Honestly, if you weren't glued to the screen last night, you missed a bizarre mix of blowouts and absolute heart-stoppers. People keep asking what's the score for the basketball game, but the reality is there wasn't just "one" game—it was a full-blown chaotic Wednesday across both the NBA and the college ranks.
The biggest shocker? Probably the Chicago Bulls somehow scraping by the Utah Jazz in a 128-126 thriller that had Bulls fans on Reddit calling for trades despite the win. Coby White almost gave the game away with some late-game brain farts, but Chicago moved to 19-21 regardless. It was ugly. It was gritty. It was peak January basketball.
NBA Scores: Wednesday, January 14, 2026
The league was busy last night. Down in New Orleans, the Pelicans barely held off the Brooklyn Nets with a 116-113 victory. If you're a Nets fan, that's a tough pill to swallow since they're now sitting at 11-27. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Clippers looked dominant at the Intuit Dome, taking care of the Washington Wizards 119-105.
Khris Middleton—yeah, he's in a Wizards jersey now—looked decent, but Washington just didn't have the muscle to keep up once the Clippers' second unit started rolling.
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- Toronto Raptors 115, Indiana Pacers 101: Toronto just looked more organized. Simple as that.
- Denver Nuggets 118, Dallas Mavericks 109: Nikola Jokic doing Jokic things. Denver's now 27-13.
- Sacramento Kings 112, New York Knicks 101: A disappointing night for the Knicks at the Golden 1 Center.
- Chicago Bulls 128, Utah Jazz 126: The game that probably shouldn't have been this close.
The standings are getting crowded. Detroit is still surprisingly holding onto the top spot in the East at 28-10, which feels like a fever dream compared to where they were two years ago.
College Hoops: No. 1 Arizona Stays Perfect
If you were looking for what's the score for the basketball game in the NCAA world, the headline was the Territorial Cup. Top-ranked Arizona (17-0) kept their undefeated streak alive, but man, Arizona State made them sweat for it. The final was 89-82.
Freshman Koa Peat is the real deal. He had 24 points and 10 boards, and he basically took over the second half after a rocky start where he couldn't buy a bucket. Arizona State led 39-38 at the half, mostly by being more physical and making the Wildcats play a slow, muddy style of ball.
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Elsewhere in the Top 25, things got messy. No. 10 Vanderbilt fell to Texas 80-64. Stanford pulled off a massive upset against No. 14 North Carolina, winning 95-90. It’s that time of year where the "lock" teams start looking very vulnerable.
Why people are still tracking these specific games
We're in the middle of January. This is where the "grind" of the season sets in. Teams like the Knicks or the Mavs are trying to figure out if they need to make a move before the trade deadline, while college teams are fighting for every scrap of momentum before March.
When you check what's the score for the basketball game, you're usually looking for more than just numbers. You're looking for the trajectory. Are the Lakers (currently 24-14) actually contenders, or was that 141-116 drubbing of Atlanta on Tuesday just a fluke?
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Major Takeaways from the Week
- The East is Detroit's to lose (for now): 28-10 is no joke.
- Arizona is the clear NCAA favorite: Being 17-0 in this landscape is incredibly difficult.
- The Wizards are in deep trouble: At 10-29, the rebuild is looking long and painful.
If you're following the action today, Thursday, January 15, we've got a heavy slate. The Celtics are visiting Miami, and the Thunder are taking on the Rockets. Those are the ones that will actually shake up the top of the standings.
Keep an eye on the injury reports before tip-off. With the way the schedule is compressed this year, stars are sitting out at the last minute, and that's usually why you see these wild 20-point swings in the fourth quarter.
To stay ahead of the curve, check the official NBA App or the NCAA's March Madness Live hub about 30 minutes before the first whistle. That’s usually when the "active" rosters are locked in and you can see who's actually playing versus who's getting a rest day. For those tracking the betting lines, the late-game volatility in the Bulls/Jazz game is a perfect example of why "safe" leads don't exist in 2026.