Towns has 28 points and 11 rebounds, Knicks top Bulls 105-99

CHICAGO (AP) — Karl-Anthony Towns had 28 points and 11 rebounds for his NBA-leading 39th double-double and the New York Knicks outlasted the sliding Chicago Bulls 105-99 on Sunday night for their second straight victory.

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Towns scored six straight points — on a 3-pointer, a layup and free throw — after Chicago took a 95-94 lead with 3:52 left in regulation on Matas Buzelis' 3. Mikal Bridges hit another 3-pointer with 27 seconds left, and Jalen Brunson iced it with two free throws.

Brunson had 19 points and nine assists to help New York deal the Bulls a ninth straight loss, their longest skid since a 10-game slide in January 2019.

Landry Shamet added 16 points for the often cold-shooting Knicks, who shot 44.7% from the floor after overcoming an 18-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat Houston 108-106 in New York on Saturday.

Buzelis finished with 15 points for Chicago. Jalen Smith had 12 before leaving the in the third quarter with right calf tightness, and Isaac Okoro had 12. Guerschon Yabusele had 11 points and 13 rebounds.

New York opened a 13-point lead in the third quarter thanks to 21-10 run before settling for 83-78 edge heading into the fourth. Chicago led 53-52 at the half.

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The Bulls played without injured guards Jaden Ivey and Anfernee Simons, both acquired at the trade deadline.

The Knicks were without center Mitchell Robinson, who sat out for left ankle injury management.

Up next

Knicks: At Cleveland on Tuesday night.

Bulls: Host Charlotte on Tuesday night.

AP NBA:https://apnews.com/hub/nba

byLiam Oneel

in

February 22, 2026

Towns has 28 points and 11 rebounds, Knicks top Bulls 105-99

CHICAGO (AP) — Karl-Anthony Towns had 28 points and 11 rebounds for his NBA-leading 39th double-double and the New York ...

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Karl-Anthony Towns, Knicks hold off Bulls

Karl-Anthony Towns had 28 points and 11 rebounds and Jalen Brunson added 19 points and nine assists to lift the visiting New York Knicks to a 105-99 win against the slumping Chicago Bulls on Sunday night.

Chicago has lost nine games in a row, its longest losing streak since a 10-game skid in the 2018-19 season. Sunday marked the narrowest defeat during the slide.

Matas Buzelis paced the Bulls with 15 points while Guerschon Yabusele posted a double-double of 11 points and 13 rebounds.

Collin Sexton and Buzelis hit 3-pointers to bookend an 8-0 Bulls run that put the hosts ahead 95-94 with 3:42 remaining. But the Knicks closed the game on an 11-4 surge, with Towns scoring six points. He has scored at least 20 points in five consecutive games.

New York took a 60-59 lead on a Mikal Bridges 3-pointer with 10:03 remaining in the third quarter. That set the Knicks on a 13-2 run that saw Brunson contribute seven points and Bridges five.

Both teams were playing the second leg of a back-to-back. As with Saturday's home loss to the Detroit Pistons, when they trailed by just three points at the break, the Bulls lost steam in the third quarter Sunday.

The Knicks outscored the Bulls 31-25 in the quarter while forcing Chicago into seven turnovers. The Bulls had just six giveaways in the first half.

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Landry Shamet (16 points), Josh Hart (11), and Bridges (11) also scored in double figures in the game for the Knicks.

Isaac Okoro and Jalen Smith both had 12 points for Chicago. Patrick Williams added 10 points and eight assists.

Chicago led by as many as eight points in the first half and took a 53-52 lead into the break.

Okoro, Smith, and Yabusele scored nine first-half points apiece while combining to make six of the team's nine 3-pointers before intermission.

Towns led all scorers with 17 points in the first half.

New York earned at least a split of the four-game season series with Chicago, stopping the Bulls' bid to claim consecutive season series for the first time since 2013. The Knicks host the Bulls on April 3 in their final regular-season meeting.

--Field Level Media

byLiam Oneel

in

February 22, 2026

Karl-Anthony Towns, Knicks hold off Bulls

Karl-Anthony Towns had 28 points and 11 rebounds and Jalen Brunson added 19 points and nine assists to lift the visi...

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Trail Blazers lose Deni Avdija (back) in victory over shorthanded Suns

Donovan Clingan scored 23 points and added 13 rebounds, Jerami Grant scored 23 points, and the Portland Trail Blazers overcame the early departure of leading scorer Deni Avdija for a 92-77 victory over the short-handed host Phoenix Suns on Sunday.

Toumani Camara had 12 points and Clingan added four blocked shots for the Blazers, who built a 20-point lead while rebounding from a 54-point loss to Denver on Friday for their fifth win in the last seven.

Avdija appeared to suffer a recurrence of a low back injury that kept him out for five of the previous eight games. He grabbed his back on a play under the Portland basket and was removed 59 seconds into the game.

Collin Gillespie scored 18 points with four 3-pointers and Jalen Green had 13 for the Suns, who had played without injured Devin Booker, Dillon Brooks and Grayson Allen, their top three scorers. They have lost three of five.

Both teams had a season low in points.

Camara's steal and dunk gave the Blazers a 71-51 lead with 3 1/2 minutes left in the third period and the Suns never were within 10.

The Suns closed to 85-74 on Gillespie's layup with 4:41 remaining.

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Phoenix shot 36.9% from the floor and made 9 of 35 3-pointers. They have shot under 38 percent in their last three games.

Grant and Clingan had three 3-pointers apiece and the Blazers shot 46.9 percent and were 10 of 37 from distance. They had made at least 14 3-pointers in eight straight games.

The Suns used their 20th different starting lineup, the first without either Brooks or Booker. They also were without reserve guard Jordan Goodwin, who suffered a left calf strain late in the Orlando game Saturday

The teams made a combined 2 of 21 3-point attempts in the first quarter, which ended 20-20. The Blazers were 2 of 14, with Camara and Scoot Henderson converting.

Grant had 10 points and two treys in the second quarter to give Portland a 47-40 halftime lead. The Blazers led 60-45 on Camara's 3-pointer with 7:13 left in the third quarter.

Phoenix is 3-5 without Brooks.

Brooks suffered a fractured left hand in the 113-110 victory over Orlando, and Goodwin (calf) also left that game with an injury. Booker (hip) missed his second straight game and Allen (knee management) was held out after scoring 27 points in his return from a four-game absence Saturday.

--Field Level Media

byLiam Oneel

in

February 22, 2026

Trail Blazers lose Deni Avdija (back) in victory over shorthanded Suns

Donovan Clingan scored 23 points and added 13 rebounds, Jerami Grant scored 23 points, and the Portland Trail Blazer...

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