NBA Game Notes (Nov. 6, 2022)

Here are the NBA game notes for games that were played on November 6, 2022.

Nov 07, 2022

Spida-Man

Donovan Mitchell scored a game-high 33 points to lead the Cavaliers to a 114-100 win over the Lakers, the team’s eighth straight victory. Mitchell has scored 251 points this season, the third-highest total in NBA history by a player in his first eight games with a new team:

317 — Wilt Chamberlain, 1959-60 Warriors
255 — Kyrie Irving, 2019-20 Nets
251 — Donovan Mitchell, 2022-23 Cavaliers
246 — Orlando Woolridge, 1990-91 Nuggets
239 — Kevin Durant, 2020-21 Nets

Mitchell also broke World B. Free’s franchise mark for most points scored by a player in his first eight games of a season. Free scored 241 points through his first eight games of the 1983-84 season.

Mitchell has dished out 52 assists to go along with his 251 points. He’s just the seventh player in NBA history to record at least 250 points and 50 assists through his first eight games of a season (a total of eight instances):

Oscar Robertson, 1962-63
Robertson, 1965-66
Jerry West, 1969-70
Nate Archibald, 1972-73
Kyrie Irving, 2019-20
James Harden, 2019-20
Luka Doncic, 2022-23
Donovan Mitchell, 2022-23

Finally, Mitchell joined LeBron James as the only players in franchise history to record at least 250 points and 50 assists over any eight-game span (not just the first eight games of a season). James did so numerous times.

VanVleet’s Back

After missing three games with a sore lower back, the Raptors’ Fred VanVleet returned to record season highs of 30 points and 11 assists in a 113-104 win over the Bulls.

The Raptors are now 16-3 when VanVleet scores at least 30 points, the highest such winning percentage in franchise history by a player with at least 10 career 30-point games:

Fred VanVleet, 16-3 (.842)
Pascal Siakam, 37-8 (.822)
Gary Trent Jr., 9-3 (.750)
Kawhi Leonard, 16-6 (.727)
Damon Stoudamire, 12-5 (.706)

The only active player with a higher winning percentage in 30-point games is Klay Thompson:

Klay Thompson, 55-8 (.873)
Fred VanVleet, 16-3 (.842)
Pascal Siakam, 37-8 (.822)
Dennis Schroder, 12-3 (.800)
Andre Drummond, 8-2 (.800)
Anfernee Simons, 8-2 (.800)

Everybody Beats the Wiz

Two days after suffering the worst home loss in franchise history, the Wizards fell to the Grizzlies 103-97 to drop to 4-6 on the season. The franchise — which joined the NBA in the 1961-62 season as the Chicago Packers* — has posted a losing record through 10 games in 41 of its 62 seasons, the most in NBA history:

41 — Wizards
39 — Kings**
34 — Knicks**
32 — Pistons
32 — Nets

* Team names the Wizards have used: Chicago Packers, Chicago Zephyrs, Baltimore Bullets, Capital Bullets, Washington Bullets, and Washington Wizards. They have more names (6) than 50-win seasons (5).

** Have not played 10 games yet in the 2022-23 season.

The Wizards don’t fare much better on a percentage basis, posting a losing record through 10 games in 66.1% of their seasons, second only to the Nets:

68.1% — Nets
66.1% — Wizards
64.3% — Grizzlies
58.8% — Timberwolves
57.1% — Pelicans

All That Jazz

The Jazz continue to be the surprise of the league, beating the Clippers 110-102 to improve to 8-3 on the season. They join the Bucks and Cavaliers as the only teams with at least eight wins this season.

Lauri Markkanen scored 18 points and snagged nine rebounds, bringing his season totals to 240 and 103, respectively. Markkanen is the fourth player in franchise history to record at least 200 points and 100 rebounds through his first 11 games of a season:

Karl Malone (11 times)
Carlos Boozer (4 times)
Truck Robinson (2 times)
Lauri Markkanen

Boozer had been the last player to accomplish the feat in 2008-09.