Young scores 45, Hawks beat Knicks
Trae Young had 45 points and eight assists in his first game at Madison Square Garden since last season’s playoffs, leading a late surge that gave the Atlanta Hawks a 117-111 victory over the New York Knicks on Tuesday night.
Picking up right where he left off last spring, Young made seven 3-pointers, including one that tied the game at 105 with 2:54 to play.
Bogdan Bogdanovic added a season-high 32 points for the Hawks, who dropped the Knicks six games behind them for 10th place in the Eastern Conference, the final spot in the play-in field.
RJ Barrett had 28 points and 13 rebounds for the Knicks, who fell to 30-42 to clinch their eighth losing season in the last nine.
BUCKS 126, BULLS 98 » Giannis Antetokounmpo had 25 points and 17 rebounds in his return to action and Milwaukee extended their recent mastery of Chicago.
Jrue Holiday had a gamehigh 27 points to go along with seven assists as the Bucks won for the 15th time in their last 16 meetings with the Bulls, including all three matchups this season.
Nikola Vucevic had 22 points for the Bulls, who opened a five-game trip one night after a 113-99 victory over the Toronto Raptors. DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine added 21 points each.
NUGGETS 127, CLIPPERS 115 » Nikola Jokic bounced back from a rare poor shooting performance, scoring 30 points to lead Denver to a win over Los Angeles.
Denver had lost four of six.
The Clippers dropped their fourth straight game. They have lost seven of nine overall.
Terance Mann led the Clippers with 24 points.