Brunson, Knicks snap losing streak vs. Nets
Cavaliers down struggling Spurs
NEW YORK — Jalen Brunson scored 40 points, Josh Hart added a seasonhigh 27 in his second game with his new team and the New York Knicks snapped a nine-game losing streak against the Brooklyn Nets with a 124-106 victory Monday night.
Julius Randle had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Knicks, who beat the Nets for the first time in three years. Brooklyn never lost to the Knicks when Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving played, but they’re both gone now and perhaps so will be the Nets’ ownership of New York’s basketball rivalry.
More importantly for the seventh-place Knicks, they pulled within two games of the Nets for fifth place in the Eastern Conference. The top six teams are guaranteed playoff spots.
Spencer Dinwiddie scored 28 points for the Nets, who showed again how much of a struggle scoring could be after trading their two All-Stars last week. Cam Johnson had 14, but Mikal Bridges, who came with him from Phoenix in the Durant trade, was 2 of 8 for seven points.
T-WOLVES 124, MAVERICKS 121: In Dallas, Irving scored 26 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter in his home debut for Dallas as he tried to rally the Mavericks from a 26-point deficit, but Minnesota held on.
Irving had the highestscoring fourth quarter of his career. But he made a bad pass after stepping inside the 3-point line on the final possession when Dallas had a chance to tie the game. He had exchanged passes with All-Star teammate Luka Doncic, who finished with 33 points.
First-time All-Star guard Anthony Edwards scored 32 points and Rudy Gobert had 21 points and 14 rebounds for the Timberwolves, CAVALIERS 117, SPURS
109: Donovan Mitchell scored 41 points and led Cleveland to its seventh straight win, this over the nose-diving San Antonio Spurs, who matched a team record with their 13th consecutive loss.
San Antonio’s slide equals the longest in club history. The Spurs also lost 13 straight during the 198889 season. Coincidentally, that streak also reached 13 with a loss at Cleveland on March 2, 1989.
Keldon Johnson scored 25 and rookie Malaki Branham 18 to pace the Spurs, who are just 2-20 in 2023 and haven’t won since Jan. 17.
76ERS 123, ROCKETS 104: In Philadelphia, James Harden had 29 points and 10 assists against his former team while Tyrese Maxey scored 26 off the bench as the 76ers beat Houston.
Joel Embiid scored 23 points in 31 minutes for the Sixers, who have won three in a row and improved to 22-8 at home.
Jalen Green scored 29 points for the Rockets, who have lost six straight to fall to a league-worst 13-44. NUGGETS 112, HEAT 108:
In Miami, Nikola Jokic finished with 27 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, and Denver snapped the Heat’s eight-game home winning streak. Jokic made 12 of 14 shots, and Denver, with six double-figure scorers, shot 58%.
Jimmy Butler had 24 points, nine assists and eight rebounds for the Heat.
HORNETS 144, HAWKS 138: In Charlotte, N.C., LaMelo Ball had 30 points and 15 assists, Terry Rozier added 29 points and Charlotte held off Atlanta to snap a seven-game skid.
Trae Young finished with 25 points and 14 assists for the Hawks.
PELICANS 103, THUNDER 100: In Oklahoma City, Brandon Ingram scored 34 points and New Orleans outlasted Oklahoma City.
Oklahoma City had a chance to tie in the closing seconds, but Isaiah Joe’s 3-pointer bounced away at the buzzer. Shai Gilgeous Alexander had 24 points and 10 rebounds for the Thunder.
JAZZ 123, PACERS 117: In Indianapolis, Jordan Clarkson and Lauri Markkanen each scored 29 points and Utah beat Indiana. Tyrese Haliburton had 29 points and 12 assists and Bennedict Mathurin scored 21 for the Pacers, whose skid reached five games. MAGIC 100, BULLS 91:
In Chicago, Paolo Banchero scored 22 points, Franz Wagner and Markelle Fultz added 18 points apiece as Orlando beat cold-shooting Chicago, which missed its first 16 3-point tries. Zach LaVine led Chicago with 26 points. SURVIVING STREAK:
Mikal Bridges’ consecutive games played streak lives on, even after he was forced to miss a game last week for the first time in his NBA career.
Bridges was acquired by Brooklyn from Phoenix last Thursday in the trade for Durant. The deal was approved by the league too late for Bridges to play that night in the Nets’ game against Chicago, so he had to watch from the bench and was listed as “inactive — trade pending” in the official box score.
But the league determined that because Bridges wasn’t eligible to play, it shouldn’t count as a missed game. So his streak, the longest active one in the league, reached 367 games when the Nets lost to the Knicks.