Nightly Pulse: NBA News & Highlights from Jan. 6

Posted by January 6, 2025 NBA
Nightly Pulse: NBA News & Highlights from Jan. 6

🏀 NBA scores tonight 🏀

 Suns 109, 76ers 99

Pistons 118, Trail Blazers 115

Bucks 128, Raptors 104

Magic 103, Knicks 94

Pacers 113, Nets 99

Timberwolves 108, Clippers 106

Grizzlies 119, Mavericks 104

Bulls 114, Spurs 110

Kings 123, Heat 118

📝Top NBA storylines tonight📝

  • The Ant-Man Cometh: Two nights removed from dropping a career-high 53 points, Anthony Edwards was ready for an encore and a W. Edwards dropped a game-high 37 points and delivered a huge fourth quarter highlighted by two 3’s in the last 1:12 to seal the win. 
  • Coby White puts exclamation point on Bulls win: The Bulls and Spurs played one of the most entertaining games of the night Monday. With time winding down and the Bulls clinging to a one-point lead, Coby White charged the lane and delivered a thunderous slam in traffic to give Chicago some breathing room. You have to see the clip to believe it. 
  • Magic nab quality win over Knicks: The Magic are trying to tread water through this stretch of the season with so many key injuries. Still, they found a way to go into Madison Square Garden and get the win. The Knicks weren’t exactly at full strength either with Karl-Anthony Towns sidelined, but a win is a win especially in what is shaping up to be a tightly contested top end of the Eastern Conference standings.
  • Kings outlast Heat to extend win streak: The Kings made it five in a row Monday with a rugged victory over the Heat on the second night of a back-to-back. They trailed the Heat by 17 at one point in the second half but battled back and DeMar DeRozan called game in the second overtime period with nine points.

🌟Top NBA performers tonight🌟

  • Jaren Jackson, Memphis Grizzlies: 35 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, three steals, one block
  • Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs: 23 points, 14 rebounds, eight blocks
      • Of the 14 occasions this season in which a player has recorded six or more blocks, Wembanyama has accounted for seven of them.
  • Zach LaVine, Chicago Bulls: 35 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists

👑Kings complete comeback, extend win streak to five

Kings 123, Heat 118

Sacramento battled through two overtimes on the second night of a back-to-back to extend its win streak to five games. The Kings are now a game away from getting back to .500 on the season after a 13-19 nadir.

Veteran DeMar DeRozan chipped in nine of Sacramento’s 11 points in the second overtime and that proved to be the difference. The Kings are starting to make a run and their wins on back-to-back nights against the Warriors and Heat without De’Aaron Fox are particularly impressive.

🫣 Double OT in Kings vs Heat

Missed free throws and tired legs played a factor at the end of the first overtime period as neither the Heat nor the Kings could secure a victory despite chances. Hoop fans are now treated to a second session of free basketball. Nine players have played over 40 minutes tonight already. Buckle up.

Free basketball in Sacramento

The Kings fought back from a major fourth-quarter deficit to send this one to overtime. Sacramento, which is hunting a fifth straight win, outscored Miami 34-24 in the final period to get us to OT.

Tune in for the finish on NBA TV.

👑 Kings fighting back 🍿

The Heat have had their 17-point fourth-quarter lead erode to just two points with just over a minute to go in Sacramento. Tune into NBA TV for the thrilling conclusion of tonight’s final NBA game.

🌴 West Coast hoops in Sacramento

Monday’s slate wraps up in Sacramento where the Kings are hosting the Heat. It’s been a tightly contested matchup thus far as the teams are knotted at 60 apiece midway through the third quarter.

Miami’s Tyler Herro leads all scorers with 21 points through 27 minutes.

The Kings are looking to extend their season-best win streak to five games. Catch the finish on NBA TV.

🔮 Magic conjure unlikely win at MSG

Magic 103, Knicks 94 

The Magic have been dealt a tough hand on the injury front this season and Monday’s road test against the 3-seeded Knicks looked like it would be tough. Instead, Orlando passed with flying colors thanks to a balanced team effort with strong contributions from starters and reserves alike.

Cole Anthony dropped 24 points, his second-highest total of the season, and both Jonathan Isaac and Wendell Carter scored in double figures off the bench.

The Magic held the Knicks to just 18.2 percent from beyond the arc thanks in part to terrific perimeter defense.

Coby White did WHAT?!

With the game on the line and time winding down, Coby White put on the cape and elevated for a slam over Victor Wembanyama to help ice the game for Chicago.

Don’t believe us? Just watch.

Bulls win 114-110 to move to 17-19 on the year. Let’s see the dunk again though.

🐜Ant Man going Superhero Mode

What was Anthony Edwards going to do for an encore tonight after scoring a career-high 53 against the Pistons on Saturday? Will his team to a win, that’s what.

Anthony Edwards scored or assisted on 15 straight points late in the fourth quarter as the T’Wolves erased a 19-point first-half deficit to get a much-needed win. Overall, Edwards had 28 points in the second half to finish with 37.

Whew.

😬 Two games down to the wire

The Bulls are clinging to a three-point lead over the Spurs with time winding down.

The Timberwolves and Clippers are deadlocked at 100 apiece late in the fourth in a game with 12 lead changes.

Catch the thrilling finishes now on NBA League Pass.

🦌 Bucks bounce back in Toronto

Bucks 128, Raptors 104

Milwaukee had dropped two straight and four of its last five entering Monday before taking out some frustrations on Toronto. The Bucks never trailed after the midway point of the first quarter and led by as many as 33 points.

An interesting statistical tidbit is that Milwaukee put up 128 with Giannis Antetokounmpo scoring 11 points. Two of points came on this impressive reverse jam, though. And of course, he contributed in other ways with 13 assists and 12 rebounds to notch another triple-double.

Milwaukee finished the game shooting 50 percent from three and 57.3 percent from the floor overall.

There were some highlights for the Raptors, though, like Scottie Barnes’ silly windmill dunk on a fastbreak.

🌞 Suns snap skid, topple 76ers

Suns 109, 76ers 99

The Suns entered Monday on a four-game losing skid and a 3-7 record in their last 10 games. Having to go to Philly to face a 76ers club playing its best ball of the season was not a soft landing for the Suns on Monday. And yet, Phoenix ultimately prevailed by controlling the second half and outscoring Philadelphia by 14 after the break.

A lineup shakeup played a big role for Phoenix as Bradley Beal moved to the bench and regained his form with 25 points in 30 minutes.

Pistons battle back, win fourth straight

Pistons 118, Trail Blazers 115

Trailing by as many as 22 in the second quarter, Detroit was unfazed Monday night as they fought their way back to a gritty win in front of the home crowd. By comparison, the Pistons’ largest lead was just five points but the only lead that matters is the one when we get to :00 on the clock in the fourth quarter.

Cade Cunningham led the way with 32 points, 30 of which came in the first three quarters. Tim Hardaway Jr. ended up coming through in the clutch with 26 points including 11 in the fourth.

The Pistons are now on their largest winning streak of the season at four games.

It wasn’t all bad for the Blazers, though. Anfernee Simons posted a season-high 36 points and came up one triple shy (8) of tying a career-high (9) for made threes in a game.

☕Powered by Coffey

The Clippers look caffeinated to start tonight’s game against the Timberwolves as they’ve built a 15-point first-half lead. Amir Coffey has been an energizer off the bench with four points in 10 minutes, including this jam in traffic.

We’ve got two angles on this highlight. Call that a double shot ☕

🛠️ Made by Cade

That makes four made 3’s for Detroit’s Cade Cunningham tonight with one quarter to go. Cunningham has 30 points on the night thus far, which is tops in the Association thus far.

Catch the end of Pistons vs Trail Blazers now on NBA League Pass.

♟️Wemby’s chess tour makes stop in Chicago

Victor Wembanyama showed his chess skills in Washington Square Park in New York back in December. Tonight he has a new challenger in noted chess Senior Master, Benny the Bull 😂

We may have to wait until the Spurs and Bulls wrap up for the conclusion of this enthralling chess match.

🤯 Scotty windmill

Toronto’s Scotty Barnes had one of the highlights of the night as he did it all himself on this play, forcing the turnover and throwing down an absurd windmill dunk.

Catch Raptors vs Bucks now on NBA League Pass

🆙 More like Obi Hoppin’

Indiana’s Obi Toppin got to show off his bounce Monday in Brooklyn with a ridiculous one-handed finish on the alley-oop. Toppin’s jam tops our dunk score leaderboard for tonight’s action and it’ll be tough to top that.

Here’s the reverse angle:

👀 Okay, rook

Suns rookie Oso Ighodaro has made a couple of highlight plays off the bench tonight already.

First, the floater:

And then he went for something a little more high-percentage 💪

Catch the second half of Suns-76ers on NBA TV.

🔥Blazers scoring barrage

The Blazers came out hot in the second quarter, embarking on a 17-0 run to build a double-digit lead over the Pistons. Both Deni Avdija and Shaedon Sharpe are already in double figures in the first half.

😤 Short-handed 76ers stepping up

Philadelphia is off to a strong start tonight against the Suns despite being without Jeol Embiid and Kyle Lowry. Kelly Oubre has paced the scoring early with eight of the 76ers’ first 29 points.

And of course, Paul George is doing his thing.

🔧 Chauncey Billups back in Motor City

Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups is back in his old stomping grounds for tonight’s contest against the Pistons.

Billups spent eight memorable seasons with the Pistons as a player with four All-Star appearances. He was a key part of the Pistons’ 2003-04 title run.

📰 Required Reading

🔑 Key NBA storylines tonight

  • Knicks look to bounce back to open home stand: The Knicks were on a tear going into the new year, winning nine straight. However, trips to Oklahoma City and Chicago over the weekend resulted in a pair of losses.  The Knicks can make some strides during their upcoming stretch of schedule with five home games on tap, beginning tonight against the Magic.
  • Kings set sights on five straight wins: The Kings are coming off a 30-point road win over the Warriors on Sunday to notch a season-best fourth consecutive victory. They hope to have De’Aaron Fox back in the lineup after he missed Sunday’s game due to injury.
  • Star-studded matchup in the Twin Cities: Anthony Edwards and the Timberwolves will host James Harden and the Clippers tonight. Edwards had a career-high 53 points in his last game while Harden’s passing skills were on display Saturday when he dished out 15 dimes against the Hawks. Notably for the Clippers, they just got Kawhi Leonard back in the fold as well as he played 19 minutes in his season debut Saturday.

 

 

 

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