 points in a game, breaking a tie with Paul Pierce for the second-most such games in franchise history:

19 — Larry Bird
5 — Jayson Tatum
4 — Paul Pierce
2 — Antoine Walker
2 — Jaylen Brown

It’s the seventh time Tatum has scored at least 40 points with an effective field goal percentage of 75%, the most such games in franchise history.

The Celtics have scored at least 130 points in three straight games for the first time since March 1968. The have recorded at least 25 assists in each of their last 14 games, the franchise’s longest such streak since the 1989-90 season (18 straight).

Davis and James Shine

Anthony Davis had 27 points, 12 rebounds, and three blocks as the Lakers beat the Trail Blazers 128-109, their sixth win in their last eight games. Davis has recorded at least 25 points and 10 rebounds in each of his last seven games, the longest such streak by a Laker since Shaquille O’Neal in 2001.

Davis has shot at least 50% from the field in each of those games. Only three players since the ABA-NBA merger have recorded a longer streak of 25-point, 10-rebound games with 50% shooting from the field:

11 — Shaquille O’Neal, 2000-01
8 — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 1978-79
8 — Charles Barkley, 1989-90

Teammate LeBron James compiled 31 points, seven rebounds, and eight assists, shooting 12-18 from the field (66.7%) with six 3-pointers made. It’s the 375th time James has recorded at least 30 points, five rebounds, and five assists in a game, the most such games in NBA history.

Giannis Leads Bucks

Giannis Antetokounmpo tallied team highs of 37 points, 13 rebounds, and seven assists as the Bucks held off the Knicks 109-103. It’s the 89th time Antetokounmpo has been his team’s outright leader in all three categories in a game. Only two players in NBA history have recorded more such games: LeBron James (150) and Russell Westbrook (98).

Antetokounmpo shot 13-25 from the field, the fifth straight time he’s scored at least 30 points with a field goal percentage of 50%. That matches the longest such streak of his career.

The Knicks’ Julius Randle had 18 points, eight rebounds, and five assists in the loss. He recorded his 5,000th career rebound in the second quarter.

Durant on a Roll

The Nets’ Kevin Durant produced 39 points, five rebounds, and five assists in a 113-107 victory over the Wizards. He made 13 of his 20 shots from the field (65.0%) and converted all 11 of his free throws.

Durant has recorded at least 30 points, five rebounds, and five assists in each of his last four games. He’s just the second player in NBA history to record four such games in a row after turning 34 years old, joining LeBron James.

Durant has shot at least 60% from the field in each of his last three games. Since the ABA-NBA merger, only three other players have recorded at least 30 points, five rebounds, and five assists on 60% shooting from the field in three consecutive games:

LeBron James (four in a row)
Nikola Jokic (twice)
Adrian Dantley

Durant now has 68 career games in which he’s made at least 10 free throws without a miss. The only player in NBA history with more such games is Dirk Nowitzki with 72.

The Wizards’ Kristaps Porzingis scored 27 points and grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds in the loss. Porzingis made two 3-pointers and blocked two shots. It’s the 112th time he’s recorded multiple 3-pointers made and blocks in the same game, tying LeBron James for the fourth-most such games in NBA history:

170 — Kevin Durant
136 — Dirk Nowitzki
134 — Rasheed Wallace
112 — Kristaps Porzingis
112 — LeBron James

Trae Ices Magic

Trae Young scored 30 points and dished out 14 assists as the Hawks routed the Magic 125-108. It’s the 55th time Young has recorded at least 30 points and 10 assists in a game, the fifth-most such games since the ABA-NBA merger:

99 — James Harden
94 — LeBron James
83 — Russell Westbrook
58 — Magic Johnson
55 — Trae Young

Young has season totals of 584 points and 202 assists. The only players in NBA history to match or exceed both of those figures through their first 21 games of a season are Oscar Robertson, Nate Archibald, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden. Robertson and Harden did so multiple times.

Paolo Banchero scored 20 points for the Magic. He’s just the seventh rookie in NBA history to score at least 15 points in each of the first 15 games of his career (NBL and ABA veterans excluded):

Wilt Chamberlain, 1959-60
Elvin Hayes, 1968-69
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 1969-70
Terry Cummings, 1982-83
Ralph Sampson, 1983-84
Michael Jordan, 1984-85
Paolo Banchero, 2022-23

At 20 years and 18 days old, Banchero is the youngest player in this group by more than 600 days.

Zion Does it All

The Pelicans’ Zion Williamson did it all in a 126-108 win over the Raptors:

33 PTS
10 REB
5 AST
4 STL
2 BLK
12-15 FG
9-12 FT

It’s the sixth time Williamson has scored at least 30 points on 80% shooting from the field, tying Shaquille O’Neal for the second-most such games in NBA history by a player before his 23rd birthday. Dwight Howard is the leader with seven such games.

The Raptors’ Gary Trent Jr. came off the bench to score a game-high 35 points on 12-20 shooting from the field (including 6-11 from 3-point range). It’s the most points scored by a reserve in the NBA this season.

T-Wolves Snap Skid

Anthony Edwards had 29 points, five assists, five steals, and three blocks as the Timberwolves ended their three-game losing streak with a 109-101 win over the Grizzlies. Edwards is the first player to record at least 25 points, five assists, and five steals in a game for the Timberwolves since Corey Brewer did so on Jan. 20, 2010.

Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert recorded just one rebound in 26 minutes played. It’s the fewest rebounds Gobert has ever recorded in a game in which he played at least 15 minutes.