By ASSOCIATED PRESS
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Karl-Anthony Towns had 40 points and 12 rebounds, Josh Hart added 30 points and 10 rebounds and the New York Knicks beat the Indiana Pacers, 128-115, on Tuesday night, Feb. 11.
New York won in Indianapolis for the first time since April 2023. The Knicks lost all three road games in last season’s seven-game Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Pacers.
Towns scored 24 points in the first half, making 9 of 12 from the field. He was 14 of 23 from the field, while Hart did most of his damage in the second half and wound up 12 of 16 from the field.
Three-time All-Star Pascal Siakam had 24 points for Indiana. Thomas Bryant started in place of the injured Myles Turner (strained neck) and had 18 points and nine rebounds. Bennedict Mathurin also had 18 points.
New York swung what been a back-and-forth game with a 10-0 second-quarter run as the Knicks took a 68-60 halftime lead. Indiana cut the deficit to 89-85 late in the third quarter, but New York pulled away late.
Coach Tom Thibodeau’s squad didn’t miss a beat even without injured forward OG Anunoby and even on a night Jalen Brunson was in serious foul trouble. Towns and Hart carried them to the victory.
Indiana was hoping to regain some momentum after losing two of their final three on a four-game road trip. But the Pacers struggled to find a stopper against Towns or Hart and shot poorly from 3-point range.
Meanwhile in Chicago, Malik Beasley made seven 3-pointers and finished with 24 points, and the Detroit Pistons built a franchise-record, 42-point halftime lead on the way to a 132-92 romp over the Bulls.
Detroit outscored the Bulls 71-29 in the first half, eclipsing the previous mark of 34 points against Chicago on March 23, 1969.
Beasley set a Detroit record for 3-pointers in a season with 212 after making 7 of 10. The previous mark was 211 by Saddiq Bey in 2021-22. Cade Cunningham added 20 points, seven assists and six rebounds as the Pistons came away with their most lopsided win of the season.
Tobias Harris scored 18 and Ausar Thompson finished with 16 points as the Pistons rolled to their third win in a row.
The Bulls set a team record by missing their first 20 3-pointers before Ayo Dosunmu hit one near the end of the second quarter. They were 10 of 47 from beyond the arc and shot 35% overall in the game.
In Philadelphia, Scottie Barnes scored 33 points, Immanuel Quickley added 23 and the Toronto Raptors snapped a four-game losing streak with a 106-103 victory over the 76ers.
Gradey Dick added 17 points, including a clutch late 3-pointer. Barnes fed Ochai Agbaji for a layup with 1:32 left to put the Raptors up for good.
Joel Embiid had 27 points and 12 rebounds, but the 76ers (20-33) fell a season-worst 13 games under .500. Jared Butler had 15 points off the bench, and Paul George added 12.
Tyrese Maxey had just five points on 1-for-9 shooting. He was 1 for 7 from 3-point range, where the 76ers finished 9 for 38 (23.7%).
