Julius Randle and RJ Barrett each posted double-doubles Sunday afternoon as the visiting New York Knicks snapped a five-game losing streak with their most lopsided win in almost five years, a 105-75 rout of the Boston Celtics. The Knicks never trailed in producing their biggest margin of victory since March 9, 2016, when they defeated the Phoenix Suns, 128-97. It was also New York’s most lopsided victory over the Celtics since a 102-70 win on Nov. 4, 1997.
The Celtics, who had their five-game winning streak snapped, suffered their most lopsided defeat since a 116-86 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals on May 19, 2018. Boston’s 75 points were its fewest in the regular season since an 83-75 loss to the Miami Heat on Jan. 1, 2015. They scored 72 in a playoff loss to the Atlanta Hawks in 2016.
Randle finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds while Barrett had 19 and 11, respectively. Immanuel Quickley had 17 points and a team-high eight assists off the bench while Obi Toppin (12 points) and Reggie Bullock (11 points) also got into double digits.
Chicago Bulls 117 – Dallas Mavericks 101
Lauri Markkanen had a season-high 29 points to go with 10 rebounds and Garrett Temple scored 17 of his season-high 21 points in the first half as Chicago snapped a four-game losing streak by beating host Dallas.
Bench scoring and ball movement boosted the Bulls, whose reserves outscored the Mavericks’ 61-22. Chicago shot 50.6 percent behind six scorers in double figures while finishing with 32 assists against 13 turnovers.
Chicago’s defense produced a season-best 14 steals to help overcome a triple-double from Dallas’ Luka Doncic, who amassed a game-high 36 points, 16 rebounds and 15 assists. Doncic scored 30 points in the first half on 11-of-19 shooting, establishing a new career best for scoring in the first 24 minutes.
Los Angeles Clippers 129 – Indiana Pacers 96
Marcus Morris Sr. and Luke Kennard each scored 20 points to lead seven players in double figures, and host Los Angeles hammered Indiana.
Paul George also scored 20 for the Clippers, who played without forward Serge Ibaka (undisclosed illness) and guard Lou Williams (hip). Williams sat out his second consecutive contest. Kawhi Leonard finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Doug McDermott scored 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting — including 5 of 7 from 3-point range — for the Pacers, who were without center Myles Turner (hand), the NBA’s leader in blocks at 4.2 per game. Domantas Sabonis had 19 points, 14 rebounds and six assists.
Utah Jazz 109 – Denver Nuggets 105
Jordan Clarkson led Utah with a team-high 23 points off the bench and Donovan Mitchell finished with 18 points to lead visiting Utah past Denver.
Bojan Bogdanovic, who couldn’t play against Denver in the playoffs because of a wrist injury, was a bright spot for Utah with 17 points.
Nikola Jokic continued his torrid start to the season with 35 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists, but Denver fell behind early, finally took a lead, but couldn’t fend off the Jazz in the second half.
New Orleans Pelicans 128 – Sacramento Kings 123
Zion Williamson scored 31 points and Brandon Ingram added 22 as New Orleans ended a five-game losing streak by hanging on for a victory over host Sacramento.
Eric Bledsoe had a season-high 21 points as the Pelicans won a game for the first time since Jan. 2 against the Toronto Raptors. New Orleans is now 1-2 on a six-game road trip that originally was scheduled for seven games before a matchup at Dallas on Jan. 11 was postponed.
De’Aaron Fox scored a career-high 43 points with 13 assists for the Kings, while Marvin Bagley III added 26 points and 10 rebounds as Sacramento lost for the fifth time in its last six games. The Kings went 2-5 during their just-completed stretch of seven consecutive home games.
