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Nightly Pulse: NBA News & Highlights from Dec. 12

Stay in the know on tonight's NBA action as we keep you updated with the latest news and happenings around the league.

Henry Weinberg

Thursday night brought a return to regular-season action, with the Emirates NBA Cup not resuming until Saturday:

猸愨瓙TOP PERFORMERS猸愨瓙

  1. CJ McCollum: 36 points (14-24 FG), three rebounds, three assists
  2. Payton Pritchard: 27 points (10-20 FG, 7-15 3PM), four rebounds, 10 assists
  3. DeMar DeRozan: 29 points (8-18 FG, 10-11 FT), three rebounds, two assists, four steals
  4. Bam Adebayo: 21 points (8-17 FG), 16 rebounds, five assists, one block

Top Storylines馃憠馃摑

  1. CJ McCollum booms for his second game of the season with 30+ points, but New Orleans loses their third-consecutive game in heartbreaking fashion.
  2. Celtics roll without Jayson Tatum (knee). Boston logs their 10th game of the season with at least 20 made threes on the same night they get their 20th win of the year.
  3. Miami’s coach Erik Spoelstra moves into 18th all-time in career coaching wins as Miami wins their fourth consecutive contest.

Kings win, costly turnover haunts Pelicans

CJ McCollum posted 17 points in the fourth quarter as part of his season-high 36 (14-24 FG, 6-11 3PM), but a Dejounte Murray turnover on the Pelicans’ final possession allowed Sacramento to escape with a 111-109 lead.

Murray was productive with 20 points (8-19 FG, 2-7 3PM), seven rebounds, nine assists, one steal and two blocks, but he also had eight turnovers — six of which came in the second half. Trey Murphy represented the only other Pelican to post double-digit scoring, finishing with 21 points, four rebounds and zero assists.

Domantas Sabonis countered McCollum with season-high scoring of his own, finishing with 32 points to go along with 20 rebounds and three assists. DeMar DeRozan co-starred with 29 points (8-18 FG, 3-3 3PM, 10-11 FT), helping stabilize a Sacramento offense that shot just 39.8% from the field in total.

CJ MCCOLLUM, PELICANS STORMING BACK

McCollum has a season-high 36 points as the Pelicans have overcome a 14-point deficit in the final six minutes to cut Sacramento’s lead to two in the final 90 seconds.

Boston win backed by 3P barrage馃幆

Boston’s 123-99 victory featured 34 assists on 46 made buckets — 20 of which were threes as the Celtics rained in 41.7% of 48 3PA. Payton Pritchard (27 points, four rebounds, 10 assists) and Derrick White (23 points, two rebounds, four assists) each hit seven threes, combining to shoot an astounding 14 for 27 from deep.

On a night when Jayson Tatum (knee) didn’t play, Detroit still had no answers. Cade Cunningham finished with 18 points (9-22 FG), eight rebounds and eight assists. Rookie Ron Holland blew by his previous season-high of 14 points, notching 26 (11-14 FG) on Thursday.

Payton Pritchard makes history by becoming the 10th Celtic to record at least 500 made threes in his career.

Heat stay hot鈾笍鈾笍

Toronto jumped out to a 16-point lead in the first quarter, but it was all Miami from then on, as the Heat earned a 114-104 victory.

Tyler Herro was remarkably efficient en route to 23 points (9-13 FG, 4-7 3PM), four rebounds and four assists with a plus-30 net rating across his 32 minutes of action. Bam Adebayo logged his second highest rebounding total of the season, finishing with 21 points (8-17 FG, 1-3 3PM, 4-6 FT), 16 rebounds and five assists.

RJ Barrett was limited as a scorer, but he still managed to deliver the second triple-double of his career, posting 13 points (5-18 FG, 1-4 3PM), 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Gradey Dick continues a stellar sophomore campaign, leading Toronto with 22 points (8-19 FG, 3-11 3PM). Thursday marked Dick’s eighth game of the season with at least 22 points.

Sabonis booming, big Q3 from DeRozan

DeMar DeRozan followed-up 1-for-6 shooting in first half with 16 points (5-7 FG, 3-3 3PM) in Q3, helping Sacramento mount a 91-83 lead entering the fourth quarter.

Domantas Sabonis has gotten opponent center Yves Missi (four points, 11 rebounds, four fouls) in foul trouble en route to amassing 30 points (10-13 FG) and 16 rebounds with another quarter still remaining.

Ron Holland in his bag馃憖馃憖

Holland stops on a dime to get into his behind-the-back dribble, then rises and hits the silky short jumper. The 19-year-old’s shooting is a huge swing factor in his game moving forward.

OOOCHAI AGBAJI SLAM馃挜馃挜

Agbaji comes flying in off a tip-out by Jakob Poeltl for a tough slam plus the foul. The 24-year-old is now up to 14 dunks on the season and he’s shooting a career-best 63.2% at the rim thus far. He’ll dunk over anybody…even his own teammates馃馃

35-point Q2 fuels Miami’s halftime lead

The Heat lead the Raptors 58-51, with Tyler Herro (12 points) and Nikola Jovi膰 (11 points) anchoring the scoring.

Jakob Poeltl’s 14 points lead Toronto, representing an excellent sign after the big man was removed from the starting lineup after dealing with back spasms pregame.

Boston in control at halftime

Payton Pritchard, the league leader in made threes, co-leads all scores with 14 points (5-12 FG, 4-9 3PM), tied with Cade Cunningham. Cunningham represents the only Piston to exceed six points thus far, as Detroit trails Boston 59-44 at the half.

Kristaps Porzi艈模is and Derrick White each have 11 points for the Celtics, rounding out Boston’s trio with double-digit points.

Kings off and running鉀光浌

Sacramento’s 14-0 run propels a 28-26 lead over New Orleans at the end of Q1. Domantas Sabonis is on pace for a monster double-double, recording 12 points and eight rebounds already.

Trey Murphy is on fire for New Orleans, racking up 16 points (5-7 FG, 3-5 3PM, 3-4 FT) as he looks to build on his season-high 25 points recorded in New Orleans last contest Dec. 8.

EXTRA STEW FOR YOU馃嵅馃嵅

Isaiah Stewart rejects Kristaps Porzi艈模is! Stewart has been an elite rim protector this season, limiting opponents of 52.4% shooting in the paint, which ranks in the 91st percentile among all players.

Key Storylines for the Night 馃嵖馃嵖

  1. Cade Cunningham and the Pistons will look to bounce back from a 130-120 Dec. 4 loss to Boston Cunningham dropped 27 points (11-21 FG), nine rebounds and 14 assists in that contest.
  2. Sacramento’s 7th-ranked offense will look to capitalize against New Orleans’ 29th-ranked defense, but the Pelicans have home court.
  3. Miami will look for a fourth consecutive win, facing a Raptors squad that just lost Scottie Barnes (ankle) to a multi-week injury and remains without Immanuel Quickley (elbow).

Cade Cunningham takes the floor

Cunningham warms up in advance of a showdown against Boston. The 23-year-old is connecting on 39.3% of 6.4 3PA per game this season, both representing career-high marks.

Jaylen Brown in 741 apparel

The Celtics’ star wing pulls up Thursday in his recently released first line of clothing from his 741 Performance brand.

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