Daily statistical milestones: Rudy Gobert moves past Shawn Kemp and more

Here’s your daily recap of movements in the all-time lists for scoring, rebounds, assists, blocks, steals and three-pointers after yesterday’s games. Mike Conley No. 47 in three-pointers now Moved ahead of Antoine Walker with 1,387 three-pointers. …

Here’s your daily recap of movements in the all-time lists for scoring, rebounds, assists, blocks, steals and three-pointers after yesterday’s games.

Mike Conley No. 47 in three-pointers now

Moved ahead of Antoine Walker with 1,387 three-pointers. He’s now 2 away from Nicolas Batum

Rudy Gobert No. 53 in blocks now

Moved ahead of Shawn Kemp with 1,280 blocks. He’s now 1 away from Dirk Nowitzki

Stephen Curry No. 59 in points now

Moved ahead of Gail Goodrich with 19,189 points. He’s now 13 away from Eddie Johnson

Damian Lillard No. 79 in assists now

Moved ahead of Fat Lever with 4,698 assists. He’s now 10 away from Paul Pierce

Carmelo Anthony No. 79 in rebounds now

Moved ahead of Antonio McDyess with 7,640 rebounds. He’s now 23 away from Caldwell Jones

Damian Lillard No. 90 in points now

Moved ahead of Kevin McHale with 17,363 points. He’s now 24 away from Steve Nash

Jrue Holiday No. 108 in three-pointers now

Moved ahead of Gilbert Arenas with 1,080 three-pointers. He’s now 1 away from Tracy McGrady

Jeff Green No. 115 in three-pointers now

Moved ahead of Allen Iverson with 1,060 three-pointers. He’s now tied with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

Joe Ingles No. 120 in three-pointers now

Moved ahead of Marvin Williams with 1,047 three-pointers. He’s now 2 away from Channing Frye

Isaiah Thomas No. 127 in three-pointers now

Moved ahead of George Hill with 1,016 three-pointers. He’s now 19 away from James Posey

Rudy Gobert No. 142 in rebounds now

Moved ahead of Magic Johnson with 6,561 rebounds. He’s now 14 away from Joe Smith

Jordan Clarkson No. 146 in three-pointers now

Moved ahead of Raja Bell with 957 three-pointers. He’s now 5 away from Tim Thomas and Gerald Green

Kyle Lowry No. 150 in points now

Moved ahead of Jason Richardson and Jamaal Wilkes with 14,655 points. He’s now 4 away from Dan Issel

D’Angelo Russell No. 151 in three-pointers now

Moved ahead of Voshon Lenard and Chucky Atkins with 937 three-pointers. He’s now 3 away from Anthony Peeler

DeMarcus Cousins No. 151 in rebounds now

Moved ahead of Rony Seikaly with 6,428 rebounds. He’s now 24 away from Kevin Durant

Draymond Green No. 153 in assists now

Moved ahead of Sedale Threatt with 3,617 assists. He’s now 29 away from Derrick Rose

Jonas Valanciunas No. 173 in rebounds now

Moved ahead of Wayne Cooper with 6,097 rebounds. He’s now 2 away from Darrall Imhoff

Jonas Valanciunas No. 185 in blocks now

Moved ahead of George Gervin with 672 blocks. He’s now 3 away from Christian Laettner and Dennis Johnson

Clint Capela No. 188 in blocks now

Moved ahead of Nerlens Noel with 665 blocks. He’s now 3 away from Bill Cartwright

Donovan Mitchell No. 189 in three-pointers now

Moved ahead of Nate Robinson and Avery Bradley with 813 three-pointers. He’s now 2 away from Chris Mullin

Andre Iguodala No. 207 in blocks now

Moved ahead of James Johnson with 620 blocks. He’s now 4 away from Nikola Vucevic and James Worthy

Ben McLemore No. 209 in three-pointers now

Moved ahead of Andrew Wiggins with 746 three-pointers. He’s now tied with Caron Butler and Jalen Rose

Karl-Anthony Towns No. 212 in blocks now

Moved ahead of Derrick McKey and Carmelo Anthony with 612 blocks. He’s now 1 away from Danny Green and Darko Milicic

Jeff Green No. 219 in points now

Moved ahead of Mychal Thompson, Paul Westphal and Sidney Wicks with 12,812 points. He’s now 59 away from Rik Smits

Jrue Holiday No. 223 in points now

Moved ahead of Lamar Odom with 12,794 points. He’s now 9 away from Sidney Wicks

Kent Bazemore No. 238 in three-pointers now

Moved ahead of Austin Rivers with 682 three-pointers. He’s now 3 away from Bryon Russell

Jayson Tatum No. 240 in three-pointers now

Moved ahead of Mickael Pietrus, Carlos Delfino, Danny Ferry and Dennis Schroeder with 680 three-pointers. He’s now 1 away from Austin Rivers

Nikola Jokic No. 240 in assists now

Moved ahead of Mark Aguirre with 2,876 assists. He’s now 16 away from Brent Barry and Carl Braun


What’s the buzz on Twitter?

Matthew Tynan @Matthew_Tynan Pop said last night he pivoted toward Jock in order to stretch the floor and bring Gobert out of paint, which is an obvious play, but we haven’t seen it yet against defensive interiors that are giving the Spurs issues. Wonder if we’ll see this more consistently going forward. – 12:12 PM
Scott Agness @ScottAgness Curtain open and ready to go from the #CrossroadsClassic.
Butler vs Purdue
Indiana vs Notre Dame pic.twitter.com/aodgOzvMT6 – 12:04 PM

Micah Adams @MicahAdams13 Let’s talk floors.
Nikola Jokic needs to bring it EVERY night. He can’t afford not to… and he does.
Avg Game Score of worst 8 games:
– Jokic: 19.2
– Durant: 16.7
– Giannis: 13.6
– Curry: 10.2
Games under 15:
– Jokic: 0
– Durant: 1
– Giannis: 6
– Curry: 8
No bad games. – 10:58 AM
Kurt Helin @basketballtalk Watch Damian Lillard score season-high 43 points, Trail Blazers snap 7-game skid nba.nbcsports.com/2021/12/18/wat… – 10:54 AM
NBA Math @NBA_Math RPR MVP Predictor standings, determined by Rolling Player Ratings and team success:
1. Nikola Jokic: 15.05
2. Stephen Curry: 14.59
3. Kevin Durant: 14.44
4. Giannis Antetokounmpo: 14.18
5. Trae Young: 13.62
6. Jarrett Allen: 12.29
7. DeMar DeRozan: 11.9
8. Jimmy Butler: 11.77 pic.twitter.com/NimxxxMiYH – 10:45 AM

Josh Lewenberg @JLew1050 Warriors players who are out & didn’t make the trip to Toronto for tonight’s game vs the Raptors: Curry (rest), Green (hip), Wiggins (knee), Poole (protocols), Iguodala (knee), Porter (foot), Thompson, Wiseman.
That’s $156.4 million or 87% of their league-high $178.9 M payroll. – 10:40 AM
Justin Kubatko @jkubatko Damian Lillard last night:
✅ 43 PTS
✅ 8 AST
✅ 6-11 3P
It’s the 40th 40-point game of Lillard’s career. He’s the 25th player in NBA history to reach that mark.
Lillard has 37 career 40p/5a games, seven more such games than all other players in @Portland Trail Blazers history combined. pic.twitter.com/b71h2lGHjN – 10:21 AM

JD Shaw @JShawNBA NBA’s best from December 17:
– D. Lillard: 43 pts, 8 ast, +13
– Jr. Holiday: 40 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast
– T. Young: 34 pts, 10 ast, 2 stl
– M. Strus: 32 pts, 7 reb, 8-11 3pt
– K. Towns: 28 pts, 10 reb, 3 blk
– D. Graham: 26 pts, 4 ast, 8-12 3pt
– K. Johnson: 24 pts, 8 reb, 10-13 fg – 10:09 AM
Jeff Goodman @GoodmanHoops TODAY’S TOP GAMES:
Tennessee vs. Memphis, 12 ET (ESPN2)
Butler vs. Purdue, 12 (FOX)
Gonzaga vs. Texas Tech, 1 (CBS)
Indiana vs. Notre Dame, 2:30 (FOX)
Marquette at Xavier, 4 (FS1)
Kentucky vs. UNC, 5:30 (CBS)
Providence at UConn, 5 (FOX)
Baylor at Oregon, 10 (ESPN2) – 9:48 AM
Michael Grange @michaelgrange Per the Warriors: Draymond Green (hip); Andrew Wiggins (knee); Steph Curry (rest); Andre Iguodala (knee); Otto Porter jr. (foot) and Jordan Poole (protocols) will not play tonight vs. Raptors. Klay Thompson and James Wiseman remain out. – 9:23 AM
Keith Smith @KeithSmithNBA I watched all of Isaiah Thomas’ minutes from last night. Thought he looked better than any point since his Boston days. Aggressive, explosive and looked like he was just playing with joy again. I’ll never not root for The Little Guy. I hope he sticks for as long as he can! – 9:08 AM
Kurt Helin @basketballtalk Watch Isaiah Thomas get standing ovation, score 19 in Lakers return nba.nbcsports.com/2021/12/18/wat… – 8:06 AM
Jorge Sierra @hoopshype MVP of the Night: Damian Lillard
#NBAsFinest pic.twitter.com/uALIFAy9kc – 6:37 AM

Emiliano Carchia @Sportando Isaiah Thomas drops 19 points in Lakers return
sportando.basketball/en/isaiah-thom… – 3:57 AM
Dave McMenamin @mcten Isaiah Thomas, after scoring 19 points in his first game with the Lakers since signing with the team today, on the journey he’s been on: pic.twitter.com/N14dRUGV6k – 2:01 AM

Ryan Ward @RyanWardLA Impossible NOT to like Isaiah Thomas. Driven by the love of the game and as humble as can be. #Respect – 1:38 AM
Kyle Goon @kylegoon Isaiah Thomas said being healthy is the biggest difference from his time with LeBron James in Cleveland, that he was basically playing on one leg and struggled to produce. He thinks James can see that too from a few times they worked out together over the summer to now. – 1:37 AM
Ryan Ward @RyanWardLA Isaiah Thomas: “I loved basketball before I loved anything. … I’m not motivated by anything but the love of the game.” – 1:36 AM
Mike Trudell @LakersReporter Isaiah Thomas, who grew close to Kobe over his time in the NBA, talked about how he thought of Bryant after getting the call from Rob Pelinka yesterday. He lamented how he couldn’t text Kobe to discuss the moment, to get advice. But it means a ton to him to wear the jersey. – 1:35 AM
Ryan Ward @RyanWardLA Isaiah Thomas on the difference playing with LeBron again: “For me, I’m healthy. I’m able to provide for him. … I can help him.” – 1:35 AM
Ryan Ward @RyanWardLA Isaiah Thomas: “I never thought I would feel this way again. I have no limitations with my body, my hip.” – 1:34 AM
Ryan Ward @RyanWardLA Isaiah Thomas on playing for the Lakers again without Kobe being here: “It’s just weird he’s not here at all. … When Rob called me the first thing I thought about was Kobe [Bryant].” – 1:33 AM
Ryan Ward @RyanWardLA Isaiah Thomas on being back in the NBA: “It’s something that I always wanted, it’s something that I worked for. … I’m thankful for the opportunity. First and foremost.” – 1:31 AM
Kyle Goon @kylegoon Isaiah Thomas says the process of getting back to the Lakers has been “overwhelming” since he only decided to try the G League days ago. – 1:30 AM
Jeff McDonald @JMcDonald_SAEN Lonnie Walker is very much pro-booster, but said he believes the illness that kept him out Wednesday vs NO was related to getting his third shot last week.
He hit the game-winning shot over Rudy Gobert tonight. – 1:20 AM
The Vertical @YahooSportsNBA Isaiah Thomas scored 19 points off the bench in his return 🪣🔥
pic.twitter.com/w3dG1P9PGb – 1:17 AM

Sean Highkin @highkin Very interesting response from Damian Lillard when asked by @Casey Holdahl why he seemed upset in his postgame press conference after a win and season-best performance. pic.twitter.com/jmw2Cre5Xp – 1:08 AM

Ryan Ward @RyanWardLA Frank Vogel on Isaiah Thomas: “He’s a proven scorer. He’s a great offensive player. … There’s a reason he averaged 28 points in this league.” – 12:58 AM
Sean Highkin @highkin Damian Lillard: “When you lose so many in a row, it’s not as fun to be at practice and watch film and you keep coming up short. We needed to get this one. … Dig ourselves out of this hole that we’re in. Tonight is a good start.” – 12:56 AM
Marc Stein @TheSteinLine The Warriors are sending six players home rather than have them travel to Toronto for the final stop (and border challenges in COVID times) on Golden State’s five-game trip, including Stephen Curry (rest) and Draymond Green (right hip tightness).
More: marcstein.substack.com – 12:46 AM
StatMuse @statmuse Isaiah Thomas Laker debut:
19 PTS
5-12 FG
2-6 3P
7-9 FT
in 21 minutes off the bench. pic.twitter.com/mOOOg4OmQG – 12:41 AM

Dave McMenamin @mcten LAL mini three-game win streak snapped in MIN, 110-92, to cap a wild 48 hours for the team in and out of the health and safety protocols. Isaiah Thomas 19p on 5-of-12; LeBron 18p on 5-of-13 10r 5a 2b 4tos; Russ 14p on 4-of-7 and 6-of-11 FTs 4r 3a 1to; Bazemore 11p on 4-of-8 – 12:41 AM
Jovan Buha @jovanbuha Final: Wolves 110, Lakers 92
The Lakers are 16-14 at the 30-game mark. Their greatest concern right now: Anthony Davis’ left knee, which the team dubbed a contusion ahead of further evaluation. LeBron James had 18 points. Isaiah Thomas scored 19.
Up next: at Chicago on Sunday. – 12:41 AM
Rob Perez @WorldWideWob Isaiah Thomas killing it tonight btw – 12:36 AM
Eric Walden @tribjazz Mike Conley said the defensive issues were due to “a lack of focus, a lapse.” Said there wasn’t enough communication in transition — a couple times when they should have Euro-fouled but didn’t — and too many times they tried to force a TO rather than playing positional defense. – 12:26 AM
Sam Quinn @SamQuinnCBS Cut Rondo and DeAndre. Sign Isaiah Thomas and claim Danuel House. Every role player on this roster needs to see that if they keep playing the way they’ve played, they’re expendable. – 12:25 AM
StatMuse @statmuse 40-point games in Blazers history:
40 — Damian Lillard
38 — The next 3 players combined pic.twitter.com/9FsB2HkPi4 – 12:24 AM

John Karalis @John_Karalis BSJ Game Report: Golden State Warriors 111, Celtics 107 – C’s came back, fought hard, but didn’t have enough to beat Warriors, Steph Curry
bostonsportsjournal.com/2021/12/18/bsj… – 12:23 AM
StatMuse @statmuse Dame best game of the season:
43 PTS
8 AST
12-19 FG
6-11 3P
13-14 FT
Forty three points on 19 shots. pic.twitter.com/z1uwxucEyy – 12:21 AM

Jason Quick @jwquick Blazers get first win in December – 125-116 over Charlotte as Damian Lillard was dominant with 43 points and 8 assists and Ben McLemore hit 8 3s and scored 28 off the bench. Seven-game losing streak is over. Portland moves to 12-18. – 12:20 AM