NBA's Nightly Recap | December 31, 2025

Here's everything you missed from a nine-game slate on New Year's Eve. Suddenly with the return of Giannis Adedankumbo, the Milwaukee Bucks, good again, they've won two games in a row, taking on Washington tonight. Miles Turner to Giannis and look at him working low and get the stuff there. He had ten points in the opening quarter, Milwaukee up by nine. Now the Wizards in transition, Chris Middleton, former Buck, passes to Trey Johnson for the three and 14 points at the half. Milwaukee's lead is down to four. Kyle Kuzma hands it off to Kevin Porter Jr., who gets the mid-range, hits the jumper. He had 17 at the half at the end of the first quarter. Milwaukee up by two. Bub Carrington drives and kicks it to Bilal Kulibaly for the three-pointer here, and Milwaukee's lead's down to one. Then Giannis gets the pass, drives by Alex Sarr, a great defender, and Giannis gets the stuff. He had 18 at the half. Sarr gives it to Chris Middleton, gets it back for the alley-oop. Sarr had 14 at the half, finished with 20 in the game. Wizards up by three at the break. In the third, it's Washington in transition. CJ McCollum crosses over, hits the step-back three. He had 18 on the night. Washington up by seven. Ryan Rollins to Giannis, going backdoor for the jam in traffic. Nobody going to stop him down there, part of an eight-nothing run for Milwaukee. They're up by two at that point. In the fourth, Marvin Bagley passes up court to Bub Carrington, who dribbles into a deep three. He had 20 in the game. Look at Washington in front by eight. Bucks out and running. Ryan Rollins drives and misses the layup, but look who's there. Giannis, who had 33 points and 15 rebounds in the game. Just over two minutes left. Giannis to Ryan Rollins for three. That ties the game at 110. Now just over a minute left. CJ McCollum to Alex Sarr. He gets blocked by Miles Turner, and this sets up a wild ending sequence to the game for Milwaukee. Middleton, Sarr, McCollum, Carrington, and Bagley. Here's the drive from Porter. Porter through the defense. Just missed. Giannis gets the rebound, then gets blocked. Picked up by McCollum. Five seconds left. A chance to play for the win. McCollum from the baseline. Hits it. With one second to go, the Wizards have reclaimed the lead. So now one last try for the Bucs after that Washington bucket. Giannis fading away. That doesn't fall. The Wizards get an improbable 114-113 win over the Bucs. It's good news, bad news situation for the Denver Nuggets. Yes, Nikola Jokic did hurt his knee, but he is expected back this season. His replacement, Jonas Valanciunas, takes a layup in warm-ups. We start you off in the first quarter against the Raptors with Peyton Watson getting a jam in Denver's up 17-11. Later in the first, Brandon Ingram nails the corner three to keep Toronto in this thing. They're down seven after that bucket. Still first quarter, Tim Hardaway Jr. throws it up to Darren Holmes. He rises up and throws that one home off of two feet. Strong jam there from Holmes. Raptors cut the lead to five with Scotty Barnes going to Colin Murray-Boyles for a jam. It's 32-27 at that point. Later in the second, Peyton Watson again, this time on a spinner off the backboard. Gets fouled, hits the free throw and one. Here's another look. The free throw goes down and Denver up by 12. Give and go here. Jonas Valanciunas back to Watson for the driving, hanging layup. Watson had four straight field goals for Denver, hit 24 points in the game. Denver up by nine at the break, in the third on the break. Scotty Barnes flips it to R.J. Berry. He makes the layup through traffic and the foul. He had 17 points in the game and now we're square at 63 apiece. Can't catch a break though. Jonas Valanciunas is injured. Remember, he's yoked back up. He would not return. He had a right calf strain. So stick with staywithnba.com for updates on his condition. Holmes now with a good condition there as he gets the jam. He had 11 off the bench. Nuggets need help. They got it from him. They're up by one. Sick move by Barnes. Gets a tough left. Ball ties it up. He had a triple double in the game. 20 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists. It's 89 apiece. Jamal Murray making a layup here to finally break the close game pattern. Denver goes up by three and it was so still close. 21 points for Murray. After the clock kicks down for the miss shot, Spencer Jones accidentally fouls up three and Emmanuel quickly makes both free throws. So it's a one point game. 15 seconds now. Jamal Murray gets the layup from nice ball movement. Denver goes up by three, but B.I. would have one more try. Barnes, B.I. It was a beautiful shot, but after the referees took a look, it was just after the clock expired and Denver hangs on in a thriller. Your final score 106 to 103. Both the Portland Trail Blazers and champion Oklahoma City Thunder have won two games in a row. Tonight they square off. Shea Gilchrist-Alexander going to work. Little crossover. Step back. Knocks down. Mid-range shot over Denny Abdiah and OKC up 8-4 in the early going. The NSGA stepping back for three this time. The lead grows to 7, 15 to 8. Abdiah over to Chris Murray on the baseline for the jam there. As he goes soaring in for the stuff. And OKC's lead is down to 5. OKC active on defense. Alex Caruso with the steal. And Shea Gilchrist-Alexander with the finish. Next possession. AJ Mitchell with the steal. And nice little hanging reverse on the other end. And the Thunder lead it by a dozen. Thunder extending that lead now. Kenridge-Williams lobs it up to Chet Holmgren for the stuff. That makes it 43-32. Denny Abdiah and one layup. And from there, Shaden Sharp happens. There's a ball that's deflected and stolen. Sharp's got it on the frontcourt, drives and hammers it down with two hands. It's a seven-point game as the Blazers get some points off of turnovers. They now have six of those in the quarter, 60 to 53. Is there a better dunker in the league than Sharp? Maybe not. But SGA can get to his own way as he goes in for the scoop layup at the half. The Thunder lead it by 18 in the third. Chet Holmgren playing some lockdown defense, getting the swat there. He had 12 points and six blocks. Then it's Sharp on the drive, and Holmgren with another block. Starts a fast break, and you know who's finishing it. It's Shea Gilgis-Alexander. He had 30 points in the game. The Thunder lead it by 26. Jalen Williams up top to Kayson Wallace for the jam. And then Mitchell back, lights out, and gets a little and one floater. Didn't miss a basket tonight. Had 17 points in the game as OKC gets a big win. The final score, 124 to 95. Phoenix taking on the Cavs in Cleveland. Donovan Mitchell and the Cavs off an impressive road upset at San Antonio, battling another Western Conference foe, Devin Booker. Dylan Brooks in the house. And early on, it was more good Cleveland basketball, picking up where they left off. After that upset win at San Antonio, Evan Mobley gets the dunk after a beautiful assist from Darius Garland. After that, it was all threes from Cleveland. They had four threes in a row, a couple from Sam Merrill. A 16-0 run, Cleveland's second most three-point attempts in the league, but we're just 22nd in percentage coming in. That changed tonight. As speaking of threes, Dylan Brooks knocks one down. 21-11 Cleveland out of the gates. That's when Donovan Mitchell got himself involved. The steal, tough finish, and one. 11-2 Cleveland run to take early control, but the defense got Phoenix back into it. Collin Gillespie, the steal, leaves it off. Jamari Bouye was big off the bench. He had 18. Speaking of defense, you always know Jared Allen does it defensively. Well, how about the nice little fake on Dylan Brooks? Goes up for the slam, 16 points and 11 boards. Then a nice find. It's Jalen Tyson setting up Craig Porter Jr. And it's all Cavs by 17. Dylan Brooks would help Phoenix stay in it in the first half. He had 20 driving through traffic. But with the clock winding down, oh, Donovan Mitchell. How good is he? 34 points, 10 boards, and seven assists. Cavs by 13 at halftime. Suns needed a response into the third quarter, and they got one. Devin Booker hits the corner three, three of his 20. Then it's Booker going coast to coast. Doesn't give it up. Instead, he finishes. And just like that, Phoenix is back within five. But defense has been a key for the Cavs. Devin Mobley with a rejection on Ryan Dunn. He wasn't done yet. Gets the block on Jordan Goodwin. Mobley, two of his five blocks in this game. So often, that leads to offense. Here's Mobley on the other end. Throws it up and in. Cavs by seven. To the fourth. Crazy shot off the window. And one from Bouye, who had 18. Phoenix hanging around, but Spider Mitchell says not anymore. He had 34. It's the Cavs starting to run away. A 15-2 run when Tyson puts the cherry on top. Off the steal from Darius Garland. Tyson at 18. Cavs pull away and close out 2025 with a bang. A 129-113 win. Minnesota visiting the struggling Atlanta Hawks, Anthony Edwards and the Wolves taking on one of their former teammates, Nikhil Alexander-Walker, trying to get the Hawks off the Schneid, running a long losing streak of six games. But against his former squad, Alexander-Walker was solid early. Hits that three. Would finish with 11 points. The big story of the first, though, that man, Ant Edwards, was absolutely on fire, hitting the three from straight away. Then from the right wing, he could do no wrong. Had 14 of the Minnesota Timberwolves' first 20 points, as it was a two-point lead for Atlanta. Jalen Johnson, you talk about story of the day. Johnson was awesome. 13th straight double-doubles. Hawks doing it on both ends. Defense takes over. Ball goes the other way. Chris stops Porzingis after the block from Dyson Daniels. His first game back in nearly a month. Atlanta had an early 19-point lead. Then more D. Jalen Johnson, coast to coast. The steal and slam. 18 points and 7 boards in the half. Hawks led by as many as 27. Edwards would try to get the Wolves back in. It banks that one in. He had 24, accounted for nearly half of his team's points in the first half alone. Hawks led by 21 at the break. Little give and go, right back to Julius Randle, along with Dante DiVincenzo. Randle had 19 points and 7 boards, but Jalen Johnson was too good. Edwards couldn't knock down the reverse and raises Shane Leakes out for the jam. Pass there by Jalen Johnson. Jalen hit him with a touchdown pass. Whether it was offense, defense, Johnson was out of control tonight. Well, speaking of out of control, Anthony Edwards, vicious throw down with two hands. He had 30 points, five rebounds. Ho-hum for Edwards as it was a 15-point lead for Atlanta after three. Porzingis, beautiful dime to Dyson Daniels, who lays it in. Daniels 11 points, nine assists and eight rebounds. More from Jalen Johnson and the Hawks pull up three. Then on the lob, Luke Kennard finds him. 34 points, 10 boards and six assists. He averaged a 25-point triple-double for the entire month of December. First Hawk in team history to do that in a month. As the Hawks snap their long losing streak and win it 126-102. The Chicago Bulls and New Orleans Pelicans going head-to-head. Chicago playing without Josh Giddey and Kobe White for a while. So the challenges start tonight going up against Zion Williamson. We start you in the first and Matos Bouzelis with a top place nominee. Look at the spin and throw down there as he gets past Derrick Queen. Then Kevin Huerter driving to the rack, but his shot's blocked by Eve Meesey. Micah Peavy gets the ball up and goes all the way up the court to Trey Murphy who dunks that one in. So New Orleans playing well on both ends on that play. Jordan Poole pulls up for a three that hits the rim. Oh, there's Zion Williamson with the rebound throw down cutting Chicago's lead down to two. Trey Jones crossing up Jordan Hawkins then goes to the rim, passes to Isaac Okoro who lays that one in. He had 24 points in the game and it's tied at 42. Sadiq Bey, the post spins past Javon Carter, throws that one up and in. He had 16 points in the game. Then the closing seconds of the second quarter, Trey Jones goes on the fast break to the rack and lays it in as time expires. He had 20 on the night. We go to the second half now. Chicago led by five at the break. Zion going to Jeremiah Fiers who drives the dishes back to Zion who finishes at the rim. Beautifully done. Zion Williamson, 31 points on the game. I would assume attacks the basket, lays that one in and that's beautifully done. Then we got a jump ball on the next play. The tap one by Williams. Don't you forget that I can elevate. A great looking passing by the Bulls as Nikola Vujovic ends up with the three. He had 17 in the game. Chicago by a dozen. Jeremiah Fiers drives. His shot's blocked by Kevin Herger. Ayo Dezumu and Maris Bouzelis run the give and go. Bouzelis ends up with a dunk. He had 19 points on the game. Chicago by 11. Trey Jones now. Deep corner feed to Patrick Williams who spins past Murphy, he floats that one up and in and Chicago impressively gets a win in this one. Your final score, 134 to 118. Warriors and Hornets from Charlotte in a New Year's Eve matinee. Khan can nipple back after missing his first game of the season last time out and a homecoming for Steph Curry back in Charlotte. Steph always plays so well in this building. Nails the three early. He's scored 20 or more in 11 of 12 career games at the Hornets. That's when Brandon Miller got involved. Brandon Miller! 30 apiece at the end of one. We'd see more from that man later. Steph, ridiculous, gets the and one on the three. Five threes in this one, his 400th career game with at least five three-point makes. Hornets really struggled with Khan can nipple out last time out against Milwaukee. Here he finds Collin Sexton. No look pass, finding Sexton who hits the three. Can nipple had eight assists along with 20 points. Brandon Miller, more on the highlight reel. Gets the steal all the way and throws it down. Miller at 19 in the first half as the Hornets and Warriors exchange blows. Three-point lead for the Hornets when Steph Curry gets contact and flips it up and in. How does this guy do it? Makes it look so easy. Warriors led by five at the break. Steph Curry had 26 points in this one. To the second half, finally somebody other than Steph making plays. It's Moses Moody with the three. 10-0 run for the Dubs to start the half. Here comes Charlotte. P.J. Hall at a career-high nine points. Gets the feed from Cian James. When LaMelo Ball started to take charge. Down five, drills the corner pocket three. And he wasn't done. LaMelo, 13 combined threes the last two games. Gets another one and now in a tie game. Helps Charlotte take the lead. LaMelo on fire, four for four from three in the third quarter. We had a Steph milestone earlier. Now it's Al Horford with a milestone. His 1,000th career three. Dubs are within two. We go to the fourth, Charlotte leading by two. When Brandon Pachemsky, I don't know how that went in. Off one leg, shot clock about to expire. He had 19 off the bench. Dubs extend their lead to seven. That's when Charlotte makes another run. Brandon Miller had a hat trick of highlight real stuffs. Dubs now only up three. That's back-to-back 30-point games for Miller. Play of the game though. Steph Curry misses the three. Look at Draymond Green flying in. Gets the tip up and in. A 10-point, 12-assist, double-double. Warriors win the final game of an East Coast road trip and take down Charlotte, 132-125. The New York Knicks have won three straight. San Antonio Spurs have lost two in a row. These two teams meet tonight. Harrison Barnes driving on Jalen Brunson and he puts in the backward shot. Look at him flip it over his head and that one somehow goes in. Spurs looking to take a little bit of a lead here. Steph Castle odds it up to Luke Cornette for the alley-oop and San Antonio up by 215, 13. Knicks won an 11-0 run. Karl-Anthony Towns with the triple. It's 24-18. We got a top play nominee here. Kelly Olenek knocks it away from Karl-Anthony Towns. Steph Castle up to Victor Wembenyama who just crushes that one home. He had 22 points at the half. Tyler Kolik with the QB pass ahead to O.G. Ananobi who gets the slam on the break. It's 62-52, Knicks in front. Jalen Brunson misses but recovers it. Tries again and guess who? Victor Wembenyama just swats that one off the backboard. At the half, the Knicks did lead by 10, 73-63. In the third, Karl-Anthony Towns. One-on-one with Wembenyama. He takes it to the basket, gets the layup and one. He'd make the free throw. Knicks up by 11 after this terrific effort from Karl-Anthony Towns. Then Julian Champagny went wild. Hitting three-pointer after three-pointer after three-pointer. He hit four over the span of four minutes. He's seven of 10 from downtown. A career high and made threes in the game. And it's 91 apiece. Now Jalen Brunson pulls up from deep. Yeah, you know he can knock them down. He had 29 in the game. Knicks by six. Victor Wembenyama goes down on this play. Injured, he would leave the game but return to the bench. He had 31 points, 13 rebounds. Miles Bridges comes over to steal on De'Aaron Fox. He gets low and pushes that on to Jordan Clarkson who finishes with the stuff. He had 20 in the game. Knicks up by eight, 104 to 96. Now De'Aaron Fox to Champagny for the three. And it's a three-point game all of a sudden with just over five minutes to go. Fox finds Champagny again. He ties the game. Most three-pointer field goals in franchise history in a game you had 11 in this one. De'Aaron Fox drives the hole. Gets the bucket. And it's 26 points for him in the game. San Antonio up by two. Harrison Barnes misses the fade over Bridges but Luke Cornett puts in the tough basket and when he missed the free throw, San Antonio by three. Five-point game, seconds left. Wild play from Jalen Brunson. Makes a heads up play, steals the ball from Kelton Johnson. Gets the jumper off and it just wasn't enough. He makes the shot but San Antonio hangs on to winning. Final score, 134 to 132. Magic and Pacers from Indiana closing out 2025. Orlando and Paolo Boncaro have played a ton of close games. Late five of their last six decided by four points or less. Pascal Siakam and the Pacers trying to snap a nine-game losing streak. And early on it was the Desmond Baines show. Pretty and one driving hard to the cup. It was Orlando by five early. Good response though from Siakam. Hits the three on the rainbow. Even though Indiana struggled mightily in the month of December, Siakam not the reason why. Paolo Boncaro, what a nice spin and score. Career low in points per game on the season. You wouldn't know it though by today. Pretty basketball this time from Indiana. T.J. McConnell on the touch pass to Ben Shepard. Shepard had 12. Indiana had an early lead but Orlando always makes hay with their defense. Leads to the alley-oop. Jamal Cain with 11 points off the bench. And Anthony Black was involved all day on both ends. So often when you make a nice pass you get the reward and Black does right here. Boncaro sets him up. Black had 15. Magic led by two at the break. Then the second half really turned into a grinder defensively. Andrew Nembhard working tough in the paint. Gets the fadeaway, 19.7 assists. Indiana led by one. Trying to snap that nine game losing streak. Then it's Pascal Siakam going to work. He had 26. Lead was up to eight at this point when Orlando made their way back in. Tristan DaSilva, another alley-oop. This one, Goga Batase. And it's a five point game. There's Bane. Give me that, give me that! What a really well-timed play there. Gotta give credit to Indiana. Still playing so hard on both ends as we fast forward. Final 90 seconds, Desmond Bane with the finish. 18 points and seven boards. Orlando by two. Bane will try again, why not? This time Pascal Siakam says no as Indiana stays down by two. Then Benedict Mathurin got fouled. Chance to tie the game at the line, which he does. Mathurin had 23. We're tied at 110. Now 10 seconds to go. Paulo Boncaro, spin cycle, layup, yes! And one for Boncaro, 29 points and 10 boards. But as he goes to the line, he would miss the free throw in and out. Indiana still down just two. Six seconds left. Last chance, Siakam with the ball. Gives it up, Neesmith for the win! No! Another heartbreaker for the Pacers. They fall to Orlando at home in a good battle. 112-110, the Magic pull it out. Another injury to the Spurs. They've had to deal with so many. Champagny with time for three. New York back up by 14. Champagny for three. That's four threes for Jules. In a comeback, you just can't have those kind of turnovers. Champagny! Breaking out the big way. Champagny again! Persons, Spurs, single game, three point record. A lot of time left. Fox right back. Champagny! Fox the steal. Up to Champagny. Steps back again. Why not? It's crazy in here. Nine games of hoops on New Year's Eve. We got your top 10 right here on NBA.com. At number 10, Jalen Johnson. Millimeter perfect to Zachary Resache for the number 10 play as he throws it home at the throne. Moving along to number nine and he's back home headed to the throne. Anthony Edwards back in the ATL and ringing the bell, stuffing that one in to get in at number nine. We're up to number eight to watch perhaps the best dunker in the league levitate. Shaden sharp between two defenders. Puts them both in the blender. Look at him go way up for the stuff. Nobody's stopping Shaden from space invading. He's in at number eight. Up to number seven. Count corner awareness on the top 10. Harrison Barnes flips that one over his head and somehow gets in at number seven. At number six, we're going castle to tower. Steph throwing it up and Victor Wimbanyama, oh mama, gets that one in. Just a power punch for the San Antonio Spurs at number six. At number five, Brandon Miller, just a freight train bringing the pain right down the lane. Look at him go in for the Charlotte Hornets. That's in at number five. On to number four where we are getting up off the floor. Aaron Neesmith playing a little defense as he's swatting that shot from Desmond Bain. Aaron not caring about Desmond on New Year's Eve. He gets it at number four. At number three, Matas Mouzelas spinning and winning as the Chicago Bull with those long arms throws that one in at number three. Up to number two and look who's back on attack. A little head fake and watch him detonate. Brandon, man, handling the Warriors with this jam. He's in at number two, but at number one, it's the wizard from Washington, C.J. McCollum. His squad's down one late. He goes baseline, calls a game right next to the window. Bain and Lance at number one on the NBA.com. Cut it.