NY Knicks defeat Brooklyn Nets 105-93
NEW YORK — Donte DiVincenzo scored 31 points, Miles McBride had 26 and New York beat Brooklyn 105-93 on Saturday.
Jalen Brunson and Isaiah Hartenstein each had 17 points in New York’s fifth win in six games. Brunson also had eight assists, and Hartenstein grabbed nine rebounds.
Brooklyn dropped its sixth consecutive game. Cam Thomas had 19 points for the Nets, and Mikal Bridges finished with 18.
Dennis Smith Jr. opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer for Brooklyn, tying it at 80. But New York responded with a 12-0 run.
DiVincenzo scored the first seven points in the spurt on two layups and a 3-pointer. After Josh Hart scored on a putback, DiVincenzo made another 3 to make it 92-80 with 8:56 left.
KINGS 109, MAGIC 107
ORLANDO, Fla. — De’Aaron Fox hit tying and go-ahead free throws with 21.2 seconds left and finished with 31 points, and Keon Ellis added another free throw in the final seconds as Sacramento beat Orlando.
After Fox tied the game at 107 and put the Kings ahead at 108-107, Ellis added a basket from the line with two seconds remaining and Sacramento ended Orlando’s five-game win streak.
Paolo Banchero missed a long 3-pointer attempt at the buzzer for the Magic.
Domantas Sabonis had 21 points and 14 rebounds for Sacramento, and Keegan Murray added 22 points.
Jonathan Isaac matched his career high with 25 points for the Magic. Banchero finished with 22 points and Franz Wagner added 18.
ROCKETS 147, JAZZ 119
HOUSTON — Jalen Green scored 41 points, Fred VanVleet added 10 3-pointers and a season-high 34 and the Houston Rockets made a season-best 27 3-pointers to beat the Utah Jazz 147119 on Saturday night for their eighth straight win.
Jabari Smith Jr. and Kris Dunn were ejected five seconds into the second quarter after both were assessed technical fouls for fighting. The two threw punches at each other after they got tangled up while the ball was being brought up the court. Players and officials got between them before the scuffle could escalate further.
The Rockets’ win streak is their longest since winning eight in a row in November 2019. Houston closed within 1 ½ games of idle Golden State for 10th place and the last play-in spot in the Western Conference.
VanVleet scored 23 points on seven 3-pointers, and Green had 21 points on 9-of-12 shooting in the first half as the Rockets built an 85-55 halftime lead. Houston shot 65% in the first half and was 15 of 24 on 3s.
WIZARDS 112, RAPTORS 109
WASHINGTON — Deni Avdija scored 22 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, Kyle Kuzma made some big baskets down the stretch to compensate for a rough shooting performance and the Washington Wizards handed the Toronto Raptors their 10th consecutive
loss, 112-109 on Saturday night.
With just their third twogame winning streak of the season, the Wizards kept from falling below Detroit for the worst record in the NBA.
Bruce Brown missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer that would have forced overtime, and the short-handed Raptors have not won since March 3.
This was arguably their best chance to end this skid — by far their longest of the season — especially after cutting down on the turnovers that hurt them in a home loss Friday night to Oklahoma City. But Toronto, playing without its top three leading scorers and down to just eight healthy players available, made some costly mistakes and faded late after leading by as many as 11.
HAWKS 132, HORNETS 91
ATLANTA — Dejounte Murray made a season-high seven 3-pointers while scoring 28 points and the Atlanta Hawks beat the Charlotte Hornets 132-91 on Saturday night to strengthen their hold on the final spot
in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament.
Bruno Fernando scored a career-high 25 points and Garrison Mathews had 20, each in backup roles. Atlanta opened a five-game homestand with its first home win over Charlotte since Nov. 20, 2021. The Hornets took home wins in the first two games of the season series.
Murray was 7 of 9 on 3s and set a season high with 12 assists as he continued to handle lead point-guard duties in the team’s 14th consecutive game without injured All-Star Trae Young,
still recovering from a finger injury.
SUNS 131, SPURS 106
SAN ANTONIO — Devin Booker scored 32 points before sitting out the fourth quarter and the Phoenix Suns never trailed in steamrolling the San Antonio Spurs 131-106 on Saturday night to help their playoff positioning.
Kevin Durant added 25 points for Phoenix, which never trailed and led by as many as 32.
Victor Wembanyama had 13 points, five rebounds, four assists and a blocked shot in 21 minutes as San Antonio lost its third straight and eighth in 10 games. Keldon Johnson had 14 points.
Phoenix shot 59.6% in winning their eighth straight in San Antonio.
CELTICS 124, BULLS 113
CHICAGO — Jayson Tatum scored 26 points, Sam Hauser and Al Horford added 23 apiece, and the NBA-leading Boston Celtics won their ninth straight, 124-113 over the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night.
Hauser made seven of Boston’s 21 3-pointers, while Horford hit 5 of 10 from beyond the arc. Derrick White scored 17. Payton Pritchard added 15 points and eight assists, and the Celtics pulled within two wins of their season-best streak even though Jaylen Brown (sprained right ankle) and Kristaps Porzingis (right hamstring) sat out the game.
Boston scored nine straight to go up by eight early in the fourth quarter and hung on down the stretch. It was a six-point game when Luke Kornet scored on a tip-in and Tatum drove for a layup, making it 117-107 with 3:04 remaining.