Brunson, Knicks clobber Warriors
NEW YORK (AFP) — Jalen Brunson scored 34 points as the New York Knicks completed a wire-to-wire 119-112 road victory over the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco on Monday.
The Warriors, fresh from Saturday’s high-scoring win over the Los Angeles Lakers, were always on the back foot after New York sprinted into an early 20-6 first quarter lead at the Chase Center.
Point guard Brunson pulled the strings superbly to guide an injury-hit Knicks line-up to an impressive win that keeps them firmly on course for the playoffs.
Brunson received scoring support from Miles McBride, who finished with a career-high 29 points in just his sixth National Basketball Association start.
“We keep finding ways to win,” Brunson said afterwards. “Staying poised, staying confident — just sticking together.”
But the loss was another body blow for the erratic Warriors, who are 17-18 at home this season.
Golden State occupied 10th place in the Western Conference — the last of the four play-in berths. Stephen Curry led Golden State’s scorers with 27 points.
In Los Angeles, the Lakers bounced back from Saturday’s defeat to the Warriors with an emphatic 136-105 win over the Atlanta Hawks.
D’Angelo Russell drained six-of-10 from three-point distance to finish with 27 points, while LeBron James finished with 25 points and Anthony Davis 22.
The Lakers are ninth in the West on 37-32.
In other games on Monday, the Cleveland Cavaliers fought back from a 15-point deficit to grind out a 108-103 victory over the Indiana
Pacers in Indianapolis.