Ja Morant, Nikola Jokic Shine In Road Wins
Reserves Help Celtics and Spurs while Hawks play defense
GRIZZLIES 125, WIZARDS 111
Ja Morant was the story in the nation’s capital, delivering a brilliant 35-point night in a fairly routine win.
Morant added 10 assists and five rebounds for his first game with 35 points, 10 assists and five rebounds. It was the third such game in the history of the Grizzlies and as you might figure two of their best all-time point guards also achieved this.
The first time was Jason Williams (38 points, 11 assists, six rebounds) on Nov. 30, 2001 against Houston. The second instance was Mike Conley (37 points, 10 assists, five rebounds) in a wild double-overtime win at Brooklyn on Nov. 30, 2018.
As far as 35-10-5 happening against the Wizards, it was the 37th instance and third time this season as Morant joined Damian Lillard and Trae Young. Morant took 14 free throws, marking the 16th instance of a 35-10-5 game with at least 14 free throw attempts and only the sixth since 1968.
The others with a 35-10-5 game with 14 free throw attempts since 1968 are Dwyane Wade, Kobe Bryant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Young.
NUGGETS 128, BUCKS 97
Nikola Jokic followed up 39 points in Chicago with 37, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in Milwaukee. That total marked the second time a Nugget did against Milwaukee.
Before Jokic’s latest big night it was last achieved by Carmelo Anthony on Feb. 16, 2011 when he totaled 38 and 12 in Milwaukee. That was the last game he played for Denver and a week later he made his debut for the Knicks against the Bucks.
It was Jokic’s 50th career triple-double and he has four of the seven triple-doubles by a Nugget against Milwaukee. Before Jokic, the last was achieved by Marcus Camby on Dec. 26, 2007 though his triple-double was 10 points, 11 rebounds and 10 blocks.
Denver’s 128 points marked the 11th time the Nuggets scored at least 128 on Milwaukee. The Nuggets did it twice in 2018 but before then the last instance was a 135-112 win on Feb. 2, 2000.
The Nuggets also shot 55.8 percent, marking their eighth instance of shooting that well against Milwaukee. The last time they were that accurate from the field was a 114-103 win on March 20, 2005.
CELTICS 118, CLIPPERS 112
Nothing remarkable occurred from Boston’s starters so let’s examine the line of reserve Robert Williams III.
Williams posted 13 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three blocks. It was the second time Williams did this in his career with the other time being 14 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and three blocks in last Friday’s win over Indiana.
Before last Friday, the only four instances in Boston history with this line by a reserve were done by Kevin McHale, once in 1983 and three times in 1990 with the last instance being Nov. 21, 1990 (32 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists, three blocks) against Houston.
In terms of this occurring against the Clippers, the only other time before Tuesday was Feb. 9, 1979 when Philadelphia’s Darryl Dawkins totaled 15 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and five blocks.
HAWKS 94, HEAT 80
The Hawks weren’t known for being a defensive powerhouse so go figure they allow 80 the day after firing coach Lloyd Pierce.
It was the first time Atlanta allowed 80 points or less since a 126-80 win over Sacramento on Nov. 15, 2017. It was the 10th time Atlanta held Miami to 80 points or less and the first time since an 81-79 win on April 14, 2009 when both teams were resting key players ahead of the postseason.
Trae Young had 10 assists, marking the 18th time he got 10 assists without getting 20 points and the fourth time this season.
SPURS 119, KNICKS 93
The Spurs bounced back nicely with a routine win over the Knicks, highlighted by a 36-point third quarter.
Nobody got over 20 points so the most notable thing was Luka Samanic becoming 51st instance of a Spurs reserve within the first two years of his career getting 14 points and seven rebounds. Keldon Johnson did it last summer against Houston.
Samanic, who is from Croatia, became the fifth international player to achieve this for the Spurs. The others were Boban Marjanovic on Jan. 21, 2016 at Phoenix, Tiago Splitter, Ian Mahinmi and Manu Ginobili.
In terms of defense, this was the 31st time the Spurs allowed 93 or less to the Knicks and the fifth time since the Knicks last made the playoffs in 2012-13. The Spurs also hit 18 3-pointers which is their most against the Knicks, eclipsing the 14 they made in a 105-101 loss on Jan. 2, 2014.
Immanuel Quickley scored 26 points for New York and it was the 13th time a Knicks rookie reserve scored at least 26. Before Quickly scored 31 in Portland on Jan. 23, the most recent Allonzo Trier in a seven-point loss at Sacramento on March 4, 2019.
This was the ninth time a rookie reserve scored 26 or more against the Spurs and first time since Marcus Thornton for New Orleans on March 1, 2010.
SUNS 114, LAKERS 104
This was known for the questionable ejection of in the third Devin Booker quarter and that prevented him from him getting his 14th 20-point game against the Lakers.
Chris Paul had 10 assists which happens on a regular basis but the answer to how often it is accompanied by less than 10 points is 52. The most recent instance was Dec. 27 at Sacramento and this was Paul’s fourth instance against the Lakers.
The Suns handed out 30 assists and it was the fifth time against the Lakers since Steve Nash’s final season with Phoenix in 2011-12.