San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Knicks slide into tie for fourth in East
NEW YORK — Julius Randle had 33 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds, and led an overtime surge that sent the New York Knicks past the Charlotte Hornets 118-109 on Saturday.
Reggie Bullock added 17 points for the Knicks, who improved to 40-31 and moved into a tie with the idle Atlanta Hawks for the fourth spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
Miles Bridges had 30 points and Devonte Graham added 25 for the Hornets, who have lost four straight games.
New York led by 17 points with 7:45 left in the third quarter before the Hawks went on a run capped by Bridges' windmill dunk to cut their deficit to 89-86.
Charlotte opened the final quarter with a 7-0 run, highlighted by Graham's 3-pointer for a 93-89 lead.
New York scored seven straight points to go up 104-101 on Randle's jumper. Charlotte's Terry Rozier made a free throw with 2:09 left and had a layup with 37 seconds remaining that made it 104-104.
Randle put the Knicks ahead in overtime 106104 with a pair of free throws and then assisted on the next three baskets during 9-0 run, setting up Alec Burks' layup with 1:31 left in the extra period that made it 112-106.
LAKERS 122, PACERS 115
Anthony Davis scored 28 points and LeBron James returned after a six-game absence to score 24, leading visiting Los Angeles to a victory over Indiana.
The Lakers can notch the No. 6 seed if they win at New Orleans on Sunday and Portland loses to Denver that day. If the Lakers finish No. 7, they will be in the play-in tournament against the No. 8 seed.
Davis, who missed the previous game because of a tight left thigh, sank 9 of 18 shots and grabbed 10 rebounds. James played 28 minutes, hitting 11 of 22 shots. James had eight assists and seven rebounds.
Andre Drummond had 15 rebounds for the Lakers, who held a 45-37 rebounding edge.
Caris LeVert, who was questionable entering the game with knee injury, led the Pacers with 28 points. JaKarr Sampson came off the bench to score 20.
The Pacers could finish with the No. 8, 9 or 10 seed. The Pacers are tied with Charlotte and Washington at 33-38, but would lose the tiebreaker against both teams if tied.
NETS 105, BULLS 91
Kyrie Irving scored 22 points while playing with Kevin Durant and James Harden for the first time in three months, leading host Brooklyn to a victory over Chicago.
Durant finished with 12 points, nine rebounds and six assists. Harden had seven assists, five points and five rebounds while playing 25 minutes in his second game back from a hamstring injury.
But Brooklyn got 19 points and five 3-pointers from Jeff Green, while Bruce Brown had 16 points and 12 rebounds. The Nets ensured they would remain second in the Eastern Conference heading into the final day of the regular season.
Patrick Williams scored 24 points for the Bulls, the highest total of his rookie season.
Thaddeus Young added 19 points and 13 rebounds.
CELTICS 124, TIMBERWOLVES 108
Jayson Tatum had 26 points and 11 rebounds as short-handed Boston cruised to a win over host Minnesota.
Evan Fournier added 18 points and was 5 of 8 from 3-point range. Six Celtics scored in doublefigures as Boston snapped its four-game losing streak.
Karl-Anthony Towns led Minnesota with 24 points and 14 rebounds. It was his 27th game of the year with 20-plus points and 10-plus rebounds. Rookie Anthony Edwards scored 23 points in the loss.
Boston's Kemba Walker (neck), Tristan Thompson (pectoral), Marcus Smart (calf ) and Robert Williams (toe) were all sidelined.