Image Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

NBA Daily Recap, January 21 – Toronto’s comeback win, LeBron James show and more

Let's take a look at what happened on Tuesday in the NBA.

Image Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

Here’s the NBA Daily Recap for Jan. 21, 2025, where we witnessed only five matchups. Jimmy Butler continued in the Miami Heat’s starting lineup amid trade rumors and LeBron James highlighted a top play with a poster dunk. We saw some top-class performances from Karl-Anthony Towns, Nikola Jokic, LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

From Denver routing the short-handed 76ers in “Rivals Week” to Toronto Raptors’ comeback win over Magic, let’s go through the key highlights from the NBA action on Tuesday.

Heat 107-116 Trail Blazers

The Jimmy Butler trade saga continued to hurt the Miami Heat, who suffered a 107-116 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers. Deandre Ayton added 22 points and 15 rebounds while Anfernee Simons had 24.

Jerami Grant scored 18 points and Deni Avdija dropped 16 for the Blazers, who won the second straight game after losing four games in a row. Rookie Kel’el Ware led Miami with 20 points and 16 rebounds. Duncan Robinson scored 22 points and Jimmy Butler, who wore Suns colorway shoes, had 13

Jimmy Butler's shoes tonight, must be a coincidence! pic.twitter.com/W8Xd9dNZmc
— PHNX Suns (@PHNX_Suns) January 22, 2025

Raptors 109-93 Magic

Toronto cut a 21-point deficit to beat Orlando Magic to win for the third time in four games. Scottie Barnes scored 17 points and 11 rebounds while RJ Barrett added 19. The Raptors also halted a four-game losing streak against Magic.

Gradey Dick added 10 points out of 17 in the third and Toronto outscored Orlando 40-20 to flip a five-point deficit into a 15-point lead. Paolo Banchero scored 26 points and 12 rebounds for the Magic, who have lost four straight games. Wendell Carter, Jr. added 10 points and 10 rebounds while Anthony Black had 17 points.

Also Read:

Nets 95-99 Knicks

The New York Knicks squeezed past the struggling Brooklyn Nets to win their second straight game before going on a five-game homestand. Karl-Anthony Towns scored 25 points and 16 rebounds. Jalen Brunson added 17 points, including eight points down the stretch. OG Anunoby added 20 points and Precious Achiuwa had 11 points off the bench.

D’Angelo Russell shined for the Nets with 23 points and 10 assists. Cam Johnson added 16 points for the Nets, who have lost four games in a row. Brooklyn outscored New York 20-15 in the fourth but fell short of four points.

Nuggets 144-109 76ers

Nikola Jokic posted his 19th triple-double of the season to guide the Denver Nuggets to a 35-point blowout win over short-handed Philadelphia 76ers. Jokic didn’t play in the fourth quarter. Aaron Gordon scored 19 points while shooting 6-for-7 from the floor and hit all four attempts at the free-throw line.

Nikola Jokic through 3 quarters in last 4 games:

27 PTS, 13 REB, 10 AST
20 PTS, 14 REB, 10 AST
24 PTS, 12 REB, 10 AST
10 PTS, 14 REB, 10 ASTpic.twitter.com/rsW1Acu6Fk
— Underdog NBA (@Underdog__NBA) January 22, 2025

Julian Strawther added 23 points and Christian Braun had 20. Tyrese Maxey had 28 points and 10 assists for Philadelphia, who lost seven straight games. Paul George finished with 11 points on his return. Andre Drummond (toe) and Guerschon Yabusele (right knee) also returned to the lineup.

Lakers 111-88 Wizards

LeBron James highlighted a ninth triple-double of the season and the Los Angeles Lakers secured a 111-88 win over the Washington Wizards. The veteran guard also produced a monster alley-oop dunk and recorded his 2,308th career steal, passing Scottie Pippen for seventh place in NBA history.

LEBRON JAMES LOB THROWDOWN 🫨 pic.twitter.com/GxnKZxrgvy
— NBA (@NBA) January 22, 2025

Anthony Davis scored 29 points and 16 rebounds while Dorian Finney-Smith added 16. Bronny James played for the second straight game and played for two minutes. Bilal Coulibaly scored 17 points for the Wizards, who dropped to 1-18 on the road. Jordan Poole and Corey Kispert each had 15 points.

Image Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images

LeBron James

NBA Daily Recap

Toronto Raptors

Gulshan Sharma

nba

soccer

wnba

A native of Jaipur, Rajasthan, journalist, and a complete soccer and basketball fan, he found the huge interest with basketball by watching videos of Allen Iverson and Tony Parker, but fell head over heels in love with the sport during the Warriors’ championship era (2015-2018). A sports game addict since his late PS1, he’s also passionate about the Eagles, Inter Miami and the Fever. He’s fortunate to have seen all his favorite teams win championships. He also has a special love for cricket and football (soccer), where he is a fan of Royal Challengers Bangalore and Barcelona.