Nightly Pulse: NBA news & highlights from Nov. 6

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Brandon Miller caps off a sensational night with a putback at the buzzer to give the Hornets the win over the Pistons. Miller was on the receiving end of a highlight alley-oop earlier in the game and finished with 19 points and six boards.

 
Lead Hornets writer, Sam Perley, with the nugget of the night on Miller’s thrilling game-winner for the Hornets.

Norman Powell was on fire en route to a game-high 26 points (8-10 FG, 6-8 3PM, 4-4 FT), while also co-leading the Clippers with six assists. Wednesday marked Powell’s fourth game of the season with at least five made threes.
Paul George finished with 18 points (7-9 FG) for Philadelphia, tying with Kelly Oubre as the 76ers’ scoring leaders. George only logged 23 minutes of action as Philadelphia gradually ramps up his return from knee troubles.

The Sacramento Kings earned a 122-107 victory over the Toronto Raptors. DeMar DeRozan (27 points) and Keegan Murray (22 points, 12 rebounds) led the Kings in scoring. Domantas Sabonis tallied his third triple-double of the year with 17 points (6-6 FG, 5-5 FT), 11 rebounds, and 13 assists. Sabonis became the first player in the turnover-tracking era to post a turnover-free triple-double without missing a FG or FT.
DeRozan now has eight straight games with 20-plus points since joining the Kings, passing Chris Webber’s franchise record of seven such consecutive contests.
RJ Barrett (23 points) and Davion Mitchell (20 points, 6 assists) led the Raptors in the loss.
The Kings move to 5-3 as the Raptors fall to 2-7.

The Denver Nuggets defeat the Oklahoma City Thunder, 124-122. For Denver, Nikola Jokić recorded his 134th career triple-double (4th of season) and led the way with 23 points, 20 rebounds, 16 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks.
Fittingly, Jokić joins Russell Westbrook as the only players to record a 20-20-15 game since 1968. Westbrook tallied 20 PTS, 20 REB, 21 AST in an OKC win over LAL on Apr. 2 2019. The last player to have such a line prior to them was Wilt Chamberlain on March 19, 1968.
Westbrook finished with 29 points, six rebounds and six assists, pairing with Michael Porter Jr. (24 points) to combine for 53 points in Wednesday’s victory. Jalen Williams finished with 29 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists, and three steals while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tallied 28 points and six assists for Oklahoma City in the losing effort. The Nuggets improve to 5-3 on the season, while the Thunder suffer their first loss of the season, moving to 7-1.

Domantas Sabonis has racked up 17 points (6-6 FG, 5-5 FT), 11 rebounds and 13 assists on perfect shooting from the field as Sacramento has caught fire to open the fourth quarter, currently outscoring Toronto 33-14 after entering the frame trailing by four points. The Kings lead is becoming secure at 122-107 entering the final minute.

Nikola Jokić’s mammoth triple-double (23 points, 20 rebounds, 16 assists) anchored Denver’s victory, but the Nuggets’ cast stepped up to support him despite an injury-riddled rotation — bringing an end to Oklahoma City’s undefeated start.

RJ Barrett has a game-high 23 points (9-16 FG) as the Raptors hold a 93-89 lead over Sacramento entering the fourth quarter. The 24-year-old has already posted three games with more than 30 points this season after accomplishing that feat only twice last season. A native of Mississauga, Canada, Barrett continues to blossom for the Raptors.

With Wednesday’s victory, Cleveland’s head coach Kenny Atkinson became the first coach in NBA history to start 9-0 in their first season with a new team. Entering Wednesday’s games, Cleveland had the second best offensive rating and third best defensive rating in the league.

The Phoenix Suns win their 6th straight game as they defeat the Miami Heat, 115-112. For Phoenix, Kevin Durant led the way with 32 points (4 3PM) and eight rebounds while aided by Devin Booker (21 points, 4 rebounds, 9 assists) and Jusuf Nurkić (20 points (3 3PM), 18 rebounds, two blocks) in the victory. Tyler Herro finished with 28 points (5 3PM) and 6 assists for Miami in the losing effort. The Suns improve to 7-1 on the season, while the Heat fall to 3-4.

Watson steps up for his third block of the game, timing Gilgeous-Alexander’s layup perfectly and skying to catch a piece of the ball. Watson finishes with 10 points (4-9 FG, 1-4 3Pt, 1-4 FT), three rebounds, three assists, three blocks and one steal in 34 minutes. His lone three-point make came in the final minutes of the fourth quarter — with the 22-year-old making clutch plays on both ends to secure Denver’s victory.

Kevin Durant pours in 32 points (13-23 FG) fueled by midrange mastery and his classic fadeaway jumper with multiple defenders in his face to propel the Suns to 115-112 win.

Keegan Murray is one of four Kings with at least nine points as Sacramento has generated assists on 13 of 19 buckets en route to a three-point lead over Toronto at the half. Sacramento is on pace to exceed 110 points once again — a feat they have accomplished in all seven games thus far.

A mammoth triple-double from Nikola Jokić is helping Denver mount a comeback after trailing by 11 points at halftime. Russell Westbrook has been a consistent beneficiary of Jokić’s facilitation, turning back the clock and booming for 29 points (10-14 FG), six rebounds and six assists with the majority of the fourth quarter still to come.

Brandon Miller got a putback layup to fall as time expires to lift Charlotte over Detroit, 107-106. For Charlotte, LaMelo Ball led the way with 25 points (10-23 FG, 5-12 3Pt), six rebounds, eight assists, and two steals while Miles Bridges (27 points) and Miller (19 points) combined for 46 points in the victory. Charlotte connected on a perfect 16 of 16 free-throw attempts as well.
Cade Cunningham recorded his 4th career-triple double with 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists while Jaden Ivey finished with 21 points (3 3PM), 4 rebounds, and 5 assists for Detroit in the losing effort. The Hornets improve to 3-5 on the season, while the Pistons fall to 3-6.

Jose Alvarado finished Wednesday’s contest with 27 points (10-14 FG, 7-7 3Pt), two rebounds, five assists and three steals despite the Pelicans falling to Cleveland 131-122. His three-point barrage marks the second game in franchise history a player has made at least seven threes without missing.
Zion Williamson (29 points) led New Orleans in scoring Wednesday, while Brandon Ingram (20 points) represented the only other Pelican to score at least 15 points.

Hawks rookie Zaccharie Risacher not only turned in the best game of his career Wednesday against the Knicks, it was one of the greatest performances by a rookie in franchise history. 33 points. Seven rebounds. Six made 3’s. 📈

Grizzlies big man Jay Huff ignites the crowd with a reverse putback slam. Y’all gotta see this one.
Catch the finish of Grizzlies-Lakers on NBA League Pass.

The Warriors-Celtics matchup has lived up to the billing in a tightly-contested, back-and-forth showdown of two of the NBA’s best. The Warriors have pulled ahead by seven on a Buddy Hield triple with under a minute to go.

Zion Williamson is back in action doing Zion Williamson things. True to form, Zion’s finish leads our dunk score leaderboard tonight.

Victor Wembanyama was having none of it as he meets Jalen Green’s at the summit of his transition jam.

Jarrett Allen throws down the hammer for the top-rated dunk score of the night so far.

LaMelo Ball finds Brandon Miller for the long-range alley-oop. It’s safe to say Miller has his hops back.

The No.1 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft, Zaccharie Risacher, is feeling it tonight. Here he is turning defense into offense with the steal and the 3. He’s already got a career-high 22 points and counting and we still have a half to go.

LeBron James is playing in his 1,500th career game tonight, making him the sixth player in NBA history to reach that milestone and joins some elite company.

Hawks rookie Zaccharie Risacher gets out in transition and finishes with the flush. We aren’t even going to try to top the pun from the Hawks social team though 😂

The Celtics came into tonight on a historic pace with their 3-point shooting and they’re not showing any signs of stopping against the Warriors. Derrick White has led the charge early with three treys and 12 early points overall as we get towards the end of the first quarter.

Rookie Stephon Castle will make his first start for the Spurs in tonight’s Texas showdown against the Rockets. Castle is coming off a career-high 11-point outing against the Clippers on Monday.

Zion Williamson returns to action following a two-game absence. Williamson is averaging 21.4 points and 8.0 rebounds per game through five outings so far and dropped 34 on the Pacers in his last time out.

The Pacers and Magic are playing a high-tempo game thus far as Indiana holds a 24-16 lead with four minutes remaining in the opening quarter. Bennedict Mathurin has chipped in nine early points to lead the Pacers.

Goga Bitadze makes his second consecutive start for the Magic with Wendell Carter still sidelined with a foot injury.

Andrew Nembhard is good to go for Indiana after dealing with a knee injury earlier thismonth.

Brandon Miller is playing in his third game since returning from a four-game absence. With Miller and Ball on the Charlotte side going up against Cade Cunningham, Jalen Duren and Jaden Ivy, this game will have a silly amount of young talent on display.

Stephen Curry is ready to roll without restrictions tonight after making his return Monday in the Nation’s Capital.

Trae Young is good to go for the Hawks after dealing with a rib issue coming off of Monday’s game against the Celtics. Going into that game, Young was averaging 27.0 points and 11.7 assists per game. He’ll look to recapture that form tonight against New York. https://twitter.com/ATLHawks/status/1854316049266626727 The Knicks are running with their usual lineup that has helped fuel the team’s No.3-rated offense in the NBA through six games.

Zion Williamson returns to the lineup for the Pelicans after missing the last two games. Williamson and the Pelicans will be looking to hand the Cavaliers their first loss of the season. https://twitter.com/PelicansNBA/status/1854320778021318794 The Cavaliers are rolling out this lineup as they chase a franchise-best 9-0 start.

The Lakers will turn to Jaxson Hayes in the middle with Anthony Davis out. Rookie Dalton Knecht will make his first career start after averaging 15.9 minutes off the bench in his first seven games.

Ja Morant and the Grizzlies are looking to bounce back from their tough loss Monday in Brooklyn. They are 2-2 at home.

Jrue Holiday strolls into The Garden for tonight’s matchup between the Celtics and Warriors.

The vets are in the building.

Mr. Double-Double himself, Jalen Duren, showing love for another former Pistons great, Rasheed Wallace. Duren has the 2nd-most double-doubles of any NBA player before turning 21 with 67 such games.

We spy Zion 🔭.