Jalen Brunson scored nine unanswered points late in the fourth quarter Wednesday night for the host New York Knicks, who squandered all of a 19-point lead before coming back to edge the skidding Philadelphia 76ers 110-105.
Brunson scored 14 of his game-high 34 points in the final 6:33 for the Knicks, who snapped a two-game losing streak. Mikal Bridges had 28 points, including 19 in the first quarter, while OG Anunoby added 16 points and nine rebounds.
Josh Hart had 17 rebounds for the Knicks, who were without Karl-Anthony Towns (left knee).
Tyrese Maxey scored 30 points for the 76ers, who have lost nine straight — their longest losing streak since a 12-game skid late in the 2015-16 season, when they finished 10-72. Kelly Oubre Jr. had 27 points while Paul George added 25 points.
Joel Embiid sat out his second straight game due to a left knee injury. He has missed four games during the losing streak.
The Knicks led by as many as 13 in the first quarter, opened up a 19-point lead in the second and maintained a double-digit advantage for more than 19 minutes before Maxey ended the third quarter with a pair of free throws to pull the 76ers within 83-74.
The Knicks led 94-85 with 6:44 left before the 76ers — whose lone previous leads were at 2-0 and 4-2 — mounted a 17-4 run and took their biggest lead at 102-98 on Maxey’s floater with 2:42 left.
Brunson then began his decisive run by sinking a pair of free throws. After Maxey missed a 3-pointer, Brunson tied the score with a banked layup with 1:59 left. Maxey missed a layup before Brunson drained the tiebreaking 3-pointer over Maxey.
The teams each missed two shots on their next possessions before Brunson hit two more free throws with 32.1 seconds left. Maxey ended the surge with a layup, but Anunoby delivered a thunderous dunk off an in-bounds pass by Bridges following a Knicks timeout to extend the lead to five points again with 27.8 seconds remaining.
Oubre and Brunson each split a pair of free throws — the miss was the first of the game for Brunson after 14 straight successful attempts — and Maxey missed a 3-pointer with just under 14 seconds remaining. Hart pulled down the rebound and the 76ers allowed him to dribble out the clock.
–Field Level Media
