The Trail Blazers announced that Damian Lillard (foot) will not play tonight against the Hawks, snapping his string of 275 consecutive games. Since Portland joined the NBA in 1970-71, Lillard is the only NBA player to begin his career starting his team’s first 275 games, according to Elias.
Kings coach George Karl (1,153 wins) needs three victories to pass Phil Jackson for fifth place on the NBA’s career list.
Warriors guard Stephen Curry has made a three-pointer in 100 consecutive regular-season games, the second-longest streak in NBA history. The record is 127 games by Hawks swingman Kyle Korver, whose streak lasted from November 2012 to March 2014.
Rookies Karl-Anthony Towns of Minnesota, Jahlil Okafor of Philadelphia and Kristaps Porzingis of New York all averaged at least 13 points and eight rebounds in their first 25 games. According to Elias, the last time three rookies averaged those totals in their first 25 games was during the 1992-93 season, when five players accomplished the feat: LaPhonso Ellis, Tom Gugliotta, Christian Laettner, Alonzo Mourning and Shaquille O’Neal.
Bulls center Joakim Noah has passed Horace Grant to become the franchise leader in offensive rebounds (1,893). Noah is 491 total rebounds behind Michael Jordan (5,836) for the most in team history.
Lakers guard Kobe Bryant has scored 20 or more points in 926 regular-season games, tied with Michael Jordan for third most in NBA history, according to Elias. Karl Malone leads with 1,134 20-point games, followed by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with 1,122.
Clippers guard Chris Paul (7,156 assists) is five assists from supplanting Terry Porter for 13th place on the NBA’s all-time list. Paul is second among active players behind Timberwolves guard Andre Miller (8,477).
Guard Arron Afflalo is averaging 21.0 points on 59.6 percent shooting during the Knicks’ four-game winning streak.
Nuggets guard Will Barton had 32 points, 10 rebounds and six assists off the bench in Sunday’s loss to the Pelicans, the first 30/10/5 game for a reserve since the Pacers’ Detlef Schrempf in 1993, per Elias.
NBA TV will televise a record 12 live games from the NBA Development League Showcase 2016 presented by Samsung at Kaiser Permanente Arena in Santa Cruz, Calif. Each of the league’s 19 teams will play two regular-season games apiece during the Jan. 6-10 event.
— NBA News
