Burks has big 4th, Knicks top Rockets
NEW YORK – Alec Burks scored 17 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, Evan Fournier added 19 and the New York Knicks handed the Houston Rockets their 14th consecutive loss with a 106-99 victory on Saturday.
All-Star Julius Randle had 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Immanuel Quickley chipped in 13 points off the bench for the Knicks.
Christian Wood had 18-points and 12 rebounds for the NBA-worst Rockets (115), who have not won since a 124-91 rout over Oklahoma City on Oct. 24.
Jae’Sean Tate finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds for Houston, which dropped to 0-10 in road games.
Houston led 89-84 midway through the fourth quarter but Burks hit three 3pointers down the stretch.
Randle found Burks for a 3-pointer to even it at 89-all, but Eric Gordon gave the Rockets the lead momentarily with a driving layup.
New York then went on a 12-2 run, capped by consecutive 3-pointers from Burks, extending the lead 101-93 with 21/2 minutes to go.
Houston turned the ball over eight times during the first nine minutes. But the Rockets settled down, outscoring New York 10-2 to take a 21-13 at the end of the opening period.
The Knicks started out sluggish, too, shooting just 5 for 23 in their worst opening quarter of the season.
Wizards 103, Heat 100: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Spencer Dinwiddie each scored 16 points and hit two 3pointers during a crucial late stretch and the host Wizards rallied over the Heat.
Bradley Beal had 21 points to help Washington split the home-and-home series with Miami and move a halfgame above the Heat in the Southeast Division standings. Miami, beat Washington 112-97 in Florida on Thursday night.
The Wizards trailed by as 16 in the third quarter and by 10 with 4:42 to play before Caldwell-Pope and Dinwiddie scored every point during a 15-2 run to give Washington a 99-96 lead with 1:43 left.
Kyle Kuzma hit 4 of 6 free throws in the final minute for the Wizards, who also pulled within a half-game of Eastern Conference-leading Brooklyn.
Jimmy Butler scored 29 points for the Heat, and Tyler Herro added 20. Miami had won four in a row.
Caldwell-Pope started the winning run when he hit a 3 from the top of the arc, absorbed a foul and converted a
four-point play to cut it to 96-90.
Later, his 3 from the right wing tied it before Dinwiddie sank one from the same spot to give Washington the lead and send a near-capacity crowd to its feet.
Celtics 111, Thunder 105: Jayson Tatum scored 33 points, Dennis Schroder had 29 and the host Celtics beat the Thunder.
Al Horford added 10 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for Boston, which won for seventh time in 10 games. Grant Williams chipped in with 14 points and Enes Kanter had 10 points and 10 boards.
Lu Dort scored 16 points for Oklahoma City, Josh Giddey had 15 points and eight rebounds, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 14 points. The Thunder have dropped four of five.
Coming off an emotional 22-point victory over the rival Lakers a night earlier, the Celtics didn’t have any letdown, charging to a double-digit lead midway into the second quarter.
Tatum had 37 points and 11 rebounds in the win over Los Angeles on Friday.
Boston pushed a 13-point halftime lead to 68-48 on Horford’s three-point play. The Thunder made a brief spurt with consecutive 3s by Giddey before the Celtics went on a 13-2 run.
They led by 16 with 6 ½ minutes left in the game before the Thunder sliced it under double digits on Jeremiah Robinson-Earl’s follow shot with just under 4 minutes left.
Pacers 111, Pelicans 94: Domantas Sabonis had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and the Pacers’ starters bounced back from being benched a night earlier to beat the visiting Pelicans.
Yanked by coach Rick Carlisle midway through the third quarter of loss at Charlotte, Indiana’s starters opened with 23 points in the first quarter for a 32-19 lead against the Pelicans.
The one change to the starting lineup was shooting guard Justin Holiday, who scored 17 points with four 3-pointers. Point guard Malcolm Brogdon scored 16.
Jonas Valanciunas had 19 points and 13 rebounds for the Pelicans. Naji Marshall scored 14 points and Brandon Ingram had 12.
Carlisle was critical of his starters’ selfishness Friday. That’s why the coach stuck with reserves down the stretch at Charlotte, where a 25-point deficit was trimmed to three at the final buzzer. This night, the Pacers shared the ball with 20 assists to the Pelicans’ nine to build a 58-46 halftime lead.
Indiana then broke it open with an 18-4 run in the third quarter.