From Dirk to Durant: Five NBA milestones to watch
Here are five milestones to keep an eye out for in the final weeks of the NBA season.
Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James passed Hall of Famer Michael Jordan for fourth on the NBA's all-time scoring list.
While Wednesday's feat is nothing to scoff at, our friends at Opta would like to remind everyone of a handful of other all-time leaderboards undergoing a makeover.
Here are five milestones to keep an eye out for in the final weeks of the NBA season:
Kevin Durant — Career 30-point games
Durant's next game with 30 or more points will be his 300th. The Golden State Warriors star would be the 14th NBA player to reach the milestone and the fifth-youngest player to hit the mark if he does it within the next three weeks (which seems likely).
1. Michael Jordan - 562
2. Wilt Chamberlain - 515
3. LeBron James - 442
4. Karl Malone - 435
5. Kobe Bryant - 431
6. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - 429
7. Oscar Robertson - 387
8. Jerry West - 350
9. Dominique Wilkins - 346
10. Allen Iverson - 345
11. Elgin Baylor - 343
12. Adrian Dantley - 314
13. Shaquille O'Neal - 313
14. Kevin Durant - 299
15. George Gervin - 297
Dirk Nowitzki — Career points
Nowitzki (31,364) needs 56 points to pass Wilt Chamberlain for the fifth-most all time and one more game played to pass John Stockton for the third-most all time.
The Dallas Mavericks veteran will surpass Stockton if he takes the floor on Friday against the Chicago Bulls. If he continues his scoring pace of 5.4 points per game, Nowitzki should pass Chamberlain on the scoring list away to the Miami Heat on March 28.
1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - 38,387
2. Karl Malone - 36,928
3. Kobe Bryant - 33,643
4. LeBron James - 32,311
5. Michael Jordan - 32,292
6. Wilt Chamberlain - 31,419
7. Dirk Nowitzki - 31,364
Chris Paul — Career assists
Paul (9,050) needs only 12 assists to pass Isiah Thomas for the seventh most all time. The Houston Rockets star is averaging 8.3 per game, so expect him to move past Thomas on the road against the Mavericks on Sunday — that is if he does not have a vintage performance at home to the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday.
1. John Stockton - 15,806
2. Jason Kidd - 12,091
3. Steve Nash - 10,335
4. Mark Jackson - 10,334
5. Magic Johnson - 10,141
6. Oscar Robertson - 9,887
7. Isiah Thomas - 9,061
8. Chris Paul - 9,050
9. Gary Payton - 8,966
10. LeBron James - 8,584
James Harden — Career triple-doubles
Harden (41) needs three triple-doubles to move ahead of Fat Lever for the eighth most in league history.
However, Houston Rockets superstar Harden will never pass Lever for the best name in NBA history.
Larry Bird would be Harden's next target at 59 career triple-doubles.
Russell Westbrook — Career triple-doubles
Westbrook (129) requires 10 more triple-doubles to pass Magic Johnson for the second most in league history.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have 18 games remaining in the regular season, but let's remember what Westbrook has accomplished since the beginning of the 2016-17 season. He has made Johnson's number reachable this term and Oscar Robertson's league record of 181 firmly in play next season.
1. Oscar Robertson 181
2. Magic Johnson 138
3. Russell Westbrook 129
4. Jason Kidd 107
5. LeBron James 79
6. Wilt Chamberlain 78
7. Larry Bird 59
8. Fat Lever 43
9. James Harden 41
10. Bob Cousy 33