An Aussie lit up in the best game of his young career.
Plus Klay Thompson bounced back in a big way to lead the Warriors t their first road win of the season.
Catch up on all of the day’s action in our NBA Wrap!
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“So we’re going to make this thing factual. It’s about basketball and we’re going to live in that space.” The row surrounding Irving, who was suspended a week after his late October post for failing to offer an apology, came the same week that Vaughn took over after Steve Nash was sacked in the wake of the Nets’ 1-5 start to the season.
They have now improved to 8-9, with former Rookie of the Year Simmons finally coming alive for the team he joined in a trade last season after his relationship with Philadelphia soured because of struggles with a back injury and mental health issues.
Simmons connected on 11 of 13 shot attempts for his first 20-point game since the 2021 playoffs for the 76ers – who will host the Nets on Wednesday.
Dillon Brooks scored 31 points for the Grizzlies, who were without dynamic star Ja Morant, Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson.
SUNS TORCH KNICKS
A road trip that was supposed to be an absolute gauntlet for the Knicks suddenly had a chance to be a boon.
But back-to-back wins over the Jazz and the Nuggets have been followed by consecutive double-digit losses to the Warriors and the Suns, with the latter a messy 116-95 defeat at Footprint Center in which the Knicks were dominated on the boards by a whopping 60-39 count.
“The rebounding was a big problem. I thought we played well in the first half, but against a team like this you have to play well for all four quarters, 48 minutes,” Tom Thibodeau said. “So we had that lull, you give a team like that a second and third crack at things, they’ll make you pay for it and they did. “
Cameron Payne scored 21 points with nine assists and Devin Booker had 20 points amid a 17-for-39 shooting performance (43.6 per cent) from 3-point range by a Suns team playing without Chris Paul (heel) and Cam Johnson (knee).
Jalen Brunson netted a team-high 27 points, but skidding RJ Barrett and leading scorer Julius Randle combined for just 21 on 7-for-22 from the floor for the Knicks, who will look to salvage a winning record on the five-city trip Tuesday in Oklahoma City.
Of course, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder pasted the Knicks for a season-worst 145 points in a Garden blowout barely one week ago.
Embiid leads Sixers pass Bucks | 02:38
“Win (Tuesday and) it’s still a great trip. Going over .500 on the road, on this crazy trip, that’s good. So that’s what we’re focusing on,” said Barrett, who is 2-for-25 from 3-point range and 26.3 per cent overall (20-for-76) over his past five games. “Trying to end up the road trip with a win, for sure. It’s good we get to see them again, this fast.”
Mitchell Robinson played for the first time since suffering a sprained right knee Nov. 5 in Philadelphia, scoring two points with four rebounds in 17 minutes off the bench. Miles McBride contributed nine points in a season-high 14 minutes with veteran guard Derrick Rose sitting out the second half due to a sore right toe.
With recent starting shooting guard Cam Reddish also out of the line-up with a sore groin suffered Saturday against the Warriors, Quentin Grimes at least enjoyed a strong game in his first extended playing time of the season. The second-year guard finished with 10 points, eight assists and five boards in a season-high 32 minutes. He’d logged 43 minutes over six previous appearances this season due to a foot injury suffered in training camp.
Isaiah Hartenstein started at centre for the Knicks (8-9), but he picked up two quick fouls, and Robinson came off the bench with 8:24 left in the first quarter.
The Knicks trailed, 28-22, through one, with Payne netting 10 and Booker scoring seven — including a four-point play. The Suns extended their cushion to 11 in the second quarter, but Brunson keyed a 9-0 run and converted a three-point play to forge a tie in the final minute before the Suns carried a 55-53 advantage into intermission.
Long-distance makes by Torrey Craig (14 points) and Booker, however, sparked an 11-2 Phoenix spurt to boost the score to 75-64 midway through the third. Additional 3-pointers by Booker and Duane Washington Jr. in the closing minute of the quarter widened the gap to 17 before the Suns extended their lead to as many as 26 in the final period.
“Really, the whole game, the rebounding was critical. They established their physical presence from the start, plus-20 or whatever it was on the glass, plus-30 from 3,” said Randle, who didn’t play in the fourth quarter and finished with a season-low nine points. “We gotta try to finish out the trip and make it a good trip. Take it a day at a time, game at a time, and hopefully come in (Tuesday) and take care of business.”
-Originally published by Peter Botte in The New York Post
ALL RESULTS
KNICKS 95 SUNS 116
HORNETS 102 WIZARDS 106
PISTONS 129 KINGS 137
GRIZZLIES 115 NETS 127
HEAT 87 CAVALIERS 113
WARRIORS 127 ROCKETS 120
NUGGETS 98 MAVERICKS 97
SPURS 92 LAKERS 123
