Category: NBA

The Golden State Warriors defeated the Miami Heat 135-112 on Monday night, improving to 25-19 on the season and 11-4 over the team’s past 15 games. They continued climbing in the standings, hoping to escape the play-in. Yet, all that success became a moot point when Jimmy Butler III’s right knee bent in the wrong direction after he landed awkwardly catching a pass in the third quarter.

Butler screamed in pain, collapsed, and laid on the floor for several minutes as he was surrounded by his teammates. He had to be helped off the floor by Buddy Hield and Jonathan Kuminga while he put no weight on his right knee. Regardless of the game’s outcome, no event on Monday has more of an impact on the Warriors championship prospects than Butler’s prognosis. But a best case scenario will likely sideline him for weeks, and a worst-case could end his season.

The Warriors were able to withstand a collapse for the moment after Butler’s exit. Steph Curry seemed to calm the team’s nerves with a step back three and a continued stretch of hot shooting helped the Warriors head into the fourth quarter with a 104-93 lead.

With Golden State already missing Butler and Draymond Green (who didn’t play due to an ankle sprain) for the final quarter, Curry was quickly pushed to the bench after unnecessarily picking up his fifth foul. Yet, for the second time in his Dubs tenure, Buddy Hield stepped up in a game when a star went down with an injury.

The Warriors season hangs in the balance, outside the confines of the court for the moment, but a scoring spurt from Hield and an explosion from Brandin Podziemski propelled Golden State to a 24-point lead that allowed Curry to rest for the remainder of the game. Hield scored 16 points on 6-for-9 shooting from the field (4-for-7 from three) while Podziemski scored a game-high 24 points on 9-for-18 shooting (3-for-7 from three).

Nearly everyone on the Warriors who played on Monday played well. Butler had 17 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals before he got hurt in 20 minutes of action. Quinten Post and Moses Moody combined for 28 points while shooting 7-for-11 from three. Even in a relatively quite night from Curry, he recorded 19 points and 11 assists.

The Warriors will get little time to reset without Butler. They will be back on the floor for the second half of a back-to-back tomorrow night when they face the Toronto Raptors.

After six years as a Nets assistant, Jordan Ott returned to Brooklyn on Monday as head coach of the Suns, leading them to a 126-117 victory at Barclays Center.

He packed a career’s worth of ups and downs into those six seasons.

“Yeah, just good memories. Six years. A lot of good people, a lot of good players. Saw the whole gamut of seasons (in) six seasons,” said Ott. “But yeah, it’s good to be back. Just different in the other locker room, but another game, ready to go.”

Ott arrived in Brooklyn in 2016 as an assistant on Kenny Atkinson’s staff. He helped oversee their first rebuild, and watched them form the Big Three. He outlasted his mentor to work under successors Jacque Vaughn and even Steve Nash — on the staff for their Eastern Conference semifinal classic vs. Milwaukee — before taking his hard-earned lessons to the Lakers in 2022.

Now he’s taken over the Suns, and has former Nets forward DeMarre Carroll on his staff.

“I think it was just so many different seasons, from where we started, those first couple years of just the development piece,” said Ott. “I mean, it’s cool with DeMarre now, like, bringing him in that group in that third season with Kenny. Go to the playoffs with a different group that was developing but with great veteran leadership. And then it shifted; it shifted to the superstars. And we were close, through all those ups and downs of those couple seasons.

“We were close, stepping on the line in Game 7. So, just got to be prepared. Gotta be prepared for a lot of different stuff. I don’t know what’s next, but attack each day, every day is a new challenge. Early in those Brooklyn years we didn’t have draft picks, so it was all about, ‘How can we maximize the group that we have?’ And that was influential. Never had to go through a time where, ‘Hey, play this, do this.’ We were all trying to win every single night. So, overall good experience.”

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The Nets started rookie Drake Powell and Terance Mann in the backcourt vs. the Suns. Powell finished with 11 points while Mann added 10.

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Michael Porter Jr. returned after sitting out Sunday’s loss in Chicago. But rookie Egor Dëmin (left plantar fascia injury management), backup center Day’Ron Sharpe (illness/throat contusion), and Cam Thomas (left hamstring injury management) were out against Phoenix.

Rookie Ben Saraf was in the G League.

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Jalen Green was out for the Suns.

When the Nets were mulling offers for Mikal Bridges, they rejected an offer of Green and a couple of their first-round draft picks back from Houston. They eventually pried five first-rounders and a swap from the Knicks for Bridges.

SAN FRANCISCO — Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler left Monday night's 135-112 victory against the Miami Heat at Chase Center with an apparent right knee injury.

The Warriors were leading 77-75 with 7:41 remaining in the third quarter at the time of the injury stoppage.

Butler jumped to receive a lob pass from guard Brandin Podziemski, which was met with contact from Heat guard Davion Mitchell as Butler was landing and going up for a layup.

It seemed as if Butler's knee buckled as he immediately fell to the ground before being tended to by the Warriors' medical staff.

CALGARY, Alberta (AP) — Simon Nemec scored at 1:18 of overtime to give the New Jersey Devils a 2-1 victory over the Calgary Flames on Monday night.

Nemec took a backhand pass from Jack Hughes and beat goalie Devin Cooley from close range.

Jacob Markstrom made 21 saves to help New Jersey rebound from a 4-1 home loss to Carolina on Saturday night for its third victory in four games.

Dawson Mercer opened the scoring for New Jersey at 7:51 of the second period, and Nazem Kadri tied it at 9:44 of the period. Rookie Matvei Gridin got his first NHL assist on Kadri's goal.

Cooley stopped 29 shots. The Flames had won two in a row.

Devils defenseman Luke Hughes left in the second period after appearing to be shaken up during a puck battle along the boards.

Defenseman Zach Whitecloud made his Calgary debut after being acquired from Vegas on Sunday along with two draft picks and a prospect in a trade that sent longtime Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson to the Golden Knights. Whitecloud had two shots and three blocked shots in 22:33.

Up next

Devils: At Edmonton on Tuesday night.

Flames: Host Pittsburgh On Wednesday night.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

The Dallas Mavericks defeated the New York Knicks on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, winning 114-97 . Both teams had players nursing injuries, but it was the Mavericks who ended up with the big win.

Let’s get to the grades!

Cooper Flagg: B

18 PTS / 7 REB / 3 AST / 1 STL / 0 BLK – 28 MIN

Flagg had a solid game, but it was somewhat muted by a minutes restriction and Max Christie providing a lot of scoring punch. His four turnovers were somewhat glaring, but he hit 50% of his 14 shot attempts and chipped in a bit of everything.

Max Christie: A+

26 PTS / 6 REB / 2 AST / 0 STL / 0 BLK – 35 MIN

Christie went absolutely out of his mind and it was a sight to behold. I’ve recently written about how nice it is to see him do more than shoot threes, but Monday night it was plenty nice to see him hoisting the long ball. Christie was 9-for-13 including a mind-boggling 8-for-10 from deep. His second half play came down to earth a bit, but it hardly mattered with the Mavs taking a 20+ point lead into the final frame. He led all scorers and hit a career high in three-point field goals for top marks.

Caleb Martin: C+

3 PTS / 1 REB / 3 AST / 3 STL / 1 BLK – 24 MIN

Most of Martin’s contribution came in the form of stuff you won’t see in a box score. He hounded the Knicks on defense, an effort highlighted by another three steals, but otherwise left the offense to others.

Naji Marshall: B

19 PTS / 8 REB / 4 AST / 1 STL / 0 BLK – 33 MIN

Marshall couldn’t be stopped in the first half, driving relentlessly to eviscerate the Knicks’ defense. As the game went on, he took more three-pointers, but only hit 1-for-6, driving his shooting percentage down. His game was very similar to Flagg’s, with his blemish being a lower shooting percentage rather than a high turnover total.

Dwight Powell: B

2 PTS / 5 REB / 2 AST / 0 STL / 0 BLK – 28 MIN

As ridiculous as it sounds, Powell is getting a bump for the absolute beating he took at the hands of Karl Anthony-Towns. Throughout his NBA career, Powell has been hit in the face more than a professional boxer, but Monday night was next level. Towns is known for his flailing knees, but Powell took a variety of groin shots and stayed professional, using it as motivation to play harder. In respect of his actual game, there isn’t much to talk about. The Knicks’ bigs decimated the Mavericks bigs, but Powell was a pro doing the dirty unsung work.

Klay Thompson: A-

14 PTS / 5 REB / 2 AST / 2 STL / 0 BLK – 21 MIN

I’m inclined to go a bit high on Thompson’s grade, which seems counterintuitive relative to his recent play. That said, he did a nice job intangibly on defense, while grabbing boards, getting steals and even tossing a couple of assists to his teammates. In the limited time he played, it was a good game that looked better than even the box score may suggest.

Ryan Nembhard: C+

4 PTS / 3 REB / 5 AST / 1 STL / 0 BLK – 22 MIN

Nembhard didn’t have a huge impact on the stat line, struggling to find his shot (2-for-7) with a 5:2 assist-to-turnover ratio. Extra credit for checking in late in the third quarter to settle things down when the Mavericks were a bit out of sorts – it won’t show up in any statistical category, but it was undoubtedly significant and allowed Dallas to enter the fourth quarter with a 23-point lead.

Moussa Cisse: A-

15 PTS / 9 REB / 1 AST / 1 STL / 4 BLK – 20 MIN

Cisse did his best to match the Knicks’ size, and while his numbers may not have been as pretty at Karl-Anthony Towns’ or Mitchell Robinson’s numbers, he did work in just under 20 minutes of play. His four blocks were a menace to the Knicks, but his three turnovers and four fouls didn’t help his cause. Stepping up and hitting two free throws when the Knicks decided to Hack-A-Cisse was bigger than the final score may indicate.

Final Thoughts

Both teams were a bit beat up coming in, but Dallas was coming off two lopsided wins while New York has been struggling of late. The Mavericks came in like a wrecking crew, dropping the most first-half points the Knicks have given up all season. As expected, things got a bit closer here and there in the second half, frankly getting too close for comfort late in the fourth quarter before Dallas closed it out. The Mavericks have plenty of struggles right now with a lot of players out or having just returned, but you wouldn’t have known it in what was basically a full on drubbing of the Knicks Monday night.

I invite you to follow me @_80MPH on X, and check back often at Mavs Moneyball for all the latest on the Dallas Mavericks.

In a matchup that felt far more like May than January, the Pistons outlasted the Celtics 104–103 on Monday night at Little Caesars Arena, surviving a final Jaylen Brown jumper that fell just short at the buzzer.

The Celtics jumped out to an early 16–8 lead behind Brown’s scoring and strong defensive activity, but the momentum didn’t last long. Jalen Duren scored seven straight points to halt the run, setting the tone for what became a bruising night in the paint.

With four minutes remaining in the quarter, the game’s intensity boiled over. Thirty seconds after Isaiah Stewart checked in, he and Jaylen Brown were assessed double technical fouls following a brief altercation, punctuating an already physical opening quarter.

Boston closed the first with a narrow 29–26 advantage, but the warning signs were there.

Detroit seized control in the second, outscoring Boston 33–22 and flipping the game with defensive playmaking and physicality. Rim protection and activity disrupted Boston’s offensive rhythm, forcing turnovers that the Pistons consistently capitalized on. Detroit scored 19 points off Boston’s 14 turnovers.

Brown carried the scoring, while contributions came in waves from others. Five Celtics reached double figures, but Boston struggled to generate consistent offense against the NBA’s No. 2 defense. The Pistons’ defensive pressure, highlighted by emphatic blocks at the rim from Stewart and Cade Cunningham, helped build their confidence heading into the break.

Nasty block from Isaiah Stewart pic.twitter.com/7k3CPhNzB9

— Pull up shoot (@NElGHT_) January 20, 2026

Boston made its push coming out of halftime. A pair of Sam Hauser three-pointers and a short jumper trimmed the Pistons’ lead to one early in the third, injecting life back into the game.

Payton Pritchard provided a needed spark, scoring 10 points in the quarter to keep the Celtics within striking distance as Detroit leaned on hot shooting from Duncan Robinson and Tobias Harris to maintain its edge.

The game settled into a possession-by-possession battle from there.

The fourth quarter mirrored the rest of the night — physical, tense, and tightly contested. Boston had chances to take control and answered just enough to keep their hopes alive. Ultimately, a communication breakdown on a Tobias Harris three-pointer and a pair of missed free throws from Brown proved to be the difference.

Down one in the final moments, the Celtics put the ball in Brown’s hands for a potential game-winner. His jumper was off the mark, and Detroit escaped with the one-point victory.

WHAT A GAME. Jaylen Brown's shot bounces off the rim and the Pistons hold on to win! 😱 pic.twitter.com/ZCYnI05qDH

— NBA on NBC and Peacock (@NBAonNBC) January 20, 2026

The Celtics showed fight and resilience, but the Pistons’ second-quarter surge and defensive connectivity proved decisive. Brown led Boston’s scoring effort with 32 points, and played a large part in Cade Cunningham’s quiet 16-point outing. Tobias Harris’ 25 points, Jalen Duren’s 18 points and nine rebounds, and Duncan Robinson’s five three-pointers elevated the Pistons just out of the Celtics’ reach.

Payton Pritchard chipped in 17 points, while Sam Hauser put together another solid night with 16 points on four made threes. Derrick White’s 1-for-11 outing was difficult to dismiss in a game where both sides were searching for production.

This one came down to margins — a missed shot, poor ball security, and missed free throws. Detroit flexed their muscles defensively, and handled those moments just a bit better.

The Celtics head back home for a rematch against the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday, a team they dropped a close one to as well just a week ago.

There was plenty of animosity from fans directed at Knicks players. But the loudest boos were held for Karl-Anthony Towns.

When he briefly checked out of the game late in the fourth quarter of the Knicks’ 114-97 loss to the Mavericks on Monday at Madison Square Garden, he was hounded with loud jeers.

“I mean, you spend what $140 to represent your favorite player with a jersey,” Towns said of the boos. “And you come to an MLK Day game at The Garden and the tickets are twice to three times the price, and to come here and spend your hard-earned money, money that you’ve saved up to bring your family to this game and for us to come here and obviously to not only win — which is disappointing — but to not really have a chance? I’d be disappointed too, and fans, they spend their hard-earned money. They give us so much love and motivation to go out there and they’re expecting results and so do we. So fans are doing their part and we’ve gotta do our part.”

Karl-Anthony Towns on the boos at MSG directed at him and the team

"You spend $140 to represent your favorite player with a jersey. You come to MLK Day here at The Garden and tickets are 3x the price. I'd be disappointed too" pic.twitter.com/vrTAznt1mV

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) January 20, 2026

Towns has struggled during the Knicks free fall. He was given a flagrant foul for kicking Dwight Powell in the groin while taking a 3-pointer. By the end, it was the fourth straight game he recorded five fouls.

“You just gotta win at the end of the day,” Towns said after finishing with 22 points on 9-for-19 shooting and 18 rebounds. “Fans nor us want to hear any excuses. We’ve just gotta wanna get the job done and that’s what we’ve gotta do.”

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With the Knicks back to full strength, Jordan Clarkson might now be on the periphery of coach Mike Brown’s rotation.

He played just two minutes in Monday’s loss.

“There are different combinations that we haven’t had this year,” Brown said. “My biggest goal, I got a range of minutes that I like guys to play. With these eight, eight and a half to nine guys, it’s hard to get them to that range by playing many more guys. I gotta keep messing around with it and make sure that it fits seamlessly with the group to help them flow on the floor, on both ends.”

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Draymond Green tormented Towns on the court last week during the Knicks loss to the Warriors on Thursday and then on his podcast posted Monday, saying the Knicks center’s voice weakens his ability to trash-talk.

“OG Anunoby and I were having a conversation,” Green said. “And [Towns] came over and joined in, talking. And he told me, ‘Hey man, you’re going to start talking in the last minute and a half of the game? You’re a front-runner.’

“Now, one thing Karl-Anthony Towns can’t do is call me a front-runner. His voice changes too much to call someone a front-runner. Because we don’t really know which KAT we getting.”

The Dallas Maverick won their third straight game in blowout fashion Monday afternoon in New York, dominating the Knicks 114-97.

Dallas made was hot from three yet again, getting out and punishing a lackadaisical Knicks team that didn’t seem all that interested in playing this game. As we’ve seen from this Mavericks team time and again, if you’re unprepared or not ready to play, Dallas will jump on you, despite their poor record.

The Mavericks were led by a game-high 26 points from Max Christie, while Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns each scored 22 points for the Knicks.

Let’s get to the numbers.

3: Consecutive first-halves the Mavericks scored 70 or more points

The Mavericks are currently the 27th ranked offense in the NBA, according to Cleaning the Glass. They entered this matchup making just 34 percent of their threes, a bottom-third of the league number. Even at full-strength (well, what counts for full-strength for this Dallas squad), this Mavericks team hasn’t scored the ball well most of this season. Now they look like the Showtime Lakers.

It’s very funny and strange that Dallas has gone on this heater at perhaps the most shorthanded this roster has been all season — Anthony Davis, Daniel Gafford, and PJ Washington are out, Cooper Flagg missed both Jazz games, and that’s not even counting Dereck Lively and Kyrie Irving, one who is out for the season, and the other who hasn’t played a single game yet. This ragtag group of two-way rookies and undrafted free agents (along with a few obviously key veterans) have propelled Dallas to score 70 points or more in the first half of each of the last three games.

Just a remarkable streak for a team that couldn’t hit water if they fell out of a boat. Who knows how long it can last, but it’s fun to watch.

15: Points scored by Moussa Cisse

A career night for the Mavericks talented two-way big man, Moussa Cisse did what’s he’s done all season when given time: plays his ass off, run the floor hard, rebound, and block shots. Cisse added the cherry on top by finishing lobs and dump-off passes, scoring a career-high 15 points while also grabbing nine rebounds and blocking four shots.

Cisse clearly has something, yet he’s still very raw. He fouls a lot, which makes it hard for him to stay on the floor, but he’s improving — the Knicks game signaled the third-straight 20-plus minute night from Cisse, the first time he’s played 20 minutes or more in three straight games all season. The Mavericks should do what they can to free up room to sign Cisse to a full contract, so he can get as much time on the floor as possible before the season ends.

32: Mavericks fastbreak points

Dallas literally ran New York off the floor in this one, outscoring the Knicks in transition 32-6. It was a stark contrast — the Mavericks looked like they were consistently two or even three steps ahead of a plodding Knicks team.

The Mavericks pushed at every opportunity they got, and funny enough a lot of those transition buckets were threes. Dallas scored only 44 points in the paint in this one, and while Dallas certainly had a decent amount of layups and dunks on the break, they were able to push ahead and get the Knicks scrambling while Max Christie and Klay Thompson sprinted to the line. Despite being a road game and a unique start time, the Mavericks never looked sluggish. Kudos to them.

A showdown between one of the league’s top offenses facing one of the league’s staunchest defenses ended with defense winning out as a Jaylen Brown contested jumper bounced off the rim, and the Detroit Pistons outlasted the Boston Celtics 104-103 in front of a raucous Little Caesars Arena crowd.

It was a prize fight for 48 minutes, going back and forth with the Celtics hitting deep threes and Detroit’s defense creating running opportunities. It also featured two freshly minted All-Star starters as Cade Cunningham faced Brown. Brown won the matchup 32 points to 16, but Cunningham won the war.

Cade’s wrist is obviously still impacting his offense, and he was relatively selective with his shots. The ones he did take, beyond 15 feet anyway, were flat. But Cade played a brilliant facilitation game and attacked the rim when the opportunity presented itself. Cunningham had 14 assists and zero turnovers and was able to get himself to the line 10 times.

The belt for this one goes to Tobias Harris. The soft-spoken Detroit veteran played his best game of the season, with a team-high 25 points. He hit several huge threes on a night when Detroit struggled with its shot. The Pistons also called his number often, as they took advantage of size mismatches by feeding the power forward in the post to back down an undersized Celtics defender and get a clean look at his patented 10-foot turnaround jumper. Harris also delivered defensively, switching and playing solid help and man-to-man defense. It was Harris who got the assignment to guard Brown with 4.4 seconds remaining, with the entire arena knowing exactly where the ball was going as Boston looked for a game-winning shot.

Detroit also got a big boost from Jalen Duren early. He was nearly unstoppable inside with his face-up game, his deft footwork to create easy looks at the rim, and his rim pressure in the pick-and-roll. He finished with 18 points and nine rebounds

When the Pistons weren’t turning to Unc to patiently dissect Boston’s defense, they relied on their defense to create offense. The Pistons had a 19-4 advantage in points off turnovers and a 20-3 advantage on the fastbreak. Again and again, the Pistons had an answer for whatever Boston was able to throw at them.

Whether it was Brown’s all-around offensive brilliance or 11 combined threes from Sam Hauser and Payton Pritchard, Detroit never looked like a team that expected anything less than a victory when the final buzzer sounded. And they were right. Again. Because they put themselves in a position to rely on their defense for one final possession. And their defense was up to the task.

The Pistons team is imperfect. It’s clear they need more shooting. But it is also clear they have so many ingredients needed to deliver a championship. Tonight they faced off against one of the best teams in the league and came out on top. It’s just what they do.

Knicks celeb super fan Ben Stiller had a social media meltdown watching the Knicks drop their fourth straight game aon Monday in an ugly 114-97 defeat at the hands of the Mavericks at Madison Square Garden

Stiller, whose ride-or-die fandom has been on full display during the Knicks’ recent playoff runs, seemed to speak for most Knicks fans during the game. 

“What’s going on,” the “Zoolander” star wrote in a post on X. 

He followed it up by posting, “f———————” a short while later. 

“This is a team issue not a player issue,” Stiller continued in a third post during the Knicks game. 

The New Yorker tried to remain in good spirits with his last post on the game writing, “Trying to stay positive.” 

Fellow Knicks fans likely know Stiller’s pain after the team dropped its fourth consecutive game and suffered its ninth loss in its last 11 games since New Year’s Eve. 

The Monday loss was by far the team’s worst of the season as the Knicks were booed off the court at halftime down by 28 points. 

“I’m okay with the boos,” Knicks head coach Mike Brown told reporters after the game. “I mean, if we’re playing crapy…boo. If I was in the stands, I’d probably boo too. You pay [hard-earned] money to come to the game, and this is a form of entertainment for the fans, they know good basketball and they know bad basketball. And we didn’t play good basketball in the first half, so I’m okay with the boos.”

Brown took his team to task in earlier comments during his postgame press conference and even dropped an F-bomb at one point, which he paused and apologized for. 

“Bottom line is we gotta lock in and do our job for 48 minutes. There was nothing to be said at halftime except do your job,” he said.

2025-26 Sixers Bell Ringer standings:

Tyrese Maxey – 17
VJ Edgecombe – 5
Paul George – 5
Joel Embiid – 4
Andre Drummond – 2
Dominick Barlow – 1
Adem Bona – 1
Justin Edwards – 1
Quentin Grimes – 1
Jared McCain – 1
Kelly Oubre Jr. – 1
Trendon Watford – 1
15th roster spot – 1

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The Sixers welcomed the Indiana Pacers to South Philly on Martin Luther King Jr. Day for a Monday night tilt between Eastern Conference foes. Paul George was the lone Sixer unavailable in this one as part of his load management plan for his knee. The Sixers came into this one riding the news of Tyrese Maxey having been named an Eastern Conference All-Star starter.

tonight’s starting five:

🔔 @TyreseMaxey
🔔 @vj_edgecombe
🔔 @KELLYOUBREJR
🔔 @JoelEmbiid
🔔@Dominickbarlow_pic.twitter.com/rd1psg2WSk

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) January 19, 2026

he's arrived. #NBAAllStar 𝙎𝙏𝘼𝙍𝙏𝙀𝙍: Tyrese Maxey ⭐️ pic.twitter.com/9Aw5mls3Vb

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) January 19, 2026

The Sixers jumped out to an early 33-30 advantage after the first quarter behind some efficient scoring inside the arc. The Sixers were led in the first by none other than Joel Embiid and Maxey. Embiid poured in 10 points, knocking down a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor. Maxey put 11 on the board of his own. The Pacers were spear headed by Joel Embiid countrymate Pascal Siakam who put in nine points.

score after Q1. ⤵️@cryptocompic.twitter.com/KhAviVy7KK

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) January 20, 2026

The Sixers went cold in the second quarter, only mustering 17 points in the period. The Pacers went to the intermission with a 55-50 lead led by Andrew Nembhard and Siakam.

first half in the books. @cryptocompic.twitter.com/nVl7jaxtn6

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) January 20, 2026

The Sixers got it revved back up in the third quarter putting in 32 points in the period. The third quarter was similar to the first. Embiid was firing on all cylinders. He led the Sixers with 21 points heading into the fourth quarter. The Sixers took a slim 82-81 advantage into the final frame. Former Sixer T.J. McConnell was a thorn in the Sixers’ side as he led all bench scorers with 10 points after three.

to the fourth we go. ➡️@cryptocompic.twitter.com/ne91okHK3B

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) January 20, 2026

😏 pic.twitter.com/utc8BiqTcQ

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) January 20, 2026

The fourth quarter was a slow grind to start as the Pacers took an early 88-86 lead. The Sixers from there would go on a 21-3 run led by a career high eight steals from your newest All-Star starter, Tyrese Maxey. The Sixers would take a commanding lead at 107-91 with just 3:00 to go in the ball game and not surrender it from there. The Sixers would go on to win this one by a final score of 113-104.

WINNERS WAVE. 👋 pic.twitter.com/Gy4WgFJJ4o

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) January 20, 2026

Now for your Bell Ringer.

Tyrese Maxey: 29 points, 8 assists, 8 steals, 12-for-24 from the field

Maxey set a career high with eight steals in this one. Maxey became just the second Sixer in franchise history to go for 25 points, eight assists and eight steals, and the first since Allen Iverson in 2003. Maxey is also the first Sixers guard since Iverson 16 years ago to be named an NBA All-Star starter. The newest-minted Sixers All-Star starter was a nightmare to stop from getting to the rim in this one. Maxey poured in 14 of his 29 points in the final period to stretch the Sixers lead and pull away for the win.

Joel Embiid: 30 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 10-for-17 from the field, 9-for-10 from the foul line

Embiid continues to show he is still one of the best big men in the game of basketball. This marked 14 consecutive games of 20+ from Embiid, a sight common for Sixers fans over the years. Embiid started off this one knocking down his first five attempts from the field and, after a quiet second quarter, got it rolling again in half No. 2 to help carry the Sixers to victory.

All Times EST

Tuesday, Jan. 20

NBA

Phoenix at Philadelphia, 7 p.m.

L.A. Clippers at Chicago, 8 p.m.

San Antonio at Houston, 8 p.m.

Minnesota at Utah, 9 p.m.

L.A. Lakers at Denver, 10 p.m.

Miami at Sacramento, 10 p.m.

Toronto at Golden State, 10 p.m.

NHL

Minnesota at Montreal, 7 p.m.

Ottawa at Columbus, 7 p.m.

San Jose at Tampa Bay, 7 p.m.

Boston at Dallas, 7:30 p.m.

Buffalo at Nashville, 8 p.m.

St. Louis at Winnipeg, 8 p.m.

N.Y. Islanders at Los Angeles, 10 p.m.

New Jersey at Edmonton, 10 p.m.

T25 MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

No. 3 Michigan vs. Indiana, 7 p.m.

No. 4 Purdue at UCLA, 10 p.m.

No. 9 Iowa State vs. UCF, 7 p.m.

No. 10 Michigan State at Oregon, 9 p.m.

No. 12 Texas Tech at Baylor, 9 p.m.

No. 15 Vanderbilt at No. 20 Arkansas, 9 p.m.

No. 16 Florida vs. LSU, 7 p.m.

No. 18 Clemson vs. North Carolina State, 7 p.m.

No. 19 Kansas at Colorado, 11 p.m.

No. 21 Georgia at Missouri, 9 p.m.

No. 24 Saint Louis at Duquesne, 7 p.m.

No. 25 Miami (OH) at Kent State, 7 p.m.

PWHL

Ottawa at New York, 7 p.m.

Toronto at Seattle, 10 p.m.

Once again, a slow start and sieve-like defense were too much for the Nets to overcome Monday, lit up 126-117 by the Suns before 17,344 at Barclays Center.

The Nets put seven scorers in double figures but still spent much of the night teetering on being blown out. That’s how bad their defense was as they fell for the seventh time in their last eight games.

It’s hard to picture the Nets (12-29) snapping that skid unless they start guarding and getting back in transition. They allowed 57.1 percent shooting, and 20-for-39 from 3-point range.

“Oh man, it was a real physical game out there. Credit to them, they punched us in the mouth first. And we just tried to respond, match their physicality,” said Ziaire Williams, who had 15 points in his first game back since Jan. 7. “They’re a good ball club, man. They play really well together, the ball was moving. So it took a lot of second and third efforts out of us.”

Michael Porter Jr. had 23 points to lead seven Nets in double figures despite playing without Egor Dëmin, Cam Thomas and Day’Ron Sharpe. But Brooklyn couldn’t get a stop on the other end.

Brooklyn remains fifth in the lottery race. They’re a game behind idle Sacramento, and kept pace a game ahead of sixth-place Utah, which lost.

The Nets allowed a misprint-like 71.4 percent in a first quarter that saw them fall behind by 15. They conceded 6-for-9 from deep in that opening period, and trailed 28-13.

Dillon Brooks scored 27 points and Devin Booker 24 for the Suns.

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Jordan Ott — who spent six years as a Nets assistant from 2016-22 — came back for the first time as a head coach. His Suns, projected to win just 30 games this season, are on pace for 50. They’re 11-4 over their last 15 games and lit the Nets up.

Brooklyn led 9-7 after Nic Claxton (12 points, eight rebounds, six assists) kicked out to Noah Clowney for a 3-pointer. But they coughed up the next eight unanswered points, in a run that eventually reached 21-4.

Brooklyn spent the rest of the night chasing.

Booker hit a short jumper to put the Nets in a 64-44 hole.

It was still 72-57 with 1:37 left in the half before the Nets closed on an 11-0 run, capped by Terance Mann’s 3-pointer to beat the buzzer.

That got the Nets within four at the break.

Brooklyn fell behind by 18 in the fourth quarter before they mounted a 16-3 run to get back in it. A Porter jumper pulled them within five, and he scored again to make it 114-109 with 5:34 to play.

A Clowney and-one on a driving floater pulled the Nets within 118-114. But Brooks drilled a 3-pointer and the Nets never challenged.

“They’re a great team. When we went over it in scout, they told us they’re No. 1 in 3-point attempts in transition, and we saw that real quick,” said Williams. “So, they gave us the game plan; it just took us too long just to really dial in. And we dug ourself a little hole.”

The Knicks lost for the fourth straight time on Monday night, but the 114-97 rout at the hands of the short-handed Dallas Mavericks was the worst of them all.

The loss, which was essentially decided at halftime with New York down 75-47, led to an exasperated crowd at Madison Square Garden to rain down boos from the rafters to show their frustration with the team.

Jalen Brunson, who did not shoot the ball well (9-for-24), was asked after the game what went wrong in the team's latest fiasco, and a clearly frustrated Brunson was up front about the team's struggles.

"We just didn’t follow the game plan at all," he said. "... As a team, we know what we have to do. It’s either we do it, we care enough to do it or we don’t."

While Brunson mentioned that it's a "long season," he also emphasized the importance of fixing the issues that have been plaguing New York as soon as possible.

"We gotta figure this out fast," he said, while also acknowledging that he has all the confidence in the guys in the locker room to do so.

As for the boos that have made their way to MSG after such a special start to the season, Brunson did not hold back.

"I’d be booing us too," he said. "Straight up."

Head coach Mike Brown also weighed in on the jeering from the fans and agreed with Brunson's point of view.

"I'm okay with the boos," he said. "If we're playing crappy, boo. If I was in the stands, I'd probably boo, too. You pay hard money to come to the game."

Following the loss, the Knicks are now 25-18 (third place in the East) and 2-9 in their last 11 games. They still sport an impressive 16-6 record at home, second-best to the Detroit Pistons in the conference, but have lost three of their last four at MSG with Monday's loss not even close.

"I’d be disappointed, too," said Karl-Anthony Towns. "Fans spend their hard-earned money, they give us so much love and motivation to go out there and they expect the results and so do we. Fans are doing their part, we gotta do our part."

Part of doing their part involves tightening up on defense. On Monday, New York let the Mavs shoot 48 percent from the floor and 47 percent from deep. Those numbers were even worse in the first half after the Knicks gave up 75 first-half points.

In fact, the Knicks have only kept their opponents to under 100 points three times this season and none since Nov. 30, which spans 25 games.

"We all need to do some soul-searching, some looking in the mirror," said Josh Hart. "Right now we're playing embarrassing basketball. We're not executing on the offensive end. Defensively, we've been abysmal. We've been terrible defensively all year."