NEW YORK — Karl-Anthony Towns had 23 points and 15 rebounds, Jalen Brunson scored 21 points and the New York Knicks beat the Orlando Magic 121-106 on Tuesday to reach the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup.
New York went 4-0 in East Group A and will host Atlanta on Dec. 11. Orlando (3-1) advanced as the East wild card and will travel to Milwaukee.
Mikal Bridges had 19 points and Josh Hart added 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Knicks, who have won their last three games and eight of their last 10.
Franz Wagner finished with 30 points while Moritz Wagner had 20 off the bench for the Magic, who had their six-game winning streak snapped.
The Magic needed only to lose by no more than 37 points to advance via tiebreaker.
New York led by 36-26 at the end of the first quarter and led by as many as 22 points in the second before going into the half with a 71-51 lead.
CAVALIERS 118, WIZARDS 87
CLEVELAND — Donovan Mitchell scored 19 points and Evan Mobley had 19 points and 10 rebounds as Cleveland beat Washington, extending thier losing streak to 15.
Sam Merrill and Georges Niang each scored 14 points off the bench for Cleveland, which has the best record in the NBA at 19-3 and is 12-1 at home. The 31-point win was the Cavaliers’ largest of the season.
Cleveland point guard Darius Garland had 12 points before leaving with a head injury in the third quarter. Garland was struck by an inadvertent elbow from Wizards centre Jonas Valanciunas in the paint. Coach Kenny Atkinson said Garland wasn’t expect to miss any time.
Valanciunas, Jordan Poole and rookie Bub Carrington scored 13 points for Washington in the final NBA Cup game for both teams. Valanciunas also grabbed 11 rebounds in 19 minutes.
DETROIT — Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 28 points and Damian Lillard had 27, lifting surging Milwaukee to a win over Detroit and into the NBA Cup quarterfinals.
The Bucks, who won East Group B with a 4-0 record, have won seven straight and nine of 10.
Detroit was eliminated from the NBA Cup, dropping to 3-1 in the tournament. Cade Cunningham scored 23 points, Tobias Harris had 16, Tim Hardaway scored 15 and Jalen Duren added 11 for the Pistons.
Milwaukee’s Gary Trent Jr. scored 16 points, Bobby Portis and Taurean Prince each scored 14 and A.J. Green added 11.
The hot-shooting Bucks led 36-31 after the first quarter and were ahead 78-59 at halftime in a game that simply wasn’t competitive.
Antetokounmpo rested in the fourth quarter, after making 10 of 11 shots in 28 minutes. He also had eight assists and seven rebounds after having a triple-double in three of his previous six games.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Paul George scored 29 points, Tyrese Maxey had eight of his 21 points in the final 30 seconds and Philadelphia won back-to-back games for the first time this season with a victory over Charlotte.
Jared McCain added 17 points off the bench and Kelly Oubre scored 14 for Philadelphia (5-14), which finished 2-2 in Group A NBA Cup play. Charlotte was 0-4. Neither team advanced out of pool play.
Brandon Miller had 34 points, and Nick Richards had a strong outing in his second game back from injury with 22 points and 14 rebounds. Charlotte (6-15) finished its homestand 0-5.
The Hornets got solid performances from both rookie draft picks as Tidjane Salaun recorded his first double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds and K.J. Simpson added eight points, nine assists and six rebounds.
Philadelphia led by double digits most of the game, but Charlotte rallied to take the lead with 1:32 left on Miller’s seventh 3-pointer of the second half. But it was short-lived as Maxey’s layup with 29.7 seconds put the 76ers ahead.
Maxey sealed the win with four more throws and a transition layup.
TORONTO — Scottie Barnes scored a career-high 35 points, RJ Barrett of Mississauga, Ont., added 29 and Toronto never trailed in a win over Indiana that extended their road losing streak to seven.
Jakob Poeltl had 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Ochai Agbaji scored 13 points for the Raptors, who led by 24 points in the third quarter.
Barnes shot 13 for 20 and had nine assists and six rebounds. His previous scoring high was 32 points, set twice.
Tyrese Haliburton scored 30 points for the Pacers, who have not won away from home since beating Dallas on Nov. 4. Montreal’s Bennedict Mathurin had 17 points, Myles Turner scored 16 and Obi Toppin added 15.
Indiana’s Pascal Siakam fouled out with 13 points on 4-of-13 shooting against his former team. The former Raptors star was called for a technical foul in the fourth quarter.
The Raptors finished 1-3 in NBA Cup group play for the second straight year. The Pacers fell to 0-4 in the tournament.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Jalen Williams scored 28 points, Hamilton’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 26 points, seven assists and six rebounds, and Oklahoma City beat Utah.
Isaiah Joe had 19 points and fellow reserve Aaron Wiggins finished with 16 as the Thunder closed out West Group B play at 3-1. They would win the group if Phoenix beat San Antonio later Tuesday.
Alexander, selected as Western Conference player of the month earlier Tuesday, scored 15 points after halftime. Oklahoma City twice led by as many as 30 points in the second half.
Isaiah Hartenstein had four points and five rebounds, his first game without at least 10 points and 10 boards in six games since returning from a fractured hand.
Collin Sexton scored 17 points while Walker Kessler and John Collins added 15 apiece for the Jazz, who fell to 4-17.
MAVERICKS 121, GRIZZLIES 116
DALLAS — Luka Doncic had 37 points and 12 rebounds, Spencer Dinwiddie and P.J. Washington Jr. hit clutch 3-pointers in the final two minutes, and Dallas overcame a 15-point deficit to beat Memphis to keep alive their chances of advancing to the NBA Cup quarterfinals.
The Mavericks needed a win and help on the final night of group play to earn the West wild-card spot.
Dallas trailed 111-103 with 3:34 to play and went on a 16-3 run capped by two 3-pointers from Dinwiddie and one from Washington.
Washington scored 18 points, Dereck Lively II had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Dinwiddie scored 16 for the Mavericks, who have won a season-high five consecutive games and nine of their last 10.
Ja Morant scored a season-high 31 points, 15 in the fourth period, for the Grizzlies. They had a season-high six-game winning streak snapped and were eliminated from the Cup race.
Desmond Bane added 19 points while Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 14 of his 16 in the first half.
After Dallas took a 60-57 lead into the second half, the Grizzlies dominated the third period 38-22. The Mavericks answered back in the fourth, 39-21.
PHOENIX — Devin Booker scored 29 points and Phoenix weathered the loss of Kevin Durant to an ankle injury to beat San Antonio.
Durant left the game with 3:51 to play in the second quarter and did not return. He headed to the locker room under his own power, and the Suns later said he hurt an ankle without providing any specifics. He finished with 13 points.
Though Oklahoma City won West Group B in the NBA Cup, the Suns were hoping to earn a wild-card berth into the quarterfinals. But they were eliminated when Dallas beat Memphis.
Booker surpassed 15,000 career points with his first basket of the night. He trails only Walter Davis (15,666) on Phoenix’s scoring list.
San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama scored 15 points, all in the second half, and had 13 rebounds. He missed all seven shots in the first half, six from 3-point range.
Devin Vassell led the Spurs with 25 points off the bench. Stephon Castle scored 16.
Tyus Jones scored 16 points, and Royce O’Neale and Bradley Beal had 10 each for Phoenix.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Domantas Sabonis scored 27 points and Sacramento made 15 straight shots from the field to beat Houston and deny them the top seed in the NBA Cup quarterfinals.
The shooting spree by the Kings turned an eight-point deficit late in the second quarter into a 12-point lead midway through the third to give the Kings their only win in four NBA Cup games.
De’Aaron Fox added 22 points, Malik Monk had 17 points and a career-high 12 assists, and ex-Raptor DeMar DeRozan scored 16.
The Rockets won their first three games in the NBA Cup and could have clinched the top seed in the West with a win over the Kings. Houston will host Golden State in the quarterfinals.
Jalen Green scored 28 to lead Houston and Alperen Sengun added 24.
NUGGETS 119, WARRIORS 115
DENVER — Nikola Jokic had 38 points, 10 rebounds and five steals to rally Denver to a victory over Golden State.
Jokic fell four assists shy of his NBA-leading ninth triple-double of the season. The reigning league MVP remained tied with Magic Johnson for the third-most triple-doubles in NBA history with 138.
Michael Porter Jr. added 22 points and Aaron Gordon had 15 points and nine rebounds for Denver.
The loss was the fifth in a row for Golden State following a 12-3 start and means the Warriors will travel to Houston next week for the NBA Cup quarterfinals.
Steph Curry had 24 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds for the Warriors, though was just 4 for 15 on 3-pointers. Jonathan Kuminga added 19 points.
Trailing 90-85 entering the fourth quarter, the Warriors rattled off a 19-4 run to take a 104-94 lead. But Denver came back and went ahead on a pair of free throws by Gordon with 48 seconds remaining.
Golden State was without defensive anchor Draymond Green, who was sidelined with left calf tightness.
CLIPPERS 127, TRAIL BLAZERS 105
LOS ANGELES — Former Raptor Norman Powell scored 30 points, James Harden had 23 and Los Angeles beat Portland.
Amir Coffey scored 19 points, hitting five 3-pointers, and Derrick Jones Jr. added 15 for Clippers. Los Angeles shot 55.3% from the field and was 19 of 37 (51.4%) from 3-point range en route to a season high in points.
DeAndre Ayton scored 16 points and Shaedon Sharpe of London, Ont., and Deni Avdija each had 15 for Portland.
The Clippers and Trail Blazers each finished 2-2 in NBA Cup West Group A play. Neither team advanced out of pool play.
