Westbrook in elite company through 600 games
Russell Westbrook, in the 600th game of his NBA career, notched a triple-double, with 30 points, 13 assists, and 11 rebounds in a Thunder victory against the Nets on Friday night. Westbrook has 13,010 points, 4,584 assists, and 3,410 rebounds; only one other player had at least 13,000 points, 4,500 assists, and 3,000 rebounds over his first 600 games in the NBA. That was Oscar Robertson, with 18,191 points, 6,353 assists, and 5,436 rebounds.
Taking away the rebound requirement, only one other player makes the list of 13,000 points/4,500 assists through 600 games: Nate Archibald (13,266 points and 4,609 assists).
DeRozan has 10th 30-point game of the season in OT win
DeMar DeRozan needed overtime to reach the 30-point mark in the Raptors’ win over the Nuggets on Friday. DeRozan is off to a hot start, scoring at least 30 points in 10 of his 12 games in the 2016-17 season. Over the last 40 years, only two other players had reached their 10th game of 30-or-more points within their first 12 games of a season: Alex English (12th game of 1985-86 season) and Michael Jordan (12th game of 1986-87).
Irving’s the star in Cleveland’s win
Kyrie Irving scored 25 points, dished out 11 assists, and made 11 of 15 field-goal attempts (.733) as the Cavs coasted to a 104-81 win over the Pistons. That’s Irving’s second game with at least 25 points, 10 assists, and a field goal percentage of 70 percent or higher; he also did so on February 8, 2015 versus the Lakers (28 points, 10 assists, .714 field-goal percentage). Only two other Cavaliers players had multiple games of this type: Mark Price (six such games from 1988 to 1994) and John Bagley (two games in 1985). Over the last five seasons (since 2012-13), only one other player had two such games: Giannis Antetokounmpo on February 22 and March 13 earlier this year.
San Antonio remains undefeated on the road
LaMarcus Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard each scored 23 points as the Spurs improved to 7-0 on the road this season with a win over the Lakers in Los Angeles on Friday. It’s the third time in franchise history in which they won their first seven road games of a season (won first seven in 2006-07 and won first eight in 2010-11). The only other franchise to start 7-0 on the road in three different seasons is the Celtics, who started 10-0 in road games in the 1960-61 and 1961-62 seasons and won their first seven road games in 1972-73.
Howard racks up the rebounds, but Hawks lose
Dwight Howard grabbed 18 rebounds in the Hawks’ 100-96 loss to the Hornets on Friday night. Howard has 19 games with at least 15 rebounds against Charlotte in his career, tying the most such games for an active player against one team (Howard also has 19 such games against the Hawks). The only other player with at least 10 games with 15 or more rebounds against Charlotte is Dennis Rodman (18 such games from 1991 to 1997).
Warriors’ strong third quarter leads them to victory
The Warriors outscored the Celtics, 31-9, in the third quarter (led by Klay Thompson’s nine points) as they pulled away on their way to a 104-88 win. It’s the third time Golden State has outscored its opponent by at least 20 points in a quarter this season. The only other team with multiple quarters of this type in the 2016-17 campaign is the Clippers, with two.
The Warriors had four such quarters over the entire 2015-16 season, tied with the Thunder for second-most in the NBA (the Spurs had five).
Bench players lead the way
Reserves Brandon Knight (17 points), Jared Dudley (16 points), and Alan Williams (15 points) were the top three scorers for the Suns in their 116-96 blowout win over the Pacers. Phoenix is the first team to win a game this season in which its top three outright scorers all came off the bench. Over the last 15 years, the Suns had only one other win of this type; they defeated the Kings, 104-99, on April 16, 2014, with reserves Archie Goodwin (29 points), Marcus Morris (22), and Markieff Morris (15) leading the way.
Over the last three seasons (since 2014-15), only one other team won a game by at least 20 points with their top three outright scorers coming off the bench. The Celtics did so on February 25, 2015, in a 115-94 victory over the Knicks (Jonas Jerebko, 20 points; Isaiah Thomas, 19; Jae Crowder, 18).
Griffin and Redick put up the points in the first quarter
The Clippers got off to quick start, scoring 40 points in the first quarter of their matchup with the Kings on Friday. Blake Griffin scored 15 points in the opening quarter, while Clippers teammate JJ Redick had 14 points of his own in the first quarter. Since the start of the 2015-16 season, only one other pair of teammates each scored at least 14 first-quarter points in the same game. Earlier this season, on November 3, the Timberwolves’ Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins each had 14 points in the first quarter versus the Nuggets.
Mavs’ offense struggles mightily in loss to the Grizzlies
Harrison Barnes (5-for-17 on field-goal attempts) and the Mavericks scored just 64 points (the lowest total for any team this season) and shot 28.8 percent from the floor (also a low for any team in 2016-17) in their loss to the Grizzlies on Friday. The last team to score fewer than 65 points and shoot under 30 percent on field-goal attempts in a game was the Knicks on March 11, 2013 at Golden State (63 points, 27.4%). Carmelo Anthony went 4-for-15 from the floor in that game and J.R. Smith made only three of his 11 field-goal attempts. Entering Friday, the Mavs had never had such a game in franchise history.
Davis dominates in Pelicans’ win
Anthony Davis was the game’s high scorer, with 38 points, as the Pelicans downed the Trail Blazers, 113-101. Entering Friday, New Orleans had won just two of its last 11 games in which Davis scored at least 35 points. And that’s after Davis started his career with the Pelicans winning six of their first seven games when he netted that many points.
Crosby continues to find success against Tavares
Sidney Crosby scored the first goal of the game and assisted on Kris Letang’s goal in overtime which gave the Penguins a 3–2 victory over the Islanders and John Tavares, who notched one assist on the night. This was the 30th head-to-head matchup in regular-season action for the players who were each selected first overall in their respective draft years (Crosby in 2005 and Tavares in 2009). Crosby has dominated those games, racking up more than twice as many goals (19–9), assists (34–13) and points (53–22) as Tavares, and the Penguins have won 19 times to 11 wins for the Islanders.
Nothing gets by Holtby
Braden Holtby posted his first shutout of the season and the 24th shutout of his NHL career with a 1–0 win versus the Red Wings in Washington. Holtby’s average of one shutout every 10.4 starts is the fourth-best among active goaltenders who’ve made at least 200 starts. The three current netminders with higher shutout rates than Holtby are Brian Elliott (one every 9.0 starts), Jaroslav Halak (9.5) and Tuukka Rask (9.8).
Blue Jackets win another one at home
William Karlsson tallied a goal and an assist for the Columbus Blue Jackets as they extended their home winning streak to a franchise-record seven games with a 4–2 victory over the Rangers. Entering play on Friday the Blue Jackets were the only one of the 30 current NHL franchises that had never won seven or more consecutive home games. Columbus is now tied with the Florida Panthers and Atlanta Thrashers/Winnipeg Jets for the shortest team-record home winning streak by a current club. The Thrashers won seven straight games in Atlanta in March 2007, and the Panthers set their team record with seven consecutive home wins in the middle of last season.
Karlsson has produced eight points (three goals, five assists) while playing in all 15 games for Columbus this season and his name in the scoring summary has been a good omen for the Blue Jackets, as they’ve won all six games in which he’s racked up points (3–4–2 when no points).
Skinner scores 150th goal of NHL career
Jeff Skinner, Teuvo Teravainen and Viktor Rask scored the third-period goals for the Carolina Hurricanes as they overcame a 1–0 deficit and beat the Canadiens, 3–2. Skinner’s goal was the 150th that he’s scored for the Hurricanes selected him with their first pick (#7 overall) in the 2010 Entry Draft. He’s the second player from the 2010 draft class to reach that goal milestone. Tyler Seguin, the second overall pick that year (by the Bruins), has scored 170 goals in his NHL career.
Hossa’s stellar play continues
Marian Hossa’s tiebreaking goal with 2:23 left to play in the third period was the game-winning goal for the Chicago Blackhawks in their 3–2 victory against the Flames in Calgary. The 37-year-old Hossa leads the Blackhawks with 10 goals this season. He reached double-figures in goals in his 17th game, the fastest he’s done that since the 2008–09 season when he was playing for the Red Wings and scored his 10th goal in his 16th game. Hossa’s hot start this season is a big change from the past two seasons, when it took him 47 games (2014–15) and 51 games (2015–16) to reach the 10-goal mark.