Entering this season, no player had posted back-to-back 25-point, 15-rebound, 5-assist games since 2006-07.*
Kevin Love has already done it twice this year.
*Pau Gasol did it with the Memphis Grizzlies in April of that season.
Love had 26 points, 15 rebounds and five assists in a win over the 76ers on Wednesday night, giving him his second back-to-back 25-15-5 games of the season. He also had a fifth such game between.
Announcement: Pro Basketball Talk’s partner FanDuel is hosting a one-day $40,000 Fantasy Basketball league for Saturday night’s games. It’s $25 to join and first prize is $6,000. Starts at 7pm ET on Saturday. Here’s the FanDuel link.
In fact, Love has all five of the NBA’s 25-15-5 games this season.
That puts him comfortably on pace to break Shaquille O’Neal’s modern record for 25-15-5 gams in a season, 12 in 2000-01. (Basketball-Reference’s relevant records date only 1985-86.)
The actual all-time record-holder is probably Wilt Chamberlain, who has twice averaged 25-15-5 for a season. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Elgin Baylor also each have a 25-15-5 season.
But Love is filling the stat sheet in a way we haven’t seen in a long time. He’s an excellent scorer and rebounder with a passing touch rarely seen from someone with the size to dominate on the glass.
The statistic cutoffs are arbitrary, but they truly reflect a special skillset and consistency.