▶Julius Randle had 33 points, Knicks rally late to top Pelicans in overtime for sixth win in row.
Randle scores 33 as N.Y. rallies late to top Pelicans in overtime
The Knicks’ longest winning streak in seven years was seconds away from ending and the New Orleans Pelicans were told what to do to stop it.
They didn’t follow instructions, and a few minutes later the Knicks were still rolling right along.
Julius Randle had 33 points and 10 assists, Derrick Rose made huge plays all over the court to spark New York’s streak-saving finish and the Knicks beat the Pelicans 122-112 in overtime Sunday for their sixth straight win.
“I mean I haven’t had this feeling in a long time, let alone be on a winning streak,” Rose said. “So I’m grateful to be in this situation.”
Rose scored 23 points. He had the assist on Reggie Bullock’s 3-pointer with 2.3 seconds left in regulation, blocked a last shot by the Pelicans that would’ve won it and then opened overtime with a steal and layup to give New York the lead for good.
Most of that wouldn’t have been possible if the Pelicans had first listened to Stan Van Gundy’s plan to foul intentionally with a threepoint lead, or if once they didn’t, Lonzo Ball hadn’t cheated off Bullock to help on a driving Rose when a layup wouldn’t have hurt.
“We deserved to lose. When you do that, you deserve to lose,” Van Gundy said. “I don’t care if you’re a senior in high school, you can execute what we were supposed to be doing with 7.8 seconds to go. So no excuse whatsoever.”
The Knicks extended their longest winning streak since an eight-game run in 2013-14.
Heat 109, Nets 107: Bam Adebayo’s 13-foot jumper rattled in as time expired, and Miami snapped a threegame slide. Adebayo had 21 points and 15 rebounds for the Heat, who trailed by six points in the final minutes before finishing the game on a 10-2 run. Landry Shamet had 30 points for Brooklyn, and Kyrie Irving added 20.
Hawks 129, Pacers 117: Trae Young scored 34 points, Clint Capela had 25 points and 24 rebounds and Atlanta beat Indiana. Bogdan Bogdanovic and Shenendehowa graduate Kevin Huerter each chipped in 23 points.
Rockets 114, Magic 110: Christian Wood had 25 points, Kelly Olynyk added 24 and Houston used a strong offensive showing in the third quarter to rally past Orlando.
Raptors 112, Thunder 106: Chris Boucher had 31 points and 11 rebounds, and Toronto extended Oklahoma City’s season-worst losing streak to 10 games.
Hornets 109, Blazers 101: Terry Rozier had 34 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds, and Charlotte rode a strong first quarter to snap a four-game losing streak.
Kings 121, Mavericks 107: De’aaron Fox scored 30 points as Sacramento snapped a nine-game skid.