The NBA Returns With A Light Night
Doncic, Valanciunas, and Porzingis standout in the first game back from the break
The NBA returned from its All-Star break with a light night of games, something that usually is uncommon on Wednesdays (I've noticed this trend since working at SportsTicker back in 2001 to 2004). Anyway here are some of the notable things from Wednesday's slate.
MAVERICKS 115, SPURS 104
--Luka Doncic posted a triple-double of 22 points, 12 assists, and 12 rebounds. It was his 33rd career triple-double and third against San Antonio. Doncic also committed six turnovers and it was the 10th time he committed at six giveaways in a triple-double.
--Kristaps Porzingis registered 28 points and 14 rebounds and it was his second game with at least that many points and rebounds. The other was 39 points and 16 rebounds on July 31 against Houston. If you're wondering how many times a Dallas center has produced such a game, the answer is three. Shawn Bradley totaled 32 and16 rebounds on April 14, 1997, against the Clippers and Boban Marjanovic totaled 31 and 17 boards on March 11, 2020, against Denver when Mark Cuban was getting the news.
--DeMar DeRozan totaled 30 points and 11 assists and it was his fifth career 30-10 game with three of those coming since he joined the Spurs. It was the third 30-10 game by a Spur against Dallas. The others were Alvin Robertson's 30-12 game on Nov. 7, 1987, and Feb. 24, 2009. DeRozan has been noted for the lack of 3-point shots he tries and he attempted only one in this game. It was the second 30-10 game with one three or fewer attempted and it's not surprising to realize Ben Simmons also did it when he attempted none on Feb. 15 in Utah. Over the last three seasons, there are just seven 30-10 games when someone tried one 3-pointer or less.
GRIZZLIES 127, WIZARDS 112
—Jonas Valaunciunas totaled 29 points and 20 rebounds and it was his fourth career 20-20 game. Each of those games is since the Grizzlies acquired him from the Raptors for Marc Gasol and this was his second-most points in a 20-20 game. This was the 19th 20-20 game for anyone on the Grizzlies and the second instance against Washington. The other was Zach Randolph's 24-20 game on Jan. 29, 2011. This was the 10th 20-20 game against the Wizards since the start of the 2010-11 season with seven of those since the start of the 2015-16 season.
-- Bradley Beal was limited to 21 points and it was the third time this season he was held under 25 points. It also was Washington's ninth straight loss when he is held under 25 points, a streak that dates back to Nov. 4, 2019.
-- March 11 one year later
As a side note, this is the one-year anniversary of the NBA pausing its season with others following suit. The pause seemed possible when teams started planning games in front of limited or no crowds like the Nets were slated to do in Golden State.
The league put things on pause when Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19, a week after I sat courtside writing notable stats for Jazz announcers Craig Bolerjack and Matt Harpring on the air. I doubt I thought a pause was possible just a week after that night and in the subsequent weeks, I watched the replay of the game via the Utah broadcast on the NBA app. The reason to see if Gobert came over to the broadcast table to shake hands like some players do or came within its vicinity chasing down a loose ball. He didn't but the thought certainly crossed my mind in the days and weeks afterward.
I attended two more NBA games after that, March 6 to work on the Oklahoma City Thunder telecast and March 8 for my wire service work in a Bulls-Nets game that was noted for Jacque Vaughn's first win with Brooklyn after the Nets parted ways with Kenny Atkinson. I don't remember much about the protocols back then, just that the Nets won with an insane number of turnovers. Things started changing the next day and by that Wednesday at about 9:35 PM, it was on hold for four months until the summer provided an enjoyable if not somewhat bizarre respite.