Knicks hold on after Porzingis leaves
NEW YORK » Courtney Lee scored 18 of his 27 points in the second half, Michael Beasley added 15, and the New York Knicks held on to beat the Brooklyn Nets 111104 on Thursday night after losing star forward Kristaps Porzingis to a sore left knee early in the second half.
Porzingis motioned to the bench with 9:25 remaining in the third quarter after contesting a shot made by Brooklyn’s Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. The Knicks’ leading scorer had scored 13 points in nearly 18 minutes in the first half.
Enes Kanter had 13 points and nine rebounds for the Knicks, who earned just their second road victory of the season. Their only other one was Oct. 29 at Cleveland.
Spencer Dinwiddie had 26 points for the Nets, who have dropped the first two games to their city rivals. Chester’s Hollis-Jefferson added 25 points on 10-for16 shooting and Caris LeVert added 15.
New York appeared on its way to an easy one after shooting 23 for 43 from the field and 6 for 13 from the 3-point line and leading by as many as 18 points in the first half. The Nets rallied to take an 82-79 lead on DeMarre Carroll’s 3-pointer with 1:49 left in the third.
But the Knicks went on a 8-0 run to close the quarter, capped by Lee’s 3-point shot that increased their lead 8782 with 25 seconds left. CAVALIERS 121, LAKERS 112» LeBron James recorded his 59th career triple-double in front of Lonzo Ball and his brothers, Kevin Love scored 28 points and Cleveland won for the 16th time in 17 games, over Los Angeles.
James finished with 25 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists to move a tie with Larry Bird for sixth place on the career triple-doubles list. He also put the Lakers away with a dunk and short runner in the final two minutes.
Brandon Ingram scored 26 for the Lakers and Ball had 13 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds. PISTONS 105, HAWKS 91 » Andre Drummond had 12 points, 19 rebounds and a career-high nine assists, Tobias Harris added 19 points and Detroit snapped a sevengame slide with a victory over NBA-worst Atlanta.
Avery Bradley finished with 18 points and Langston Galloway scored 17 as Detroit won for the first time since beating Phoenix on Nov. 29.
Ersan Ilyasova had 23 points, John Collins scored 15 and Dennis Schroder had 10 assists for Atlanta, which dropped to 6-22 and has lost three in a row. TIMBERWOLVES 119, KINGS 96» Karl-Anthony Towns had 30 points and 14 assists in his league-leading 23rd double-double, Jimmy Butler added 21 points and nine assists and Minnesota cruised to a victory over Sacramento.
Andrew Wiggins scored 22 points for Minnesota (1712), which has won three of four and is off to the thirdbest start in franchise history after 29 games.
Zach Randolph had 15 points and nine rebounds for Sacramento. George Hill scored 16 points for the Kings, who lost rookie point guard DeAaron Fox to an injury in the first quarter.
Bucks’ Teletovic out with blockages in lungs
MILWAUKEE » Milwaukee Bucks forward Mirza Teletovic is out because of blockages in his lungs.
The team said Thursday that pulmonary embolisms were discovered in both of Teletovic’s lungs. The 32-year-old consulted with Bucks team physicians after experiencing unusual fatigue earlier this week.
Following a 10-day rest period, Teletovic will begin a supervised rehabilitation program.