On March 12, Beijing time, the Clippers defeated the Knicks 106-95 at home, winning three straight games, and the record became 36-33, consolidating the fifth place in the West. Leonard hit 38 points, including 19 points in the third quarter, George 22 points, 8 rebounds and 8 assists, and Wilson who did not play in the final quarter had 7 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists. The Clippers unlocked two milestones: Wilson surpassed Thomas the "Smiling Assassin" in assists and rose to 9th all-time; George hit his 2,000th career three-pointer.
Wei Shao's assists rose to 9th
Ahead of this game, Wilson was just three assists away from surpassing Thomas. In the first half of the game, Wei Shao only provided two assists. In the third quarter, Wei Shao made a wonderful pass and went straight to George under the basket, and George received the ball to complete the dunk. Wilson scored his third assist of the game, bringing his career assists to 9,062, officially surpassing Thomas (9,061) and rising to 9th all-time. His next catch-up target was "Big O" Robertson (9887).
Wei Shao was dropped again in the fourth quarter of this game, which seems to have become a tactic for Tyronn Lu to use Wei Shao. The data site StatMuse lists Wei Shao's ranking of all guards in history for scoring rebounds and assists: 9th in points, 2nd in rebounds, and 8th in assists, and they ask the question, how many guards in history is Wei Shao?
George hit 2,000 career three-pointers
In the second quarter of the game, George hit a three-point shot, bringing his career three-point shooting total to 2,000, and he became the 14th player in NBA history to hit 2,000 three-point shots! The other 13 are: Curry, Ray Allen, Harden, Reggie Miller, Korver, Lillard, Carter, Terry, James, Crawford, Klay Thompson, Pierce, Lowry.
After entering 2023, George's firepower is constantly escalating. He averaged just 19.9 points per game in January and 24.2 points per game in February, before this game George averaged 26 points per game in March. In this game, George performed comprehensively, with good offense and defense, ranking first in the team in terms of plus/minus.