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WAMC Sports Report 2/23/24: Knicks spoil Kyle Lowry's 76ers debut, win 110-96

New York Knicks' Jalen Brunson, left, goes up for a shot against Philadelphia 76ers' Buddy Hield during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Matt Slocum/AP
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AP
New York Knicks' Jalen Brunson, left, goes up for a shot against Philadelphia 76ers' Buddy Hield during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

NBA

Jalen Brunson had 21 points and 12 assists with Spike Lee cheering from courtside, and the New York Knicks spoiled Kyle Lowry’s Philadelphia debut with a 110-96 win over the 76ers. Bojan Bogdanovic scored 22 points, Josh Hart had 18 points and 12 rebounds and Precious Achiuwa added 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Knicks. All-Star Tyrese Maxey led the 76ers with 35 points. Maxey made 11 of 24 shots but had little other offensive help, a common theme for the Sixers in MVP Joel Embiid’s absence. Lowry played for the Sixers for the first time since he signed last week.

Scottie Barnes had 18 points and 12 rebounds, Gary Trent Jr. scored 25 points and the Raptors beat the Brooklyn Nets 121-93, Toronto’s first victory in 12 games against Atlantic Division opponents this season. Mikal Bridges led Brooklyn with 21 points as the Nets lost their first game under interim coach Kevin Ollie. Ollie replaced Jacque Vaughn on Tuesday, a day after Vaughn was fired following a 21-33 start. Cam Thomas scored 19 points for the Nets, who failed to extend a five-game winning streak against Toronto. Brooklyn has lost three straight and six of seven.

Derrick White scored 28 points, Jayson Tatum added 25 and the NBA-leading Boston Celtics won their season-high seventh straight game, beating the Chicago Bulls 129-112 on Thursday night. White and Tatum each made five of Boston’s 23 3-pointers. Jaylen Brown scored 21 points, and the Celtics came away with another convincing victory after pounding Brooklyn by 50 prior to the All-Star break. Boston went from leading by 16 to trailing by three at halftime before regaining control in the third. The Celtics outscored the Bulls 37-21 in the quarter. Nikola Vucevic led Chicago with 22 points and 14 rebounds. Coby White scored 20 point and DeMar DeRozan added 19 on another rough night for the Bulls against the Celtics.

All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton had 25 points and 13 assists to help the Indiana Pacers beat the NBA-worst Detroit Pistons 129-115 on Thursday night. Coming off a 32-point night Sunday in the NBA All-Star Game on his home floor at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Haliburton had his 15th game of the season with at least 25 points and 10 assists. Pascal Siakam added 20 points for Indiana. T.J. McConnell had 16 points, six rebounds and five assists, and Myles Turner finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Cade Cunningham had 30 points and eight assists for Detroit, and Jalen Duren added 15 points and 13 rebounds. The Pistons have lost four straight to fall to 8-47. They are 4-24 on the road.

Moritz Wagner had 22 points, his younger brother, Franz, added 14 and the Orlando Magic returned from the All-Star break to beat Cleveland 116-109, handing the Cavaliers their third loss in 21 games. The Cavs played without leading scorer and All-Star Donovan Mitchell, who has been instrumental in Cleveland’s rise to second in the Eastern Conference. He sat out with an unspecified illness. Orlando played the final 22 minutes without starting guard Jalen Suggs, who went out midway through the third quarter with a head injury and didn’t return. But the Magic’s reserves stepped up in the second half, especially backup guard Cole Anthony, who had 13 points and six assists in 18 minutes while taking Suggs’ spot. Orlando’s bench outscored Cleveland’s 63-24.

Luka Doncic scored 41 points, Kyrie Irving added 29 and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Phoenix Suns 123-113. The victory the Dallas winning streak to seven games in the return from the All-Star break for both teams. Dallas pulled even with Phoenix in the standings at 33-23 and took the head-to-head tiebreaker with a 2-1 record in a pairing of teams battling for a guaranteed spot in the playoffs. Doncic had 11 assists and nine rebounds matched against fellow All-Stars Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. Booker scored 35 points and Durant had 23 on an ordinary shooting night for the 14-time All-Star.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Los Angeles Clippers 129-107 on Thursday night in a matchup of Western Conference contenders. Lu Dort added 19 points, Jalen Williams had 18 and Chet Holmgren 17 for Oklahoma City. The Thunder won the season series with Los Angeles and improved to 38-17 to move within a game of Western Conference-leading Minnesota. Gordon Hayward played 14 minutes in his first game with the Thunder since being acquired in a trade with Charlotte. He missed both of his shots and had four rebounds. Kawhi Leonard scored 20 points and Nolan Powell added 19 points for Los Angeles. The third-place Clippers fell to 36-18.

Zion Williamson had 27 points and nine assists, and the New Orleans Pelicans defeated the struggling Houston Rockets 127-105 for their eighth victory in nine games. Pelicans high-scoring wing Brandon Ingram sat out with a non-COVID illness. But New Orleans got productive nights from their other usual starters. CJ McCollum scored 28 points, Jonas Valanciunas had 20 points and 14 rebounds, and Herb Jones had 17 points and seven steals. Alperen Sengun had 20 points and nine rebounds for Houston, which has lost six of seven. Rookie Amen Thompson, the fourth overall pick in last summer’s NBA Draft, scored a season-high 22 points.

Nikola Jokic became the third player in NBA history to record at least one triple-double against every opponent in the league in the Denver Nuggets' 130-110 win over the Washington Wizards. Jokic finished with 21 points, 19 rebounds and 15 assists and went 10-for-10 from the floor. Michael Porter Jr. had 22 points and 11 rebounds for the defending champion Nuggets, who returned from the All-Star break and snapped a three-game skid. Jokic’s triple-double was his 16th this season, second in the league to Domantas Sabonis’ 19. Kyle Kuzma had 31 points and 13 rebounds for the Wizards, who matched their worst skid of the season with their ninth straight loss.

Miles Bridges had 26 points and 14 rebounds, Grant Williams scored 24 points and the Charlotte Hornets shot past the Utah Jazz 115-107 on Thursday night for their fourth straight victory. Brandon Miller added 16 points and Tre Mann had 13. The Hornets made 20 of 42 3-pointers and upped their record to 14-41. They lost 10 straight before the winning streak. Lauri Markkanen scored 21 points for Utah. Collin Sexton added 17 and Keyonte George had 16. The Jazz have lost five in a row and 11 of 14.

Domantas Sabonis had his NBA-leading 19th triple-double with 22 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds, De’Aaron Fox added 28 points and nine assists and the Sacramento Kings beat the San Antonio Spurs 127-122 on Thursday night. Sabonis was a game-time decision due to illness, then ended up with his fourth triple-double in five games. He has had at least a double-double in 38 straight games. Kevin Huerter and Malik Monk each added 21 points. Devin Vassell led San Antonio with 32 points, and Victor Wembanyama had 19 points, 13 rebounds, five steals and four blocks. Keldon Johnson added 18 points, with 12 coming in the fourth quarter. The Spurs lost for the ninth time in 10 games.

Stephen Curry scored 32 points, hitting six 3-pointers, and had eight assists, leading the Golden State Warriors past a Los Angeles Lakers team missing LeBron James 128-110 on Thursday night as both returned for from the All-Star break. With his 6,000th career assist, Curry became the eighth player in NBA history with at least 23,000 points and 6,000 assists — joining James, Russell Westbrook, Kobe Bryant, James Harden, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West and John Havlicek. Curry hit six or more 3-pointers for the fifth time in six games. Anthony Davis had 27 points and 15 rebounds for the Lakers, who were without James because of a left ankle injury.

Luka Doncic scored 41 points, Kyrie Irving added 29 and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Phoenix Suns 123-113. The victory the Dallas winning streak to seven games in the return from the All-Star break for both teams. Dallas pulled even with Phoenix in the standings at 33-23 and took the head-to-head tiebreaker with a 2-1 record in a pairing of teams battling for a guaranteed spot in the playoffs. Doncic had 11 assists and nine rebounds matched against fellow All-Stars Devin Booker and Kevin Durant. Booker scored 35 points and Durant had 23 on an ordinary shooting night for the 14-time All-Star.

NHL

Alexis Lafreniere scored twice, Artemi Panarin had three assists and the New York Rangers beat the New Jersey Devils 5-1 for their ninth straight win to tie their longest streak in eight seasons. Igor Shesterkin made 39 saves and picked up his first assist of the season as the Rangers moved within a win of tying their longest winning streak in franchise history. They had 10-game runs in 1972-73 and 1939-40. Mika Zibanejad, Chris Kreider and Vincent Trocheck also scored for New York, which has not lost since Jan. 26.

Pavel Buchnevich and Brandon Saad combined for three goals in a 32-second span in the second period, sending the Blues to a 4-0 victory over the New York Islanders. Buchnevich also scored midway through the third, finishing his fourth career hat trick. Robert Thomas had three assists, and Jordan Kyrou had two. Jordan Binnington made 38 saves to earn career win No. 137, moving him into a tie with Curtis Joseph for third on the franchise wins list. Semyon Varlamov made 21 saves for the Islanders, who fell to 1-2-2 in their last five games.

Nazem Kadri scored an unsassisted goal 3:56 into overtime to lead the Calgary Flames to a 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins. Kadri took the puck up ice on a 3-on-1 and fired a shot into the far corner past Linus Ullmark just seconds after Jakob Markstrom stopped David Pastrnak at the other end. Oliver Kylington and Martin Pospisil also scored for Calgary. Markstrom made 32 saves for the Flames, who have won two in a row on the heels of a three-game losing skid. Charlie Coyle scored both goals for Boston, which extended its road point streak to 11 games. Ullmark stopped 27 shots.

Bryan Rust and Drew O’Conner scored 21 seconds apart in the second period to break open a tie game and the Pittsburgh Penguins gave their flagging postseason hopes a boost with a 4-1 win over the reeling Montreal Canadiens. Pittsburgh won for just the second time in its last seven games behind 31 saves from Tristan Jarry. Kris Letang scored twice for the Penguins. Mike Matheson notched his eighth goal of the season for Montreal. The Canadiens have lost six of seven.

Josh Norris score two goals and the Ottawa Senators beat the Dallas Stars 4-1. Thomas Chabot and Shane Pinto also scored for Ottawa, which has won two of its last three games. Anton Forsberg turned away 14 shots. Joe Pavelski scored for Dallas, which has now lost four in a row. Jake Oettinger started in het for Dallas but was pulled in the second period after allowing three goals on 11 shots. Scott Wedgewood gave up one goal on 19 shots in relief. The Senators scored three unanswered goals while holding the Stars to just four shots in the second period.

Sebastian Aho scored with 18.9 seconds left, helping Pyotr Kochetkov and the Carolina Hurricanes beat the Florida Panthers 1-0. Kochetkov stopped 44 shots in his third shutout of the season. Carolina has won four straight and six of its past seven games. Florida had won 11 straight road games, one short of tying the NHL record. It was a rematch of last year’s Eastern Conference Final, and it felt like a playoff game in February. Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves for the Panthers.

Patrick Kane scored at 3:42 of overtime to give the Detroit Red Wings a 2-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche. Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin dropped a pass to Kane, who whipped a quick shot from the top of the hash marks past Avalanche goalie Justus Annunen for his 10th goal of the season. Nathan MacKinnon scored for the Avalanche. Larkin had Detroit’s other goal. Annunen made 28 saves while Detroit goaltender Alex Lyon stopped 30 shots. The Red Wings has not beaten the Avalanche since Feb. 27, 2016, a span of 10 games.

Rasmus Sandin snapped a tie with 4:59 left in the third period, and the Washington Capitals beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-3 for their third consecutive win. Connor McMichael had two goals for the Capitals, including an empty-netter. Anthony Mantha and Nicolas Aube-Kubel also scored, and Tom Wilson had two assists. Washington’s T.J. Oshie left with a non-contact injury in the third. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 19 shots for struggling Tampa Bay. Brandon Hagel, Nicholas Paul and Tyler Motte scored.

Auston Matthews scored his 50th and 51st goals of the season Wednesday night in the Toronto Maple Leafs star’s hometown return, breaking a tie as the fastest U.S.-born player to reach 50 goals at 54 games. Matthews scored the milestone goal on a power play at 5:01 of the first period in a 6-3 victory over Arizona. Matthews added his 51st — giving him 350 career goals in 535 games — late in the second period. Matthews shared the previous U.S.-born mark with Kevin Stevens at 62 games. Matthews is the fastest to 50 since Mario Lemieux since did it in 50 games in 1995-96. Wayne Gretzky holds the record, scoring his 50th in his 39th game in 1981-82.

Jared McCann had a goal and three assists, Jordan Eberle added two goals and an assist and the Seattle Kraken beat NHL-leading Vancouver 5-2, handing the Canucks their fourth straight loss. Vince Dunn and Justin Schultz also scored for Seattle, which took the season series against their Pacific Northwest rival and is 3-0-1 since a 2-7-1 skid. Philipp Grubauer made 19 saves in his first home start and second overall since suffering a lower-body injury on Dec. 9. J.T. Miller and Sam Lafferty scored for Vancouver, which is 3-5-1 since a 12-game point streak. Thatcher Demko made 26 saves.

Colton Sissons had a goal and two assists and Juuse Saros made 27 saves for the Nashville Predators in a 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings. Mark Jankowski, Yakov Trenin and Jeremy Lauzon also scored, helping the Predators win three in a row for the first time since a four-game streak Dec. 10-16. Kevin Fiala scored for the Kings, who had won four in a row. David Rittich made 17 stops in the team’s second loss in seven games under interim coach Jim Hiller.

MLB

MLB’s new uniform reveal hasn’t gone very well. Now the rampant criticism has moved below the belt. Major League Baseball Players Association deputy executive director Bruce Meyer confirmed on Thursday that the organization is relaying concerns from players to MLB about the new pants, which are somewhat see-through. The complaints — first reported by ESPN — are part of broader scorn for the new uniforms, which are designed by Nike and manufactured by Fanatics. Commissioner Rob Manfred previously said he expects criticism to fade, but that was before the below-the-belt criticisms.

One National League All-Star right-hander is getting the largest contract ever for a Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher. Another All-Star pitcher is expected to miss the start of the season for the New York Mets. A person with knowledge of the deal tells The Associated Press that Mitch Keller and the Pirates have agreed to a new $77 million, five-year contract. Meanwhile, the Mets are shutting down Kodai Senga because of a shoulder strain. Their All-Star right-hander will likely start the season on the injured list. Senga is going into the second year of a $75 million, five-year deal in New York after pitching 11 seasons in Japan.

A person with knowledge of the decision tells The Associated Press that former AL batting champion Tim Anderson has agreed to a one-year contact with the Miami Marlins. The deal for the shortstop is pending a physical, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the deal was not yet announced. The agreement is worth $5 million, according to ESPN. Anderson is Miami’s first big free agent addition of the offseason. The two-time All-Star became a free agent in November after the Chicago White Sox declined a $14 million option, completing a $25 million, six-year contract.

NFL

The Kansas City Chiefs are signing punter Matt Araiza, who was dropped from a lawsuit in December that had been filed by a woman who alleged she was raped by San Diego State football players in 2021. The signing was announced by Araiza’s agent, Joe Linta, and confirmed a short while later by the Super Bowl champions. The lawsuit filed by the woman came after a party in 2021 in which she claimed Araiza had sex with her in a side yard, then brought her inside a house where a group of men took turns raping her. She agreed to drop Araiza from the lawsuit when prosecutors concluded he was no longer at the party when the alleged raped occurred, and he agreed to drop a defamation countersuit against her.

PGA TOUR

The 15-year-old son of Tiger Woods had a rough welcome in his first attempt at playing a PGA Tour event. Charlie Woods shot an 86 at a pre-qualifier for the Cognizant Classic. That's one of four pre-qualifiers from which a total of about two dozen players advance to the main Monday qualifier for next week's PGA Tour stop. Woods didn't make a birdie at Lost Lake Golf Club. His round came undone with a 12 on the par-4 seventh hole. The leading score was 65. Woods tied for 110th out of 112 players who turned in a score.

Erik van Rooyen of South Africa is feeling right at home in Mexico. Van Rooyen began the Mexico Open at Vidanta with a 63 for a one-shot lead over Sami Valimaki of Finland. Van Rooyen is trying to win a PGA Tour title for the second time in four months in Mexico. He won the World Wide Technology Championship last November. Van Rooyen had a pair of eagles at the Vallarta Vidanta course. Among those two behind was Cristobal Del Solar. He shot 57 two weeks ago on the Korn Ferry Tour in Bogota.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Gamers will be blocked from manually adding players to EA Sports’ new college football game who decide not to accept an offer to have their name, image and likeness used in it. EA Sports revealed the safeguard Thursday in its announcement that it has begun reaching out to athletes to pay them to be featured in the game that’s set to launch this summer. EA Sports said players who opt in to the game will receive a minimum of $600 and a copy of EA Sports College Football 25. EA Sports didn’t say how it plans to prevent people from adding the opt-outs.

MEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Vermont 94 UAlbany 80

Jaylen Wells had a 4-point play in the final minute and scored 27 points to help No. 21 Washington State beat No. 4 Arizona 77-74 on Thursday night for its eighth straight victory. Washington State (21-6, 12-4 Pac-12) won in its first game in the AP Top 25 since the 2007-08 season and leapfrogged the Wildcats (20-6, 11-4) for first place in the conference race. Arizona’s Caleb Love made a layup and wast fouled with 51.2 seconds left, hitting the free throw to complete the 3-point play for a 74-71 lead. Wells responded on the next possession with a corner 3 — also while being fouled — and made the free throw for a 4-point play and a 75-74 lead with 24.6 seconds left.

WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

Siena 71 Siena 67

Vermont 67 Albany 35

Duke 58 Syracuse 45

Mt. St. Mary’s 72 Marist 57

Sara Scalia scored 25 points, All-America center Mackenzie Holmes had 24 points and nine rebounds, and No. 14 Indiana frustrated Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark in an 86-69 win over the fourth-ranked Hawkeyes. Playing for the first time since she broke the NCAA women’s career scoring record, Clark finished with 24 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds but struggled from the field. She was 8 of 26 overall and 3 of 16 on 3-pointers while scoring just four points in the second half.

© 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.