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.

Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Dirk Nowitzki

LeBron James passed Michael Jordan for fourth on the all-time scoring list on Wednesday. While that feat is nothing to scoff at, 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. He 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).

Rank	Player	30-point games
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 German seven-footer will pass Stockton if he takes the floor on Friday, March 8 against the Bulls. If he continues his scoring pace of 5.4 points per game, Nowitzki should pass Chamberlain on the scoring list on Thursday, March 28 on the road against the Heat.

Rank	Player	PTS
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. He’s averaging 8.3 per game, so expect him to move past Thomas on Sunday, March 10 on the road against the Mavericks — that is if he does not have a vintage performance on Friday, March 8 at home against the 76ers.

Rank	Player	AST
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 pass Fat Lever for the eighth most in league history.

However, 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) needs 10 more triple-doubles to pass Magic Johnson for the second most in league history.

Oklahoma City has 18 games left in the regular season, but let’s remember what Westbrook has accomplished since the beginning of the 2016-17 season. He's made Johnson’s number reachable this season and Oscar Robertson’s league record of 181 firmly in play next season.

Rank	Player	# Times
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