Bucks, Celtics Among The Standouts On A Busy Sunday
Booker, Washington Also Shine On League Pass In Primetime
BUCKS-CLIPPERS
The Bucks may be starting to hit their stride and Sunday’s national televised win over the Clippers was their fifth in a row.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was the star, getting 36 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and four blocks and it was unique because it was the second time he had a stat line like that. The other time was Nov. 2, 2019 when he totaled 36 points, 15 rebounds, eight assists and four blocks on Nov. 2, 2019 against Toronto.
It also was the 28th time Antetokounmpo got at least four blocks and second time this season. It was the fourth time in Bucks’ history someone had the stat line of at least 36, 14, five and four. The other two were done by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on Nov. 29, 1974 against the Kansas City-Omaha Kings when he scored 43 points, 14 boards, eight assists and four blocks. He also did it Jan. 7, 1975 against the Kings on 39 points, 14 rebounds, nine assists and four blocks.
It was the third time this stat line had been achieved against the Clippers. The first time was Alvan Adams (47 points, 18 rebounds, 12 assists, five blocks) for the Suns in Buffalo on Feb. 22, 1977 and the second instance was Hakeem Olajuwon (37 points, 17, six and four) for Houston on Dec. 8, 1988.
CELTICS-WIZARDS
What’s the best way to get for a player such as Jayson Tatum to over 30 points? You can do it in three quarters in a blowout but as Homer Simpson says – Boring!
Coaches may actually prefer it in the blowout fashion as it creates less stress down the stretch but nobody will complain if it’s a reverse layup in the final seconds.
Anyway, on to the particulars, this was Tatum’s 25th game of at least 30 points and eighth this season. It also was his second game against the Wizards with at least 30 points.
It’s too bad the Wizards lost this game because Bradley Beal was spectacular with his ninth of at least 46 points in his career. The only win in those games was a 51-point game against Portland on Dec. 5, 2017.
It was the 39th game in team history with at least 46 points. The only other against the Celtics occurred when Walt Bellamy scored 47 on Jan. 31 for the Chicago Packers.
KNICKS-PISTONS
All-Star players do things like produce 25 points, eight rebounds and six assists, which is the stat line Julius Randle produced in Detroit.
The six assists are somewhat notable since it was his 16th game with at least six assists and in nine of those games Randle has scored at least 25 points.
Other notable aspects of Randle’s latest productive game was 10 field goals on 18 attempts, marking 11th time he made at least 10 field goals and shot 50 percent or higher.
Nerlens Noel also was impressive with a stat line of eight points, 11 rebounds, three block and three steals. It was the 39th such instance in Knicks history with that stat line or better and before Mitchell Robinson did it three times last year it was last achieved by Tyson Chandler in the 2011-12 season.
HEAT-HAWKS
If you watch a Heat game closely, you might notice that often they play Glenn Frey’s contribution to the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack.
You can say the “Heat is On” the opponents lately for Miami, which is on a six-game winning streak and 10-3 in the last 13 after taking care of the Hawks.
This was a matter of fact 10-point line with the most notable line belonging to Kendrick Nunn, whose 24 points and seven assists marked his second such game like that. The other being a 24-point, eight assist game on Feb. 22, 2020 against Cleveland. Nunn also hit four 3-pointers, marking the 59th game by a member of the Heat with 24 points, eight assists and four 3-pointers with the first being Steve Smith on March 3, 1993 and the most recent being Goran Dragic on March 4.
Of course, the bulk of those such games are done by Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Tim Hardaway.
John Collins were impressive in a losing cause with 34 and 10, proving he was right for being willing to go to free agency after this season. It was the sixth time a Hawk did it against Miami and the first time since Antoine Walker shimmied his way to 36 and 10 on Jan. 28, 2005 (shh we won’t tell you the Hawks won 13 games that season).
GRIZZLIES-ROCKETS
I’m on the email list every time the NBA changes a national TV game and I’ll guess the Rockets will be changed off national TV often going forward.
So, moving on, this was a 133-84 win for the Grizzlies, who did not place anyone over 20 points but shot 53.2 percent.
This was only the third win in the past 11 meetings with Houston and the 10th time Memphis shot 53.3 percent or higher. The first time was a 110-105 win in Vancouver on Dec. 14, 1995. This was the most points the Grizzlies ever dropped on the Rockets and easily their most in Houston, eclipsing the 112 they got on Feb. 26, 2020 in a 28-point drubbing.
Houston was all kinds of awful, notably the 3-point shooting kind of terrible hitting four of 45. That is an 8.9 percent clip, the worst in any game where a team hoisted at least 40 3’s. Before Sunday, the worst shooting percentage on at least 40 3-point tries was when Brooklyn went 5-for-42 (11.9 percent) in a 113-94 loss to Milwaukee on Feb. 4, 2019.
Houston’s overall percentage of 27.7 percent was the worst in team history, eclipsing the 28.8 percent display in a 69-65 (nice college basketball score) win at Oklahoma City on Nov, 16, 2014. In terms of a team shooting 27.7 percent or lower, this was the 36th instance and first since Brooklyn shot 26.9 percent in a 94-82 loss to the Knicks on Dec. 26, 2019. The only time a team actually won when shooting that poorly was Nov. 13, 1995 when the Dallas Mavericks shot 27.7 percent in a 94-89 win at Vancouver.
LAKERS-WARRIORS
Sometimes you get a dud on national TV and this was one with the Lakers leading by 35 at one point and LeBron James being held to 19 points.
It was the fifth time he was ever held under 20 against Golden State but it’s likely he would scored 20 if the game actually turned out competitive.
Los Angeles dropped a 41-point first quarter, good for their third-most points in the opening 12 minutes on the Warriors. The last 41-point first quarter was March 4, 2001 when the Lakers were on their way to the second straight title with Shaq and Kobe and Golden State’s starters were comprised of Mookie Blaylock, Antawn Jamison, Marc Jackson, Chris Porter and Larry Hughes.
SUNS-TIMBERWOLVES
Devin Booker dominated with 43 and it was the ninth time he scored more than 40. It also was the most points by a Sun against Minnesota.
The closest any Sun ever came to 40 against the Wolves was Shawn Marion on Feb. 14, 2001 and Amar’e Stoudemire on Dec. 30, 2002 when they scored 38 apiece.
It was the second time Minnesota allowed an opponent to score 43 or higher this season after doing it seven times last season. Since their run to the Western Conference finals in 2004, the Timberwolves have allowed 43 or more to an opposing player 23 times.
HORNETS-KINGS
This was a good one for the diehards on league pass with Charlotte getting a 42-point night from P.J. Washington, whose previous career high was 27 and that was in his NBA debut on Oct. 23, 2019.
Washington produced the 22nd game with at least 42 in team history. It also was the most points in team history on Sacramento, eclipsing Kemba Walker’s 39-point showing Nov. 23, 2015.
He also scored 42 while hitting five 3-pointers, making him the fourth forward within the first two seasons of a career to get at least 42 on five 3’s in a road game. It was last done when Charlie Villanueva scored 48 on six 3-pointers for Toronto at Milwaukee on March 26, 2006 and the other two to do it are Chuck Person on Feb. 11, 1987 and Antoine Walker on Jan. 7, 1998.
The Kings are 1-10 in their last 11 and wasted 30 points from Buddy Hield, who hit eight 3’s for the seventh time in his career. It also was the second time this season someone scored 30 and hit at least eight 3-pointers with the other instance being Coby White on Feb. 10.