KARL-ANTHONY TOWNS collected 31 points and 11 rebounds Saturday night, helping the New York Knicks post a 122-103 win over the visiting Washington Wizards.
Mikal Bridges added 27 points while OG Anunoby had 23 for the Knicks (44-26), which snapped a two-game losing streak. Cameron Payne tallied 13 points, while Josh Hart had nine points and 12 rebounds.
Jordan Poole had 25 points for the Wizards (15-55), who dropped their fourth in a row. Marcus Smart scored 17 and Kyshawn George finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
Holding a 25-point halftime lead, the Knicks鈥 commanding advantage ballooned to 31 after Towns opened the third quarter with four straight free throws and Hart鈥檚 dunk extended the lead to 72-41 with just over a minute gone.
Later trailing by 31, Washington answered with an 11-0 run 鈥 including AJ Johnson鈥檚 two triples and Poole鈥檚 3-pointer.
Smart鈥檚 trey closed out the quarter鈥檚 scoring, cutting the Knicks鈥 lead to 92-76 entering the fourth.
Washington鈥檚 run continued into the final quarter, with another Smart 3-pointer stamping a 12-0 Wizards鈥 spurt to pull within four.
Anunoby鈥檚 pair of layups and Hart鈥檚 basket later capped the Knicks鈥 15-2 run, extending the lead to 107-90 with 5:23 left. The lead was again pushed to 17 on Towns鈥 3-pointer with 3:46 remaining.
After Payne鈥檚 10 first-quarter points helped New York to a 31-21 lead entering the second, Bub Carrington鈥檚 layup pulled Washington within eight at the 9:22 mark. From there, New York鈥檚 three-point barrage consumed the Wizards, as Anunoby鈥檚 consecutive triples and Bridges鈥 three straight treys gave the Knicks a 48-26 lead almost midway through the second quarter. 鈥 Reuters
