WASHINGTON (AP) — Karl-Anthony Towns had 19 points and 14 rebounds, and the New York Knicks rolled to their seventh straight victory, 132-101 over the Washington Wizards on Tuesday night.
Mikal Bridges scored 23 points and Jalen Brunson added 21 for New York, although the Knicks did lose Josh Hart to a sprained left ankle in the third quarter. Hart, who dealt with right ankle trouble earlier this season, walked gingerly to the tunnel immediately after leaving the game and did not play again.
Will Riley scored 17 points and Bub Carrington added 14 for the Wizards. Washington has won three of its last five, but the two defeats were by 31 to the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday and by the same margin to the Knicks four days later.
New York has won 11 consecutive games against the Wizards.
The Knicks went 2-9 from Dec. 31 to Jan. 19, but they’ve rebounded impressively from that slump. During this seven-game run, they have wins by 54, 27, 30 and 31. They led by 41 on Tuesday.
New York was able to rest players ahead of Wednesday night’s showdown with Denver, which also played Tuesday at Detroit. Only Brunson reached the 30-minute mark in this game for either team.
The Knicks led by as many as 18 points in the first quarter and were up 72-45 at halftime.
JAZZ 131, PACERS 122
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Isaiah Collier had a career-high 22 assists — the most in the NBA this season and the most by a Utah player since John Stockton in 1992 — and the Jazz beat Indiana with just seven healthy players.
Lauri Markkanen scored 27 points for the Jazz, who were short-handed after trading Georges Niang, Kyle Anderson, Walter Clayton Jr. and Taylor Hendricks to Memphis earlier Tuesday for Jaren Jackson Jr., Jock Landale, John Konchar and Vince Williams Jr.
The last NBA player with 22 assists in a game was Denver’s Nikola Jokic last March 7. Collier, who played the entire game, also scored 17 points as all seven Utah players had 14 points or more. Brice Sensabaugh scored 20, Ace Bailey had 19 and Kyle Filipowski had 16 points and 16 rebounds.
Quenton Johnson scored 24 points on 9-of-10 shooting and Jarace Walker also had 24 for the Pacers, who held out four regular starters — All-Star Pascal Siakam, Bennedict Mathurin, Andrew Nembhard and T.J. McConnell — for rest or because of minor injuries. All four played a night earlier, when Indiana lost 118-114 to visiting Houston.
Little-used Kam Jones, a healthy scratch on Monday, made his first career start for the Pacers and had 12 points.
LAKERS 125, NETS 109
NEW YORK (AP) — LeBron James scored 25 points, Luka Doncic had 24 and Los Angeles rolled to a victory over Brooklyn in Austin Reaves’ first game since Christmas.
Reaves had 15 points in 21 minutes after missing the last 19 games with a strained left calf. He entered late in the first quarter with the Lakers already well in control and helped them continue to pour it on during their 20-for-25 shooting start to the game.
Jake LaRavia scored 18 points for the Lakers, who finished 5-3 on their road trip and play next against Philadelphia at home Thursday night, a few hours after the NBA’s trade deadline has passed.
James had said it was difficult to evaluate the team’s potential without Reaves, who was averaging 26.6 points before he was hurt. They looked potent Tuesday, though it’s hard to judge much against the hapless Nets, who are only good at losing badly.
PISTONS 124, NUGGETS 121
DETROIT (AP) — All-Star Cade Cunningham had 29 points and 10 assists and Detroit beat Denver.
All-Star Jalen Duren added 19 points and 13 rebounds, and Duncan Robinson scored 20 for the Pistons, who have won five of six, including a 109-107 win in Denver on Jan. 27. They came into the game following a record-setting win on Sunday, beating the Brooklyn Nets 130-77 and setting a franchise mark with a 53-point margin of victory.
Jamal Murray led the Nuggets with 32 points and eight assists while Nikola Jokic had 24 points and 15 rebounds.
The Nuggets never led, but Jokic got them within two possessions, 112-107, with 2:33 to play. After a Detroit miss, Murray’s 3-pointer made it a two-point game.
Tobias Harris answered with a 3-pointer on Detroit’s next possession, and the teams traded baskets to make it 117-112 with 1:15 left.
Detroit finally got a stop with 33 seconds left and clinched the game from the free-throw line.
HAWKS 127, HEAT 115
MIAMI (AP) — All-Star Jalen Johnson had 29 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, CJ McCollum added 26 points off the bench and Atlanta beat Miami to snap a two-game slide.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 19 for the Hawks, who led most of the way and spoiled Miami’s celebration of the 20th anniversary of its 2006 NBA championship. Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal were sitting courtside, and most of the players from that first Heat title team were in attendance.
Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 21 points for the Heat. Pelle Larsson and Simone Fontecchio each had 18, and Bam Adebayo finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds for Miami.
Atlanta took the lead for good with 4:31 left in the opening quarter and answered every Miami rally attempt with a run of its own.
The Hawks took a 21-point lead in the second quarter; Miami quickly got within 11, but Atlanta had the margin out to 17 points again by halftime.
It was largely the same plot in the third quarter; Miami shaved 12 points off the deficit to get within five after just 4:57 of the second half, but the Hawks pulled away again and McCollum’s 3-pointer to end the quarter gave Atlanta yet another 17-point lead going into the fourth.
BUCKS 131, BULLS 115
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Kyle Kuzma matched a season high with 31 points and Milwaukee snapped a five-game skid, beating Chicago in a meeting of short-handed teams.
Milwaukee was missing its top two scorers due to injury, while the Bulls traded away three players earlier in the day.
The Bulls sent Kevin Huerter and Dario Saric to Detroit as part of a three-team deal in which they acquired Mike Conley Jr. from Minnesota and Jaden Ivey from the Pistons. They also traded Nikola Vucevic and a second-round pick to Boston for Anfernee Simons and a second-round selection.
Chicago was missing leading scorer Josh Giddey due to a strained left hamstring.
Milwaukee was again without two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who strained his right calf on Jan. 23. Antetokounmpo was on the court taking shots and working out before the game.
The Bucks improved to 4-15 without Antetokounmpo.
CELTICS 110, MAVERICKS 100
DALLAS (AP) — Jaylen Brown had 33 points and 11 rebounds, and Boston beat Dallas, overcoming another stellar showing from Cooper Flagg and handing the Mavericks their season-worst fifth consecutive loss.
Flagg scored 36 points in the rookie No. 1 pick’s first meeting with the team he grew up watching because Boston was the closest NBA city to his hometown, about 200 miles south of Newport, Maine.
It was Flagg’s third consecutive 30-point game, five nights after the 19-year-old set the NBA scoring record for a teenager with 49 against Charlotte. The former Duke standout had nine rebounds and six assists.
Payton Pritchard scored 26 points for the Celtics, who were playing without Anfernee Simons. Boston acquired Nikola Vucevic for Simons in a trade with Chicago earlier in the day, a person with knowledge of the deal told The Associated Press.
Luka Garza scored nine consecutive Boston points on 3-pointers during a 14-4 run that finished the third quarter and gave the Celtics an 86-67 lead. Garza made all four of his attempts from 3 and scored 16 points in 20 minutes.
THUNDER 128, MAGIC 92
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Isaiah Hartenstein had his first career-triple double, Isaiah Joe scored 22 points and Oklahoma City rolled past Orlando.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 20 points and nine assists, Lu Dort scored 18 points and first-time All-Star Chet Holmgren added 16 points and 10 rebounds for the defending champion Thunder (40-11), who became the first team this season to reach 40 wins.
Hartenstein finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in 23 minutes. The eighth-year center became the 10th Thunder player to record a triple-double.
Oklahoma City played without Jalen Williams, who missed his eighth straight game with a hamstring injury, and Ajay Mitchell, who sat out his sixth game in a row with an abdominal strain.
Jalen Suggs led Orlando with 20 points, and Paolo Banchero added 17 points on 6-of-17 shooting. Franz Wagner, the Magic’s leading scorer, missed his fifth straight game with a high left ankle sprain.
76ERS 113, WARRIORS 94
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Rookie VJ Edgecombe had 25 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, Andre Drummond added 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Philadelphia won its fifth straight game, beating Golden State, who were missing Stephen Curry because of a painful right knee.
Trendon Watford had 16 points and eight rebounds off the bench while Adem Bona made all five of his first-half field goals in nine minutes to help the Sixers to a 58-57 lead at the break. Bona finished with 11 points.
The Sixers grabbed 24 offensive rebounds for a 55-34 advantage on the boards and scored 15 points off the Warriors’ 20 turnovers.
Philadelphia’s second bus arrived only about 75 minutes before tipoff because of Bay Area traffic, but coach Nick Nurse was unconcerned about his team having a prolonged warmup since it was the second game of a back-to-back. The Sixers beat the Clippers 128-113 on Monday.
Curry exited early from Golden State’s 131-124 loss to Detroit on Friday because of the troublesome knee. Forward Jonathan Kuminga, whose future with the franchise remains uncertain, sat out his fifth straight game with a bone bruise in his left knee.
Gui Santos and Pat Spencer scored 13 points apiece and Moses Moody added 12 for the Warriors, who lost a third straight game at home.
SUNS 130, TRAIL BLAZERS 125
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Collin Gillespie scored a career-high 30 points, Mark Williams had 24 points and 12 rebounds, and Phoenix bounced back from a slow start for a win over reeling Portland.
Grayson Allen also scored 24 points on 11-of-14 shooting and Jordan Goodwin had 16 points and 10 rebounds on a night when the Suns played without leading scorer Devin Booker (25.4 points per game), who was out with a right ankle sprain. Jalen Green was also out of the Suns’ lineup.
Gillespie tied a career high with eight made 3-pointers and also had 10 assists.
Jerami Grant had 23 points to lead Portland, which lost its sixth straight game. Donovan Clingan had 14 points and 15 rebounds. Shaedon Sharpe added 19 points for Portland.
The Trail Blazers also played without their leading scorer and second-leading rebounder, Deni Avdija (25.5 points per game), who has a lower back strain and was just named to his first All-Star game.
Vit Krejci had five points in his Portland debut after being acquired in a trade with Atlanta.
