NBA Stats Roundup (August 4): Luka Doncic's insane triple-double, Devin Booker's record-tying buzzer-beater
The road to the NBA postseason is well and truly on in Orlando. Tuesday's basketball action saw two top Eastern Conference teams in Miami Heat and Boston Celtics collide with their game being marred by serious foul trouble.
Meanwhile, a serious statistical anomaly found its way to the records book in the match-up involving the Dallas Mavericks and the Sacramento Kings. Elsewhere, the likes of T.J. Warren and Devin Booker shined on the court for the Indiana Pacers and the Phoenix Suns respectively.
On that note, let us look at some interesting NBA stats from games that took place on August 4th, 2020.
#1 Luka Doncic records 30-20-10 triple-double
Luka Doncic recorded his 16th triple-double of the season against the Sacramento Kings as the Dallas Mavericks won their first game inside the NBA bubble. But this one had more flavor to it.
The Slovenian finished the game with 34 points, 20 rebounds, and 12 assists to mark the second 30-20-10 triple-double of the 2019-20 NBA season. Nikola Jokic had one earlier in the Denver Nuggets' 98-95 win over the Utah Jazz.
This was the fourth 30-20-10 triple-double since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976. The other two were recorded by DeMarcus Cousins and David Lee.
#2 Devin Booker nails insane game-winning buzzer-beater
The Phoenix Suns have started things brightly inside the NBA bubble by winning each of their first three seeding games. Sharpshooter Devin Booker has led the charge for the Suns, and was instrumental in their fixture against the LA Clippers as well, scoring 35 points on 13-of-25 shooting from the field.
However, Devin Booker's game-winning shot is the key highlight here. With the game tied at 115 apiece, Booker fended off some strong defense from both Kawhi Leonard and Paul George to beat the clock, nail the bucket, and give Phoenix the win.
This was his third game-winning buzzer-beater, the highest for any player since Booker joined the NBA in 2015-16, tied with LeBron James.
Also read: Phoenix Suns 117-115 LA Clippers: Twitter reactions and highlights
#3 T.J. Warren matches Paul George with incredible scoring run
T.J. Warren has gone bonkers in Orlando. Thanks to his combined 119 points so far, the Indiana Pacers have won all of their three seeding games till now. The 6'8 forward has recorded just a solitary turnover while draining 47 buckets.
More importantly, after his 32-point effort against the Orlando Magic, Warren became the first Pacers player since Paul George to score 30 points in three consecutive games. PG13 achieved this feat for Indiana back in January 2017 when he recorded over 30 points in four consecutive games.
#4 Huge difference in free throw attempts between Dallas and Sacramento
Luka Doncic's triple-double wasn't the only talking point in the Mavs-Kings game. While Sacramento fought well before bowing out 110-114 in overtime, they gave up 37 fouls on the night. This resulted in the Dallas Mavericks being awarded 50 free throw attempts on the night while the Kings had just 12 of their own.
This free-throw differential of 38 was the highest in the NBA since 2016, when the Houston Rockets decided to use Hack-A-Shaq to send the Detroit Pistons' Andre Drummond to the charity stripe 36 times. Needless to say, a fewer foul or two could have impacted the Kings' fortunes on the night who've now lost three straight NBA seeding games.
#5 Not so smart from Marcus
Marcus Smart put up a sorry showing in the Boston Celtics' last game against the Portland Trail Blazers where he managed just 4 points despite 33 minutes of playing time. He followed it up with another shocker against the Miami Heat tonight, getting only 3 points, all of which came from the free-throw line.
What's worse, Smart got fouled out with 3:46 left in the third quarter, the earliest point in a game this NBA season that a player reached six personal fouls. Washington Wizards' Moritz Wagner and Orlando Magic's Mo Bamba are the other two players to get fouled out in the third quarter this term.
#6 Duncan Robinson shows why he's one of the best shooters in the NBA this season
Simply put, Duncan Robinson loves attempting treys. Almost 88% of his career shot attempts are from downtown, the highest among active NBA players with more than 100 shots taken.
Even against the Boston Celtics. Robinson attempted 11 shots from downtown, making five of them. His 21 points helped the Heat record a 112-106 win against the Boston Celtics with Jimmy Butler out of the game. Once Robinson drained his first three to make the score 5-2 in favor of Miami, Boston were left trailing for the rest of the night and couldn't catch up eventually.
Duncan Robinson has the joint second-highest converted threes in the NBA this season with 252 makes from 565 attempts. Those numbers are very similar to Steph Curry's breakout year in the 2012-13 NBA season.
Also read: OKC Thunder vs LA Lakers Prediction & Match Preview - August 5th, 2020