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Nightly Pulse: NBA news & highlights from March 25

Stay in the know on tonight's NBA action with the latest news, scores and highlights from around the league.

NBA.com Staff

🏀Tuesday night hoops🏀

 

✍️ Tuesday’s Takeaways ⬇️

  1. Thunder & Cavaliers road excellence continues: The top teams in each conference walked away with road victories Tuesday night. Cleveland knocked off Portland, while Oklahoma City notched their 60th win in Sacramento. It was the Thunder’s 11th consecutive road win. Right now, the Thunder have a two game edge on Cleveland, as the race for the league’s top record is down to the last ten games.
  2. Jalen Green fuels Rockets win: If Jalen Green scored 30 points every night, the West would be in serious trouble, as Houston is 11-1 when he reaches that mark this season. His 32-point, 11-rebound performance tonight shut the door on a potential Hawks comeback. The Rockets improve to 47-26 on the season, good for 2nd in the Western Conference.
  3. Warriors fall in Jimmy’s return to Miami: Strong performances from Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro led the way in a convincing Heat win over Golden State. The two combined for 49 points. Rookie Kel’el Ware finished with a double-double and Alec Burks sank five threes in the win. The Warriors are still without Stephen Curry due to injury, as Jimmy Butler was held to 11 points in his first trip back to Miami.

⛹️‍♂️🌟Top Performers🌟⛹️‍♂️

  1. Karl-Anthony Towns: 26pts (10-19 FG, 2-7 3PM), 12 rebounds, 11 assists, one steal in win over DAL
  2. Jalen Green: 32pts (14-24 FG, 1-7 3PM), 11 rebounds, four assists, two steals in win over ATL
  3. Paolo Banchero: 32pts (13-24 FG, 2-8 3PM), seven rebounds, six assists, one steal in win over CHA
  4. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 32pts (10-23 FG, 3-6 3PM), eight rebounds, five assists in win over SAC
  5. Naji Marshall: 38pts (17-25 FG, 1-3 3PM), seven rebounds, one assist, one steak in loss to NY

 

OKC Wins 60th Game 🏅

With the win tonight, the Thunder became the fastest team in the NBA to win 60 games this year. The team also notched their 11th consecutive road win. At 60-12, there’s just 10 games left for Oklahoma City to play.

⚡️SGA 20-pt Streak⚡️

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander set a franchise milestone tonight with his 65th consecutive game with 20 points or more, surpassing the team’s all-time mark previously set by Kevin Durant. SGA is averaging averaging 34.1 points per game since the All-Star break for the first-place Oklahoma City Thunder.

 

Blazers Attempting Upset 👀

Portland is within five points in the final six minutes, in what’s been a tight contest from the beginning. They’ll need to find answers for Evan Mobley, who already has 21 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks.

The Trail Blazers are getting a dose of shooting off the bench from Matisse Thybulle, who has five made threes.

 

🔥K3333GAN MURRAY🔥

Keegan Murray is red hot tonight, and willing Sacramento on with his three-point shooting. He sank his 8th triple of the game in the final moments of the third quarter to keep the defecit at single digits.

Kings Mounting Comeback

Sacramento trails by just 10, after trailing by 22 at the half. Keegan Murray is 6-7 from three with 19 points.

Block Party ✋

The interior highlights keep coming in Portland. Donovan Clingan gets his second rejection of the night by sending a De’Andre Hunter shot out of play.

Evan Mobley is sending out invitations as well, getting his third block of the night at the second quarter buzzer. Cleveland leads Portland 60-52.

 

 

Too Much Memphis 🐻

Utah’s double-digit lead is a distant memory now. The Grizzlies outscored the Jazz 41-17 in the third period and lead by more than 30 in the fourth quarter. Check out Memphis’ best plays in the third below.

Shai Being Shai 🌪️

The Thunder are up big at the half as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has 18 points to lead all scorers. Before the quarter ended, he raced past Sacramento and glided across the lane for a sweet layup.

Touch the Sky, Toumani ☄️

Portland’s young star continues to shine on both ends of the floor. Toumani Camara forces the errant play by the Cavaliers, and sprints the floor before skying for a highlight dunk.

📬 Post Work 📫

Who doesn’t love the occasional big man highlights? The Cavaliers and Trail Blazers offered a pair right away tonight. First, Jarrett Allen gets the rookie off of his mark and finishes inside.

On the other end, Donovan Clingan gets his revenge as he forces Allen and Evan Mobley to bite on the up and under.

Grizz 1H Comeback 👏

Memphis fell behind early due to some hot shooting from Utah. A double digit lead was erased in the final minutes of the second quarter, and the Grizzlies now start the second half down just one point.

Game of Runs 🏃‍♂️💨

The Atlanta Hawks trailed by 20, but cut that lead to as few as four points, helped in large by a 17-4 scoring stretch. Onyeka Okongwu hit his second three pointer of the game, as he has a 14-point 15-rebound double-double.

Only for that lead to be extended to double-digits again by Houston, powered by another 30-point game from Jalen Green.

🧊Herro Ices Dubs🧊

Tyler Herro spoiled Jimmy Butler’s return to Miami to the tune of 4-4 shooting from three. The Heat pick up their second win in a row, while Golden State drops its second in a row. Butler finished with 11 points, six rebounds, and two assists in the 112-86 loss.

 

Juggling Layup 🤯

Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good, but this was a combination of both for Miami Heat rookie Kel’el Ware. He covers ground with his long strides, before bobbling the ball mid-air with enough hang-time to still finish on the other side of the rim.

Jazz History 🎷

Isaiah Collier’s rookie season has been undeniably impressive. Tonight, he climbed into 2nd place for the most assists by a rookie in Utah Jazz history, trailing only John Stockton – the NBA’s All-Time assist leader. Collier only trails the Hall of Famer by 15 assists, so it’s very likely he takes the number one spot before season’s end.

Really, LaMelo?! 😨

With shots like these going down, the final minutes of the Hornets-Magic game are shaping up to be a true delight. LaMelo Ball is surging in the 4th, up to 25 points and nine assists for the game. Paolo Banchero has been steady all night, however, leading all scorers with 32 points with three minutes to go.

🚨Beats the buzzer🚨

 

Tyler becomes a Herro here, nailing a three-point shot as the first half buzzer goes off, and giving Miami a 57-40 lead at the break,

The Heat have three players in double figures, with Adebayo’s 16 the top mark, while Herro has 12, and Alec Burks has poured in 11.

Butler has shot just 1-6 for Golden State and only has two points thus far.

 

Big performances in NY🏙

Towns had an impressive first half, scoring 24 points for the Knicks while shooting 9-for 14 from the field, grabbing eight rebounds, and dishing out seven assists,

Just as impressive, Naji Marshall has 28 points on 13-15 shooting for the Mavericks, and they’re knotted up with the Knicks at 68 at the break,

 

⚔️Dueling dunks⚔️

 

First, Zaccharie Risacher shows off his athleticism and ability to get to the rim, as he explodes here for this dunk,

Then Jalen Green shows he can explode at the rim too, as he explodes at the hoop,

Risacher has a quick eight points to lead all scorers with eight points, as the Rockets lead the Hawks 22-21 late in the first quarter.

 

Instant offense

 

The Pistons took over in the second quarter and built a 60-34 lead over the Spurs at the break.

A big part of that surge was their bench, more specifically Marcus Sasser, who added 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting, including this tough finish in traffic, as he goes to the floor,

 

Doing Magic🪄

 

Orlando has a 63-53 lead over the Hornets at the break.

They are receiving strong efforts from Wagner and Banchero thus far, with Wagner providing 14 points and five rebounds, while Banchero has a game-high 18 and five assists.

LaMelo Ball only has three points, but he does have five assists, including this cross-court feed to DaQuan Jeffries for the alley-oop,

https://x.com/hornets/status/1904685208009412911

 

♨️Heat up after 1♨️

 

Miami has a 28-22 lead over the Warriors with the first quarter in the books, and a driving force behind that lead is Bam Adebayo, who has a game-high 13 points, including this dunk,

Quentin Post and Gui Santos have provided a spark for the Warriors off the bench, with Santos earning a team-high eight points so far, including this finish on a nice behind-the-back feed from Post,

Of course, we can’t forget to include Butler’s first and only bucket thus far against his former squad,

 

❄️Freezes ’em❄️

 

Karl-Anthony Towns freezes the defender at the three-point line, then blows by him to slam it home,

The Knicks have a two-point lead over the Mavericks and are locked in a tight battle at 37-35 after a quarter of play. Towns is New York’s leading scorer with 10, while Naji Marshall has 12 for Dallas.

 

4️⃣point play

 

Seth Curry is still a sharpshooter, and he finishes a triple here despite the contact from Anthony Black.

Charlotte trails Orlando after a quarter of play, 29-27, thanks to 10 points from Paolo Banchero.

 

👍Mixed reaction👎

 

Butler is back in Miami, and when introduced in the Warriors’ starting lineup gets a mixture of boo’s and cheers from the Heat faithful. The action is tipping off now on TNT, tru TV, or stream it on Max!

 

Duren strong💪🏾

Tobias Harris brings the ball up on the break, and as he gets in the lane, he spots Jalen Duren, then serves him up the lob that Duren finishes with one hand over Bismack Biyombo,

The Cunningham-less Pistons trail the Spurs early though, 14-13 near the midpoint of the first quarter. Devin Vassell has a game-high 11 points on 3-for-5 long-range shooting.

Starting🖐️

 

Cade Cunningham (calf) will remain out tonight for the Pistons, but they will get Tim Hardaway Jr. back from an ankle injury. Dennis Schröder will get the start at point guard for the Pistons when they host the Spurs at 7 ET. 

 

🌴Back in Miami🌴

 

Jimmy Butler is in the building.

He returns to Miami for the first time since being traded to the Warriors at the deadline in February. He’ll likely be the focal point tonight for Golden State, especially with Stephen Curry set to miss another game due to a pelvic injury.

 

⚠️Tonight’s key playoff implications⚠️

 

With every team having a dozen or fewer games left in the regular season, and some as few as 10, the battle for playoff positioning is heating up. 

The Pistons are just 0.5 games behind the No. 5-seed Bucks in the East. A win tonight would bring Detroit even with Milwaukee, although the Bucks currently hold the tiebreaker and have a one-game advantage in the loss column. 

The Warriors have a light grip on the No. 6 seed in the West, a key spot allowing them to avoid the play-in tournament and ensure a spot in the playoffs. However, they have just a one-game lead on both the Clippers and Timberwolves and will remain without Stephen Curry (pelvis). A win here would give them some breathing room while also bringing them closer to the conversation for the No. 4 seed. A loss would put the Clippers and Timberwolves firmly on their heels, at just 0.5 games back of No. 6.

Memphis is tied with the Lakers for the No. 4 seed in the West and is just one game back of the Nuggets for the No. 3 seed. They’ll take the floor against a struggling Utah team that has won just one game in their last 10, but they’ll do so without Ja Morant (hamstring) again, who will miss his fifth straight game. A victory here would give them sole possession of the No. 4 spot and bring them within a 0.5 game of the Nuggets, while a loss would not only push them to No. 5 but, with a Warriors win tonight, put them closer to No. 6.

The Kings are hanging on to the No. 9 seed for now, but the No. 10 Suns are just a 0.5 game back, as are the No. 11 Mavericks, who just had Anthony Davis return from injury. They’ll face a difficult task tonight when they host the West-leading Thunder, but if they can pull off a victory, it’ll be key in keeping them in the mix at the bottom of the playoff standings in the West.

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