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Nightly Pulse: NBA News & Highlights from Apr. 4

Stay up to date on the top stories, highlights and results from tonight's 10-game slate.

NBA.com Staff

🍿 Friday Night Hoops

Pacers 140, Jazz 112

Kings 125 Hornets 102

Pistons 117, Raptors 105

Celtics 123, Suns 103

Cavaliers 114, Spurs 113

Rockets 125, Thunder 111

Bulls 118, Trail Blazers 113

Warriors 118, Nuggets 104

Lakers 124, Pelicans 108

Clippers 114, Mavericks 94

Top Stories of the Night 📲

  1. Rockets gets statement victory: Coming into tonight, the Oklahoma City Thunder had won 11 consecutive games and 10 consecutive road games, but both streaks were snapped in Houston. Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun combined for 65 points, while Amen Thompson was stellar on both ends of the court. The team is 2nd in the West at 51-27, and just proved that they can defeat a Thunder squad with all of their key guys.
  2. Epic battle between Chicago-Portland: The Bulls and Trail Blazers are two teams that each found their stride as the calendar turned to 2025. This inter-conference matchup saw monster statlines from players on both teams. Nikola Vučević and Matas Buzelis both had double-doubles, while Coby White added 31 points. Josh Giddey had another triple-double and Deni Avdija continued his outstanding stretch, finishing with 37 points and 11 boards in the five-point loss.
  3. Lakers big three goes off for 92 points: Luka Dončić, Austin Reaves and LeBron James nearly all crossed the 30-point threshhold tonight against New Orleans, with James being the only one to fall short with 27 points on the night. It was a snapshot of their potent attack as they closed the door late on a potential Pelicans upset.

🌟 Top Performers 🌟

  1. Stephen Curry: 36pts (13-24 FG, 7-15 3PM), two rebounds, five assists, two steals in win over DEN
  2. Jalen Green: 34 pts (11-24 FG, 3-10 3PM), four rebounds, five assists, two steals, one block in win over OKC
  3. Deni Avdija: 37 pts (12-25 FG, 2-7 3PM), 11 rebounds, five assists in loss to CHI
  4. Josh Giddey: 15 pts (4-13 FG, 0-1 3PM), 19 rebounds (career-high), 12 assists in win over POR

 

Austin Reaves Takeover 😤

The Lakers are pulling away from the New Orleans Pelicans in the fourth quarter, largely due to Austin Reaves’ scoring. Luka Dončić came alive as well late for Los Angeles, as he has a team-high 35 points.

💪 Dubs Finally Beat Denver 💪

A win over the Nuggets was a long time coming for Golden State. Prior to tonight, the Warriors had lost nine consecutive games against Denver, but the losing streak ended tonight. Stephen Curry finished with 36 points, outdeuling Nikola Jokić who had 33 points on the night.

Future DPOY 🤔

One of the contenders for defensive player of the year, Draymond Green, disrupts Russell Westbrook in transition and fires the crowd up following the turnover. The Warriors are also hitting threes left and right as they finish off the Denver Nuggets.

Friendly Neighborhood LeBron 😅

 

LA Teams Ahead in 2H

  • The Clippers are comfortably ahead of the Dallas Mavericks midway through the third quarter. Their defense has stifled the Mavericks who are without Anthony Davis.
  • The Lakers, meanwhile, are in a much tighter contest with the Pelicans. Jose Alvarado’s 18 points lead all New Orleans players as the team is trailing by single-digits in the third.

 

Muscle Memory 🪣

Stephen Curry is up to 28 points with six made threes on the night.

Brandin Podziemski is having a big game as well, posting 20 for the second consecutive night. They have the Nuggets reeling, leading by 15 points early in the fourth quarter. Nikola Jokić has a game-high 31, with seven rebounds and six assists, but with the lead gorwing, Coach Malone may decide to rest his star down the stretch of this one.

Clippers in Control 🌴

Los Angeles is in cruise control at the half, holding a 23-point lead over the Dallas Mavericks. Ivica Zubac has a double-double already, as Kawhi Leonard leads all scorers with 14. The Mavericks are without Anthony Davis tonight, who was a late scratch.

Leaving His Mark 🎯

Austin Reaves is climbing the Laker leaderboards this year. Tonight he passed Nick Van Exel to move into second all-time on the franchise’s made three-pointers list.

1H Highlight Reel 🎞️

It was a tale of two quarters between the Nuggets and Warriors tonight in the Bay. The first quarter saw a blistering pace, as the teams combined for 78 points in the period. Denver led by 10 after one, but Golden State now enters the half with a six-point edge.

Watch some of the best plays below, beginning with a no-look dime from Nikola Jokić.

Stephen Curry would not be outdone, breaking out his patented shimmy after sinking one from distance.

Curry enters the half with 19 points, and another handful of plays that brought Chase Center to its feet.

Pistons Ticket Punched 🎟️

It’s been a remarkable turnaround in Detroit this season, and tonight’s win is certainly one to celebrate. The team clinched a top-six seed meaning they will avoid the Play-In tournament. Tonight, they got it done without their top gun in Cade Cunningham, adding to the growing confidence in the Motor City.

Luka’s Layup Tossed 😨

Yves Missi is setting the tone early, showcasing his rim protection with this big block on Luka Dončić in the first quarter.

Rockets Win 🚀 Snap OKC Win Streak

The Houston Rockets just received a huge confidence boost, knocking off the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder. They snapped the Thunder’s 11-game winning streak in the process, powered by superstar performances from Alperen Sengun and Jalen Green. The two combined for 65 points in the win tonight.

Jalen. Green.

💔 Heartbreak at the Buzzer 🚨

A furious 4th quarter comeback by the Spurs tonight ends inches away from a huge upset. Harrison Barnes came alive late, hitting clutch shots to give San Antonio a shot to win the game on the final possession. His good fortune expired at the buzzer, however, as his layup to win the game bounced off the back iron. Cleveland escapes with the 114-113 win.

A 14-2 run to end the game set up San Antonio’s final crack at upsetting the top seed in the East.

Touchdown Dime 🏈

Josh Giddey demonstrates his passing acumen with this heave to Coby White who punches home a poster dunk. Giddey has a career-high 19 rebounds, to go with 15 points and 10 assists. Coby White has 26 points and counting.

The dunk ended a 10-0 scoring run for Portland. Deni Avdija is continuing his breakout late in the season as he’s up to 37 points and 11 rebounds for the double-double.

Denver Goes Big

With Jamal Murray sidelined, the Nuggets have a tall starting lineup that may feature Nikola Jokić playing some point guard. The Golden State Warriors are notorious for their small-ball lineups, so they’ll have their work cut out defensively guarding the much bigger starting group.

OKC Comeback Watch 👀

Houston has held a double-digit lead for almost the entire game, but with less than 10 minutes to play, they’re gaining ground on the Rockets. The lead is down to nine, as Chet Holmgren is having a career shooting night with six threes, fueling the Thunder’s late charge.

Book’s 37 Not Enough

The Boston Celtics improve to 57-20 on the season, after picking up the victory over the Phoenix Suns, 123-103. It was a milestone night, as Boston set a new record for most made three pointers by a team in a single season. Jayson Tatum put the finishing touches on the win with a breakaway dunk in the fourth.

Phoenix on the other hand, falls to 35-42 with the loss. Booker was a force, with no Kevin Durant or Bradley Beal in the lineup, finishing with a game-high 37 points.

4th Quarter Time 🕘

  • Houston is doing what they can to hold off the Thunder. Oklahoma City trails by 20 nearing the end of the third.
  • Cleveland is in control against the Spurs, holding a 15-point lead as the 4th gets underway.
  • Chicago brings a 92-83 lead into the fourth quarter over Portland, despite another big game from Deni Avdija.

Monster Block ✋

Indiana’s Jarace Walker recovers and makes this huge block as the Pacers continue put away the Utah Jazz. This was a close game until the latter part of the 2nd half when Indiana began to pull away. They won by a final score of 140-112.

💪 Keyonte George. Dunk of the night?

Utah’s Keyonte George has if 5-for-12 on the night, but no bucket was more impressive than this absolute jam in traffic.

🗣️Dinner’s served 🍽️

Miles Bridges broke out a classic video game move with the Dinner’s Served in a game. Whew.

Catch Bridges’ Hornets try to mount the comeback against the Kings on NBA League Pass.

📊NBA Score updates

  • Kings building big lead on Hornets entering fourth quarter (86-66; 2:56 3Q)
  • Pacers and Jazz in a battle (87-87; 2:24 3Q)
  • Celtics lead Suns 60-47 at halftime
  • Pistons up 10 on Raptors at the half (65-55)
  • Bulls and Blazers going back-and-forth (Blazers up 42-41; 6:49 2Q)
  • Rockets building lead over visiting Thunder (46-37; 8:03 2Q)
  • Cavaliers jump out to lead over Spurs (52-37; 6:00 2Q)

🔄Jalen Green. Reverse.

Crazy dunks are the norm for Jalen Green but this one was particularly ridiculous.

Siri, show me a fast-break alley-oop with a reverse finish.

⛔ Access: Denied

Ron Holland just had one of the craziestchase down blocks you’ll see all season. Hustle has been a big part of Detroit’s DNA season and this play puts it on display.

👑 New 3-Point Kings: The Boston Celtics

With Payton Pritchard’s triple in the second quarter tonight against the Suns, the Celtics now hold the NBA record for most made threes in a season (1,364). The Celts have five games after tonight to pad their lead over the previous record holder, the 2023 Warriors.

The Celtics have three players who have made 240 or more triples this season, including Pritchard.

🤠 Best in the West squaring off

The Rockets host the Thunder tonight in a matchup of the top two seeds in the Western Conference. The Thunder have the upper hand in the season series at 3-1 with an average margin of victory sitting at 10 points.

Entering tonight, the Thunder are on an 11-game win streak while the Rockets have won eight of their last 10. Here are the starting fives with the game just now tipping off.

🔥Half-court shots are all the rage

Jaylen Brown had to hoist one from just inside halfcourt to beat the shot clock. If you listen closely enough, he definitely called bank.

📚 Quick Book

Devin Booker is off to a fast start tonight with 10 points in the first five minutes. He’s four of five from the floor and he connected on his lone attempt from deep.

Catch the action as the Suns continue to play through a gauntlet of a schedule in hopes of capturing a Play-In berth.

🎯 Johnny Juzang. Bang bang

The first quarter isn’t even over between the Jazz and Pacers but Utah’s Johnny Juzang has already connected on four three-pointers.

Tonight marks Juzang’s second start in three games and he’s already tied his points total from that last start.

Catch the action now on NBA League Pass.

👑 Race for the double-double crown

Sacramento’s Domantas Sabonis, who led the league with a staggering 77 double-doubles last season, is in pole position to three-peat as the NBA’s leader in that category with a week left in the season. He enters tonight with 56, but Nikola Jokic (55) and Karl-Anthony Towns (54) are right on his heels.

Catch Sabonis and the Kings as they take on the Hornets live right now on NBA League Pass. And you can check out our breakdown of the double-double race with two of the top three contenders in action tonight.

🏀 Tonight’s Notes

  1. Wild Wild Western Conference: The regular season finish line is approaching, and seeds 3-8 are separated by just 2.5 games in the West. The Denver Nuggets (47-30) are currently in 3rd while the Clippers (44-32) occupy the 8th spot with the Lakers, Warriors, Grizzlies and Timberwolves in between With four of the six teams in action tonight, there are major seeding implications in play by night’s end.
  2. Rockets aim to end Thunder winning streak: Oklahoma City (64-12) has the league’s best record, and longest active winning streak at 11 games. They’ve also won 10 consecutive contests on the road. As they travel to Houston tonight, the secon-seed Rockets (50-27) will try to end both streaks. The Thunder are 3-1 in their prior meetings this season, with one happening during the Emirates NBA Cup Semifinals.
  3.  Nikola Jokic following historic triple-double: The defending MVP will be back in action tonight, following a one-game absence after his monstrous triple-double earlier this week. The Joker played 53 minutes in a double-overtime showdown with Minnesota, finishing with 61 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and two steals in a losing effort. Tonight, he’s back against the Golden State Warriors as his team tries to hold ground in the Western Conference standings.

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