The 2014-15 NBA regular season continued on Monday, February 23 with eight games featuring 16 teams. An MVP candidate took over with a dominant performance, an under-appreciated star made a clutch play to seal a win and a recently traded player shined for his new team.
Here’s how it all transpired.
1. James Harden recorded 31 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists, four blocks and a steal to lead the Houston Rockets to a 113-102 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. Andrew Wiggins responded with 30 points of his own for the Timberwolves, but Harden’s efforts were too much to overcome.
Harden joins Hakeem Olajuwon as the only players in Rockets history to score at least 30 points during a triple-double.
2. This was the first game since January 11, 2014 in which both teams recorded at least 20 offensive rebounds.
3. Mike Conley recorded 18 points and seven assists, and made the game-saving steal to lead the Memphis Grizzlies past the Los Angeles Clippers 90-87. Chris Paul went off for 30 points, 10 assists, four rebounds, two blocks and a pair of steals, and DeAndre Jordan grabbed 17 rebounds, but the Clippers ultimately fell short of victory.
Memphis is 15-3 since trading for Jeff Green—the best record in the Western Conference during that time frame.
4. Luol Deng scored 29 points on 11-of-14 shooting, Goran Dragic had 23 points and 10 assists, and Dwyane Wade put up 18 points as the Miami Heat escaped with a 119-108 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. Nerlens Noel recorded 18 points, seven rebounds, two assists and four blocks on 8-of-10 shooting from the charity stripe for the Sixers.
The Heat improve to 8-0 when Deng scores at least 20 points.
5. Dragic had just one double-digit assists outing in 52 games with the Phoenix Suns. He has one just two games in with the Heat.
6. The Chicago Bulls decimated the Milwaukee Bucks by a margin of 62-41 on the glass and 87-71 on the scoreboard. Tony Snell scored 20 points, Nikola Mirotic had 16 points and 14 rebounds, Joakim Noah pulled down 16 boards and Pau Gasol tallied 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Gasol has a league-leading 37 double-doubles.
7. Isaiah Thomas scored 21 points to lead his new team, the Boston Celtics, to a 115-110 victory over his former team, the Phoenix Suns. Avery Bradley came up with 23 points and six steals for the Celtics, while Eric Bledsoe had 21 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds, two steals and a block, Brandon Knight put up 20 points and Alex Len tallied 10 points, 12 rebounds and six blocks for the Suns.
The Suns have lost five consecutive games and eight of nine.
8. Trey Burke scored 23 points and Gordon Hayward put up 18 points to help the Utah Jazz upset the San Antonio Spurs 90-81. Tim Duncan had 14 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks for the Spurs, while Rudy Gobert picked up seven points, 14 rebounds, three blocks and two steals for the Jazz.
The Spurs have lost three straight games since All-Star Weekend.
9. Brook Lopez had 19 points and nine rebounds to help the Brooklyn Nets get past the Denver Nuggets 110-82. Deron Williams finished with 16 points and 12 assists for the Nets, while Ty Lawson dished out 10 dimes for the Nuggets.
Danilo Gallinari scored a season-high 22 points for the Nuggets, but it was to no avail.
10. Unsung heroes shined as Alexis Ajinca, Luke Babbitt and Norris Cole led the New Orleans Pelicans past the Toronto Raptors 100-97. Babbitt recorded 18 points and eight rebounds, Ajinca posted 16 points and nine boards, and Norris Cole scored 15 points to complement Tyreke Evans‘ 12 assists.
The 18 points were Babbitt’s most since April 12, 2014.
Bonus Fact: Only Michael Carter-Williams and Rajon Rondo have more triple-doubles than Harden in 2014-15.