Item 1 of 2 Charlotte Hornets player Brandon Miller during his team’s match against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA on January 5, 2026. Photography: Alonzo Adams – Image Images, a partner of Reuters.
January 6 (Reuters Arabic Sports Service) – Brandon Miller scored 28 points to contribute to a landslide victory for his team, the Charlotte Hornets, 124-97, over the host Oklahoma City Thunder in an NBA match last night.
This is Oklahoma City’s first loss at home in the regular season against an Eastern Conference competitor since March 2024, and the Thunder’s first defeat against a team from the Eastern Conference since January 8, 2025, when they lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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It is also the first game in which Oklahoma City has scored fewer than 101 points this season.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 21 points with a success rate of seven of 21 shots, while Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren scored 16 and 15 points, respectively.
Thunder scored 59.1 percent of shots during play in the first quarter before finishing the game with 37 percent.
This was Charlotte’s first surprising victory over Oklahoma City since March 2023. Miller’s superiority was strengthened by Con Noble scoring 23 points and five three-pointers, and Miles Bridges also added 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to achieve double figures.
Moussa Diabate also grabbed the largest number of rebounds in Charlotte, with 12. In addition, the Hornets achieved their highest percentage of three-pointers this season, reaching 51.4 percent.
In another match, Cade Cunningham scored 29 points and sent 13 assists to his teammates as his team, the Detroit Pistons, defeated its Eastern Conference rival, the New York Knicks, 121-90.
Kevin Durant scored a three-pointer with 1.1 seconds left, giving the Houston Rockets a thrilling 100-97 victory over the visiting Phoenix Suns.
Anfernee Simmons made eight three-pointers and scored a game-high 27 points to help the Boston Celtics extend their winning streak to four consecutive games by defeating the visiting Chicago Bulls 115-101.
Brandon Ingram scored 19 points to lead five key players to score double figures in his team’s Toronto Raptors victory over its guest Atlanta Hawks 118-100, completing four victories over its rival this season.
Bruce Brown scored a decisive shot 5.3 seconds before the end of overtime to lead the Denver Nuggets, who were missing a large number of players, to victory over the host Philadelphia 76ers 125-124.
The Nuggets played the match without seven of their top eight scorers, in addition to all of their key players.
Kawhi Leonard was the top scorer in the Los Angeles Clippers’ 103-102 victory over the visiting Golden State Warriors, with 24 points, after the home team overcame the absence of its star, James Harden.
Deni Ovadia scored 33 points, sent nine assists to his teammates, and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the Portland Trail Blazers to a convincing victory over the visiting Utah Jazz, 137-117.
Prepared by Ahmed Al-Khashab for the Arabic Bulletin
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