- Magic 108, Cavaliers 103 (Final)
- 76ers 130, Mavericks 125 (Final)
- Suns 96, Lakers 107 (Final)
- Raptors 102, Trail Blazers 105 (Final)
- Hawks 114, Nets 122 (Final)
- Jazz 102, Timberwolves 128 (Final)
- Hornets 88, Clippers 123 (Final)
- Thunder vs. Bucks (Live on ESPN)
Isaiah Joe’s three ball rims out, but Holmgren times it perfectly and follows up with the hammer for two of his 16 points,
CHET TIMES UP THE PUTBACK 💪
📺 Thunder lead in the 4th on ESPN pic.twitter.com/spNIjpVaCV
— NBA (@NBA) March 17, 2025
The Thunder remains in control of this one, leading the Bucks 109-90 with just a few minutes left to play.
💥Lob, smash💥
Cason Wallace gets into the lane, spots Hartenstein on the other side of the rim, and tosses a lob up over Brook Lopez, and Hartenstein crushes it down with the left hand.
Hartenstein throws down the lob!
Part of an 18-4 @okcthunder run on ESPN 👀 pic.twitter.com/oNtVso4c1B
— NBA (@NBA) March 17, 2025
The Thunder are still in control, leading the Bucks by 14 just past the midpoint of the third quarter.
Gilgeous-Alexander is now up to 20 points and is the game’s leading scorer, while Hartenstein has secured an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double.
Thunder struck in the second
Oklahoma City dominated the second quarter, outscoring the Bucks, 29-15, and now have a 53-41 lead at the break.
Gilgeous-Alexander, who had just six points in the first quarter, is up to 14 and has four assists as well, and this block,
Get that out of here 😤 pic.twitter.com/HLACaiV1LS
— OKC THUNDER (@okcthunder) March 17, 2025
Isaiah Hartenstein is already closing in on a double-double, scoring 12 and grabbing eight boards, while Chet Holmgren has also racked up 12 points.
Giannis Antetokounmpo only has 7 points, but he also has five boards, five assists, and this dunk,
The pump fake and the lefty flush. 😤 pic.twitter.com/k4t7GyIy0n
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) March 17, 2025
Bucks close on a run🏃♀️➡️
Milwaukee finished the first quarter on a 10-0 run, capped by this Damian Lillard triple for three of his game-high seven points,
Dame buries the three to cap a 10-0 run! pic.twitter.com/LF3Yt6HojB
— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) March 17, 2025
The Bucks now have a 26-24 lead after a quarter of play.
Edwards cooks🥘🍳🔥
Anthony Edwards torched the Jazz with a 41-point performance on the way to a 128-102 Timberwolves victory.
Minnesota has now won eight straight games and is getting hot down the home stretch.
Jaden McDaniels was also a significant factor in the W, scoring 20 points and getting 12 rebounds, while Donte DiVincenzo and Julius Randle also scored in double figures.
Anthony Edwards drops 41 while becoming the 3rd-leading scorer in @Timberwolves franchise history!
🐺 Now has the most 40+ point games (7) in a season in franchise history
📈 8 straight wins for Minnesota pic.twitter.com/Oi7jbKq1ZU
— NBA (@NBA) March 17, 2025
🚢Cruising to a win
The Clippers handled business Sunday with a 35-point win over the Hornets.
Harden was superb, dropping 31 points on 9-15 shooting, 10 boards, and seven assists in 31 minutes of action.
Ivica Zubac also loaded the box score with a double-double, scoring 17 with 14 boards, dishing out eight assists, and rejecting two shots.
The bright spot for the Hornets, who shot just 6-for-33 from three, was Mark Williams, who scored a team-high 18, snagged 15 rebounds, and also got seven assists.
HARDEN, CLIPPERS WIN 6 OF LAST 7 🙌
31 PTS 10 REB7 AST4 3PM
— NBA (@NBA) March 17, 2025
🏙Brooklyn takes it🏙
The Nets defeated Atlanta, 122-114.
Cameron Johnson came up big for Brooklyn, scoring 28 points and shooting 4-for-8 from distance, including two late threes to put the Hawks out of reach,
CAM JOHNSON FROM DEEP AGAIN!! 🔥 pic.twitter.com/meIGmG512S
— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) March 17, 2025
Keon Johnson added 22 for the Nets while also grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out five assists.
Atlanta got 28 and 12 assists from Trae Young in the loss.
🌲Trail Blazers win🌲
Portland came back from being down by as many as 16 points to earn a 105-102 win over the Raptors.
Avdija was big in the victory, racking up 19 points, six boards, six assists, and this dunk,
Deni Avdija PUNCHES IT 😤@trailblazers come back from 16 down for the win! pic.twitter.com/MxVOzH8KEG
— NBA (@NBA) March 17, 2025
Simons was the team’s leading scorer with 22, and also of note, Matisse Thybulle made it back from injury and made his season debut. Thybulle played just six minutes but had two steals and this game-sealing block,
Matisse Thybulle with the game-saving block in his season debut ‼️ pic.twitter.com/x2q0f4oDyQ
— NBA (@NBA) March 17, 2025
Books another flight✈️
Derrick Jones Jr. is at it again, taking off to catch a high-arching rainbow lob from Harden,
THROW IT UP & DJ WILL THROW IT DOWN 🤯 pic.twitter.com/I0lvLuXvLq
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) March 17, 2025
The Clippers have a sturdy 24-point on the Hornets at the break, 65-41.
Harden is racking up buckets, scoring 23 first-half points, to go with eight boards and five assists.
Who wants more dunks⁉️
Daniels sets up Zaccharie Risacher on the break with a lob, and he gets up to throw it down one-handed.
Risacher is up to 14 points for the Hawks, while that was Daniels’ sixth dish against the Nets.
AIR FRANCE 😱🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/Ypfn08JCOC
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) March 16, 2025
Atlanta is maintaining their lead, 81-73, near the midpoint of the third quarter.
Explodes like🧨
James Harden catches the deflected pass and brings it up the floor with eyes on Kawhi Leonard, but Derrick Jones Jr. is trailing on the other side. Harden tosses up the lob, and Jones Jr. takes flight for a nasty finish on the oop.
OMG FLIGHT 5⃣5⃣ PREPARE FOR TAKEOFF ✈️
HARDEN ↗️ DJ 😱 pic.twitter.com/wA1RoWFSVd
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) March 16, 2025
Harden has 15 points to lead all scorers, and the Clippers have a 32-21 lead over the Hornerts with one in the books.
🔥Anthony Edwards🔨
Edwards is playing out of his mind early against Utah and has 21 points on 8-for-12 shooting, and the first quarter hasn’t even wrapped up.
On this play, Utah seems to expect Edwards to take the open three, but instead, he takes the wide-open lane and detonates toward the rim for a big-time one-handed slam.
ANT HAMMERS IT HOME FOR 19 PTS IN THE FIRST QUARTER 😤 pic.twitter.com/B0fInAHiIu
— NBA TV (@NBATV) March 16, 2025
The Timberwolves are in charge, 34-20 over the Jazz late in the first.
🥷🏻Just out here thieving 🥷🏻
Daniels has picked another pocket and now has four steals, and he finished this one with a slam for two of his five points.
Great Barrier Thief read this like a book 📕 pic.twitter.com/qPTcha8SPi
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) March 16, 2025
Trae Young is also making noise for Atlanta, scoring 16 first-half points on 2-for-3 long-range shooting and adding five dimes.
The Hawks enter the break with a 62-56 lead over the Nets.
To beat the🕒
Portland enters halftime knotted up at 52 with the Raptors, thanks to a Deni Avdija three-ball to beat the shot clock with just over two seconds remaining in the second quarter.
YOUR TRAIL BLAZERS MAKING IT HAPPEN 🔥 pic.twitter.com/x30IJQ5Nqg
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) March 16, 2025
Avdija leads the Trail Blazers with 12 points, and Anfernee Simons and Sharpe have scored 10 apiece.
Scottie Barnes is the Raptors’ leading point getter with 12 and also has tacked on four assists and three steals, while Jakob Poeltl has punched in 11.
🪸Great Barrier Thief🪸
Dyson Daniels is like a credit card reader, always getting swipes, and he has three already tonight within the first four minutes against Brooklyn.
He now has 36 games of three-plus steals this season, the most by any player since the 2009-10 season, when Rajon Rondo had 38 such games.
He’s a menace https://t.co/XNfjb6uPSu pic.twitter.com/12QKkv0as6
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) March 16, 2025
The Hawks trail the Nets, though, 33-27 after a quarter of play.
Slam-a-thon in Portland😤
First, Shaedon Sharpe reads the Donovan Clingan miss and makes a beeline to the bucket for an explosive putback.
Put some POWER on that putback 😤 pic.twitter.com/aa52RUD9C5
— Portland Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) March 16, 2025
Then Jamal Shead runs the floor and finds Ochai Agbaji trailing and lobs it up for an authoritative slam-dunk finish,
OCHAI SLAM 🤯 pic.twitter.com/8p7bn046fF
— Toronto Raptors (@Raptors) March 16, 2025
The Raptors have an early 10-point lead on the Trailblazers, 25-15, late in the first.
🌊Lakers win🌊
The Lakers controlled the action for much of Sunday afternoon’s matchup with Phoenix, only trailing for a moment in the first quarter, on their way to a 107-96 win.
The Lakers remained without LeBron James, but it didn’t matter here, with Austin Reaves stepping up to put on a 28-point performance with four boards, six assists, and a steal. Jaxson Hayes was also a factor, scoring 19 and grabbing six rebounds. The star of the show, though, of course, was Dončić, who came within two assists of a triple-double, racking up 33 points and 11 rebounds.
Kevin Durant was the Suns’ leading scorer, adding 21 and nine boards, while Devin Booker posted a 19-point, 11-assist double-double.
Luka Dončić did a little bit of everything in the @Lakers‘ matinee win over Phoenix!
🏀 33 PTS🏀 11 REB🏀 8 AST🏀 4 3PM
🏀 2 STL pic.twitter.com/xLNFSsMM7K
— NBA (@NBA) March 16, 2025
📺Luka show📺
Luka Dončić has surpassed the 30-point mark and now has 33 to go with 10 boards and eight assists in a scintillating effort against Phoenix.
The Lakers hold a 98-84 lead over the Suns with just a few minutes remaining in the fourth quarter on ABC.
Luka shows off the PATIENCE on this bucket for 30!
Lakers leading late on ABC. pic.twitter.com/5Y0fOHuFt8
— NBA (@NBA) March 16, 2025
📝Afternoon notes📝
NBA action got underway early, with two games already going final.
The Magic pulled off an upset victory over the Cavaliers, 108-103 in Cleveland.
Paolo Banchero was key in the clutch, finishing with 24 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists, as was Wagner, who ended the game with 22 points and eight rebounds. Also delivering a strong performance off the bench was Anthony Black, who scored 17.
The Cavaliers were without Evan Mobley but did get Donovan Mitchell bank in the fold, who scored 23 points but shot just 9-for-28 from the field.
Also, earlier this afternoon, the 76ers upended the Mavericks, 130-125.
Quentin Grimes was electric against his former squad, pouring in 28 points and dishing out six assists.
P.J. Washington scored a game-high 29 points for Dallas and also pulled down 12 rebounds.
3️⃣Stories for tonight
- Oklahoma City and Milwaukee will meet for the third time this season on ESPN tonight. Although it didn’t count toward the standings, these teams met in the Emirates NBA Cup finals in December, with Milwaukee earning an 87-81 victory to hoist the Cup. They met again on Feb. 3, and the Thunder struck the Bucks with a 125-96 payback victory. Now they’ll meet again with both teams looking to extend a two-game win streak.
- The Timberwolves are still red-hot, earning their seventh consecutive win Friday, defeating the Magic. The returns of Julius Randle, Rudy Gobert, and Donte DiVincenzo have ignited this squad, and avoiding the play-in is becoming a legitimate possibility. They’ll continue their five-game homestand this evening by hosting a struggling Utah team that has lost eight straight, while Minnesota is in a prime position to extend their win streak.
- The Hawks and the Clippers will both take the floor tonight, looking to improve their playoff positioning. Atlanta will be in Brooklyn taking on the Nets and are just 1.0 game up on Orlando for the No. 7 seed. Meanwhile, the Clippers have fallen behind the surging Warriors and Timberwolves, and a win over the Hornets tonight will be beneficial in keeping them in the mix to avoid the play-in.
