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Nightly Pulse: NBA News & Highlights from Jan. 13

Catch up on all the NBA news, scores and highlights from tonight's action with our Nightly Pulse live blog.

🏀NBA scores tonight 🏀

Timberwolves 120, Wizards 106

Raptors 104, Warriors 101

Pistons 124, Knicks 119

Rockets 120, Grizzlies 118

Clippers 109, Heat 98

Spurs 126, Lakers 102


📝Top NBA takeaways tonight📝

  • Small slate delivers big: Of the six games on the slate tonight, three games had final margins of five points or less. The Pistons notched a quality road win over the Knicks to continue their torrid January. The Rockets outlasted the Grizzlies in a showdown of two of the West’s most ascendant clubs. And the Raptors battled back in the fourth to topple the Warriors.
  • Pistons stay hot: Detroit is now two games above .500 (21-19) and 8-2 in its last 10 as they continue to climb the Eastern Conference standings. With the win over the Knicks, they are now percentage points behind the Heat and Bucks for a top-6 seed.

  • Green provides Rocket Fuel for Houston W: Jalen Green tied a career-high for points (42) on 72 percent shooting to join some elite company in Rockets lore. Being the only player in franchise history other than Hakeem Olajuwon to have that type of game before 23 points puts Green in rarified air in Houston.

🌟 Top NBA performers tonight

  1. Jalen Green, Houston Rockets: 42 points (13-18 FG, 5-6 3Pt, 11-11 FT) in win over Memphis.
  2. Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves: 41 points, seven assists, six rebounds in win over Washington.
  3. Ivica Zubac, Los Angeles Clippers: 21 points, 20 rebounds, two blocks in win over Miami.

🤠 Spurs explode in fourth quarter for blowout win

Spurs 126, Lakers 102

The game mostly favored the Lakers through the first 30 minutes, but the final stretch belonged to the Spurs. San Antonio tied it going into the fourth on the strength of a 15-5 run and it didn’t stop there.

San Antonio went on to win the fourth quarter 37-13 and earn a 126-102 win on the road over LA.

Victor Wembanyama was his usual prolific self with 23 points and three steals, but the Spurs got some strong contributions from other members of its starting five. Every starting Spur scored in double figures and Devin Vassel and Stephon Cassel tied Wemby’s 23 points on the night.

San Antonio outscored the Lakers 66-40 in the paint and forced 18 Laker turnovers.


🥇 Clippers notch win in return home

Clippers 109, Heat 98

The Clippers returned home Monday for the first time since Jan. 4 after Saturday’s game was postponed due to the tragic wildfires in the Los Angeles area. They grabbed the lead early in the second half and never looked back as they led by as many as 19 in the fourth.

Ivica Zubac had a monstrous outing with 21 points and 20 rebounds, which marks his second 20-20 performance with the Clippers. In fact, he is the only Clipper with such a game since DeAndre Jordan in March of 2018.


📈 Spurs surging

Spurs, Lakers knotted at 89 entering 4Q

The Spurs ended the 3rd quarter on a 15-5 run, capitalizing on some Lakers miscues and forcing a tie going into the final period.

You didn’t think we’d go all night without a Wemby highlight, did you?

San Antonio’s Devin Vassell added a nasty slam of his own, too.

Catch the conclusion on NBA TV.


Clippers lead Heat going into 4Q

The Clippers returned to the Intuit Dome tonight and are putting on a show for the home crowd as they lead by 16 early in the fourth. Ivica Zubac has been a force with 19 points and 15 boards thus far to lead all Clippers scorers.

Oh, and James Harden has not one but two buzzer beaters 😱

This one to end the half

And this to end the third

They say timing is everything.


💐 Michael Cooper gets his flowers

The Lakers honored Michael Cooper at halftime of tonight’s game with a jersey retirement ceremony. Cooper was joined by several of his teammates from the Showtime Lakers.

The Hall of Famer won five NBA championships as a member of the Lakers during their historic run in the 1980s. Coop was named to eight NBA All-Defensive teams and was the Defensive Player of the Year in 1987.


😤 Dunks of the night

Young Rockets have liftoff 🚀

Cam Whitmore is our leader in the clubhouse for dunk score tonight with this ferocious throwdown in transition

Jalen Green had a little something something cooking too though

KPJ with the 🔨

The Clips’ Kevin Porter Jr. threw down a thunderous jam in transition to close the gap with the Heat.


🍿 LeBron. Wemby. Get your popcorn

The Lakers and Spurs are off and running in LA and the stars are out in full force so far. LeBron James and Victor Wembanyama are trading baskets but it’s James’ Lakers with the lead late in the 2nd quarter. Catch the rest of the action now on NBA TV.


⏰ Kevin Love turning back the clock

Kevin Love is looking like the UCLA version of himself tonight in LA with three 3’s so far in the first quarter. Love is making just his sixth start of the season and has already tied a season-high for made 3’s in a game.

The Heat have built a 35-28 lead over the Clippers after one quarter.


🔥 Jalen Green enters elite company

Jalen Green’s 42 points tonight against the Grizzlies came on a remarkable 72.2 percent shooting. To put that in perspective, Hakeem Olajuwon is the only other Rockets player to have such a game before turning 23 🤯


🚀 Rockets hold off Grizzlies in thriller

Monday’s game between the Rockets and Grizzlies featured two of the top three teams in the Western Conference. In a matchup with plenty of hype, this one delivered as Houston held on for a 120-118 win over Memphis.

rockets_grizzlies_chart

The Grizzlies held the lead for much of Monday’s game, including a game-high 13-point advantage in the fourth. The Rockets stayed the course, though, and fought their way back for a big win.

Jalen Green was sensational with multiple highlight dunks to complement his 5-for-6 night from three on his way to dropping a season-high 42 points

The game had everything, including this absurd three from Memphis’ Ja Morant.

With the win, the Rockets clinch the season series against the Grizzlies with one more matchup remaining on Jan. 30 in Memphis.


💪 Pistons pick up win over Knicks

The Pistons continue to pick up steam with a remarkable run in January. They entered the new year at 14-18 and now sit at 21-19 thanks in part to Monday’s impressive win on the road against the Knicks.

Cade Cunningham went for 36 points, including 18 points in the 3rd quarter.

The Knicks, playing the second leg of a back-to-back, made the Pistons work for the win tonight. Their Big 3 of Jalen Brunson (31 points) Karl-Anthony Towns (26 points, 12 rebounds) and Mikal Bridges (27 points) each had terrific games and played heavy minutes on a quick turnaround.

🦖Raptors hold off Warriors

The Raptors trailed by as many as nine points in the fourth quarter of tonight’s game against the Warriors but they dug in and found a way to get it done in front of the home crowd.

They went on a 27-15 run over the final 9:27 to storm back and get the win. The Raptors had a number of solid contributors to fuel the comback with Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett, Chris Boucher and Ochai Agbaji all having strong fourth quarters.


📜 Curry moves up all-time assists leaderboard

Stephen Curry made more history tonight in an area of his game that gets under-recognized considering his status as the game’s greatest shooter of all time. Curry surpassed Kobe Bryant for 35th all-time on the NBA assists leaderboard and has dished out six dimes on the night. Here’s one of them in slo-mo.


🐜 Edwards, Timberwolves notch victory in DC

Anthony Edwards cooked up 41 points, his second-highest scoring performance of the season, in tonight’s win over the Wizards. Edwards now has two games of at least 41 points since the calendar flipped to 2025. That type of performance has helped elevate the rest of the team as Minnesota is now 21-18 and 7-3 in its last 10.

The Wizards were paced by Kyle Kuzma and Jordan Poole, who scored 22 and 20 points respectively in the loss.


🏄 Cade coast-to-coast

Cade Cunningham did it all himself on this play as he got the swipe and cashed in for a transition dunk to extend Detroit’s lead. Cunningham had 18 third-quarter points to help swing things in Detroit’s favor.

Catch the fourth quarter now on NBA League Pass.


😯 Jalen Brunson. He’s crafty

New York’s Jalen Brunson is a maestro at getting to his spot and getting buckets and that skill is on display tonight at the Garden. Brunson poured in 17 first-half points to help give the Knicks a 63-59 lead over the Pistons at the break.

On the other side, Detroit has been buoyed by Malik Beasley’s 12 points off the bench. Catch the second half on NBA League Pass.


🚀Green Monster (jam)

The Rockets turned defense to offense in a hurry with Fred VanVleet swiping a steal and dishing it to Jalen Green, who rocked the rim with a monster dunk. Green leads all scorers in the early going with 13 points as the first half winds down.

The Grizzlies, led by Ja Morant’s 12 points, have the advantage at 47-41 thus far in Houston, however.


👨‍🍳 Chef Curry with the shot

Steph Curry pulled up from 35 feet, or 10.67 meters for our friends who use the metric system, and buried a triple from the Raptors’ logo. Curry poured in 15 first-half points but the Warriors trail by two points at the break. Catch the second half on NBA League Pass.


🔑 Key NBA Storylines Tonight

  • Wemby, LeBron take center stage: LeBron James and the Lakers make their return to the Crypto.com Arena and draw a marquee matchup with Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs.
  • Knicks, Pistons on collision course: The Knicks and Pistons are playing some of the best basketball in the Eastern Conference of late. The Pistons are 8-2 in their last 10 while the Knicks are fresh off a statement win over the Bucks on Sunday.
  • Ascending WCF teams square off in Houston: The Rockets and Grizzlies square off in a matchup of the No.2 and No.3 seeds in the Western Conference.

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