The 2014-15 NBA regular season continued on Wednesday, March 25 with 13 games featuring 26 teams. Road teams went 12-1, equivalent to a .923 win percentage, which set a new NBA record for a single day with a minimum of 10 games played.
For more on that and a number of individually significant performances, this is how it all transpired.
1. Paul Millsap recorded 25 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, four blocks and a steal to lead the Atlanta Hawks past the Orlando Magic 95-83. Jeff Teague added 16 points and nine assists for the Hawks, while Elfrid Payton led the Magic with 19 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and a steal.
Atlanta’s 54 wins are its most since 1996-97.
2. Tony Parker was dominant with 21 points and six assists on 10-of-14 shooting as the San Antonio Spurs obliterated the Oklahoma City Thunder 130-91. Boris Diaw chipped in 19 points and six rebounds on 9-of-15 shooting for the Spurs, while Enes Kanter had 16 points and 10 rebounds in 22 rebounds for the Thunder.
The Spurs improve to 15-5 when their starting lineup—Parker, Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard, Tim Duncan and Tiago Splitter—is intact.
3. Dwight Howard returned to spark a 95-93 Houston Rockets victory over the New Orleans Pelicans. James Harden led the charge with 25 points, 10 assists, six rebounds, one block and a steal, while Trevor Ariza had 22 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals, and Donatas Motiejunas posted 21 points and eight rebounds for Houston.
Houston improves to 34-8 when Harden records at least 25 points. It’s 14-15 when he doesn’t.
4. Chris Paul was quietly dominant with 11 points, 16 assists, three rebounds and four steals on 5-of-8 shooting as the Los Angeles Clippers secured a 111-80 victory over the New York Knicks. Austin Rivers provided 21 points in 19 minutes and DeAndre Jordan recorded 14 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks on 7-of-7 shooting for the Clippers, while Cleanthony Early scored 18 points in 25 minutes for the Knicks.
The 18 points set a new career-high for the Early.
5. Kyrie Irving scored 24 points, Kevin Love had 22 and 10 rebounds, and LeBron James 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers past the Memphis Grizzlies 111-89. Marc Gasol led the Grizzlies with 18 points, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Cleveland’s balanced attack.
Cleveland improves to 7-1 when Irving, James and Love all score 20 points or more.
6. Jimmy Butler scored 23 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field to lead the Chicago Bulls to a big 116-103 victory against the Toronto Raptors. Pau Gasol added 18 points and Tony Snell had 17 points in 18 minutes for the Bulls, while Greivis Vasquez tallied 22 points and DeMar DeRozan posted 20 for the Raptors.
Despite its loss, Toronto clinched a spot in the playoffs. It’ll make consecutive postseason appearances for the first time since 2006-07 and 2007-08.
7. Damian Lillard put up 23 points and 12 assists to help the Portland Trail Blazers escape with a 92-89 victory over the Utah Jazz. Derrick Favors went off for 26 points and 13 rebounds against an All-Star opponent, with LaMarcus Aldridge tallying 19 points and nine rebounds in response for the victorious Trail Blazers.
This was Lillard’s first double-double sine January 30.
8. George Hill erupted for 29 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and the game-winner as the Indiana Pacers went on the road to defeat the Washington Wizards 103-101. John Wall had 34 points for Washington, but it continued to underwhelm in its attempts to complement him.
Indiana snaps its six-game losing streak, while Washington has lost four in a row.
9. DeMarcus Cousins put up 24 points and 11 rebounds as the Sacramento Kings upset the Phoenix Suns 108-99. The loss couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Suns, which had the opportunity to take advantage of the Thunder’s loss.
Strangely, but truly: the Kings have defeated the Suns with three different head coaches in 2014-15.
10. Goran Dragic picked up 22 points, seven assists and five rebounds to lead the Miami Heat past the Boston Celtics 93-86. Jae Crowder led the Celtics with 16 points and seven rebounds off the bench, but Boston still failed to overcome a shorthanded Miami squad.
The Heat have quietly won four of six.
Bonus Facts
- Brook Lopez quietly exploded for 34 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks and two steals as the Brooklyn Nets took down the Charlotte Hornets 91-88.
- Nerlens Noel took over with 14 points, 15 rebounds, two assists, four blocks and four steals to help the Philadelphia 76ers defeat Ty Lawson and the Denver Nuggets 99-85.
- Jordan Clarkson scored 20 points and Jeremy Lin had 19 as the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves in overtime. Andrew Wiggins finished with 27 points for the T-Wolves.
There were 13 games, not 10, last night. The 3 other games weren’t “Bonus Facts”.
A bonus fact would be that 4 teams (Boston, Ind, B’klyn and Charlotte) are tied with 40 losses, for last playoff spot and also that Minny and NY both lost, in a race for the best chance to get the #1 pick.