FloaterDaily Brief
Thursday, January 8, 2026Regular season · 3 games
← Jan 7CalendarJan 9 →

3 games, none went to overtime. Biggest comeback: MIN trailed CLE by 4 at halftime and won 131–122.

Final · Box score
Pacers114
Hornets112
Q1 IND +3; Q2 IND +2; Q3 IND +3; Q4 IND +2
Final · Box score
Cavs122
Wolves131
Q1 MIN +1; Q2 MIN -4; Q3 MIN +17; Q4 MIN +9
Final · Box score
Mavs114
Jazz116
Q1 UTA +5; Q2 UTA +3; Q3 UTA -1; Q4 UTA +2
On this day · 2024–25Jan 8, 2025: 8 games. Top scorer: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder-Cavs), 31 points.
Jan 8 in other seasons2024202320222021202020192018201720162015201420132012201120102009200820072006200520042003200220012000199819971996
The lead · Cavs-Wolves

Minnesota makes it four straight

Cooper Flagg goes for 26 points

Game flow · MIN margin at each break
-25-15-5+5+15+25TipEnd Q1HalfEnd Q3Final0+1-4+17+9MIN AHEAD ↑CLE AHEAD ↓
By quarter
Q1Q2Q3Q4T
Cavs31362233122
Wolves32314325131
Who led
Julius RandlePoints, last 10 games: 12, 25, 32, 13, 17, 19, 23, 22, 15, 28MIN28 PTS · 11 REB · 8 AST
Jaden McDanielsPoints, last 10 games: 13, 0, 21, 16, 7, 8, 5, 12, 19, 26MIN26 PTS · 5 REB · 1 AST
Donovan MitchellPoints, last 10 games: 32, 30, 27, 34, 16, 10, 34, 33, 30, 30CLE30 PTS · 7 REB · 8 AST
Sam MerrillPoints, last 10 games: 20, 4, 22, 11, 13, 5, 16, 15, 19, 22CLE22 PTS · 2 REB · 3 AST
Second story · Mavs-Jazz

Utah wins a tight one over Dallas

116–114. Neither team led by more than 5 at any break. Lauri Markkanen led Utah with 33 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists.

The whole night · final margins
IND over CHA2UTA over DAL2MIN over CLE9Final margin, points. Pink = UTA over DAL.
Lead changes
Mavs-Jazz15
Pacers-Hornets9
Cavs-Wolves4
Shot of the night

Siakam's layup with 11 seconds left puts the Pacers ahead, 114-112 final

The night in charts
Cavs-Wolves combined for 253, 23 more than any other game
Points by game
Cavs-WolvesCavs 122, Wolves 131
253
Mavs-JazzMavs 114, Jazz 116
230
Pacers-HornetsPacers 114, Hornets 112
226
2 of 3 games were decided by 5 or fewer
Closest finishes
Pacers-HornetsPacers 114, Hornets 112
+2 IND
Mavs-JazzMavs 114, Jazz 116
+2 UTA
Cavs-WolvesCavs 122, Wolves 131
+9 MIN
MIN rallied from 4 down, the night's biggest comeback
Biggest comebacks, at quarter breaks
Cavs-WolvesMIN won · Cavs 122, Wolves 131
4 pts
Mavs-JazzUTA won · Mavs 114, Jazz 116
1 pt
McDaniels shot 11-of-14 for the night's hottest hand
Hottest shooting · min 10 FGA
McDanielsMIN · 26 PTS, 5 REB, 2 STL, 1 AST
79% (11-14)
MobleyCLE · 19 PTS, 4 REB, 3 AST, 1 BLK
73% (8-11)
GeorgeUTA · 19 PTS, 7 AST, 3 REB, 3 STL
67% (8-12)
MarshallDAL · 17 PTS, 4 AST, 2 REB
64% (7-11)
DiVincenzoMIN · 22 PTS, 4 AST, 1 REB, 1 STL
62% (8-13)
Final · Mavs-Jazz
Mavs 114Jazz 116
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Mavs29263425114
Jazz34243028116
The story
Lauri Markkanen had 33 points as Utah beat Dallas 116-114

Anthony Davis led Dallas with 21 PTS, 11 REB, 4 AST 33 PTS, 7 REB, 4 AST · 14-26 FG, 2-8 3PT

The swing

The Jazz won the first 34-29, their biggest quarter edge.

UTA lead by quarter
200 +5+3−1+2 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Final · Pacers-Hornets
Pacers 114Hornets 112
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Pacers33273024114
Hornets30282925112
The story
Pascal Siakam's 30 points and 14 rebounds carried Indiana past Charlotte, 114-112

For Charlotte, Kon Knueppel had 18 PTS, 8 REB, 3 AST 30 PTS, 14 REB, 3 AST · 12-23 FG, 3-4 3PT

The swing

The first quarter, 33-30, was where the Pacers built it.

IND lead by quarter
200 +3+2+3+2 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Final · Cavs-Wolves
Cavs 122Wolves 131
TeamQ1Q2Q3Q4T
Cavs31362233122
Wolves32314325131
The story
Minnesota beat Cleveland 131-122 behind 28 points and 11 rebounds from Julius Randle

Donovan Mitchell paced Cleveland: 30 PTS, 8 AST, 7 REB 28 PTS, 11 REB, 8 AST · 10-21 FG, 3-7 3PT

The swing

A 43-22 third quarter erased a 4-point hole for the Timberwolves.

MIN lead by quarter
200 +1−4+17+9 Q1Q2Q3Q4
Fantasy angle
Heating up
+6.5points, last 5 vs season avg
Points per game
12.3Season avg18.8Last 5

18.8 points a game over his last five games, against 12.3 in 35 earlier games. Today: 16 points in 32 minutes.

Losing minutes
−8.0minutes, last 3 vs season avg
Minutes per game
22.0Season avg14.0Last 3

14.0 minutes a game over his last three games, against 22.0 in 35 earlier games. Today: 8 points in 18 minutes.

Stepped-up role
+12.4minutes, today vs season avg
Minutes per game
23.6Season avg36Today

36 minutes today, against 23.6 a game in 34 earlier games. Line: 10 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assists.

Top performances

LaMelo Ball leads the day with 33

LaMelo BallPoints, last 10 games: 23, 23, 22, 26, 27, 12, 17, 16, 15, 33Hornets-Pacers · L
20.0 PPG season to date · +13.5 vs his regular-season average before tonight
33 PTS · 3 REB · 8 AST
Lauri MarkkanenPoints, last 10 games: 26, 33, 27, 30, 29, 22, 35, 22, 29, 33Jazz-Mavs · W
27.9 PPG season to date · +5.2 vs his regular-season average before tonight
33 PTS · 7 REB · 4 AST
Pascal SiakamPoints, last 10 games: 25, 15, 11, 33, 23, 26, 23, 34, 22, 30Pacers-Hornets · W
23.9 PPG season to date · +6.3 vs his regular-season average before tonight
30 PTS · 14 REB · 3 AST
Donovan MitchellPoints, last 10 games: 32, 30, 27, 34, 16, 10, 34, 33, 30, 30Cavs-Wolves · L
29.8 PPG season to date · +0.2 vs his regular-season average before tonight
30 PTS · 7 REB · 8 AST
Julius RandlePoints, last 10 games: 12, 25, 32, 13, 17, 19, 23, 22, 15, 28Wolves-Cavs · W
22.3 PPG season to date · +5.9 vs his regular-season average before tonight
28 PTS · 11 REB · 8 AST
Cooper FlaggPoints, last 10 games: 24, 16, 33, 27, 23, 15, 12, 10, 20, 26Mavs-Jazz · L
19.1 PPG season to date · +7.1 vs his regular-season average before tonight
26 PTS · 10 REB · 8 AST
Hot and cold

Last 10 games against the season so far

Hot
Peyton WatsonDEN+5.4 18.1 last 10 · 12.7 season
Caleb LovePOR+4.9 15.0 last 10 · 10.1 season
Anthony BlackORL+4.8 20.1 last 10 · 15.3 season
Kawhi LeonardLAC+4.7 32.7 last 10 · 28.0 season
Jusuf NurkicUTA+4.6 15.0 last 10 · 10.4 season
Cold
Malik MonkSAC−4.5 6.9 last 10 · 11.4 season
Bam AdebayoMIA−4.3 12.6 last 10 · 16.9 season
Dylan HarperSAS−3.9 7.1 last 10 · 11.0 season
Bennedict MathurinIND−3.7 14.1 last 10 · 17.8 season
Rui HachimuraLAL−3.5 9.2 last 10 · 12.7 season