Nightly Pulse: NBA News & Highlights from Jan. 12

Posted by January 12, 2025 NBA
Nightly Pulse: NBA News & Highlights from Jan. 12

🏀Sunday’s slate of games🏀

Claxton goes🆙

Keon Johnson gets the steal then pushes the ball up court and finds the streaking Nic Claxton for the lob finish.

The Nets trail the Jazz 49-48 at halftime. Tosan Evbuomwan is the Nets leading scoring with 11 off the bench, while Svi Mykhailiuk is Utah’s leading scorer, also with 11 off the bench.

Banchero works his magic🪄✨

Orlando finished off the 76ers with a clutch Banchero pull-up, giving the Magic a 102-99 lead, which ended up being the final score.

Banchero came alive in the second half, finishing with 20 points, eight rebounds, and six assists. Anthony, who had 20 at halftime, finished with 25, while Jonathan Isaac poured in 20 off the bench, and also earned 11 rebounds.

Philadelphia was without Joel Embiid once again but got strong efforts from Paul George, who poured in 25 points, and Tyrese Maxey, who scored 29.

Thunder rolls

Oklahoma City dominated Washington on Sunday evening, cruising to a 136-95 victory.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the scoring for the Thunder, putting in 27 points and shooting 16-17 from the charity stripe. Aaron Wiggins had 23 points off the bench, to go with nine boards and four assists, while Isaiah Hartenstein notched another double-double, putting up 10 with 12 rebounds.

☘️Celtics win☘️

Boston hung on to defeat the Pelicans, 120-119, and a pair of Jayson Tatum dunks were key down the first. First, to give Boston a 116-115 win, then to lengthen their lead to 118-115.

Tatum was the game’s highest scorer, pouring in 38 points, and he also grabbed 11 rebounds.

Trey Murphy III led New Orleans with 30 points on 5-10 long range shooting, while Murray filled up the stat sheet with 26 points, nine rebounds, and eight assists in the loss.

The streak is snapped, Pacers win

Indiana ended Cleveland’s 12-game win streak, winning 108-93 with a dominant second-half performance, that saw the Pacers outscore Cleveland, 68-40. Indiana now pushes their own win streak to six games, and they have won 12 of their last 15.

To make their second-half performance even more impressive, they did it without Haliburton, who didn’t return after halftime due to hamstring tightness.

The Pacers won with a team effort as six players scored in double figures. It was Andrew Nembhard’s 19 points that led the team, while Siakam followed with 18. Myles Turner was also part of the double-digit club, scoring 15 and grabbing 10 rebounds, while Bennedict Mathurin (12), Toppin (12), and Thomas Bryant (11) were the others.

🤯With Authority🤯

Obi Toppin gets the swipe, charges to the rim, and explodes for a two-handed reverse jam.

The Pacers trailed by 13 points at the half, but have blown up in the third quarter, outscoring Cleveland, 37-18, to take a 77-71 lead into the final frame.

😤Boston, dunk city😤

The Pelicans and Celtics are involved in a high-scoring back-and-forth affair, with the Celtics currently leading 90-85 late in the third quarter. The high-octane action has brought out a series of dunks.

First, a Yves Missi block leads to Trey Murphy III going coast-to-coast and exploding at the rim for a finish.

Then Holiday brings it up on the break, finding Jaylen Brown who launches up for the two-handed jam.

 

Defense➡️Offense

Kelly Oubre strips Paolo Banchero, sending the 76ers on the break, with some give-and-go movement ending with a two-handed flush from Oubre.

The Magic though have a 49-48 lead at the break. Anthony and Maxey are dueling, as Anthony is now up to 20 points on 9-13 shooting, while Maxey went on a scoring burst and is now up to 22 points to lead Philadelphia.

❌Mobley says, no❌

Evan Mobley blocks a Pascal Siakam shot to end a dominant first half in Cleveland.

The Cavaliers have a 53-40 lead after two quarters and have put clamps on the Pacers, holding them to just 33.3% shooting. To make matters worse for Indiana, Tyrese Haliburton has been ruled out for the remainder of the game due to left hamstring tightness.

🔥Cole’s hot🔥

Cole Anthony is cooking the 76ers thus far. No. 50 has 18 points on 8-10 shooting, sparking a 39-32 lead for the Magic late in the first half.

No other player is in double figures for Orlando in this low-scoring affair, while Tyrese Maxey is leading the scoring for Philadelphia with 10 points.

🪽Letting it fly🪽

Dejounte Murray has started the game on fire for the Pelicans. He already has 14 points on 4-4 long-range shooting, guiding New Orleans to an early 28-22 lead on the Celtics late in the first quarter.

⚡Striking early⚡

Cleveland connects on an alley-oop on their opening possession when Jarrett Allen hands the ball off to Darius Garland at the top of the key and then rolls to the rim for the lob.

The Cavaliers have since extended that lead from 2-0 over the Pacers to 13-5, as they look to win their 13th straight game.

👑Kings reign👑

Sacramento won their seventh straight, defeating Chicago 124-119.

The Kings had three players go north of 20 points on the stat sheet. De’Aaron Fox returned from injury to lead the Kings with 26 on 9-16 shooting. Domantas Sabonis was a force in all facets, scoring 22 points, pulling down 16 boards, and handing out eight assists, while DeMar DeRozan scored 21 in his return to Chicago.

The Bulls received another strong showing from Zach LaVine, who went over 30 points for the sixth straight game. LaVine finished his evening with 36 on 12-24 shooting and also cleaned the glass 10 times.

Knicks roll in the Garden🗽

The Knicks won 140-106 outscoring the Bucks in each quarter, in large part due to the sparkling play of their dynamic duo, Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns.

Brunson poured in bucket after bucket, finishing with 44 points on 16-26 shooting, and also dished out six dimes. Towns was a beast on the glass, grabbing 18 rebounds, while shooting 10-16 on his way to 30 points.

Giannis Antetokounmpo earned a double-double, posting 24 points and 13 rebounds in the loss for Milwaukee.

Nuggets dominate the fourth quarter, earn the win

The Nuggets outscored the Mavericks 33-12 in the final frame to pick up their third straight victory.

Nikola Jokić finished one assist shy of a triple-double, scoring 19 points and pulling down 18 rebounds. Russell Westbrook continued to fill up the stat sheet, this time pouring in 21 points and getting 10 rebounds and seven assists. Aaron Gordon was effective off the bench in his return, playing his first game since Christmas day, scoring 13 points and grabbing six rebounds in just 18 minutes. 

Klay Thompson was hot from three, finishing with 25 points on 6-13 long-range shooting, but it wasn’t enough, as Dallas’ win streak ended at two.

3️⃣🔑Stories for the night

  1. Two of the NBA’s hottest teams will take the court for an Eastern Conference showdown when the Cavaliers host the Pacers on Sunday at 6 ET. Indiana has won five straight, including 11 of their last 14, where their only losses were to the Thunder, Celtics, and Bucks. Meanwhile, Cleveland continues to astonish, sporting a 33-4 record, and winners of 12 straight. One of these team’s streaks will come to an end when they tipoff at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. 
  2. Orlando and Philadelphia both have been hit hard by injury woes this season, with neither team having their star players on the floor together for the majority of their campaigns. Despite the injuries though, the Magic have been able to remain afloat, currently sitting at 22-18, and just got back Paolo Banchero, although they remain without Franz Wagner and Jalen Suggs. However, the 76ers haven’t been as successful, sitting at 15-21 and are outside the playoff picture. A win here could be big for Philadelphia as they try to get their season on track, but they have to do so without Joel Embiid, who is questionable. 
  3. Phoenix has won two straight as they work to get themselves back in the playoff picture. Sitting at 18-19, it hasn’t been the season the Suns had expected thus far, but a third straight victory would keep them moving in the right direction. Their last loss came at the hands of the Hornets, back on Jan. 7, something they’ll have a chance to avenge when they step on the floor at the Footprint Center this evening. The Hornets haven’t played since that night, having their last two scheduled games against the Lakers and Clippers postponed.

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