Nightly Pulse: NBA news and highlights from January 22

On By Littum

NBA Results Tonight (January 22)

Timberwolves 115, Mavericks 114

Suns 108, Nets 84

Stamps 114, Hawks 104

Thunder 123, Jazz 114

Grizzlies 132, Hornets 120

Rockets 109, Cavaliers 108

Warriors at Kings (Live, ESPN)

Celtics at Clippers (Live, NBA League Pass)

SGA drops 54 in OKC win

Thunder 123, Jazz 114

Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tied for a career-high 54 points in tonight’s win over Utah. SGA was aggressive all night, going 17-for-35 from the floor and 17-for-18 from the line. He added eight rebounds and three steals as the Thunder held off a solid effort from the Jazz.

SGA set his previous career high earlier this season with 45 points against the Clippers in November and did the same in December against the Pacers.

Rockets hang on to beat the Cavaliers

The Rockets were in the danger zone late against the Cavs, clinging to a two-point lead when the Cavaliers stepped to the line with a chance to ice it with three free throws. Only one of the three FTs fell and Houston was able to hold on for the win.

The Rockets got a strong effort across the board, including a combined 35 points from the bench unit. Cam Whitmore provided the dunk of the night from this game with a powerful alley-oop finish.

Timberwolves host Mavericks

NBA Rivals Week delivered the goods with a WCF rematch between the Mavericks and Timberwolves tonight. It was a four-quarter game, but the Timberwolves were able to grind it out at the free throw line despite some clutch shooting from Kyrie Irving, who hit two 3s in the final 30 seconds.

Minnesota’s Jaden McDaniels was a star tonight with 27 points to complement Anthony Edwards’ 21 points and seven assists.

Irving was in his bag for the Mavs with 36 points as he crossed the 18,000 point mark landmark in his career.

The Cavs are heating up in H-Town

Cleveland has gone on a 12-0 run to spark a comeback against Houston. Catch the goal now on NBA League Pass

Cunningham drives Pistons to W in ATL

Stamps 114, Hawks 104

Cade Cunningham had 29 points and 11 assists tonight in Atlanta as the Pistons moved to 23-21 on the season and into 6th place in the East. Malik Beasley provided a punch off the bench with 19 points, including five threes.

Watch one of Cunningham’s assists as he delivered a full court time to Ausar Thompson for an easy two.

Mavs come back vs T’Wolves

The Mavericks trailed by 12 early in the fourth quarter against the visiting Timberwolves, but used a 13-2 run to climb back into the game. PJ Washington (28 points) and Kyrie Irving (26 points). The Mavericks now trail by four after some clutch shooting by Jaden McDaniels, but it’s still anyone’s game with four minutes left.

Booker will enter the history books as Sun’s bank W

Suns 108, Nets 84

Devin Booker poured in 32 points in tonight’s win over the Nets and in the process became the 10th shooting guard in NBA history with 200 career 30-point games.

Book now has 14 games with 30 points in 37 appearances this season.

Jazz hanging with Thunder

The Jazz and Thunder are locked in a back-and-forth battle through nearly three quarters. There have been 14 lead changes, 10 ties and no lead larger than nine points.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander does his part with 29 points, but the Jazz hang tough with strong efforts from John Collins, Lauri Markkanen, Walker Kessler and others.

We have a one-point Thunder lead late in the third. Catch the rest of the action now on NBA League Pass.

Book KD combiner for 50 (for now)

Devin Booker and Kevin Durant are locked in tonight for the Suns as they accounted for 50 of Phoenix’s 94 points midway through the fourth quarter in Brooklyn. Durant had 19 in the first half and is up to 24, while Booker has exploded in the second half with 19 of his own.

Jalen Johnson. Elite Dunker. Confirmed

According to our NBA Stats DepartmentJalen Johnson became the fourth player this season to record multiple slams with dunk scores over 90.

In case you missed it, here’s Johnson’s throwdown from earlier tonight against the Pistons. You can check out the rest of tonight’s dunk score leaders and the season leaders here on NBA.com.

Cade Duren =

The Pistons are one of the best transitioning teams in the league this season, and they can add this one to their highlight reel with Cade Cunningham setting up Jalen Duren off the backboard to flush.

It’s WhitMORE. Not Whitless

Houston’s Cam Whitmore has himself a 12-point first-half night midway through the second quarter. He came all the way up to finish the oop and give the Rockets a three-point lead over the visiting Cavs.

Catch the action now on NBA League Pass.

Let’s see again, shall we?

Whew.

Mavs and T’Wolves provide the juice

Tonight’s highly anticipated Western Conference Finals rematch between the Mavericks and Timberwolves is living up to the hype so far. Seven leadership changes. Seven ties. No lead greater than eight points.

Jaden McDaniels leads the way for the T’Wolves with 11 early points, while PJ Washington is leading the scoring for the Mavs.

Spencer Dinwiddie has the highlight of the night from Dallas with this tough bucket with the shot clock ticking down.

We might need an @ArtButSports comp for this one

This game is global

Rockets sideline reporter Vanessa Richardson gives us a cool story about the Karakurt family coming all the way to Houston from Izmir, Turkey to watch Alperen Şengün play tonight against the Cavaliers.

Şengün has been worth the trip so far with four points, four rebounds and two assists in eight minutes of action.

Stampers start hot

The Pistons put up 36 points in the first quarter to take a 10-point lead over the Hawks. Seven different Pistons contributed to the scoring, shooting 62.5 percent from the floor, including 66.7 percent from downtown.

Tune in to second quarter action now on NBA League Pass.

Jalen Johnson takes the elevator

Detroit’s Jalen Duren is one of the toughest rim protectors in the league. Atlanta’s Jalen Johnson can jump really however high. The first round of Jalen vs Jalen goes to Johnson.

The Hawks’ bench seemed to love it, too. We think. It’s a little hard to say.

Tonight’s NBA Rivals Week action is ready to tip

The Rivals Week promotion starts at 7:30 with three great matchups, incl

  • Pistons vs Hawks
  • Suns vs Nets
  • Timberwolves vs Mavericks

Nets lineup

Here’s how the Nets line up tonight with Cameron Johnson (ankle) sidelined.

Suns lineup

The Suns will counter with this starting five as KD returns to Barclays Center

Mavericks lineup

Daniel Gafford steps in as the starting center for the Mavericks and gets a big test against Rudy Gobert and the T’Wolves.

Timberwolves lineup

Ant-Man and company head to Dallas to take on the Mavericks in a nationally televised showdown.

Stamps lineup

Cade Cunningham and the red-hot Pistons head to ATL to face Trae Young and the Hawks.

Hawks lineup

Trae Young and the Hawks look to improve to 12-7 in front of their home crowd, but it won’t be an easy game against a rising Pistons squad.

Compulsory reading

Top NBA stories tonight

  1. Cavs vs Rockets showcases the best of East and West: East’s no. 1 seed, the Cleveland Cavaliers, head to Houston to face the no. 2 seed in the west. Stars like Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Jalen Green and more will go toe-to-toe in one of the best regular season games of the year so far.
  2. Hawks, Pistons jockey for playoffs: There is still half of the season left to play, but there is a jam in the East with three teams (Heat, Magic, Pistons) all within one game of the Hawks for the coveted 6 seed in the East. With just a half game remaining, the Pistons have a big opportunity tonight when they face the Hawks in Atlanta.
  3. Red-hot kings get national spotlight: The Kings are tied with the Pacers for the best record in the league this month (8-1) and are 9-1 in their last 10 overall. They will face their regional rivals, the Warriors, tonight on national television with a 10:30 ET tip on ESPN.