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Elias Says: March 26, 2018

LeBron produces another stellar season

LeBron James scored his 2,000th point of the season in his 37-point, 10-rebound, 8-assist performance in Cleveland’s win over Brooklyn on Sunday. This is the eighth time James has registered at least 2000 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists in a season in his career, the most such seasons for any player in NBA history. Only two other players have had more than two 2000-point, 500-rebound, 500-assist seasons: Oscar Robertson (six) and Larry Bird (three).

Knicks win with team effort

The Knicks had eight players with at least 10 points in their win over the Wizards on Sunday. It is the first time in over 20 years that New York had at least eight players with a double-digit point total in the same game, since eight players, led by John Starks, did that in a victory over the Kings on Madison Square Garden on November 15, 1997.

Rozier helps Celtics on both ends of the floor

Terry Rozier, starting for the injured Kyrie Irving, helped the Celtics on both ends of the floor in the team’s win over the Kings on Sunday. Rozier knocked down eight three-pointers while helping out defensively with five steals. Since the NBA instituted the three-point line in 1979-80, only two other players have registered at least eight three-point field goals and five steals in a game: Denver’s Michael Adams on April 12, 1991 (nine threes and seven steals) and Portland’s Damian Lillard on February 19, 2016 (nine threes and six steals).

Williams keeps scoring off the bench

Lou Williams scored a game-high 26 points leading the Clippers to a win over the Raptors on Sunday. It marked the 18th time Williams produced at least 25 points in a game off the bench this season, matching the most such games in a single season over the last 27 years. The only other player to do that 18 times in a season since 1991-92 was New York’s J.R. Smith in 2012-13.

Harden is the seventh player to victimize Hawks with a triple-double this season

James Harden produced 18 points, 10 rebounds and 15 assists leading the Rockets to a win over the Hawks on Sunday. Harden became the seventh different player to produce a triple-double against the Hawks this season, joining Blake Griffin, Nikola Vucevic, Nicolas Batum (twice), LeBron James, Elfrid Peyton and Russell Westbrook. That ties the highest total in a single season in NBA history. Three other teams had seven different players register a triple-double against them: the 1970-71 Trail Blazers, 2000-01 Warriors and 2013-14 76ers.

George is struggling from three-point range

After misfiring on all of his six three-point attempts on Friday, Paul George’s struggles continued on Sunday when he went 0-for-7 from beyond the arc in Oklahoma City’s three-point loss to Portland. George is the second player to go 0-for-6 or worse from three-point range in consecutive games this season joining Eric Gordon who did it on January 20 and January 22.

George has shot 0-for-6 or worse from three-point range three times in March (he was 0-for-7 on March 3). Prior to this month, George had only five such games in his career. No other NBA player has had more than one game with six or more shot attempts without a make from beyond the arc this month.

Collison comes alive in overtime

Darren Collison scored eight of his 12 points in overtime leading the Pacers to a victory over the Heat on Sunday. That is the most points Collison has ever scored in an overtime period in his career (he has appeared in 45 overtime games), besting his previous high of six on Dec. 11, 2014 against the Rockets.

Collison is the first player to score at least eight points in an overtime period after scoring fewer than five points during regulation time since Denver’s D.J. Augustin scored eight points in overtime after scoring only four points in the first four quarters in a win over Dallas on March 6, 2016.

Big third quarter propels Bucks to a win over the Spurs

The Bucks outscored the Spurs by a score of 41-28 in the third quarter allowing them to enter the fourth quarter with a double-digit lead in a game Milwaukee would hold on to win by a three-point margin on Sunday. That marked the second consecutive game San Antonio allowed 41 points in a quarter, with Utah reaching that point total in the fourth quarter against the Spurs on Friday. This is the first time the Spurs have allowed more than 40 points in a quarter twice in a single season since Gregg Popovich became the team’s head coach, let alone doing it in consecutive games.

Crosby keeps piling up the points against the Flyers

Sidney Crosby tallied two points in the Penguins’ 5–4 overtime victory against the Flyers on Sunday afternoon. He scored a goal in the first minute of the third period which gave Pittsburgh a 4–3 lead, and then assisted on Bryan Rust’s game-winning overtime goal. Crosby has racked up 93 points in the 63 regular-season games he’s played versus the Flyers in his NHL career (38 goals, 55 assists). His average of 1.48 points per game against the Flyers is the highest among active players and sixth-highest all-time (minimum: 20 games), behind Mario Lemieux (1.75), Wayne Gretzky (1.72), Mike Bossy (1.61), Bobby Orr (1.53) and Steve Yzerman (1.50).

Markstrom wins in Dallas again

Canucks goaltender Jacob Markstrom won both games he played against the Stars in Dallas this season: a 6–0 shutout on February 11, and a 4–1 victory on Sunday. (Markstrom made 30 saves in each game.) The only other goaltenders in Canucks history to win two road games against the Stars in one season are Gary Smith, who beat the Minnesota North Stars twice at the Met Center in 1975–76, and Cory Schneider, who notched two wins in Dallas in 2010–11.

Connor is on a hot streak

Rookie Kyle Connor matched his NHL high for points in one game when he scored one goal and assisted on two for the Winnipeg Jets in their shootout win against the Predators. Connor had an eight-game goalless streak from February 24 through March 12 – his longest drought this season – but he’s scored seven goals in six games since then. He’s the first rookie to average more than a goal per game over a six-game stretch in the NHL this season. The only NHL rookie to do that last season is Connor’s teammate, Patrik Laine, who had overlapping six-game spans with seven goals and eight goals for the Jets in February 2017.

Pastrnak produces his second 30-goal season

David Pastrnak reached the 30-goal mark for the second time in his four seasons in the NHL when he scored the first goal for the Bruins in their 2–1 overtime win at Minnesota. Pastrnak, who scored 34 goals for Boston last season, will not turn 22 years old until May 25. He’s the second player to score 30 goals or more in a season for the Bruins twice before his 22nd birthday. The first was Barry Pederson, who did that in 1981–82 and 1982–83.

Marchand ties NHL mark for overtime goals in a season

Brad Marchand scored his fifth overtime goal of the season, tying an NHL record, to earn the Bruins a 2–1 win at Minnesota on Sunday. Marchand is the fourth NHL player to score five OT goals in one season, a mark he now shares with Steven Stamkos (2011–12 Lightning), Jonathan Toews (2015–16 Blackhawks) and Alex Galchenyuk (2016–17 Canadiens).