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WAMC Sports Report 1/19/24: Brunson scores 41 to lead Knicks to 113-109 win over Wizards

New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) drives against Washington Wizards forward Deni Avdija, left, in the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, at Madison Square Garden in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Mary Altaffer/AP
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AP
New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) drives against Washington Wizards forward Deni Avdija, left, in the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, at Madison Square Garden in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

NBA

Jalen Brunson had 41 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, leading the New York Knicks to a 113-109 victory over the Washington Wizards on Thursday night. Brunson scored 18 of the Knicks’ 21 points during a lengthy stretch of the fourth quarter, helping them push a one-point lead to 105-97 with 1:26 remaining. He finished 14 for 27 from the field and scored at least 30 for the second straight night after missing two games with a bruised left calf. Julius Randle added 21 points for the Knicks, while Donte DiVincenzo and OG Anunoby each scored 19. The Knicks improved to 8-2 since Anunoby joined the lineup Jan. 1.

Nikola Vucevic had 24 points and 14 rebounds, DeMar DeRozan scored 24 points against his former team and the Chicago Bulls beat the Toronto Raptors 116-110 on Thursday night. Coby White added 23 points to help the Bulls snap a four-game losing streak in Toronto. Patrick Williams scored 12 points, and Alex Caruso and Ayo Dosunmu each had 10. Chicago outscored Toronto 74-50 on points in the paint. Scottie Barnes had 31 points, one shy of his career best, for Toronto. RJ Barrett added 17 points.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points, Jalen Williams had 11 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter and the Oklahoma City Thunder snapped the Utah Jazz’s six-game winning streak with a 134-129 victory. Cason Wallace scored a season-high 16 points and Josh Giddey had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Thunder. Collin Sexton scored 31 and Lauri Markkanen added 26 for the Jazz, who had their nine-game home winning streak was stopped. It came a day after the NBA postponed Utah’s game scheduled for Wednesday against Golden State because of the death of Warriors assistant coach Dejan Milojević in Salt Lake City.

Anthony Edwards scored 26 of his 28 points in the second half, Rudy Gobert had 17 points, 10 rebounds and a season-high-tying six blocks and the West-leading Minnesota Timberwolves beat the injury-ravaged Memphis Grizzlies 118-103. Naz Reid scored 20 points and Mike Conley had 17 points and 10 assists for the Wolves, who outscored the Grizzlies 37-17 in the fourth quarter. Jaren Jackson Jr. had 36 points for the Grizzlies. The Wolves (30-11) hit the midpoint of their schedule on pace for 60 wins. The franchise record of 58 was set in 2003-04 when they reached the Western Conference finals.

Bennedict Mathurin scored 25 points and the short-handed Indiana Pacers held off the Sacramento Kings 126-121 on Thursday night. Indiana was without newly acquired forward Pascal Siakam, who had yet to join the team following a trade with Toronto, while fellow All-Star Tyrese Haliburton missed his fifth straight game because of a strained left hamstring. T.J. McConnell had 20 points and 10 assists to help Indiana win for the 10th time in 13 games. Myles Turner added 18 points and Jalen Smith had 17 points and 13 rebounds. Kevin Huerter had a career-high 31 points for Sacramento.

The NBA has announced the Dallas Mavericks’ game at the Golden State Warriors scheduled for Friday night has been postponed following the death of Warriors assistant coach Dejan Milojević. The date for the rescheduled game will be announced later. Milojević died Wednesday in Utah after suffering a heart attack. Milojević was part of the staff that helped the Warriors win the 2022 NBA championship. He was 46. The Warriors’ game against the Utah Jazz scheduled for Wednesday also was postponed.

NHL

Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 19 saves for his second consecutive shutout and the Buffalo Sabres beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-0 on Thursday night in a game moved back a day because of snow. Zemgus Girgensons, JJ Peterka and Rasmus Dahlin scored. Luukkonen had his third career NHL shutout, also beating San Jose 3-0 on Monday. His best save came with 5:45 remaining when he stopped Reese Johnson from close range on a 2-on-1 opportunity. Arvid Soderblom made 28 saves for struggling Chicago. The Blackhawks have two victories in their last 11 games.    

Ivan Barbashev had his first two-goal game of the season and Logan Thompson made 29 saves as the Vegas Golden Knights continued to show signs of heating up with a 5-1 victory over the New York Rangers. Jonathan Marchessault had a goal and an assist, Keegan Kolesar also scored and Brett Howden added an empty-net goal with Vegas short-handed. Mark Stone and Nic Roy each had two assists. Mika Zibanejad scored a power-play goal for the Rangers.

David Pastrnak scored on the game’s opening shift, had two insurance goals late in the third period, and the Boston Bruins held off the red-hot Colorado Avalanche 5-2. Jake DeBrusk and Jakub Lauko also scored for the Bruins, who won their third straight. Colorado’s Cale Makar collected one assist but fell a point short of tying Hall of Famer Bobby Orr as the fastest defenseman to collect 300 NHL career points. Orr did it in his 279th career game on Dec. 13, 1970. Makar played his 279th game on Thursday and now has 299 career points. Nathan MacKinnon and Miles Wood scored for Colorado.

Owen Tippett scored twice, including a highlight-reel goal late in the third period, Scott Laughton made a penalty shot and the streaking Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Dallas Stars 5-1 for their fifth straight victory. Sean Walker and Cam Atkinson also scored for Philadelphia, which outshot Dallas 43-16. Morgan Frost added a pair of assists and Sam Ersson made 15 saves for the Flyers, who snapped a seven-game losing streak to the Stars. Tippett put an exclamation point on the victory with 5:30 remaining when he spun past defenseman Joel Hanley before firing a backhander past Jake Oettinger’s glove side for a dazzling goal. Tyler Seguin scored for Dallas.

T.J. Oshie had a hat trick and the Washington Capitals beat the St. Louis Blues 5-2 for their second consecutive victory. Oshie's two goals on the power play and an empty-netter against his former team give him five goals in the past four games. Dylan Strome also scored his team-leading 16th of the season and had an assist. Alex Ovechkin set up Strome's goal in his return from a three-game injury absence. Former Capitals forward Nathan Walker had two goals for St. Louis. The Blues have lost three in a row and four of five.

Nikita Kucherov had three assists to reach 500 for his career, Anthony Cirelli scored twice and the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Minnesota Wild 7-3. Kucherov, who leads the league with 75 points, had his fourth game this season with three or more assists. He reached the milestone in his 688th game, the third-fewest among active players behind Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby. Waltteri Merela, Brayden Point, Steven Stamkos and Michael Eyssimont also scored for the Lightning, and Andrei Vasilevskiy finished with 30 saves. Jake Middleton had a goal and two assists for the Wild.

Tim Stutzle had a goal and two assists, Joonas Korpisalo stopped 21 shots and the Ottawa Senators beat the Montreal Canadiens 6-2 on Thursday night. Brady Tkachuk, Rourke Chartier, Vladimir Tarasenko, Mathieu Joseph and Parker Kelly also scored for Ottawa. The Senators won for the second time in eight games to improve to 16-24-0. Cole Caufield and Michael Pezzetta scored for Montreal. Coming off a 3-2 victory over New Jersey on Wednesday night, the Canadiens dropped to 19-19-7. Cayden Primeau made 32 saves for Montreal.

Warren Foegele had two goals, Leon Draisaitl had a goal and three assists and the Edmonton Oilers rallied to beat the Seattle Kraken 4-2 on Thursday night to extend their winning streak to a franchise-record 12 games. Zach Hyman also scored for Edmonton, and Stuart Skinner stopped 25 shots. The Oilers have gone 20-3-0 in their last 23 games to improve to 25-15-1. They tied the record for the longest winning streak by a Canadian team set by the 1967-68 Montreal Canadiens. Eeli Tolvanen and Jared McCann scored to give Seattle a 2-0 lead. The Kraken lost their third in a row during the tail end of a six-game trip after a nine-game winning streak.

Auston Matthews had a hat trick to push his NHL-leading goals total to 37 and added an assist in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ 4-3 comeback victory over the Calgary Flames on Thursday night. Mitch Marner also scored and Martin Jones made 24 saves to help Toronto end a four-game skid and improve to 22-13-8. William Nylander and Pontus Holmberg each had two assists. Yegor Sharangovich, former Toronto forward Nazem Kadri and Andrew Mangiapane scored for Calgary, and Dan Vladar stopped 29 shots. The Flames had won a season-high four games in a row.

Ryan O’Reilly had a power-play goal and an assist, Gustav Nyquist also scored and the Nashville Predators beat the Los Angeles Kings 2-1. Roman Josi had an assist for the fifth straight game and Juuse Saros made 33 saves as the Predators won for the third time in four games. Drew Doughty scored and David Rittich made 31 saves for the Kings, who lost for the 10th time in 11 games. Before the game, Kings general manager Rob Blake gave coach Todd McLellan a vote of confidence amid the team's slump.

Tim Stutzle had a goal and two assists, Joonas Korpisalo stopped 21 shots and the Ottawa Senators beat the Montreal Canadiens 6-2 on Thursday night. Brady Tkachuk, Rourke Chartier, Vladimir Tarasenko, Mathieu Joseph and Parker Kelly also scored for Ottawa. The Senators won for the second time in eight games to improve to 16-24-0. Cole Caufield and Michael Pezzetta scored for Montreal. Coming off a 3-2 victory over New Jersey on Wednesday night.

NFL

Longtime Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin says he expects to be back for an 18th season and that his passion for the job hasn't waned despite another quick playoff exit. Tomlin's status for next season was up for debate after there was speculation he may be burning out. Tomlin says his enthusiasm for the job has only intensified through the season and plans to sign a contract extension soon. While Tomlin is returning, the Steelers have plenty of questions to answer in the offseason. The team's top priority is hiring a new offensive coordinator after Matt Canada was fired just before Thanksgiving.

(Dallas Cowboys coach) Mike McCarthy is selling his belief that the Dallas Cowboys can make an elusive playoff breakthrough with him as coach. McCarthy is returning for a fifth season despite a stunning 48-32 wild-card loss to Green Bay. Dallas was the first team not to reach a conference title game in three consecutive 12-win playoff seasons. McCarthy said the club has developed a “championship program” with two NFC East titles in three seasons. He says it just hasn't reached a “world championship yet.”

MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

UMass Lowell 97 UAlbany 76

UVM 82 Binghamton 62

Kasean Pryor made a go-ahead free throw with 4 seconds left, and South Florida rallied from a 20-point deficit to stun No. 10 Memphis 74-73. Pryor finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds, and reserve Selton Miguel led USF with 23 points, going 5 of 10 from 3-point range. The Bulls have won eight of nine and ended a 10-game winning streak for the Tigers, who hadn’t lost since a narrow defeat at Mississippi on Dec. 2. David Jones led Memphis with 25 points and Jahvon Quinerly finished with 15. Quinerly missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

UAlbany 65 UMass Lowell 49

Siena 79 Rider 58

Syracuse 79 Florida State 73

Iona 68 St. Peter’s 62

Marist 45 Mt. St. Mary’s 44

UVM 51 Binghamton 38

NCAA

Five of the six major conferences have a leader or co-leader that failed to make the NCAA Tournament last season. That doesn’t mean this is a college basketball season full of Cinderella stories. Four of the major-conference leaders that got out of March Madness last season have reached a Final Four within the last decade. But those teams' early success shows how the 2021 rule change allowing players to transfer without sitting out a season has made it easier for established programs to bounce back quickly.

© 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Alexander began his journalism career as a sports writer for Siena College's student paper The Promethean, and as a host for Siena's school radio station, WVCR-FM "The Saint." A Cubs fan, Alexander hosts the morning Sports Report in addition to producing Morning Edition. You can hear the sports reports over-the-air at 6:19 and 7:19 AM, and online on WAMC.org. He also speaks Spanish as a second language. To reach him, email ababbie@wamc.org, or call (518)-465-5233 x 190. You can also find him on Twitter/X: @ABabbieWAMC.