Kuwait Times infographic: NBA Power Rankings
Carmelo Anthony scored 25 points as the New York Knicks salvaged the finale of a tumultuous fivegame homestand by beating the San Antonio Spurs 94-90 on Sunday. With Latrell Sprewell and a number of other former Knicks in attendance two days after Charles Oakley was banned, the current team pulled out a defensive performance from its past, limiting the Spurs to 36 percent shooting. That came just two nights after the Knicks yielded 131 points in a dismal defensive performance against Denver, which came after losses to Cleveland and both Los Angeles teams to start the homestand. Kawhi Leonard had 36 points for the Spurs (41-13), who had their two-game win streak snapped and failed in their first attempt to secure what would have been an NBA-record 20th consecutive winning season. The Knicks didn’t let the Spurs reach 70 points until fewer than 8 minutes remained. Then Anthony provided offense when they needed it clinging to a two-point lead, making consecutive baskets to make it 92-86 with 33 seconds remaining. Anthony’s relationship with Phil Jackson and resulting trade rumors were a constant throughout the homestand, though the fallout from Oakley’s arrest after an altercation with security guards last Wednesday became the bigger story.
PISTONS 102, RAPTORS 101
Tobias Harris had 24 points off the bench and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 21, including a go-ahead 3pointer with 13.2 seconds left, as Detroit overcame a 16-point fourth quarter deficit to beat Toronto. Andre Drummond had 10 points and 18 rebounds for his 36th double-double of the season. DeMar DeRozan scored 26 points for Toronto and Jonas Valanciunas had 17 points and nine rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Raptors from losing for the 10th time in their last 14 games. Caldwell-Pope made it a two-point game with a pull-up jumper with 47.9 seconds remaining, and put the Pistons in front 102-101 with his 3pointer.
TIMBERWOLVES 117, BULLS 89
Andrew Wiggins scored 27 points and Karl-Anthony Towns added 22 to help Minnesota beat severely shorthanded Chicago. Ricky Rubio had 17 points, 11 assists and six rebounds and Minnesota shot 54 percent to help coach Tom Thibodeau sweep the season series against his former team. Gorgui Dieng added 10 points and 13 rebounds. Doug McDermott scored 16 points and made four 3-pointers for the Bulls. They were missing Jimmy Butler, Dwyane Wade, Nikola Mirotic and Paul Zipser with injuries. The Bulls turned the ball over 18 times, were outrebounded 46-35 and were outscored 56-38 in the paint.
KINGS 105, PELICANS 99
DeMarcus Cousins had 28 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists for the Sacramento Kings, who beat the New Orleans Pelicans for their third straight victory. The Kings assumed the lead late in the third quarter and never relinquished it in winning for the fourth time in five games. The Kings have won three straight games only one other time this season. Darren Collison had 20 points and eight assists for the Kings. Anthony Davis had 32 points and 10 rebounds for the Pelicans, but was limited to 11 points following a huge first half. New Orleans has dropped eight of 10 games and is 719 on the road. — AP