Online Reporter
Jalen Brunson hit the tiebreaking jumper with 29.5 seconds left Saturday night for the host New York Knicks, who mounted a furious fourth-quarter comeback from an 18-point deficit to stun the Houston Rockets, 108-106.
The Rockets trailed by as many as 13 points in the second quarter before outscoring the Knicks 72-41 over the next 24 minutes and taking a 93-75 lead on Dorian Finney-Smith’s layup with 10:53 left in the game.
But the Knicks outscored the Rockets 33-13 the rest of the way while limiting Houston to 4-of-15 shooting and forcing nine turnovers.
New York inched within two points three times before Jose Alvarado’s steal – the second of three consecutive turnovers by the Rockets – led to Brunson’s reverse layup that tied the score at 103-103 with 1:26 left.
Kevin Durant lost the ball out of bounds and Alvarado’s shot was blocked by Alperen Sengun before Brunson drew a charge on Durant with 48.4 seconds left. Brunson then drained his fallaway jumper, after which Durant missed an 18-footer and Jabari Smith Jr. misfired on a 3-pointer.
Jalen Duren had 26 points and 13 rebounds, and Cade Cunningham and Tobias Harris scored 18 points apiece to lead the visiting Detroit Pistons to a 126-110 defeat of the skidding Chicago Bulls on Saturday.
Detroit forced 23 Chicago turnovers while sending the Bulls to their season-worst eighth straight loss, surpassing a seven-game skid from Nov. 24-Dec. 7. The Pistons seized their largest lead of the night, 28 points, when Duncan Robinson connected on a trey with 7:16 remaining.
Robinson (17 points) and Paul Reed (15) also scored in double figures for the Pistons, who finished with a 68-38 edge in points in the paint. Cunningham dished 13 assists to go with nine rebounds.
Victor Wembanyama racked up 28 points, 15 rebounds, six assists and four blocked shots to lead a balanced San Antonio attack in a 139-122 win over the hapless Sacramento Kings on Saturday in Austin, Texas, the Spurs’ home away from home.
The Spurs led by eight points at halftime and 11 after three quarters before putting away Sacramento in the fourth quarter. San Antonio expanded its advantage to 126-103 on Wembanyama’s tip-in layup with 7:05 remaining and cruised to the finish line, capturing their season-best eighth straight game.
Stephon Castle, Keldon Johnson and De’Aaron Fox added 18 points each for the Spurs, with Harrison Barnes hitting for 14 and Dylan Harper scoring 12 points.
Keegan Murray and DeMar DeRozan tallied 20 points apiece for the Kings, who fell for the 16th game in a row and added to the franchise record for consecutive losses. Malik Monk had 19 points, Maxime Raynaud finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds, and Precious Achiuwa hit for 14 points for Sacramento.
The Spurs roared out of the gate, scoring the game’s first 11 points and building a 25-10 lead after Julian Champagnie’s 3-pointer at the 5:26 mark of the first quarter. Sacramento swung back, pulling to within 29-23 after Murray hit 2 of 3 free throws as part of his 11 points in the period. San Antonio led 35-31 after 12 minutes of play -Reuters.
Mathew Masinge