Anunoby scores 23, Knicks rout Blazers
The New York Knicks are not only unbeaten with OG Anunoby, they are dominant when their new forward is on the floor.
Anunoby scored 23 points, his most since coming to New York, and the Knicks won their fifth in a row since he joined their lineup with a 112-84 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night.
Anunoby scored 16 in a first quarter, when the Knicks opened a 19-point lead that would grow to 39 in the third quarter. The forward went 6 for 7 in the period, 4 of 5 behind the 3-point arc, and was already just a point shy of the 17 he scored in his Knicks debut against Minnesota on New Year's Day, his previous best since coming from Toronto in a Dec. 30 trade.
“He's made a great contribution, not just with defense, but moving without the ball, getting the ball up the floor fast, his shot-making, and it's only going to get better as we go,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said.
Anunoby might have approached his season high of 29, also at Madison Square Garden while playing for the Raptors last month, but the starters didn't need to play much in the second half.
Julius Randle added 20 points, eight assists and
seven rebounds for the Knicks, who moved a halfgame ahead of Miami, Orlando, Indiana and Cleveland for fourth place in the Eastern Conference at 2215. Quentin Grimes scored 17 points and fellow reserve guard Miles McBride had 16.
Jerami Grant scored 21 points for the Trail Blazers, who lost for the fourth time in five games. Anfernee Simons
was the only player in double figures with 12. KINGS 131, PISTONS 110 >> Domantas Sabonis scored 37 points, and had 13 assists and 10 rebounds to help the Sacramento Kings to a roller-coaster 131-110 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday.
The Kings trailed by 20 points in the first quarter, led by 15 in the third, let
the Pistons tie the game in the fourth and then pulled away down the stretch. Keegan Murray added 32 points and De'Aaron Fox scored 26.
Detroit (3-34) has lost five straight since breaking its NBA-record 28-game losing streak. Bojan Bogdanovic scored 26 and Jaden Ivey added 22. The Pistons played without Cade Cunningham,
who will be out at least 7-10 days with a knee sprain. GRIZZLIES 120, MAVERICKS 103 >> Desmond Bane scored 32 points to lead the injuryriddled Grizzlies to a win over the Mavericks.
Bane scored 13 of the Grizzlies' final 18 points in the third quarter to help build a 20-point lead entering the final quarter in the team's first game since learning of leading scorer Ja Morant's season-ending shoulder injury.
The Grizzlies (14-23), who are 2-0 since Morant's injury, were without Marcus Smart for much of the second half. Smart left the game with 7:38 left in the third quarter with a dislocated finger on his right hand.
Before his injury, Smart scored 23 points on 9 of 16 shooting. He hit four 3-pointers, including one from the left wing to give Memphis an 18-point lead before leaving the game. He later returned to the bench with an icepack covering his right hand.
Kyrie Irving scored 33 points and Luka Doncic added 31 despite being in and out of the game with an ankle injury.
TIMBERWOLVES 113, MAGIC 92 >> Karl-Anthony Towns scored 23 of his 28 points in the first half and the Timberwolves led from start to finish in a win over the Magic.
Rudy Gobert had 21 points and 12 rebounds and the Western Conferenceleading Timberwolves (2610) won easily despite getting only six points and three assists from leading scorer Anthony Edwards.
Moritz Wagner led the Magic (21-16) with 21 points and seven rebounds. Jalen Suggs had 20 points and five rebounds and Paolo Banchero had 18 points on 8 for 22 shooting.