Pacers deal Knicks 9th straight loss
NEW YORK >> Julius Randle missed a free throw with 0.1 seconds left, sending New York to a 104-103 loss to the Indiana Pacers on Saturday night in the Knicks’ first game since firing coach David Fizdale.
The Knicks were much more competitive under interim coach Mike Miller than they had been in recent games under Fizdale, who was fired Friday. They chased after rebounds and loose balls throughout the fourth quarter, erasing an 11-point deficit and giving themselves a shot at overtime when Randle was fouled while trying to put back the rebound of a scramble.
He calmly made the first free throw but the second was long, sending New York to a ninth straight loss and a 4-19 record.
T.J. Warren scored 25 points and Domantas Sabonis had 19 points and 15 rebounds for the Pacers. They bounced back from a loss at Detroit on Friday.
The Knicks lost by 44 and 37 in their last two games under Fizdale and he was fired Friday after running practice. The Knicks offered no details about the decision in their press release announcing the firing, and team executives didn’t speak Saturday. MAVERICKS 130, PELICANS 84 >> Luka Doncic scored 28 points in 26 minutes, leading Dallas in a rout of New Orleans.
Dallas (18-8) has won five in a row and 10 of 11 for the first time since winning is its only NBA championship in 2010-11.
New Orleans is on an eight-game losing streak.
Tim Hardaway Jr. and Kristaps Porzingis scored
14 and 13 points, respectively.
Boban Marjanovic had season highs of 15 points and 16 rebounds off the bench. Jalen Brunson scored 14.
J.J. Redick led New Orleans with 15 points. Brandon Ingram and Jrue Holiday scored 14 each and Jaxson Hayes had 11. ROCKETS 115, SUNS 109 >> James Harden scored 18 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter and Ben McLemore added 27 points to help Houston outlast Phoenix.
Harden had a tough shooting night through three quarters and was
5 of 19 overall and 1 of 10 on 3s with 16 points before getting going in the fourth. The game was tied with about 7 minutes left, and he scored all of Houston’s points in a 13-6 run that made it 102-95.
Russell Westbrook had
24 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists for his third straight triple-double and sixth this season. Harden finished 8 of 27, 3 of 17 on
3s and made 15 of 18 free throws.
Devin Booker led the Suns with 35 points after scoring a season-high 44 in an overtime victory at New Orleans on Thursday night.