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Nightly Pulse: NBA News & Highlights from Feb. 24

The Nightly Pulse is your one-stop-shop for all the NBA news, highlights and updates from tonight's action in the Association.

NBA.com Staff

🏀NBA Scores Tonight

Wizards 107, Nets 99

Bulls 142, 76ers 110

Nuggets 125, Pacers 116

Pistons 106, Clippers 97

Hawks 98, Heat 86

Timberwolves 131, Thunder 128

Trail Blazers 114, Jazz 112

Kings 130, Hornets 88

👇 Top NBA Takeaways tonight

  • Timberwolves complete wild comeback at OKC: Playing for the second time in as many nights, the Thunder looked to be on their way to sweeping the back-to-back set against the Timberwolves. The Thunder led by as many as 25 and were firmly in control as late as the middle of the third quarter. Then the Timberwolves mounted a terrific comeback highlighted by an electric fourth quarter in which they outscored the Thunder 41-19 in front of a stunned OKC crowd. The Thunder and T’Wolves split the season series at two games apiece and Minnesota narrowly had the advantage in cumulative scoring, 475-472. 

  • Jokić sets new benchmark for assists: Nikola Jokić had his fingerprints all over tonight’s win against the Pacers, but his biggest contribution came as a facilitator as he dished out a career-high 19 assists. That performance ties Jokić for the second-most assists ever in a game by a center. Wilt Chamberlain holds the record with 21. That’s good company.
  • Pistons rattle off 7th straight W: Detroit Basketball is continuing to have its moment. With tonight’s win over the Clippers, the Pistons have now won seven straight games to tie the franchise’s longest streak since December of the 2015 season. 

🥇 Best NBA performers tonight

  • Nikola Jokić, Denver Nuggets: Career-high 19 assists to go with 18 points, nine rebounds and three steals in the win over the Pacers.
  • Zach LaVine, Sacramento Kings: 42 points on 19 FGA to become the fourth player his season to have a 40-point game with fewer than 20 field goal attempts. He was 8-for-9 from deep and the Kings defeated the Hornets to move to 29-28.
  • Dyson Daniels, Atlanta Hawks: 10 points, 11 rebounds, seven steals in win over Heat. Daniels now has 11 games with five or more steals. 

👑 Zach LaVine going OFF

Zach LaVine is having the kind of night Kings fans envisioned when he was acquired at the trade deadline. He is up to 42 points on 16-for-19 shooting, including 8-for-9 from three.

Per the Kings broadcast, LaVine has outscored the Hornets thus far in the fourth quarter. By a margin of 18-6 😱.

🔥Blazers hang on in Utah

Portland started its seven-game road trip with an important win in what’s becoming a potentially wide open race for the final spot of the Play-In tournament. The Blazers are now 12-5 in their last 17 with games against the Wizards and Nets on deck in the next two.

That’s not to say tonight’s win was easy, though. The Jazz hung tough and a pair of late threes from Keyonte George kept their hopes alive. overall, they erased a 13-point deficit in the third quarter to claw back to within two points and a chance to win on their final possession. However, the final quality look by George narrowly rimmed out.

⛽ LaVine fuels lead with huge first half

Zach LaVine had 22 first-half points as the Kings took a 20-point lead into the locker room. He’s a perfect 4-for-4 from deep and is also getting to the rack, as you’ll see below.

Catch the night cap of tonight’s NBA action on NBA League Pass.

📈 Blazers heating up

The Blazers have gone on a 12-5 run to reclaim the lead after falling behind to the Jazz mid-way through the fourth, prompting a timeout from coach Chauncey Billups.

Catch the end of the fourth quarter on NBA League Pass.

🐺 Timberwolves stun Thunder in comeback

The Timberwolves trailed by 25 points midway through the third quarter. Their win probability was less than 1%. It did not matter in the end.

Minnesota got itself in gear and outscored the Thunder 41-19 in the fourth quarter and even briefly took a late lead for the first time since the opening moments of the game.

Jaden McDaniels, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Naz Reid led the way in terms of the scoring for the Timberwolves. Of course, Anthony Edwards was always going to find a way to leave his mark on the game.

Ant-Man blocked an attempt from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander at the rim that would have given the Thunder the lead with 13 seconds to go.

This will go down as one of the games of the year. The only downside is this concludes their season series, so we’ll have to wait for the Playoffs for a potential rematch.

😬 OT in OKC

Close games have not been the norm for the 46-10 Thunder this season. They had played in just three one-possession games all year.

And when they took a 25-point lead in the second half, it looked like that trend would continue tonight.

The Timberwolves got themselves off the mat and got after it in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Thunder 41-19. Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid carried the torch for the T’Wolves in crunch time with Anthony Edwards heading to the bench with 3:41 to go in the fourth.

Get to NBA TV now to catch the thrilling conclusion.

🚨 Not over yet in OKC

Get to NBA TV ASAP as the Timberwolves have pulled within three points of the Thunder after trailing by as many as 25. This rematch is delivering the goods.

🪸 Great Barrier Thief at it again in win

Dyson Daniels was at it again tonight as he racked up seven steals in what was a terrific defensive effort by the Hawks as a whole, holding the Heat to a season-low 86 points. With that performance, Daniels now has 11 games of at least five steals this season. No other player has more than four such games.

It was a full team effort on both ends of the floor for the Hawks. The bench chipped in 49 of the team’s 98 total points. The Hawks (27-31) and Heat (26-30) have now flip-flopped in the Eastern Conference standings with Atlanta ahead by percentage points.

🧙‍♂️ Wizards get W to snap losing streak

It was a back-and-forth matchup between the Nets and Wizards tonight. Washington jumped out to an early 14-point lead that was eventually turned into a 7-point deficit by the third quarter. Ultimately, the Wizards snapped back into gear and held the Nets in check in the fourth to get the win. The Nets were held to just 12 points in the final period.

 

💪 Pistons’ win streak goes to 7

Detroit continues to roll as it banked yet another impressive win tonight by defeating the Clippers by nine. Cade Cunningham was electric yet again with 32 points, nine rebounds and seven assists to lead the way.

The Pistons defense was lockdown as well. They held the Clippers under 100 points, something that has only happened 10 other times this season. The Clippers shot just 26.8 percent from deep and they didn’t have a single player score 20+ points.

😤 Bulls run

Bulls 142, 76ers 110

The Chicago Bulls had it going tonight with a season-high 142 points in the blowout win over the 76ers in Philly. 

It was an important win for the Bulls as they extended their advantage over the Sixers in the standings.

The Bulls led by as many as 50 points  in this one and there were stretches where they just couldn’t miss. They shot 50.6 percent from the floor for the game and 45 percent from three. Josh Giddey and Kevin Huerter each racked up over 20 points. Rookie Matas Buzelis had one of his better games of the season with 17 points and a whopping +40 rating.

🤯 Jokić sets new career-high for helpers in win

Nuggets 125, Pacers 116

Nikola Jokić had more assists than points in tonight’s win over Indiana, which is no small feat. Jokić tallied 19 assists to go with 18 points and nine rebounds to fall one board shy of yet another triple-double.

Watch the big man set up his teammates for easy buckets to help seal the W.

🥶 Ice Trae. That was cold

Atlanta’s Trae Young went deep in his bag for this slick no-look setup for Mo Gueye. The Hawks lead the Heat 73-65 going into the fourth quarter of this matchup between the No. 8 and 9 seeds in the East.

⛈️ Thunder rolling

OKC has had the upper hand in the rematch of last night’s game against the Timberwolves. The Thunder raced out to a 19-point lead at the break thanks in large part to a dominant second quarter in which they outscored the T’Wolves 32-17.

😨 Cade Cunningham. Bruh

Sure, Cade Cunningham’s leading the Pistons in scoring tonight. But he’s also dishing out dimes to his teammates like this nifty lob to Jalen Duren.

We’ve got a good one brewing in Detroit between the Pistons and Clippers with the home team holding a narrow lead late in the third quarter.

🃏Joker’s wild

Nikola Jokić showed off the creativity as he threw the kitchen sink at Myles Turner with a wild combo of post moves. Joker is up to 16 points and 14 assists as the Nuggets take a 17-point lead into the fourth quarter in Indianapolis.

💪 Nets battling back

Once trailing by 14 points, the Nets have surged back thanks to a dominant 3rd quarter to take the lead over the Wizards in Washington. Brooklyn has outscored Washington 22-8 through the first eight minutes of the third to catapult ahead. Cameron Johnson and Ziaire Williams have led the way on offense for the Nets.

𓅃 Hawks lead Heat at half

Atlanta has gotten contributions across the board with nine players getting into the scoring column in the first half, led by Onyeka Okongwu’s nine points.

Andrew Wiggins has led the way for the Heat with 13 points, including a trio of three-pointers.

🍿 SGA, Ant-Man showing off in OKC

The Thunder and Timberwolves are playing for the second time in as many days but Anthony Edwards and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are showing no signs of being road weary. Both of these elite scorers have five first-quarter points as we have a competitive game brewing at Paycom Center.

🚫 No stoppin’ Obi Toppin

In a game with plenty of highlight jams, nothing tops this one on the break from Toppin.

The Pacers trailed by as many as 13 but cut the Nuggets’ lead to six at the half. Catch the second half on NBA League Pass.

🚂 Full steam ahead

Detroit’s Isaiah Stewart gets a full head of steam going down the lane and finishes off a ferocious dunk that the Clippers defenders wanted no part of. Catch Pistons vs Clippers right now on NBA League Pass.

Give me 3️⃣ of these

Jamal Murray drains the pull-up triple for three of his 14 first-half points thus far. The Nuggets are keeping the Pacers at arms’ length so far with a 10-point lead on the road mid-way through the second quarter. Catch the action on NBA League Pass.

🔥Coulibaly helps set tone for Wizards

Bilal Coulibaly has eight early points as the Wizards have raced out to a 21-7 lead over the Nets. The Wizards are a perfect 5-for-5 from beyond the arc. Jordan Poole has also knocked down a pair of triples.

🛗 Matas Buzelis takes the elevator

Josh Giddey finds Matas Buzelis for a nifty oop early in tonight’s big matchup against the 76ers. The Bulls are looking to extend their lead over the Sixers in the Eastern Conference standings.

📰 NBA storylines tonight

🗣️Ball up top: The Thunder and Timberwolves square off for the second night in a row. OKC took Sunday night’s game 130-123 and gets to play this one in front of its home crowd. The Thunder have won six in a row at home.

🔥Battles of East vs West: Tonight’s early window has a pair of interconference games with plenty of intrigue. The red-hot Pistons host the Clippers and the Pacers will test their mettle against the Nuggets. Both games tip at 7 ET on NBA League Pass.

🍿Play-In implications in Philly: The 12th-seeded 76ers are 1.5 games behind the Chicago Bulls for the final play-in spot. The two will face off in Philadelphia tonight and the 76ers will have a chance to take the season series from Chicago with a 3-0 head-to-head record.

🤓 NBA news to know

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