New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby dunks the ball over Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert during the first half of an NBA game Monday in New York.
AP photo
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New York Knicks forward Julius Randle (30) looks to drive around Minnesota Timberwolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker during the first half of an NBA game Monday in New York.
AP photo
Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert drives to the basket over New York Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein during the first half of an NBA game Monday in New York.
AP photo
NEW YORK — OG Anunoby received a nice ovation as he walked to the bench after fouling out of his strong debut with the New York Knicks.
Julius Randle made sure the fans were still cheering at the end.
Randle scored 39 points, Anunoby had 17 in his first game with his new team and the Knicks beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 112-106 on Monday.
Jalen Brunson added 16 points and a career-high 14 assists for the Knicks, who snapped a three-game losing streak after putting Anunoby into the starting lineup for his first game since coming from Toronto in Saturday’s trade that sent RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley to the Raptors.
Anunoby only arrived Sunday and was still having things explained to him during the game, but went 7 for 12 from the field and helped the Knicks deliver a solid defensive effort against the Western Conference leaders.
“I thought first game, impressive, really just to be ready and to kind of figure it out like on the fly,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said.
The Timberwolves cut a 22-point deficit down to four midway through the fourth quarter, but Randle rescued the Knicks by scoring their next 11 points, including a three-point play that made it 110-102 with 23 seconds remaining.
Anthony Edwards scored 35 points, his third straight game above 30. Karl-Anthony Towns snapped out of a recent scoring slump with 29, but the Wolves had a dismal second quarter after making 10 of their first 15 shots in a good start to the game.
“I thought our energy just kind of dipped,” coach Chris Finch said. “I thought our start to the game was good, we made some shots, we got a few stops, but I didn’t think our energy was super high and it kind of maintained that level. They found another gear and we didn’t respond.”
The Knicks outscored the Wolves 38-17 in the second quarter to take a 61-49 lead, then broke it open with an 8-0 run in the third that gave them a 19-point advantage.
Donte DiVincenzo and Anunoby hit consecutive 3-pointers to give the Knicks their largest lead at 83-61 later in the quarter, and it was 94-78 headed to the fourth.
Shortly before the game, DiVincenzo appeared to be pointing out some things to Anunoby as the Knicks were warming up.
“Even during the game, they were telling me: ‘Go here. Do this,’” Anunoby said of his new teammates. “They were helping me out for sure, a lot of them and I’m thankful for it.”
Minnesota scored the first 10 of the final period to make it a six-point game before Anunoby’s 3-pointer from the corner stopped the run. The Wolves kept coming, but Randle wouldn’t let them come all the way back.
He acknowledged after the game that it felt different playing without longtime teammates Barrett and Quickley.
“But that’s part of the league,” Randle said, “just change and adjustment.”
Anunoby said he arrived in New York on Sunday and had been trying to learn some of the Knicks’ plays and terminologies they use. He can become a free agent after the season, but wasn’t ready to think about his future with his present so unsettled.
“I have to find out where to live,” he said before the game. “I don’t know anything. I’m just trying to figure it out.”
ROCKETS 136, PISTONS 113
HOUSTON — Two nights after their NBA record-tying 28-game losing streak ended, the Detroit Pistons were blown out by the Houston Rockets, who got 26 points and nine assists from Alperen Sengun and 22 points from Jalen Green.
Detroit (3-30), which beat Toronto 129-127 on Saturday, failed to win consecutive games for the second time this season. Green and Sengun combined to score 37 points in the third quarter as the Rockets outscored the Pistons 47-25 in the period to take a 106-80 lead into the fourth.
Sengun shot 9 of 13 from the field and Green made five 3-pointers as the Rockets snapped a three-game skid.
Alec Burks scored 21 points, Jaden Ivey added 19 and Bojan Bogdanovic had 14 for the Pistons. Jalen Duren had 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Tari Eason had 17 points, Jae’Sean Tate scored 16 and Fred VanVleet had 15 points and seven assists for Houston.
PACERS 122, BUCKS 113
MILWAUKEE — Tyrese Haliburton had 26 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds, and Indiana snapped Milwaukee’s 15-game home winning streak.
Bennedict Mathurin added 25 points and a career-high 13 rebounds for the Pacers, and Isaiah Jackson had 18 points and nine assists. T.J. McConnell scored 12 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter and also had nine assists.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 30 points, 18 rebounds and 11 assists for his 38th career triple-double, and third this season. The two-time MVP is averaging 46.3 points, 13.5 rebounds and 4.8 assists in four meetings with Indiana this season, but the Bucks are 1-3 in those games.
Brook Lopez and Khris Middleton each scored 21 points for the Bucks. Damian Lillard had 13 points while shooting 3 of 16 overall and 1 of 9 from 3-point range.
RAPTORS 124, CAVALIERS 121
TORONTO — Pascal Siakam scored 36 points, Jakob Poeltl had 14 points and 11 rebounds and new-look Toronto recovered after squandering a 19-point lead to beat Cleveland.
RJ Barrett had 19 points and nine rebounds and Immanuel Quickley added 14 in the players’ first start for the Raptors. Barrett and Quickley were acquired from the Knicks on Saturday in a trade that sent OG Anunoby to New York.
Scottie Barnes scored 20 points and Dennis Schroder added 12 points off the bench as Toronto bounced back after falling at Detroit on Saturday, when the Pistons snapped an NBA record-tying 28-game losing streak.
Caris LeVert scored 31 points and Donovan Mitchell had 26 for the Cavaliers, who have lost two straight and three of five. Isaac Okoro, Jarrett Allen and Sam Merrill each had 16 points for Cleveland.
SUNS 109, BLAZERS 88
PHOENIX — Bradley Beal scored 21 points and the Phoenix Suns beat the Portland Trail Blazers for their fourth consecutive victory.
With Kevin Durant sidelined by right hamstring tightness, the Suns had seven players score in double figures. Jusuf Nurkic, playing against his former team, had 18 points. Chimezie Metu, starting for Durant, scored 14, and Grayson Allen and reserve Eric Gordon each had 12.
Phoenix star Devin Booker was held to 10 points on 4-of-16 shooting, but contributed eight rebounds and six assists. Bol Bol helped make up for Durant’s absence with 11 points and nine rebounds.
Durant scored 31 points in Sunday’s victory over Orlando, but coach Frank Vogel said he tweaked the hamstring late in the game.
JAZZ 127, MAVERICKS 90
SALT LAKE CITY — Jordan Clarkson came off the bench to post the first regular-season triple-double by a Utah player since 2008, leading the Jazz to a 127-90 win over the Dallas Mavericks.
Clarkson had 20 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds — the first triple-double of his career — and the first for the Jazz in a regular-season game since Carlos Boozer had one on Feb. 13, 2008, a stretch of 1,256 games. Also, Clarkson’s triple-double was the first in more than 40 years for a Jazz player coming off the bench, dating to Feb. 5, 1983, when Mark Eaton had 12 points, 14 rebounds and 12 blocked shots.
The 31-year-old Clarkson achieved the triple-double in his 685th regular-season game, and 728th game of his career. He was a second-round pick, 46th overall, in the 2014 draft by Washington before being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. He was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2019 and moved to the Jazz in 2019.
Simone Fontecchio paced the Jazz with 24 points. Lauri Markkanen added 17 points and John Collins chipped in 15. Walker Kessler had team-highs of 10 rebounds and four blocks, along with 11 points.
Utah won a fourth straight home game and avenged a 50-point loss to Dallas in December. The Jazz have won eight of their last 11 games.
NUGGETS 111, HORNETS 93
DENVER — Jamal Murray scored 25 points and Michael Porter Jr. added 22 as the Denver Nuggets beat the short-handed Charlotte Hornets.
Nikola Jokic had 13 points, 11 rebounds and six assists as the Nuggets sent the Hornets to their 11th straight loss. Two of those losses have come against the Nuggets in the last 1 1/2 weeks.
Aaron Gordon, who suffered cuts to his hand and face when he was bitten by a dog on Christmas Day, had 10 points in his return for Denver.
Miles Bridges led Charlotte with 26 points, and Nick Richards and Brandon Miller each scored 15.
Gordon rejoined the Nuggets in time for practice on Sunday after missing two games.