Information researched by Elias Sports Bureau, Inc.

Butler scores 40 and wins it at the buzzer

Jimmy Butler, who scored a game-high 40 points, made a game-winning shot at the buzzer lifting the Bulls to a 101-99 victory over the Nets on Wednesday night. Over the last eight seasons, the only other players to win a game with a field-goal at the buzzer in a 40-point performance are Anthony Davis, who beat the Thunder in that fashion while scoring 41 points on February 6, 2015 and Blake Griffin who did it in overtime in a 45-point effort against the Suns on December 8, 2014. The last Bulls player to accomplish that feat was Jalen Rose, who scored 44 points and knocked down the game winning shot with no time remaining in the second overtime on March 16, 2002 against the Rockets.

Warriors bury Raptors in first quarter

The Warriors jumped out quickly on the Raptors by building a 42-17 lead at the end of the first quarter in a game they would go on to win 121-111 on Wednesday night. It marked only the third time in the shot-clock era that a team had a lead of at least 25 points at the end of the opening quarter against a team that entered the contest with a .700 or better winning percentage at least 30 games into the season. The only other teams to do that were the Magic against the 36-11 SuperSonics on February 18, 1994 (led 40-15 at the end of the first quarter) and the Wizards against the 27-10 Heat on January 15, 2014 (43-18 at the end of the first quarter).

Wall does it all in Wizards’ win

John Wall registered 36 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists leading the Wizards to a victory over the Pacers on Wednesday night. Wall is the first player in Wizards’ franchise history to reach those levels in those three categories in the same game. The only other NBA player to produce at least 36 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists in a game this season is Russell Westbrook, who has done it four times.

Gallinari comes through in the clutch

Danilo Gallinari’s field-goal with 27 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter gave the Nuggets a 105-103 lead and Denver held on to win by that score over the Timberwolves on Wednesday night. Gallinari was just 2-for-15 (.133) on potential go-ahead field-goal attempts in the final 30 seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime in his career entering Wednesday’s game.

Poor shooting doesn’t stop Hawks

The Hawks made only 36.3 percent of their field-goal attempts but still came away with an overtime victory over the Knicks on Wednesday night. That’s the lowest field-goal percentage Atlanta has produced in a victory on its home court in nearly 17 years, and its last such home win also came against New York in overtime on January 28, 2000. The Hawks made only 35.5 percent of their field-goal attempts in that victory at Philips Arena.

Atlanta’s win snapped its six-game losing streak in game that went into overtime dating back to 2014. That was the second-longest streak of its kind for any NBA team entering Wednesday’s action behind Sacramento (eight).

Bucks post second 25-point win on the road

The Bucks beat the Pistons by a score of 119-94 in Detroit on Wednesday night. It marks the second time Milwaukee won a road game by 25 or more points this season, having also done that on December 16 with a 26-point victory in Chicago. The Bucks only had two road wins by margins of 25 or more points in the four seasons prior to the 2016-17 campaign (at Detroit in January 2013 and at Atlanta in December 2014).

Charlotte gets a big lift from its backcourt

Kemba Walker scored 21 points and made eight of his 12 field-goal attempts and backcourt mate Nicolas Batum chipped in with 20 points and was also 8-for-12 from the field in the Hornets 120-101 thrashing of the Magic in Orlando on Wednesday night. The only other starting guard tandem to each score at least 20 points and make two-thirds of their field-goal attempts in the same game this season are the Clippers’ JJ Redick and Chris Paul (November 7).

This is the third time Charlotte’s starting backcourt each scored 20 or more points and made two-thirds of their shots from the field having also done that on April 12, 2002 (Baron Davis and David Wesley) and November 24, 2008 (Raymond Felton and D.J. Augustin).

Spurs overcome 10-point deficit to win

The Spurs overcame a 10-point deficit and defeated the Suns in San Antonio Wednesday night. It’s the eighth time San Antonio won a game after trailing by double-digits this season, tying the number of wins of that type it had all last season. The Spurs’ eight wins after trailing by 10 or more points is tied with Charlotte and Oklahoma City for the most in the league this season.

Crosby extends goal-scoring streak

Sidney Crosby extended his goal streak to five games when he scored the first goal for the Penguins in their 3–2 win over the Hurricanes. This is the sixth time that Crosby has scored goals in five or more consecutive team games in one season since he made his NHL debut with Pittsburgh in 2005. That ties him with Jean Pronovost for the second-most goal-scoring streaks of at least five games for the Penguins, behind Mario Lemieux with 17 (including 12- and 11-game streaks) and Jaromir Jagr with nine.

Goalies are superb in Leafs win over the Panthers

Frederik Andersen and the Maple Leafs beat Roberto Luongo and the Panthers in a shootout after a superb night for the two goaltenders saw the teams end 65 minutes of play in a 2–2 deadlock. Andersen faced a barrage of 47 shots on goal by the Panthers and Luongo was nearly as busy, with the Leafs putting 40 shots on target. This was only the third NHL game in the last six seasons in which each team produced at least 40 shots on goal but scored no more than two goals. The two other games of that kind since 2011–12 were also decided by a shootout after the teams played to a 2–2 stalemate, with the Sharks’ Antti Niemi prevailing against Ben Scrivens and the Kings on Nov. 27, 2013 (each team had 40 shots on goal), and Jonathan Quick and the Kings beating Marc-Andre Fleury and the Penguins on Dec. 11, 2015 (Pittsburgh outshot L.A. 42–40).

Johnson beats Price in overtime

Tyler Johnson’s second goal of the game was the overtime winner for the Lightning in its 4–3 victory against Carey Price and the Canadiens in Tampa. This is the second time that Johnson has scored an OT goal at Price’s expense. He scored the first of his four regular-season NHL overtime goals to beat Price by a 1–0 score in Montreal on March 10, 2015. Price has given up 27 overtime goals in regular-season games during his NHL career but Johnson is the only player with more than one against him. But one player has scored two of the six playoff overtime goals that Price has given up. That’s Nathan Horton, and both goals came in the same series, Boston’s first-round series win versus the Canadiens in 2011 (Game 5 and Game 7).

Fabbri’s hat trick beats Flyers

Robby Fabbri notched the first hat trick of his NHL career when he scored three goals for the Blues in their 6–3 win over the Flyers. The Blues and Flyers entered the NHL together when the league doubled in size to 12 teams, from six, in 1967–68, but Fabbri’s hat trick is only the fifth one ever versus the Flyers by a St. Louis player (regular season or playoffs). Red Berenson had the first two: a six-goal game in November 1968 and a plain three-goal hat trick in November 1969. The others were three-goal games by Garry Unger in October 1971 and Vitali Prokhorov on Oct. 31, 1992.