Jorge Sierra: Most shots without a miss in a game in NBA playoffs history 1. Chris Paul: 14 2. Nene and Larry O’Neill: 12 OUTRAGEOUS. Especially as a point guard. At 6-foot. At almost 37.
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“We all go through periods like that,” coach Steve Nash said of the 23-year-old, who actually had improved his foul shooting this season, jumping from 48.4 percent to 58.1 percent. “He’s a young player playing in a big game, and he’s a developing free-throw shooter, so to speak. “And so I felt for him, but that’s part of the growing pains, and he’s provided a lot for us the last couple months.”
That’s a high-stakes time for a debut. Especially for Ben Simmons. The last time he played, teammates reportedly suspected he faked a potential coronavirus exposure to dodge 76ers-Hawks Game 7. He hasn’t played all season due to some combination of trade demand/holdout, mental-health issues and back issues. His distinctive style – a tall point guard who’s an extremely reluctant shooter – could make it tough for him and his new teammates to mesh. Even without Simmons’ unique complications, there’s no precedent for someone debuting for a new team in the playoffs after a trade.
Jorge Sierra: Best playoff scoring debuts ever 1. Luka Doncic 42 points 2. John Williamson: 38 3. George Mikan 37 4. ANTHONY EDWARDS: 36
Young averaged 28.4 points and 9.7 assists in the 2021-22 regular season. More impressively, the 23-year-old became the second player in NBA history to lead the league in total points and total assists. The only other player was Tiny Archibald in the 1972-73 season.
Trae Young: “Lead the League in scoring, but look at my Assist” ❄️🙏🏽❣️💯
Nikola Jokic made history on the night his Denver Nuggets clinched a fourth consecutive playoff berth with a 122-109 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies. Jokic became the first player in NBA history with 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 500 assists in a season. He had 35 points, 16 rebounds, six assists and five steals Thursday evening. "Dude is really great at basketball," teammate Bones Hyland said.
Basketball-Reference: Jokic is the first player ever to total 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds, and 500 assists in a single season. For comparison: Chamberlain missed this by 8 points in 1967 O. Robertson missed this by 15 rebounds in 1961 Abdul-Jabbar missed this by 87 assists in 1975 @Denver Nuggets pic.twitter.com/1r7rpzOttI
Michael Singer: Nikola Jokic on 2000/1000/500: “That’s a moment I’ll remember for the rest of my life. … I just love Nuggets fans.”
Katy Winge: Nikola Jokić will NOT wear the headband again. “I looked great. I cannot let you guys see that twice.”
After having to retreat to the bench twice to stop the bleeding, Jokic donned a red headband for the remainder of the game as he helped the Nuggets (48-33) overcome a shaky start to avoid a season sweep at the hands of the Grizzlies. "The MVP isn't even a competition," Nuggets coach Michael Malone declared afterward. "There's other great players. I'm not saying they're not great players. But what Nikola Jokic has done this year -- with this team, everything we've had to go through -- is just incredible. "He was good last year, and he's even better this year."
Malone said he was concerned after seeing Jokic bloodied in such a pivotal game for Denver. "My first thought was Steve Nash in that playoff series and they couldn't stop the bleeding," Malone said. "And I'm saying, 'Of all games, Nikola gets a very nonmalicious elbow, an inadvertent elbow to the head, and he's bleeding.' "I'm saying, 'Not tonight.'" Malone said he implored his trainers to do whatever they could to staunch the flow of blood. "Like, get a staple gun out here," Malone said. "And it finally stopped, and Nikola put on another MVP performance."
As he compiled numbers and climbed over names in respective Milwaukee Bucks and NBA recorded histories these last few seasons, he has allowed himself to briefly recognize the moment before moving beyond it. But – but – never too far in advance. It’s a mental tightrope he’s become comfortable on. This one, however, was different. “It’s cool,” he acknowledged a few games before he broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s franchise scoring mark Thursday night at the Barclays Center, which came on a step-back 3-pointer over Brooklyn center Andre Drummond with 18 seconds left in the fourth quarter to tie the game with the Nets 110-110. “How many points 14,000-something? Ohhh! I’m a bucket! I’m a bucket! It’s fun, you know?”
“I hope they stop the game so I can get the ball,” he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel through a smile. “Probably they won’t. It is what it is. I want it to be like, you know when Kobe passed MJ? The whole game stopped and he took the ball and he was like…” He lifted his hand high, cupping an imaginary ball, and he turned slowly to acknowledge an imaginary crowd. “I want to do the same.”
Milwaukee Bucks: The moment Giannis became the Bucks All-Time Scoring Leader!! Congratulations @Giannis_An34!!
StatMuse: Giannis has passed Kareem as the Bucks all time scorer. He is now 1st in points, 2nd in rebounds, 2nd in assists, 5th in steals and 1st in blocks in Bucks history. pic.twitter.com/Me5lakA3EV
Nick Friedell: Giannis, winking, when asked what it meant to become the Bucks' all-time leading scorer: "It's good because I'm changing the narrative. I don't want to be the guy only that dunks and runs. I can make a three."
Jon McGlocklin also played with Abdul-Jabbar and was the television analyst for the team through 2017. “It’s a remarkable story that I don’t think is ever – I’ve been associated with NBA 56 years – and I’ve played against and with the great ones back in the early 60s, mid 60s, the 70s, and who came along even close to this story?” McGlocklin said, his voice hitting a high pitch of incredulity. “That came out of left field and became what he’s become. Never seen it. You can’t name anybody that was that much of a surprise and grew in the NBA. Because most of the great ones came in, even back then, with big credentials out of college. But not Giannis. It’s a remarkable story.
Ryan Ward: With his 13th field goal of the night, LeBron James passed Karl Malone for second place on the NBA’s all-time field goals made list, via Lakers PR.
Ryan Ward: With his sixth field goal of the game, Russell Westbrook passed Adrian Dantley for 30th place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, via Lakers PR.
Ryan Ward: With his first basket of the night, Russell Westbrook passed Dwyane Wade for 31st place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list, via Lakers PR.
Nets Videos: Kevin Durant says he'll give Jerry West "a little s**t" about passing him on the NBA's all-time scoring list 😂 "It's a honor. He's just a legend in the game. A legend in our sport. Almost like the godfather of our sport"
Ajayi Browne: “He helped kickstart the NBA basically — Almost like the Godfather of our sport.” ⁃Kevin Durant on Jerry West.
Alex Schiffer: From @BKN_NETSPR: With 17 points tonight, Kevin Durant has now scored 25,193 career points, moving past Jerry West (25,192 points) into 22nd place on the NBA's all-time scoring list. Next up: Reggie Miller (25,279 points).
Kyle Goon: After the first timeout, the Cavaliers PA did graphic and called for applause for LeBron James moving up the all-time scoring list to No. 2. He scored 23,119 of his regular season points as a Cavalier across 849 games in 11 seasons.
Saturday in Washington, it was a thundering dunk, a driving layup, a handful of threes and, finally, a cutting layup that pushed James up the NBA’s all-time scoring leaderboard to No. 2, trailing only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The historic basket came midway into the second quarter of the Lakers’ 127-119 loss. Stanley Johnson found James on a back-door cut into the paint for a right-handed layup for his 36,930th career point, moving him past Karl Malone for second on the NBA’s career scoring list. “Just to be part of this league the many years I’ve been a part of it and being linked to some of the greatest who’ve ever played this game and guys I’ve ever watched or studied or read about or aspired to be like … I’m just always lost for words for it,” James said.
After scoring six points in the first quarter, James came out firing in the second. He scored the Lakers' first 15 points of the quarter to pass Malone. James hit a cutting layup on a feed from Stanley Johnson at the 5:20 mark to give him 36,929 points, one better than Malone. "Just to be a part of this league for as many years as I've been a part of it and being linked to some of the greatest who've ever played this game, guys I've either watched or studied or read about or aspired to be like ... I'm just always lost for words for it," James said. "It's an honor for myself, for my hometown, for my family and my friends to be able to live these moments throughout this journey. And that's exactly who I do it for."
James finished the game with 38 points for 36,937 in his career and now trails only legendary center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the all-time list. Abdul-Jabbar has been the NBA's scoring king since 1984 and finished his 20-year career with 38,387 points. "I will not allow myself to think about it," James said of the possibility of passing Abdul-Jabbar. "I've always just played the game the way I've been playing it over the years, and these things have just happened organically by just going out and playing the game the right way. Hope to accomplish that at some point in my career, but I won't think about it too much."
Ryan Ward: Carmelo on LeBron passing Malone: "Take your hat off to LeBron" for being able to do what he's done in his career thus far.
Ryan Ward: Russell Westbrook on LeBron passing Karl Malone: "Crazy to see. ... It's a great accomplishment."
“You’re never shocked,” Caldwell-Pope, a former team of James, said postgame. “Playing with him for (three) years, just seeing what he can do, how he does it – it never ceases to amaze me. He’s been striving for greatness ever since he stepped foot in the league. Just to be a part of some of that felt great…He’s a brother first and foremost, no matter what team I am on.”
Mike Trudell: * @LeBron James has surpassed Karl Malone for 2nd on the all-time @NBA scoring list, with a driving layup. Only @Kareem Abdul-Jabbar remains. Kareem: 38,387 LeBron: 36,930 (at the 5:20 mark of the 2nd Q vs. Washington) Malone: 36,928 Kobe: 33,643
"Um, I got 23,000 points," Westbrook said. "How about that?" Meanwhile, James is closing in on passing Karl Malone for second all-time in scoring in the NBA. He is now 20 points away from passing "The Mailman." After James logged 45 minutes, Lakers coach Frank Vogel said the team will discuss whether James will play on Saturday in Washington on the second of a back-to-back. If James rests, he could pass Malone in his return to Cleveland on Monday.
Detroit Pistons PR: Saddiq Bey became the first player in Pistons history to record at least 51 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals in a game. The last NBA player to record such minimums was James Harden at SAS on 12/3/2019. #Pistons (via @EliasSports)
Matt Williams: Saddiq Bey has recorded the 8th 50-point game in the month of March. He made 10 3-pointers, matching Joe Dumars in 1994 for the most in a game in Pistons history.
Rod Beard: #Pistons Isaiah Stewart on Saddiq Bey trying to get others involved when he got going: "That's good karma, when you know you can get the shot and you're still trying to get everybody involved."
James Edwards III: Dwane Casey on making the decision to go get 50: "If we won or lost, at least we had a productive night from a young man. ... You can't pay for those types of moments." Mentioned how Terrence Ross went for 50 and came back another player. Said it's a real moment.
Justin Kubatko: Nikola Jokic reached 10,000 career points in last night's win over the Wizards. Jokic is the youngest player in NBA history to reach career totals of 10,000 points, 5,000 rebounds, and 3,000 assists. He's the second-fastest player to do so, trailing Larry Bird by just one game.
Brian Lewis: Kyrie Irving has the first 60-point game in #Nets history. It's a new career-high and tied the #NBA season-high set by Karl-Anthony Towns last night for Minnesota at the #Spurs.
Alex Schiffer: Halftime: Nets lead the Magic 86-56. Kyrie Irving is putting on a clinic. He's got 41 points on 14-for-19 shooting. Next-highest Net has 10. Franchise-record for points in a half. Speaking of those, I think it's the swan song for Deron Williams' 57-point franchise record.
Tim Reynolds: Most points in a first half, last 25 years: 42 -- Kobe Bryant, 3/28/03 41 -- Kyrie Irving, tonight 40 -- Klay Thompson, 12/5/16 39 -- Zach LaVine, 4/9/21
Nick Friedell: Kyrie's 41 points are the most the Magic have ever allowed in one half to any player in franchise history. The Nets' 86 points in the first half are the most points the Magic have ever allowed in one half in franchise history.
It was not all doom and gloom for the Lakers, with James recording his 10,000th assist in the NBA, becoming the first player in league history with 30,000 points, 10,000 rebounds and 10,000 assists. But unfortunately for James there was little time to dwell on the achievement, instead forced to try and find a way to inspire the struggling Lakers back to life.
James set the mark by passing the ball to Carmelo Anthony for a 3-pointer early in the second quarter, notching his second assist of the game and 10,000th of his career. "I get lost for words anytime things like this are happening to me because of where I come from," he said. "I automatically start thinking to my hometown of Akron [Ohio] and my upbringing and where I come from and the dreams that I had of being in this league and playing at the highest level."
Jim Owczarski: Giannis Antetokounmpo has passed Rod Strickland for No. 94 on the all-time free throw attempts list. The #Bucks star made quite the move in that ranking tonight.
Jim Owczarski: #Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo has passed #Nuggets HOFer Dan Issel for No. 95 on the all-time free throw attempts list.
It was James’ 14th 50-point game of his career, tying Rick Barry for the sixth-most in NBA history. James has won 12 consecutive games when scoring 50-plus points. He’s the first player in NBA history to score 50-plus times multiple times after turning 35. “The thing that stands out to me is that the league has never seen a player at this stage of his career do what he’s doing,” Vogel said. “I think that’s the biggest thing that needs to be recognized. It’s just unbelievable, the level that he’s playing at.”
StatMuse: LeBron James is the first player in NBA history with multiple 50-point games after turning 35. pic.twitter.com/Yg2JDW4MYr
Harden entered Thursday 413 3-pointers behind Ray Allen for the second most in NBA history and 552 behind all-time leader Stephen Curry, who passed Allen earlier this season. "[Third] all time in NBA history, that's definitely a huge accomplishment," Harden said recently. "I think No. 1 is definitely going to be hard to catch. You've got the best shooter that ever touched a basketball in Steph. But that realm from Reggie to Ray to Kyle Korver [in fifth place], I mean, those are some unbelievable shooters that we all witnessed shoot the basketball at a high level. "So I'm blessed, I'm fortunate to be on that list, high on top of the list. And I'll do whatever it takes to try to catch Steph. [It's] going to be difficult, man."
Lauren Rosen: With his first 3-pointer tonight, James Harden has passed Reggie Miller for 3rd all-time in 3-pointers made (2,561). Harden trails only Ray Allen (2,973) and Stephen Curry (3,102).
Alex Schiffer: James Harden just passed Reggie Miller for third most 3s in NBA history. Miller is in the house rocking a special Harden jersey for the occasion.
Mike Trudell: - @LeBron James is the 7th Laker with multiple 50-point games.* - LeBron (2x) - Shaq (2x) - Chamberlain (2x) - Mikan (4x) - West (5x) - Baylor (17x) - Kobe (25x) *51 at Miami his first season in L.A., and tonight.
StatMuse: LeBron James is now No. 2 in all-time minutes including playoffs. He is around 3,500 minutes away from Kareem, which he will catch next season. pic.twitter.com/bfPLihSkIf
StatMuse: Nikola Jokic no longer has the highest PER season of all time. It’s now Giannis. 32.2 PER — Giannis this season 32.1 PER — Wilt in 1961-62 32.0 PER — Nikola Jokic this season pic.twitter.com/jl1CDGOznD
Jorge Sierra: 🐐 MOST PLAYOFF SERIES LED IN SCORING 🐐 Michael Jordan: 36 LeBron James: 36 There's a caveat, though: MJ played only 37 series to LeBron's 49. Jordan was only outscored once... by Terry Cummings... by one point.
James Harden becomes first 76ers players with 25 points, 10 rebounds, 15 assists, 5 steals in a game
StatMuse: James Harden 2nd game as a Sixer: 29 PTS 10 REB 16 AST 5 STL He is the first player in franchise history with a 25/10/15/5s game. pic.twitter.com/Y3F2RWxRSt
Jorge Sierra: LaMarcus Aldridge is now No. 44 all-time in scoring after passing Mitch Richmond. George Gervin next. hoopshype.com/2022/02/27/dai…
The Memphis Grizzlies' All-Star guard put on quite a display for the Chicago crowd and might have gotten a little extra lift after seeing highlights of Michael Jordan on the video board. Morant scored a regular-season franchise-record 46 points, and the Grizzlies hung on to beat DeMar DeRozan and the Chicago Bulls 116-110 on Saturday night. "I did watch it," Morant said. "And then, I did start scoring a lot. It probably played a part in it." Morant broke Mike Miller's previous record (45 points) set in 2007.
Kyle Lowry moved ahead of JR Smith with 1,931 three-pointers. He’s now 19 away from JJ Redick.
Justin Kubatko: DeMar DeRozan tonight: ✅ 38 PTS ✅ 6 REB ✅ 6 AST ✅ 16-27 FG DeRozan has scored at least 35 points while shooting 50% from the field in each of his last seven games, breaking a tie with Wilt Chamberlain for the longest such streak in NBA history.
Even in a rough season team-wise, there’s a silver lining for LeBron James when it comes to individual accolades. The last one is a pretty big deal: during the game vs. the Warriors, he just became the NBA’s all-time leading scorer when combining points in the regular season and playoffs. (If you include play-in tournament scoring, he actually became the top NBA scorer in the Lakers’ loss to Portland). King James still trails Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in regular-season scoring, though he’s on track to pass him there as well next season.
Ryan Ward: LeBron on passing Kareem: "Throughout my career, whenever I've been linked with some of the greats I've been in awe."
Ryan Ward: Frank Vogel on LeBron passing Kareem: "To me he's the greatest player ever to play. ... I still believe he's going to lead us to great things this year."
Stephen Curry No. 49 in points now Moved ahead of John Stockton with 19,745 points. He’s now 297 away from Antawn Jamison
LeBron James No. 41 in rebounds now Moved ahead of DeAndre Jordan with 10,052 rebounds. He’s now 40 away from Johnny Kerr
Steph Curry’s name is all over the NBA and Warriors team record books. Most notably, of course, as the league’s all-time leader in 3-pointers. On Saturday, he added one more: No player has appeared in more games in a Golden State uniform than Curry. When the ball was tipped Saturday night in the Warriors’ matchup against the Brooklyn Nets at Chase Center, Curry had officially played in his 808th career game. He surpasses Hall of Fame forward Chris Mullin, who played 807 contests for Golden State from 1985-86 through 1996-97 and 2000-01.
Warriors on NBCS: Game 808 for Steph, passing Mully for most games played in franchise history.
"Steph has done so many things and there are so many records that they run into each other," Warriors coach Steve Kerr told reporters prior to Saturday's game. "I love that particular record just because it signifies his loyalty to the franchise and vice versa, the love-affair that exists between Steph and the Bay. It's pretty unique. You don't see this an awful lot. "You think of Reggie Miller in Indiana or Larry Bird in Boston. Kobe Bryant in LA, Tim Duncan and Manu [Ginóbili] in San Antonio, it's pretty unique, pretty special and I know we take great pride in our organization in Steph and I think he takes a lot of pride in representing us and the Bay Area, so that record is a reminder of how lucky we are to have him as our cornerstone of the franchise."
StatMuse: Dejounte Murray has tied David Robinson for the most triple-doubles in Spurs franchise history (14). He has 10 triple-doubles this season, doubling the previous Spurs record (Robinson with 5). pic.twitter.com/31QHCUkMdE
Jorge Sierra: LaMarcus Aldridge has just passed Joe Johnson for No. 45 all-time in the scoring list. Will soon pass Mitch Richmond too.
With Davis potentially returning as soon as Tuesday from the sprained MCL in his left knee when L.A. plays the Brooklyn Nets, James made it sound like his offensive output could continue at a prolific pace. "I don't need to score 30 a night, but I'm in one of the best zones offensively I've been in, in my career," the 19-year veteran said. "And I don't plan on stopping. That's just how I feel. I feel fantastic. Shooting the ball extremely well. Didn't shoot the 3-ball well tonight, but all eight of them felt great. Shooting efficient from the free throw line, shooting efficient from the field. Very efficient at the rim. "So I don't go into the game saying you got to score 30 or you guys don't have a chance to win the game. I just play the game. The scoring has been happening organically."
James, who is 2,006 points behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's record atop the all-time scoring list, also acknowledged that he's aware of the approaching milestone. "As I've continued to climb the ranks, it's natural, human to look at it and see where you are and see if it's even possible. See if you're capable," James said. "Obviously health plays the most important part and then just continuing to give your everything to the game. I've never cheated the game. I've never wanted to feel like I was content. "I wanted to continue to get better and I mean, I am, like you said, I will be within 2,000 points, when did you say? Soon? Well, listen, we'll see what happens. I've never chased a record in my life. I've never sat down and said, 'OK, let me see if I can get this record, let me see if I can get that record.'"
NBA.com/Stats: LeBron James has scored 25+ points in 16 straight games. The only other Lakers to do this are Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal and Elgin Baylor. (@EliasSports)
The Athletic: With his four boards tonight, Dwight Howard has moved into sole possession of 10th place on the NBA's all-time rebounding list, passing Nate Thurmond.
Stephen Curry No. 53 in points now: Moved ahead of Tony Parker and Terry Cummings with 19,476 points. He’s now 45 away from Walter Davis
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James passed Oscar Robertson for seventh place on the NBA's all-time assist leaderboard following Sunday night's 7-assist performance against the Memphis Grizzlies. Despite missing multiple games and recently taking on the role of the Lakers' starting center, James is still averaging nearly seven assists per game this season.
“Oh, wow. I am a historian of the game and I know quite a bit about The Big O,” LeBron said. “From his times from high school to the University of Cincinnati, to actually playing for the Cincinnati Royals all the way to Milwaukee, and so on and so on. What he meant to the game and what he still means to the game is something that’s just unparalleled. And, obviously, he will always have a connection to Russ, what they was able to do for multiple seasons. But he was one of the first really premier big guards that could do pretty much everything out on the floor. But his ability to get teammates involved, his ability to find his teammates, his ability to provide that sense of joy out on the floor because of the pass is something that I’ve always respected and gravitated towards; guys like himself, J-Kidd, and Magic. I sound like a broken record, but it’s the honest to God’s truth: anytime I’m connected — or anything with the greats, it’s an honor.”
Jorge Sierra: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the only player in the Top 10 in three of the five main statistical categories. That's no longer the case. After last night's game, LeBron James is also Top 10 in three categories (points, assists AND steals). 👉 https://t.co/ZexZOe8FAx pic.twitter.com/bHCQtNOkOZ
Ryan Ward: According to Lakers PR, with his fourth steal of the night, LeBron James passed Alvin Robertson for 10th on the NBA’s all-time steals list.
