Knicks cough up 14-point lead in 4th
New York’s 2-game win streak halted as Cleveland rallies
Kevin Love scored 26 points, Jordan Clarkson and Collin Sexton each had 22 and the Cleveland Cavaliers overcame a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the New York Knicks 125-118 on Thursday night.
Cedi Osman added 21 points as Cleveland won for the third time in four games. The Knicks had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.
Allonzo Trier scored 22 points for the Knicks, who led 99-85 after Damyean Dotson’s jumper to open the fourth quarter.
The Knicks still led by nine following Kevin Knox’s jumper with 3:51 left, but Sexton’s threepoint play and layup brought Cleveland within 113-109.
After Knox followed with two free throws, the Cavs scored the next 12 points to take the lead for good. Magic 103, Warriors 96: Aaron Gordon had 22 points and 15 rebounds, Terrence Ross added 16 points and Orlando rallied in the final three minutes to beat Golden State. A night after they were stunned in Miami by Dwyane Wade’s buzzerbeater, the Warriors blew an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter and lost for the fourth time in six games. D.J. Augustin scored 14 points and Nikola Vucevic had 12 points and 13 rebounds to help Orlando end an 11-game losing streak to the Warriors. Orlando’s last win over Golden State was on Dec. 14, 2012. Stephen Curry scored 33 points, but was only 1-for-6 in the fourth quarter.
Rockets 121, Heat 118: James Harden had 58 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds and Houston overcame a 21-point third-quarter deficit to beat Miami. Harden made 8 of 18 3-pointers and was 16-for-32 overall from the field and 18-for18 on free throws. He fell three points short of his career high set at New York on Jan. 23, and had the most point ever against the Heat — breaking Willie Burton’s mark of 53 for Philadelphia on Dec. 13, 1994.
Pacers 122, T’wolves 115: Bojan Bogdanovic scored a season-high 35 points and Indiana overcame Karl-anthony Towns’ big night for Minnesota. Towns had 42 points and 17 rebounds, scoring 23 points and grabbing seven rebounds in the first quarter. Tied at 107, the Pacers closed with a 15-8 run, with Bogdanovic scoring 11 points. 76ers 108, Thunder 104: Tobias Harris scored 32 points and Ben Simmons had a tripledouble to help Philadelphia beat Oklahoma City.
Note: Lakers guard Lonzo Ball needs at least one more week to recover from his bone bruise and sprained ankle, the Lakers said . ... Sacramento rookie forward Marvin Bagley III will miss at least a week with a sprained left knee. Bagley underwent an MRI on Thursday after hurting the knee the previous night.