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Live Updates: Thunder, Nuggets, top moments of 12-game night in the NBA

Follow along with live updates around NBA action

NBA.com Staff

NEW YORK, NY – DECEMBER 5: Jalen Brunson #11 of the New York Knicks concentrated and connected on his signature floater.

Friday’s hub for highlights, score updates and more. From across a 12-game slate, hoops fans can dig into everything happening around the league right here.

Top Performers⭐⭐⭐

  1. Nikola Jokić: 40 points (13-26 FG, 13-15 FT), nine rebounds, eight assists, one steal, one block, two turnovers
  2. Jalen Johnson: 21 points (9-20 FG), 18 rebounds, 16 assists, two steals, three turnovers
  3. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 33 points (10-12 FG, 11-12 FT), five rebounds, six assists, one block
  4. Deni Avdija: 35 points (9-16 FG, 14-15 FT), nine rebounds, seven assists
  5. Austin Reaves: 36 points (9-18 FG, 15-17 FT), three rebounds, eight assists

Headlines from Friday’s NBA Slate

  • Celtics cruise over Lakers, Thunder roll versus Mavericks: Boston defeated Los Angeles 126-105. The Celtics led by as many as 29 and never trailed. Oklahoma City moves to 22-1 on the season🤯🤯
  • Poison Apple for the Jazz: The Knicks jump out to 23-0 start against Utah and never look back, earning a 146-112 win over the Jazz. Jalen Brunson paced New York with 33 points (9-17 FG, 9-9 FT), while the Knicks rained in 50.0 percent of 42 3PA as a team.
  • The Hornets snag an upset win over the 15-8 Raptors in Toronto. Kon Knueppel is up to 79 made 3s across 22 appearances — on pace to shatter Keegan Murray’s rookie-season record of 206 3PM.
  • KD makes history: Kevin Durant reached the 31K-point milestone tonight, becoming one of eight players in league history to accomplish that feat. He’s the 3rd-fastest to do it, tying LeBron James.
  • Jalen Johnson with a triple-double in the first half: JJ put up 11 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds in his first 17 minutes on the floor tonight against the Nuggets. It’s the 2nd fastest triple-double in league history, but the Nuggets turn a 2.9% chance at victory into a 134-133 comeback win.

12:16 PM / December 5, 2025

Rolling Thunder, OKC win 132-111

Oklahoma City takes care of business on Prime Video. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (33 points, five rebounds, six assists) fuels another night of domination for the Thunder — but defense remains the calling card for this elite squad. Oklahoma City held Anthony Davis (two points, 1-9 FG) scoreless for the majority of the contest.

Rookie Ryan Nembhard (10 points, 4-8 FG, four assists) made his fourth consecutive start and continues emerging as someone who could be a component of the Mavericks’ future.

Jaden Hardy led Dallas with 23 points (8-13 FG) in 20 minutes off the bench, while Naji Marshall (18 points, 8-11 FG) posted an efficient offensive outing for Dallas as well. The 27-year-old entered Friday’s contest averaging 15.3 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.5 steals on a 57.9/40.0/100% shooting slash across his last four games.

11:52 PM / December 5, 2025

Kawhi sharp, not enough versus Grizzlies

Memphis earns a gritty 107-98 victory over the Clippers, fueled by 23 points (10-18 FG) from rookie Cedric Coward. The 22-year-old continues flashing serious upside as a self-creator — being methodical in pick-and-roll and navigating traffic, pushing the pace in transition, and posting a 62:32 AST:TO ratio thus far.

Kawhi Leonard (24 points, 10-23 FG) was heavily leaned on with James Harden (18 points, 6-13 FG) operating below his normal usage. The Clippers hold a plus-21 net rating in the 177 minutes Leonard has played across six games since returning from an ankle injury, but a minus-56 margin when he’s off the floor.

11:39 PM / December 5, 2025

OKC baggin’💃🏻🕺🏽💃🏻🕺🏽

The Thunder are in position for their 14th consecutive win, possessing a 121-96 lead over the Mavericks midway through the fourth quarter.

The reigning champions are putting forth another masterful effort on Prime Video.

11:26 PM / December 5, 2025

Siakam, Mathurin, Pacers win

Coby White (22 points, 6-14 FG, 9-12 FT) led Chicago in scoring on a night when Josh Giddey and Nikola Vucevic combined for just 17 points on 5-for-16 shooting. Chicago committed 18 turnovers in a 120-105 loss to the Pacers.

Pascal Siakam (36 points, 13-24 FG, 5-7 3PM) and Bennedict Mathurin (28 points, 9-16 FG, 6-11 3PM) showed out. Both players were scorching hot from deep, while Siakam notched a double-double by tacking on 10 rebounds.

Jay Huff delivered versatile and efficient production with 11 points (4-5 FG), four rebounds, five assists, two steals and five blocks in 28 minutes of action.

11:13 PM / December 5, 2025

Recap — the Denver POV

Highlights from Denver’s comeback win over Atlanta⬇️⬇️

10:59 PM / December 5, 2025

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander plugging away

A model of consistency, Gilgeous-Alexander (24 points, 7-8 FG, 9-10 FT) is approaching 100 consecutive games with 20-plus points.

Friday marks his 95th such contest, the second-longest streak in NBA history — trailing only Wilt Chamberlain’s record of 126 straight games.

After a tie game at 27 each at the end of the first quarter, Oklahoma City has jumped out to an 84-55 lead midway through the third quarter on Prime Video.

10:34 PM / December 5, 2025

Portland’s trio falls short versus Detroit

Cade Cunningham (29 points, 9 assists) was one of six Pistons with double-digit scoring and he led the way in efficient fashion (7-15 FG, 13-14 FT) as Detroit wins a back-and-forth affair by a final score of 122-116.

Deni Avdija (35 points, nine rebounds, seven assists) is on a rampage. The 24-year-old entered Friday’s contest averaging 30.0 points, 10.3 rebounds and 9.7 assists — drawing 17.3 free throws per game across his last four contests! Avdija connected on 14-of-15 free throws Friday, continuing his physical dominance.

Jerami Grant (29 points, 8-19 FG) and Shaedon Sharpe (28 points, 10-25 FG) were the only other Trail Blazers to exceed eight points in Friday’s defeat.

10:19 PM / December 5, 2025

Jokić 40-bomb, Nuggets steal a W

In a game where Denver only led for mere seconds until the eight-minute mark of the fourth quarter, the Nuggets overcame a 23-point deficit to earn a 134-133 win against the Hawks.

Nikola Jokić (40 points, nine rebounds, eight assists, two turnovers) was excellent with Jamal Murray (23 points, 12 assists) co-starring.

After logging the second-fastest triple double in NBA history, Jalen Johnson finished with 21 points (9-20 FG), 18 rebounds and 16 assists in what is becoming a booming stretch for the 23-year-old. Johnson is averaging 30.0 points, 14.3 rebounds and 10.5 assists while connecting on 50.0% of 18.7 shots across his last four games.

Stellar recently in his own right, Nickeil Alexander-Walker poured in 30 points (10-17 FG), and there was no shortage of offensive fireworks. Both teams combined to knock down a ridiculous 43.3% of 83 3PA.

10:06 PM / December 5, 2025

Balanced Cavs beat shorthanded Spurs

Cleveland 130, San Antonio 117.

Donovan Mitchell (9-17 FG) and Devin Vassell (8-16 FG) tied with a game-high 28 points each for their respective franchises, but San Antonio getting gashed to the tune of a 58.1 team FG% by Cleveland tells the story.

Second-year swingman Jaylon Tyson (24 points, 11-15 FG) was sharp en route to the third 20-point game of his young career. He’s legitimately stepping up for Cleveland after posting a career-high 27-point performance Dec. 1 against Indiana. He has now scored at least 14 points in six of his last eight games.

Rookie Dylan Harper (three points, 1-11 FG, six assists) struggled in his sixth game back from a calf injury. De’Aaron Fox (25 points, 9-19 FG) has now recorded 25-plus points in nine of his last 10 games.

9:50 PM / December 5, 2025

Kawhi 🏃💨

Kawhi!!! 👀👀👀

Kawhi Leonard kicks on the jets for the easy transition bucket. He has a game-high 20 points (8-17 FG) and a team-high seven rebounds, but the Clippers trail the Grizzlies 91-87 in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter.

9:41 PM / December 5, 2025

Orlando survives Miami comeback

Despite the best efforts of Norman Powell (28 points, 9-18 FG, 8-11 FT), Orlando clings to the last of its 10-point lead to finalize a 106-105 victory over the Heat.

Franz Wagner posted a game-high 32 points (12-22 FG) to go along with five rebounds and three assists, although both he and Paolo Banchero (nine points, 3-8 FG) struggled in clutch time.

Norman Powell was the clutch superstar. He entered Friday’s contest averaging 25.0 points on a pristine 50.9/45.8/88.3% shooting slash across 17 contests for Miami this season.

9:30 PM / December 5, 2025

Cavs seize control in 3Q

Cleveland trailed by eight points going into halftime. Now? They’re up 108-93 at the end of three. A 44-19 quarter will certainly change the flow of things.

Jaylon Tyson is showing out with 24 points in 27 minutes while shooting 84% from the floor.

9:16 PM / December 5, 2025

Scoring avalanche for Denver

The Nuggets have almost erased a 19-point halftime deficit in less than 10 minutes. Denver’s offense has woken up with a quick 32 points so far in the third quarter while also keeping a lid on the Atlanta offense. The Nuggets are shooting 81 percent from the floor in the third as Nikola Jokić starts to leave his mark on this game.

9:00 PM / December 5, 2025

Devin Vassell is cooking

Vassell is up to 25 points early in the third quarter of tonight’s game against the Cavaliers. That puts him just 10 points shy of tying his season high and 12 points shy of his career best mark. There’s plenty of ballgame left for Vassell to hit those marks. He has canned seven 3-pointers already.

In fact, Vassell’s seven first-half triples ties Bryn Forbes’ record for 3’s in a half.

Catch the action as the Spurs and Cavs are locked in a close one in Cleveland.

8:47 PM / December 5, 2025

Triple-double for Jalen Johnson…in the first half

Atlanta’s Jalen Johnson needed just 17 minutes to record a triple-double in tonight’s game against the Nuggets. He’s up to 11 points (5-10 FG), 12 assists and 10 rebounds already. His all-around effort helped fuel a 19-point lead for the Hawks.

8:37 / December 5, 2025

Another milestone for Durant

With this floater, Kevin Durant became the eighth player in NBA history to reach 31K points in his career. Durant and the Rockets are facing his former team, the Suns, tonight in H-Town in a battle of playoff hopefuls from the Western Conference.

8:33 / December 5, 2025

Bona Fide slam

Philadelphia’s Adem Bona threw down a nasty two-hand dunk to extend the 76ers’ early lead and force a Milwaukee timeout.

8:18 PM / December 5, 2025

Hawks drop 41 in 1st quarter

Atlanta is off to a hot start on the offensive end tonight against Denver, having dropped 41 points in the opening stanza. That’s one point shy of their season-high for a first quarter, which came on Nov. 13 against the Jazz.

The second quarter is underway and the Hawks have already hit 10 3’s.

8:14 PM / December 5, 2025

Heat, Magic battling through 1H

Heat lead 60-57 at the break

The Heat and Magic are locked in a terrific battle thus far as Miami takes a narrow three-point lead into halftime. Miami is showing why it’s one of the best offenses in the league, shooting 52% from the floor in the opening half.

There have been some wild swings in this one with the Magic leading by as many as seven and the Heat leading by as many as nine. There have been seven ties and a whopping nine lead changes already.

8:04 PM / December 5, 2025

Knicks’ roaring start

The Knicks are showing again why they’re one of the best teams at home (11-1) in the league this season. They jumped out to a 23-0 lead over the Jazz thanks to hot starts from their star-studded trio of Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges and Jalen Brunson.

7:50 PM / December 5, 2025

Dyson Daniels reaches century mark with Hawks

Dyson Daniels plays in his 100th game as a member of the Hawks tonight. Hoops fans are well aware of Daniels’ incredible defensive prowess, but this note from the club puts things in perspective. Daniels in rarified air when it comes to his ability to turn the opponent over.

Oh, and he can get buckets, too.

Catch the Hawks vs Nuggets matchup live now.

7:40 PM / December 5, 2025

C’s scorching out of the gate

Boston takes a 39-17 lead into the break thanks in large part to an absolute clinic from beyond the arc. The Celtics are 7-for-11 from 3, led by Jaylen Brown and Derrick White hitting three triples apiece.

Catch the action now on Amazon Prime Video.

7:23 PM / December 5, 2025

Banchero’s on the board

Orlando’s Paolo Banchero, back from a 10-game absence, sank his first 3-point attempt to help give the Magic an early spark.

7:20 PM/ December 5, 2025

Dillon Brooks x Clutch: A rivalry for the ages

Former Rocket, Dillon Brooks, is back in his own stomping grounds as a member of the Suns. He met up with his old pal and Houston mascot, Clutch the Bear, and the two battled it out before the game even began.

7:15 PM/ December 5, 2025

Celtics vs Lakers lineups

Boston is rolling with Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Jordan Walsh and Neemias Queta as its starting five tonight.

The Lakers are countering with Austin Reaves, Gabe Vincent, Jake LaRavia, Rui Hachimura and Deandre Ayton.

7:00 PM/ December 5, 2025

Banchero is back

Paolo Banchero makes his return for the Magic after a multi-week absence due to a groin injury. He is expected to have his minutes monitored tonight, but his return adds some punch to the Orlando offense nonetheless.

7:00 PM / December 5, 2025

Reaves ready to roll

Los Angeles’ Austin Reaves will have to shoulder the load Friday with both LeBron James and Luka Dončić out for this game. Reaves is in the midst of a career year, averaging nearly 29 points per game in 18 outings.

 

 

 

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