Knicks rally late, top Pelicans in overtime for 6th straight win

New York — 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 on Sunday for their sixth consecutive victory.

“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 three-point 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 controlled the extra period from there to extend their longest winning streak since an eightgame run in 2013-14. New York (3127) entered play sixth in the Eastern Conference, in good shape for its first playoff berth since winning the Atlantic Division in 2013.

“We didn't play great in the second half, but we found a way to win the game,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said.