All-Star Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton made history in a 120-104 win over the Chicago Bulls on Friday (AEDT), racking up 20 assists without a single turnover in a remarkable performance.
The 23-year-old gave teammates open looks time and again, and they rewarded his selfless play by draining buckets with ease.
The most turnovers by any player this season was 18, shared by Luka Doncic and Nicola Jokic. But Doncic’s 18 came with seven turnover’s and Jokic four.
In fact, this season Haliburton has now had four games with at least 15 assists without a turnover. Only Jokic, in a big win over Houston last month, has managed a 15-plus assist game without a turnover this season.
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Haliburton added 21 points, three rebounds, two steals, a block and shot six pointers in an his record-breaking night, becoming the fifth NBA player in history to have 20 assists or more without a turnover.
“I’m just happy I had no turnovers,” Haliburton said. “I’ve been turning that ball over since the in-season tournament, so glad I figured out how to take care of the ball again.”
Speaking of Jokic, he had his 11th triple-double of the season with 26 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists in a 142-105 Nuggets win over the Grizzlies, who were without Ja Morant.
Jokic connected on all 11 of his shots and all three of his free-throws, and joined Wilt Chamberlain as the only players in NBA history to record a triple-double on 100 percent shooting in multiple games.
Desmond Bane had 23 points to lead the Grizzlies, who were blown away by the high-flying Nuggets.
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Poor Pistons slump to historic defeat | 00:58
PISTONS EQUAL WORST-EVER RECORD WITH 28TH LOSS
Kristaps Porzingis had 35 points and eight rebounds in a remarkable comeback win for the Celtics over the Pistons, who led by 19 points at halftime before losing 128-122 in overtime.
The Pistons looked set for a stunning upset over the NBA’s best team when they led by 21 in the first half, only to slump to a 28th-straight loss, equalling the Philadelphia 76ers (end of the 2014-15 season to the start of the 2015-16 campaign).
“I just told them that it takes a lot of character and integrity to do what they’re doing,” said Pistons coach Monty Williams. “I’ve been in the league for a while, and I’ve seen teams give into circumstances that are less than what we’re dealing with. That was admirable; obviously, we had a tough third quarter, and the ability to fight back and have it even in the fourth was tremendous.
“I hurt for them; we feel like we’re just getting so close to not just winning one game but winning a lot of games if we play that way.”
Jayson Tatum added 31 for Boston.
WEMBANYAMA GOES OFF
In Portland, French prodigy Wembanyama scored 30 points with six rebounds, six assists and seven blocked shots to win over the Portland Trail Blazers — and he did it all in less than 25 minutes on the floor.
Wembanyama joined former Spurs great David Robinson as the only rookies to put up such a stat line.
The Spurs led by as many as 28 in the first quarter and never trailed as they notched their fifth win of the season 118-105.
The Miami Heat, missing star Jimmy Butler as well as Caleb Martin, Josh Richardson and Kyle Lowry, kicked off a five-game road trip with a 114-102 victory over the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco.
Tyler Herro scored 26 points, Jamal Cain added 18 off the bench and Bam Adebayo and rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 17 apiece for the Heat.
Warriors star Stephen Curry was held without a basket until late in the second quarter. He and Klay Thompson scored 13 points each to lead Golden State.
In Los Angeles, Davis scored 26 points to fuel the Lakers’ 133-112 victory over the Charlotte Hornets. LeBron James, two days shy of his 39th birthday, had 17 points and 11 assists.
And Anthony Edwards ran wild for the Timberwolves with a season-high 44 points including six three-pointers, with the Western Conference leaders Minnesota coming away 118-110 winners over the Mavericks.
Dallas were without Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, but fought back to erase an early 18-point deficit. But it was the Timberwolves who held on gamely, with Rudy Gobert adding 20 points and 11 rebounds in the win.
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