Five Fast Facts from NBA Games: 3.24.13

1. The Heat extended their win streak to 26 games with a 109-77 win over the Bobcats. Miami is now 7 wins shy of tying the NBA record of 33 set by the 1971-72 Lakers. The 32-point win was Miami’s largest this season. LeBron James led the way with 32 points, 10 assists, and 8 rebounds. It’s the 2nd time he’s reached those numbers during the streak. Miami matched the second-longest winning streak in the history of major professional sports leagues in North America. It was 97 years ago that John McGraw’s New York Giants earned 26 consecutive wins (September 7 to September 30). That remains as the longest winning streak in the history of Major League Baseball – and it was accomplished entirely in home games, with at least one win against every other team in the National League.
2. James Harden scored 29 points in the Rockets’ 96-95 victory over the Spurs. Harden finished the season with 91 points in three games against the Spurs, an average of 30.3 points per game. That’s the highest scoring average in a season for a Rockets player who played more than one game against the Spurs. The previous high was 29.5 by Hakeem Olajuwon in six games in 1994-95.
3. The Thunder beat the Trail Blazers, 103-83. It was the 17th time this season that the Thunder won a game by at least 20 points, matching the Spurs for the most such wins in the NBA this season. Only once in franchise history did the Thunder/SuperSonics have more wins by at least 20 points in one season than they have this season. The Sonics won 21 games by 20 or more points in 1994-95.
4. Derrick Williams tied a career-high 28 points, but his Timberwolves still lost to the Bulls. Chicago have won back-to-back games for just the second time since February 1, and have won consecutive road games for the first time since January 16-18. Minnesota has now lost 7 straight against the Bulls.
5. The Brooklyn Nets improved to 3-1 on their season-high eight-game road trip, with a 102-100 win over Phoenix. Deron Williams scored 20 points and dished out 11 assists (7th game with 20 points and 10+ assists this season). Goran Dragic just missed a triple-double as he scored a season-high 31 points, handed out a game-high 12 assists and grabbed 9 rebounds. Phoenix has now lost 3 straight and seven of their last 8 overall. The Nets are 7-3 in their last 10 games and remain 2 games back of the Knicks in the Atlantic Division.

Stat Mann is the nom de guerre of our research statistician, who spends a lot of time watching basketball in central Connecticut. Someone would be angry if they discovered he was moonlighting here.