MANILA, Philippines — New York’s Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns joined forces and dealt the Phoenix Suns their fifth straight loss, leading the Knicks to a 138-122 victory at the Footprint Center in Arizona on Thursday (Manila time).
Brunson and Towns combined for 70 points as the Knicks notched their fourth straight victory. The former had 36 points and 10 assists, while the latter had 34 markers and 10 boards.
It was a wire-to-wire win for New York, which saw all five starters finish in double figures.
The Knicks started the game waxing hot, taking a 19-point lead, 37-18, in the first quarter after a Jericho Sims slam.
This set the tone for the rest of the contest, as New York’s lead grew to as much as 24 points, 76-52, in the second quarter after a Brunson triple.
The Suns tried to storm a comeback, cutting the lead to 12, 108-120, in the fourth after an and-one play by Devin Booker with 7:10 remaining. However, New York just continued to pounce on the attack and breezed through to the final buzzer.
Josh Hart added 19 points, 11 rebounds and six assists for New York; while Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby chipped in 16 and 14, respectively.
Booker powered the Suns with 33 points, while Royce O’Neale added 17.
The Knicks rose to 9-6 in the season, good for third place in the Eastern Conference. Phoenix dropped to 9-7.
In Houston, Alperen Sengun dropped with 31 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Rockets over the Indiana Pacers, 130-113.
Jabari Smith Jr. added 23 markers and eight boards for the now-11-5 Houston, which took advantage of an off-night from Indiana star Tyrese Haliburton.
Haliburton finished with four points and eight rebounds, to go with a game-worst +- of -28.
Quenton Jackson spearheaded the 6-9 Pacers with 24 points.
Meanwhile, the Golden State Warriors also rose to the top of the Western Conference with a 120-97 demolition of the Atlanta Hawks at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
Andrew Wiggins top-scored for the 11-3 Golden State with 27 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two blocks,; while Stephen Curry had 23 points and eight assists.
Jalen Johnson finished with 15 markers and 14 boards for the 7-9 Atlanta.
The Los Angeles Clippers also drubbed the Orlando Magic, 104-93, at home.