NBA Tuesday: The Detroit Pistons and Oklahoma City Thunder, leaders in the East and West, beat the Denver Nuggets and Orlando Magic, respectively, on Tuesday, while LeBron James shined in Brooklyn to close the Lakers’ road trip.
The Pistons (37-12) picked up their second win over Denver in a week, this time with Nikola Jokic on the Nuggets (33-18). Detroit won 124-121 in a tight finish after losing the 20-point margin they had amassed in the third quarter.
Cunningham leads Detroit in a close win
Cade Cunningham signed a double-double for Detroit with 29 points and 10 assists.
Jalen Duren another with 19 points and 13 rebounds, while Duncan Robinson chipped in with 20 points.
Jokic, in his third game back from a month-long injury, finished with 24 points and 15 rebounds, while Jamal Murray led Denver with 32 points.
LeBron James shined in Brooklyn
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Forty ‘wins’ for the Thunder
The Oklahoma City Thunder earned their 40th win of the NBA season over the Orlando Magic.
Thus becoming the first team in the league to reach that figure.
The Thunder (40-11) comfortably outlasted the Magic 128-92 after reaching a maximum lead of 41 points in the fourth quarter.
Mark Daigneault sat Shai Gilgeous-Alexander the entire fourth quarter.
This after the Canadian reached 20 points on another night, extending his streak of games with at least 20 points to 121, five shy of Wilt Chamberlain’s record.
Isaiah Joe contributed 22 points to the Thunder’s scoreline.
Luguentz Dort scored 18 and Isaiah Hartenstein signed a triple-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.
LeBron shines at Jordi Fernandez’s home
The Lakers closed an eight-game, 15-day road trip with a 5-3 record with a win at Brooklyn.
They beat the Nets 109-125 in a game they dominated by 39 after a devastating 23-45 first quarter.
LeBron James was the best with 25 points and a new exhibition of dunks and alley-oops.
It was James’ last NBA regular season game in New York.
He has not yet disclosed whether he will still be playing next season, when he would be 42 years old.
The Lakers will play their next eight games at Crypto.com Arena.
A key stretch for their postseason aspirations, which they face with a 30-19 record.
The Nets (13-36), meanwhile, have won in only three of their 19 games this 2026.
“The responsibility for the team not playing well or not having good results is mine, that’s all,” said Nets coach Jordi Fernandez.
Knicks, Bucks and Celtics also add wins
In other NBA games played on Tuesday, the New York Knicks claimed their seventh straight win with a 101-132 victory over the Washington Wizards.
While the Milwaukee Bucks beat the Chicago Bulls 131-115.
The Boston Celtics outrebounded the Dallas Mavericks 100-110 with 33 points and 11 rebounds from Jaylen Brown.
In addition to two points and six rebounds by Hugo González.
Cooper Flagg finished with 36 points and 9 rebounds for Dallas.
The Atlanta Hawks won 115-127 at Miami with a triple-double Jalen Johnson (29 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists).
Meanwhile, the Utah Jazz were 122-131 winners over the Indiana Pacers with 22 assists from Isaiah Collier.
And in San Francisco, the Golden State Warriors, without Stephen Curry, fell to the Philadelphia 76ers 94-113, with 25 points from Bahamian rookie VJ Edgecombe.
With information from EFE
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