NEW YORK (AP) — Karl-Anthony Towns had 21 points and 15 rebounds in his Knicks home debut, Jalen Brunson scored 26 points and New York routed the Indiana Pacers 123-98 on Friday night.
Mikal Bridges also scored 21 points and Josh Hart had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Knicks, who bounced back powerfully after they were blown out 132-109 in Boston on Tuesday in the NBA season opener.
Indiana All-Star point guard Tyrese Haliburton was scoreless and went 0 for 7 on 3-pointers, falling to 1 for 16 behind the arc this season. Reserve Bennedict Mathurin scored 20 points.
CAVALIERS 113, PISTONS 101
CLEVELAND (AP) — Donovan Mitchell and Dean Wade scored 19 points apiece and Cleveland won its home opener over Detroit and former Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff.
Jarrett Allen added 17 and 11 rebounds as the Cavs won their 10th straight over the Pistons to give new coach Kenny Atkinson a win in his home debut and a 2-0 start.
Bickerstaff got a mixed reaction from fans in his return after being fired after last season despite leading the Cavs to the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Cade Cunningham scored 33 and Jaden Ivey 22 for the Pistons, who were still within eight in the fourth quarter when Wade made back-to-back 3-pointers in a 31-second span to put the Cavs ahead 105-91 with 6:17 left.
RAPTORS 115, 76ERS 107
TORONTO (AP) — Scottie Barnes scored 27 points, Jakob Poeltl had 19, and Toronto won to snap a seven-game losing streak against Philadelphia.
It had been nearly two years since Toronto’s last win over Philadelphia, a 119-109 victory on Oct. 26, 2022.
Raptors rookie Jamison Battle scored 10 of his 12 points in the fourth quarter before fouling out. Fellow rookie Jonathan Mogbo had 12 points, five assists and nine rebounds. The Raptors outrebounded Philadelphia 54-28.
Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 28 points and Tyrese Maxey had 24, and the 76ers are still winless after losing to Milwaukee on Wednesday.
Philadelphia guard Kyle Lowry got a loud ovation when he was announced as a starter against his former team. Lowry scored 14 points.
HAWKS 125, HORNETS 120
ATLANTA (AP) — Trae Young scored 38 points and Atlanta overcame LaMelo Ball’s 34 points and career-best nine 3-pointers to beat Charlotte.
Ball made 9 of 14 3-pointers, beating his previous career high of eight.
De’Andre Hunter added 24 points for Atlanta.
Charlotte never led but pulled even twice in the final period.
Ball scored 34 points in the Hornets’ 110-105 win at Houston on Wednesday to open the regular season. He matched that total with his ninth 3-pointer with 7:31 remaining.
The Hornets were without two starters, including guard Brandon Miller. The team said Miller will be out at least a week because of a strained left glute. Center Mark Williams was held out with a strained tendon in his left foot.
MAGIC 116, NETS 101
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Franz Wagner scored 29 points, brother Mo Wagner added 18 and Orlando won their home opener, beating Brooklyn.
Paolo Banchero had 15 points and nine assists after failing to make a field goal in the first half. Wendell Carter had 10 rebounds.
Cam Thomas scored 24 points for Brooklyn, and Dennis Schroeder added 20.
Brooklyn had its biggest lead at 53-49 after Ben Simmons scored the first seven points of the second half.
BULLS 133, BUCKS 122
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Coby White scored 35 points, and hot-shooting Chicago spoiled Milwaukee’s home opener with a victory.
Zach LaVine added 25 points, Nikola Vucevic had 22 and Josh Giddey scored 17 for the Bulls, who shot 21 of 47 from 3-point range.
Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Bucks with 38 points, 11 rebounds and five assists. Damian Lillard had 28 points, but only went 3 of 12 from deep.
After the first three minutes of the third quarter featured five lead changes, the Bulls broke a 72-all tie and pulled ahead for good by scoring seven straight points.
ROCKETS 128, GRIZZLIES 108
HOUSTON (AP) — Jalen Green scored 22 points and six other Houston players scored in double figures in their win over Memphis.
Dillon Brooks added 18, Alperen Sengun and Fred VanVleet both had 16, Jabari Smith Jr. had 14 points and 16 rebounds, Tari Eason had 13 and Cam Whitmore had 11.
Ja Morant scored 24 on 8-of-17 shooting to lead Memphis. Desmond Bane added 17 points, and Scottie Pippen Jr. and Zach Edey both had 13.
The Rockets trailed 65-59 at halftime but outscored Memphis 39-18 in the third quarter to take control of the game.
WARRIORS 127, JAZZ 86
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Buddy Hield scored 27 points, Steph Curry added 20 and Golden State overpowered Utah.
Hield had 24 points in the first half, hitting 6 of 7 3-pointers, to help the Warriors improve to 2-0. The Jazz dropped to 0-2.
From the early first quarter to the early third, the Warriors outscored the Jazz 68-32. Trayce Jackson-Davis’ inside shot made it 74-47 with 8:15 left in the third.
John Collins led Utah with 14 points. The Jazz opened with a 15-6 lead, but the Warriors took a double-digit lead early in the second quarter.
Utah shot 31.5%. The Jazz are 0-26 in games shooting below 33%.
LAKERS 123, SUNS 116
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Anthony Davis scored 35 points, Austin Reaves added 26 and Los Angeles rallied to beat Phoenix for their first 2-0 start since 2010-11.
LeBron James had 17 of his 21 points in the second half for the Lakers, who trailed by 22 points in the second quarter.
Kevin Durant led Phoenix (1-1) with 30 points. Devin Booker had 23.
The Lakers were down 61-52 at halftime, then outscored Phoenix 35-24 in the third quarter to take the lead as Davis and James each scored 11 in the period.
Los Angeles led by 12 points in the fourth quarter.
PELICANS 105, TRAIL BLAZERS 103
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Brandon Ingram hit a jumper with 4.9 seconds left and New Orleans rallied from behind to beat Portland.
New Orleans trailed until CJ McCollum made a 3-pointer and floater to tie it at 91 with 8:20 to go. Jordan Hawkins made free throws to put New Orleans in front. The Pelicans extended the lead to 97-91 on Daniel Theis’ layup.
Anfernee Simons’ jumper put Portland back in front with 2:24 left. It was back and fourth down the stretch until Ingram’s game-winner.
Hawkins led the Pelicans with 24 points.
Zion Williamson was in the starting lineup for the Pelicans after missing the team’s opener against Chicago with an illness. He finished with 16 points.
Portland jumped out to a 27-15 lead in the first quarter and held on to a double-digit lead through most of the half to lead 47-37 at the break.
The Associated Press
