PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jalen Brunson hit four 3-pointers and scored 30 points to lead the New York Knicks to a 128-92 win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night.
Quentin Grimes added 18 points and Isaiah Hartenstein had 17 to help the Knicks to their third straight win. Donte DiVincenzo also made four 3s and scored 14 points.
Joel Embiid had 30 points and 10 rebounds for the Sixers. Embiid extended his franchise records to 16 straight 30-point games and 15 in a row of 30 points and 10 rebounds.
Still, the Knicks turned this one into a romp early and their fans only got louder as the game went on.
Miles McBride, who had 15 points, hit two 3s in the final 90 seconds of the first quarter for a 34-30 lead. Brunson took control from there, playing every bit like the star he’s blossomed into in the NBA.
Philly fans got a sneak peek of what was ahead in Brunson’s three seasons at Villanova. Against the 76ers, he buried three 3s and scored 16 points in the second quarter in the same arena where two Villanova national championship banners that he helped win are raised in the rafters. Fans in Brunson’s No. 1 Villanova jersey dotted the crowd.
PACERS 150, HAWKS 116
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Tyrese Haliburton had 18 of Indiana’s franchise-record 50 assists and Indiana routed Atlanta on Friday night for their sixth straight victory.
Haliburton, the NBA assists leader at 12.8 per game, also had 10 points and eight rebounds in just over 25 minutes. Myles Turner led Indiana with 27 points, Montreal’s Bennedict Mathurin had 18, Bruce Brown 17 and Aaron Nesmith 15.
The NBA’s highest-scoring team, Indiana reached 150 points against the Hawks for the second time this season after setting a league season high in a 157-152 victory in Atlanta on Nov. 21.
Dejounte Murray led the Hawks with 30 points. Trae Young missed his first seven shots and finished with 13 points on 4-of-18 shooting. He was 1 of 11 from 3-point range.
The Pacers shot 71% in the first half and led 78-54 at the break. Indiana shot 64% overall while Atlanta was at 43%. Indiana was 19 of 39 from 3-point range.
MAGIC 122, NUGGETS 120
DENVER (AP) — Paolo Banchero hit a pair of go-ahead free throws with 9.7 seconds remaining and had his first career triple-double to help short-handed Orlando beat Denver.
Banchero finished with 32 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists. He hit four free throws in the last 34.6 seconds in a game where the Magic trailed by 18 points in the third quarter. Jamal Murray had a chance to tie the game but his 10-foot shot rimmed out at the buzzer.
Nikola Jokic led Denver with 29 points
The game was the reverse of the night before for the Nuggets, who rallied from an 18-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the Golden State Warriors on Jokic’s buzzer-beating 40-footer.
CELTICS 126, JAZZ 97
BOSTON (AP) — Jayson Tatum scored 30 points and hit five 3-pointers to help Eastern Conference-leading Boston run past Utah for its seventh victory in eight games.
Boston never trailed, led by 36 points in the first half and made 17 3s for the night. The Eastern Conference leaders earned their seventh victory in eight games.
Lauri Markkanen had 17 points for Utah, The Jazz had won three straight.
TIMBERWOLVES 122, ROCKETS 95
HOUSTON (AP) — Anthony Edwards scored 24 points, Karl-Anthony Towns had 22 and Western Conference-leading Minnesota beat Houston.
Edwards had a relatively quiet game considering he entered the night averaging 36.3 points in his previous four games. He had scored at least 25 points in 10 straight games but went 8 for 17 from the field in 32 minutes Friday.
Jalen Green led Houston with 20 points. The Rockets are 2-4 on a seven-game homestand.
NETS 124, THUNDER 115
NEW YORK (AP) — Spencer Dinwiddie and Nic Claxton each scored 23 points and Brooklyn beat Oklahoma City to snap a five-game losing streak.
Cam Thomas broke out of a 0-for-20 shooting slump with 19 points, including 16 in the Nets’ most dominant first half of the season. They led 75-47 at the break and by 32 in the third quarter.
Hamilton’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 34 points, nine assists and six rebounds for Oklahoma City. The Thunder have dropped two straight after a five-game winning streak.
SUNS 113, HEAT 97
PHOENIX (AP) — Grayson Allen made a career-high nine 3-pointers to tie the Phoenix record and scored 31 points, Bradley Beal added 25 points and the Suns beat Miami.
The Suns have won five of their last six games. Miami has dropped three of four.
Allen was sensational in the first half, scoring 23 points on 7-of-10 shooting from long range. The sixth-year player was acquired in an off-season trade, came into the game averaging a career-high 13 points. He was 9 of 14 on 3s and 11 of 19 overall from the field.
Bam Adebayo led Miami with 28 points and 11 rebounds.
CLIPPERS 111, PELICANS 95
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Paul George made six 3-pointers and scored 24 points, Kawhi Leonard added 19 points and nine rebounds and surging Los Angeles beat New Orleans.
James Harden had 13 assists and eight points in 29 minutes for the Clippers. They led by 31 points in the fourth quarter and won for the 14th time in 16 games.
Jonas Valanciunas had 13 points and 11 rebounds for the Pelicans, whose four-game winning streak was snapped. Jordan Hawkins also scored 13 points.
MAVERICKS 139, TRAIL BLAZERS 103
DALLAS (AP) — Kyrie Irving scored 24 points with fellow All-Star Luka Doncic sidelined by a sore ankle and Dallas swept a two-game home set against Portland.
The Mavericks were missing six other players besides Doncic. But they led from the middle of the first quarter on, two nights after never trailing in a 29-point win over the Blazers.
Jerami Grant scored 18 points for Portland.
BULLS 104, HORNETS 91
CHICAGO (AP) — Coby White had 22 points, 10 rebounds and six assists and Chicago welcomed back Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic with a victory over Charlotte.
LaVine scored 15 points while playing almost 30 minutes in his first game since Nov. 28. Vucevic had 11 points and seven rebounds in 25 minutes while also playing as a reserve. LaVine was sidelined for 17 games because of inflammation in his right foot. Vucevic missed the past five games with a strained left adductor.
Miles Bridges scored 28 points for Charlotte. The Hornets were 1-5 on a six-game trip.
CAVALIERS 114, WIZARDS 90
CLEVELAND (AP) — Donovan Mitchell scored 26 points and Cleveland rolled to its second easy win in three nights over Washington.
The Cavs had a little tougher time against the Wizards than in their 140-101 blowout on Wednesday night, when Cleveland reached season highs in points, rebounds, assists and 3-point percentage.
Tyus Jones had 16 points for Washington.
WARRIORS 113, PISTONS 109
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Stephen Curry scored 12 of his 26 points over the final 1:32 with a pair of 3-pointers, emphatically answering after Bojan Bogdanovic’s go-ahead 3 with 1:41 to play, and Golden State held on to beat last-place Detroit.
Detroit’s Cade Cunningham made a driving reverse layup with 2:10 to play that tied it at 100 and wound up with 30 points. He also scored five straight points down the stretch to pull the Pistons to 95-94 at the 4:20 mark of the fourth.
Klay Thompson had 19 points while carrying the scoring load until Splash Brother Curry got going.
Detroit is 3-32.
GRIZZLIES 127, LAKERS 113
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jaren Jackson Jr. hit five 3-pointers and scored 31 points, Marcus Smart added 29 points with a season-high eight 3-pointers and Memphis extended Los Angeles’ woes.
Desmond Bane had 24 points and 13 assists while Ja Morant scored 21 points for Memphis, whose starting lineup combined for 21 of a season-high 23 3-pointers on the way to just its second win in six games.
LeBron James scored 32 points and Anthony Davis had 31 in the Lakers’ fourth straight loss and 10th loss in 13 games since winning the inaugural In-Season tournament.
KINGS 135, RAPTORS 130
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Domantas Sabonis had 24 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists for his second consecutive triple-double and Sacramento held off Toronto.
Sabonis has eight triple-doubles this season and three in his last four games. He notched the latest one with an alley-oop pass to Malik Monk early in the fourth quarter.
De’Aaron Fox also scored 24 for the Kings. They have won four of five.
Immanuel Quickley and Scottie Barnes paced Toronto with 20 points apiece.