Towns drops 40 as Knicks maul Pacers, Sixers flop
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 40 points as the New York Knicks blew past the Indiana Pacers 128-115 in the latest instalment of the two clubs’ bitter NBA rivalry on Tuesday.
Towns produced a dominant all-round performance with 12 rebounds, five assists and three steals to go with his 40-point game as the Pacers were outgunned before their home crowd.
The Pacers-Knicks rivalry is one of the most intense in the NBA, reaching its zenith in the 1990s when the two teams met in the playoffs on six occasions between 1993 and 2000.
But the Knicks ensured they would claim bragging rights over their rivals on Tuesday with victory in their third and final meeting of the regular season after splitting two earlier games at one apiece.
Towns was backed by 30 points from Josh Hart while Miles McBride added 15 from the bench including a perfect 4-of-4 from three-point range. Jalen Brunson was kept to eight points.
Pascal Siakam led Indiana’s scoring with 24 points.
The Knicks improved to 35-18 to remain in third place in the Eastern Conference, with fourth-placed Indiana falling to 29-23.
In other games, the struggling Philadelphia 76ers slumped to their fourth straight defeat after stumbling to a 106-103 loss at home to the Toronto Raptors.
A miserable night for the Sixers was epitomised by Joel Embiid, whose costly turnover as Philadelphia attempted to snatch victory in the dying seconds all but handed the win to Toronto.
With the Sixers trailing 105-103, Embiid found himself wide open on the edge of the arc but passed up the chance to shoot and instead drove for the basket only to lose possession.
Sixers coach Nick Nurse blamed his team’s defeat on offensive shortcomings.
“It’s no fun losing games. I do see some growth on things defensively, but the offense is pretty clunky right now,” Nurse said.
“There were opportunities tonight — we just didn’t shoot the ball very well.”
Toronto improved to 17-37 with the win, while Philadelphia slumped to 20-33 and remain 11th in the Eastern Conference, outside the playoff places.
The Detroit Pistons meanwhile ran riot in a ruthless road victory demolition over the Chicago Bulls, winning 132-92.
Malik Beasley rattled in seven three-pointers in a 24-point haul from the bench to lead the Pistons scoring, while Cade Cunningham added 20 points for Detroit, who improved to 28-26. The Bulls fell to 22-32.
In the Western Conference, the second-placed Memphis Grizzlies held off the Phoenix Suns to win 119-112 on the road in Arizona.
Suns star Kevin Durant became only the eighth player in NBA history to reach 30,000 career points after delivering a 34-point performance, but the veteran’s individual scoring exploits were not enough to carry Phoenix past a Grizzlies team who improved to 36-17 with the win.
Ja Morant topped Memphis’s scoring with 26 points with Desmond Bane providing offensive support with 20 points.
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