A shocking win for Brooklyn
The Nets snapped an 11-game losing streak with a 29-point win in New Orleans on Friday. The Nets, who entered the game 8–33 (.195) had the largest win in NBA history by a road team that had played at least 40 games and had a winning percentage under .200.
Caris LeVert scored 17 points while making all of his field goals, grabbed five rebounds and passed for six assists on Friday. He’s the first NBA rookie to have a 15/5/5 game (in points, rebounds and assists) while making all of his field goals since Charles Barkley on February 13, 1985, against the Knicks.
Nobody has been shooting better than Golden State
The Warriors outshot the Rockets on Friday, 53 percent to 45 percent, and Golden State has now generated a higher field-goal percentage than its opponent in each of the team’s last 17 games. It’s the longest such streak by any NBA team since Boston outshot its opponent in 18 straight games late in the 2011–12 season.
Harden, Magic and the Big O
James Harden has had “a hand in” 15 or more field goals (either made or assisted) in each of his last 50 regular-season games (since April 7, 2016). The only other players in NBA history who have fashioned 50-game streaks of that kind were Magic Johnson, who generated at least 15 field goals-plus-assists in 51 consecutive regular-season games in 1983 and 1984, and Oscar Robertson, who did so in 50 straight games in 1963 and 1964.
Covington’s furious final minute helps 76ers overcome large deficit
The 76ers came back from a 13-point halftime deficit to defeat the Trail Blazers on Friday, 93–92. The Sixers, who defeated the Nets after trailing by 11 points at the intermission on January 8, are 2–0 this month when trailing by double digits at halftime, equaling their total of those wins from the last two years combined (2–57 in 2015 and 2016).
Robert Covington made a pair of three-pointers in the final minute to help Philadelphia eke out a one-point win. He’s the first NBA player to make a pair of threes in the final minute of a one-point win since Kevin Durant did that in the Thunder’s double-OT win over the Raptors on March 21, 2014.
Randolph doesn’t start, still does this thing
Zach Randolph came off the Memphis bench to score 20 points and grab 10 rebounds in the Grizzlies’ win over the Kings on Friday. Randolph has the third-most 20/10 (points/rebounds) games among active players, with 271, and this was the 10th of those games that he did not start, which is second-most among current players, behind Enes Kanter’s 11.
Walker leads Hornets to big victory
Kemba Walker scored 32 points in the Hornets’ win over the Raptors on Friday, in which he sat out the fourth quarter as Charlotte cruised to a 35-point win. Walker tied his highest point total in the first three quarters of a game, done twice before, both within the last year.
Charlotte’s 35-point win was its largest ever against a team that entered the game having won at least two-thirds of its games that season. Toronto came in to Friday’s game at 28–14.
Gobert goes for 27 points and 25 rebounds
Rudy Gobert produced the first 25/25 game of this NBA season on Friday, scoring 27 points and grabbing 25 rebounds in Utah’s overtime win in Dallas. The only other player to have a 25-point, 25-rebound game Utah since the Jazz migrated from New Orleans was Al Jefferson, in a triple-OT win in 2012, also against Dallas.
An odd game in Atlanta
The Hawks led the Bulls after the first quarter, 35–13, and held on for a nine-point win, after Chicago outscored Atlanta in the fourth quarter, 36–15. There has not been another NBA game this season in which each team “won a quarter” by at least 20 points.
1000 points, mostly on assists, for Sedin
Henrik Sedin became the 85th player in NHL history to reach the 1000-point plateau when he scored the first goal for the Canucks in their game against the Panthers on Friday. Sedin has been a much more prolific assist producer than goal scorer during his 16 seasons in the NHL. In fact, his total of 767 assists at the time he recorded his 1000th point is the second-highest by any NHL player when he joined the 1000-point club. Hall of Fame defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom had 771 assists among his first 1000 points in the NHL.
He’s still a Hoss at age 38
The Blackhawks parlayed 30 saves by Scott Darling and a goal by Marian Hossa with 1:26 remaining in the third period into a 1–0 win over the Bruins in Boston. Hossa, who turned 38 years old just over a week ago (January 12), is the oldest player ever to score the goal in a 1–0 Blackhawks victory. He broke the mark set by Doug Mohns, who was 36 years old when he scored in a 1–0 Hawks win against the Blues at Chicago Stadium on March 22, 1970. Before Hossa, the last player age 38 or older to score in a 1–0 game for any NHL team was Jaromir Jagr (then 41) for the Bruins versus the Devils on April 4, 2013.
OT stands for Okposo Time
Kyle Okposo’s power play goal with 26 seconds remaining in overtime gave the Sabres a 3–2 win over the Red Wings. It was Okposo’s first overtime goal since he signed with Buffalo as a free agent last summer and the seventh regular-season overtime goal in the Minnesota native’s NHL career. (His other OT goals were all for the Islanders.) The only active U.S.-born players with more lifetime regular-season overtime goals than Okposo are Zach Parise, Dustin Byfuglien, Brian Gionta and Max Pacioretty with eight each.
Sheary picking up the pace in second season
Conor Sheary scored a pair of goals in the Penguins’ 7–1 win over the Hurricanes in Raleigh. Sheary made his NHL debut with Pittsburgh last season and he finished his rookie year with seven goals in 44 games. He has more than doubled his rookie goal total this season and currently ranks third among Penguins players with 15 goals (in 38 games), behind Sidney Crosby (27 goals) and Evgeni Malkin (22).
Sheary’s two-goal game was his second in the last five days (his second goal on Monday was the OT winner in the Penguins’ 8–7 victory against Washington) and third this season. He’s tied for the most multiple-goal games this season among NHL “sophomores” (i.e., players who were rookies in 2015–16 but are not rookies this season). The other “sophs” with three multi-goal games are Nikolaj Ehlers, Jack Eichel and Robby Fabbri.
Radulov sets up all three Montreal goals
Alexander Radulov notched an assist on all of the Canadiens’ goals in their 3–1 win at New Jersey on Friday. The only other NHL player to produce as many as three assists in a road win by his team this season in which he assisted on every one of his club’s goals is Calgary defenseman Dougie Hamilton, who did that in the Flames’ 3–2 victory at Detroit on November 20. The last player before Radulov to do that in a Canadiens road win was P.K. Subban at Toronto in Montreal’s 2015–16 season opener.