When you drive your team to its best record through 46 games in seven years.
Make that 4 straight W’s for Jalen Green and the 32-14 Rockets, who just keep establishing themselves as contenders out West.
5 STORIES IN TODAY’S EDITION 🏀
Jan. 29, 2025
The Maxey Show: Tyrese’s 43 lifts Sixers over Lakers with Eagles in the house; Blazers win 2nd Dame homecoming
Houston Is A Problem: Rockets win 4th straight overall, Warriors win 7th straight over Utah
Rising Stars Revealed: 28 young players are headed to All-Star with a chance to shine on two nights
ESPN Doubleheader: Two matchups featuring half of this year’s 10 All-Star starters
League Pass Spotlight: Pacers, Spurs back in the USA and back in action
BUT FIRST … ⏰
Dive into Today’s Reads before an 11-game night tips off…
All-Star Reserves: Before the 14 players are unveiled on Thursday (6:30 ET, TNT), check out the picks from NBA.com’s writers for the East and West reserves.
No. 9 To The Rafters: The Warriors announced they will retire Andre Iguodala’s jersey at Chase Center on Feb. 23.
Today’s Reads: The Athletic on games to watch this week … and the bond between Steph Curry and rookie Quinten Post … ESPN on Payton Pritchard’s rise & key role in Boston’s title defense … The Houston Chronicle on Alperen Sengun’s celebrity status in Turkey.
1. MAXEY’S 43 LIFTS SIXERS PAST L.A., BLAZERS WIN DAME HOMECOMING
Going without Joel Embiid (knee) and Paul George (finger), Tyrese Maxey put the Sixers on his back, dropping his third 40+ point game of the season en route to their third straight win.
Sixers 118, Lakers 104: Maxey entered Tuesday’s game against L.A. on a hot streak, averaging 32.0 points over his past 10 games.
He only needed three quarters to blow past that mark. He dropped 15 in the 1st quarter, had 27 at the half and 41 entering the 4th with the Sixers up by 23 points. Philly cruised the rest of the way to snap L.A.’s four-game win streak. | Recap
- To The Max: Maxey finished with 43 points on 15-of-26 shooting. It was his 11th straight game with 28+ points, a run only topped by Giannis Antetokounmpo (12 games, Nov. 20-Dec. 31) this season
- Philly Special: Maxey got his long-awaited jersey swap with LeBron and dapped up a few Eagles superstars, who rang the bell after earning their Super Bowl berth
- AD Exits: Anthony Davis left the game in the 1st quarter and did not return due to an abdominal strain. In his absence, LeBron led L.A. with 31 points, eight boards and nine assists in the loss
- Moving Up: In Philly, LeBron passed former Sixer Maurice Cheeks for sixth place on the all-time steals list (2,311)
- Eyes On 10th: The Sixers now sit one game behind Chicago for 10th in the East, the last spot in the Play-In field
Damian Lillard owns the most wins by a player inside the Moda Center in Portland with 253. But none of those came as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks.
Blazers 125, Bucks 112: Portland overcame a massive game from Giannis (39 pts, 12 reb, 5 ast, 70.8% FG) and the Rip City return of Lillard (20 pts, 6 ast) to win its third straight game over Milwaukee. | Recap
- Portland Trio: Deni Avdija led the way with a season-high 30 points, while Anfernee Simons (25 pts, 7 ast) and Deandre Ayton (21 pts, 14 reb) combined to add 46 in the win
- Chasing Wilt: Giannis posted his 13th career game with at least 35 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and 70% shooting, tying him with Kareem for the second most such games ever behind Wilt’s 15
2. ROCKETS WIN 4TH STRAIGHT, WARRIORS EXTEND STREAK OVER JAZZ
After his game-winning bucket in Boston on Monday set social feeds buzzing around the basketball world, Amen Thompson had one more game to play before celebrating his 22nd birthday on Thursday.
Rockets 100, Hawks 96: Thompson snatched three steals and finished with 11 points, while Jalen Green led the way with 25 as the Rockets held off the Hawks for their fourth straight win. | Recap
- Hawks Rally: Trae Young (21 pts, 9 ast) and Dyson Daniels (12 pts, 10 reb, 4 stl) led the Hawks on a 16-2 rally to make it a two-point game in the game’s final minute, but a dunk by Alperen Sengun with three ticks left sealed the win
- Close Calls: All four games during Houston’s win streak have come by four points or less – Cleveland (+1), Cleveland (+4), Boston (+2) and Atlanta (+4). The Rockets are now 17-9 (.654) in clutch games, second only to Cleveland (.750) this season
Amen’s Impact: Thompson finished with the best defensive rating (85.1) of the Houston starters as the Rockets improved to 13-3 with the Rising Star in the starting five.
- Offensive Boost: Since Amen joined the starters full time on Jan. 5, the Rockets have averaged 118.9 ppg, which is 6.8 ppg more than their prior average (112.1)
- Double Trouble: In addition to Thompson’s scoring rising from 11.9 ppg to 18.5 ppg over Houston’s last dozen games, Jalen Green has also jumped from 19.3 ppg on 40.7% shooting to 25.9 ppg on 47.8%
Golden State entered Tuesday’s game with Utah having won each of the past six meetings with the Jazz, dating back to Dec. 28, 2022.
The streak now stands at seven straight.
Warriors 114, Jazz 103: Despite missing Steph Curry, who was a late scratch due to knee soreness, the Warriors’ backcourt still led the way with Dennis Schröder and Brandin Podziemski combining for 43 points and nine 3s in the win. | Recap
- Collin Sexton scored a game-high 30 with four 3s for Utah, which dropped its seventh straight game overall (and to the Warriors)
3. CASTROL RISING STARS PLAYER POOL ANNOUNCED
Twenty-eight of the game’s elite young players just learned they are headed to the Bay Area for NBA All-Star 2025 as part of this year’s Castrol Rising Stars – the annual showcase of top first- and second-year NBA players and NBA G League standouts.
The Breakdown
- 10 Rookies: 2024 No. 1 pick Zacharrie Risacher along with a pair of Grizzlies (Zach Edey & Jaylen Wells) and a Wizards duo (Alex Sarr & Bub Carrington) headline the list of first-year players picked by the league’s assistant coaches
- 11 Sophomores: 2023 No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama leads the second-year players, which includes the remaining top four picks (Brandon Miller, Scoot Henderson & Amen Thompson) and eight lottery picks from the 2023 Draft class
- 7 NBA G-Leaguers: Two-time defending AT&T Slam Dunk champion Mac McClung and 2024 No. 3 pick Reed Sheppard lead the G-League squad
How It Works
The competition takes place on Friday, Feb. 14 (9 ET, TNT) at Chase Center and features a min-tournament with four teams and three games.
- Player Pool: The 21 NBA rookies and sophomores will be drafted onto three seven-player teams with the NBA G-League players comprising the fourth team
- The Draft: The teams will be selected on Tuesday, Feb. 4 at 4 ET on the NBA App and NBA social channels
- The Semifinals: Two games (Team A vs. Team B & Team C vs. Team D) will be played to 40 points with the winning teams advancing to the championship
- The Championship: The two semifinal winners face off in a game to 25 points to determine the champion
The New Wrinkle
- Debuting In 2025: The winning team of the Castrol Rising Stars goes on to compete in Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game as the fourth team in that mini-tournament, representing Team Candace
4. ALL-STARS TAKE CENTER STAGE IN ESPN DOUBLEHEADER
On the eve of the All-Star reserves being announced, half of the 10 starters headline an ESPN doubleheader, beginning in New York City and ending in San Francisco – the site of NBA All-Star 2025.
Nuggets at Knicks (7:30 ET, ESPN): Two of the best offensive big men in the league take center stage at Madison Square Garden as Nikola Jokić and the Nuggets visit Karl-Anthony Towns and the Knicks.
- Dominate The Glass: Both players put on hard hats and do work on the glass. Towns (13.8) and Jokić (13.1) rank second and third, respectively, in rebounds per game and third (4.5) and fifth (4.1) in second-chance points
- Inside-Out Game: Both players are proven scorers from all over the court. Jokić (17.1) and Towns (13.0) rank third and ninth, respectively, in points in the paint, while simultaneously ranking third (47.4%) and 10th (43.2%) in 3-point percentage
- 20/10/2 Club: KAT, Joker and Wemby are the only three players this season to average at least 20 points, 10 boards and 2 threes
Knicks Rolling, Nuggets Hit Speed Bump: New York enters tonight seeking its fifth straight win and a chance to inch closer to Boston for second in the East. Denver has dropped two straight after winning eight of its previous nine to climb to fourth in the West.
- Don’t Forget About JB: Jokić and Towns won’t be the only All-Stars on the court as Jalen Brunson earned his second straight selection and first start in the midseason showcase
Thunder at Warriors (10 ET, ESPN): The starting guards from the Western Conference – OKC’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Golden State’s Steph Curry – meet for the third and final time this regular season, with the winner taking the season series.
Both SGA (league-best 32.1 ppg) and Steph (22.3 ppg) lead their respective teams in scoring, but do so in different ways.
SGA ranks second in the NBA in both mid-range buckets (97) and mid-range field goal percentage (53.3%).
Shai eludes the defender with a hesi crossover into a pull-up 18-footer
SGA uses one of his league-high 21.4 drives per game to get the defender on his heels, then stops on a dime for the foul line pullup
For the 12th time in the last 13 seasons, Curry leads the NBA in 3s made per game – the only exception being the 2019-20 season when he played only five games due to injury.
Curry missed Tuesday’s game against Utah, but is expected to play tonight against OKC, looking to break out of a recent shooting slump – 31.4% from 3 in his last five games.
Steph has the ball on a string as he uses a plethora of moves to create space for a stepback 3
With limitless range, Steph brings the ball up, finds his spot against a retreating defense and pulls up for the deep triple
5. LEAGUE PASS SPOTLIGHT: PACERS, SPURS BACK HOME
After spending the past week entertaining fans, growing the game, and splitting a pair of games in Paris, the Pacers and Spurs get back to work from home this week, beginning tonight on League Pass.
Pistons at Pacers (7 ET): The Pacers closed out the Paris Games with their largest win of the season (+38) on Saturday to improve to a league-best 9-2 in 2025.
- Haliburton Rolling: In 10 games in January, Halliburton is averaging 19.3 points on 51.5% shooting and 44.3% from 3 – his highest scoring average for a calendar month since Dec. 2023 and his best shooting splits since Nov. 2023
- Closing The Trip: Detroit looks to wrap up a five-game road trip on a positive note. After winning in Houston and Atlanta, the Pistons have lost consecutive games in Orlando and Cleveland before tonight’s game in Indy
Clippers at Spurs (8 ET): Wemby and the Spurs begin a three-game homestand in San Antonio tonight against the Clippers before the Bucks (Friday) and Heat (Saturday) come to town.
- Bounce Back: After reaching 8th in the West on Jan. 3, the Spurs have gone 2-7 to fall to 12th. Can they get back on track against a Clippers team they beat in LA on New Year’s Eve in their largest win of the season (+36)?
- Kawhi Back: LA is 6-2 with Kawhi Leonard in the lineup since the two-time Finals MVP made his season debut on Jan. 4. The former Spur has won five straight games in San Antonio with the Clippers
Seven more games tip off on League Pass to round out the 11-game night, including the Raptors going for their first five-game win streak since 2022 when they visit the Wizards (7 ET).
The Bulls try to follow their win over the 2023 champion Nuggets with one over the 2024 champion Celtics (7:30 ET), while the Wolves & Suns put their three-game win streaks on the line against each other (9 ET).
