By Field Level Media
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LeBron James put on another show at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night, posting a triple-double as the Los Angeles Lakers pulled away from the host New York Knicks to win 128-112.

James, who turned 40 in December, led all players Saturday with 33 points and 12 assists while adding 11 rebounds as he improved to 23-8 all-time at Madison Square Garden. He raised his averages in games there to 28.2 points, 7.0 rebounds and 7.6 assists.

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The triple-double was James’ 10th of the season.

Austin Reaves added 27 points for the Lakers, who have won eight of their last 10 games. Reaves gave Los Angeles the lead for good at 71-68 by draining a 3-pointer with 7:57 left in the third. It began a 13-4 run for the Lakers, and Reaves had 10 of those points.

Rui Hachimura scored 21 points, while Max Christie and Dorian Finney-Smith added 15 points apiece for the Lakers, who outscored the Knicks 37-23 in the fourth quarter.

Former Lakers player Josh Hart had 26 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists for his seventh triple-double of the season for the Knicks. New York had its five-game winning streak snapped and also lost forward OG Anunoby to a right foot sprain early in the third quarter. Anunoby, who had 13 points, exited with 10:38 left and New York trailing 62-57.

Precious Achiuwa had 15 points and 15 rebounds off the bench for the Knicks. Jalen Brunson scored 17 points, followed by Mikal Bridges with 16, Miles McBride with 12 and Karl-Anthony Towns with 11 points.

The Lakers led 91-89 at the end of the third before Gabe Vincent scored nine points as Los Angeles opened the fourth on an 18-8 spurt. The Knicks got as close as seven points twice more before the visitors led by double figures for the final 5:27.

Bam Adebayo hits at buzzer as Heat stun Spurs

Bam Adebayo capped a 30-point performance by sinking a jumper at the buzzer, lifting the visiting Miami Heat to a 105-103 win over the shorthanded San Antonio Spurs on Saturday.

Kel’el Ware rebounded a miss by Chris Paul with 3 seconds left and the Heat called time out to set up a final shot in regulation. Adebayo canned the game winner from 19 feet to allow Miami to win the first contest of a four-game road trip.

Adebayo added 12 rebounds and nine assists for the Heat.

Terry Rozier scored 19 points, Nikola Jovic had 14 and Tyler Herro finished with 11.

Keldon Johnson led San Antonio with 19 points off the bench while Devin Vassell scored 18,

Harrison Barnes and Paul had 12 each, Sandro Mamukelashvili and Stephon Castle added 10 apiece and Charles Bassey recorded 15 rebounds.

The Spurs’ star center Victor Wembanyama missed the game with an undisclosed illness. San Antonio was playing the second game of a home back to back after beating Milwaukee 144-118 on Friday.

The Spurs trailed by 11 points late in the third quarter and by three heading to the fourth before rallying to take a 99-96 lead after a 3-pointer by Mamukelashvili with 5:15 to play.

Miami jumped back to the front on a pair of free throws by Herro with 2:23 remaining only to see Paul counter with two from the charity stripe with 1:36 left.

The game was tied at 33-33 after the first period. Miami forged an 8-0 run, culminated by Jovic’s running layup to begin the second quarter but the Spurs answered, knotting the game at 42 when Mamukelashvili converted a reserve layup with seven minutes to play.

Paul’s 3-pointer with 1:53 put the Spurs back in front at 53-52. The Heat closed the first half on an 11-2 run to carry a 63-56 advantage into the break.

Johnson led all scorers in the first half with 17 points while Adebayo paced the Heat with 14.

Wizards snap 16-game losing skid, top Timberwolves

Kyle Kuzma scored a season-high 31 points to help the visiting Washington Wizards snap a 16-game losing streak with a 105-103 win over the shorthanded Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday.

The Wolves cut the deficit to 105-102 on Mike Conley’s three foul shots with 15.1 seconds left. They had a chance to tie the game after Conley stole the inbound pass and got the ball to Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who missed a final 3-point attempt.

Jordan Poole scored 19 points for Washington, which avoided a franchise-record setting 17th straight loss and won for the first time since beating the Chicago Bulls 125-107 on Jan. 1.

Bilal Coulibaly added 14 points, Jonas Valanciunas recorded 13 points and 10 rebounds and Kyshawn George had 11 points for the Wizards.

Minnesota’s Jaden McDaniels collected 23 points and 12 rebounds and Rudy Gobert had 16 and 16, respectively.

Conley scored 16 points, Alexander-Walker added 14 and Joe Ingles had a season-high 10 off the bench for the Timberwolves, who saw their five-game winning streak come to a halt.

Minnesota stars Anthony Edwards (illness) and Julius Randle (groin) were both unavailable, and Naz Reid did not return after exiting in the third quarter with a right finger sprain.

Washington jumped to a 27-17 lead before Minnesota closed the quarter with nine straight points. Poole had 12 points on four 3-pointers in the period.

Kuzma opened the second quarter by scoring 18 of Washington’s first 23 points — including four 3-pointers — to put the Wizards ahead 50-43 with 5:31 left in the half.

Washington led at the half for just the ninth time this season at 58-57 after shooting 12 of 22 (54.5 percent) from 3-point range.

The Wizards held an 83-72 advantage late in the third quarter before the Wolves scored the final five points of the period to pull within 83-77.

Minnesota pulled within 101-100 with 1:10 remaining in regulation before the Wizards scored the next five points. Washington then held on for just their seventh victory of the season.

Wizards guard Malcolm Brogdon returned after missing 14 games with a right foot injury. He had three points in 21 minutes.

Nets build 22-point lead in road upset of Rockets

D’Angelo Russell scored 18 points, Ziaire Williams flirted with a double-double and the visiting Brooklyn Nets claimed a surprising 110-98 victory over the Houston Rockets on Saturday.

After snapping a seven-game losing streak with a road win over the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday, the Nets recorded back-to-back victories for the first time since late November. They did so by shooting 49.4 percent from the floor, posting a 60-50 advantage in paint points while limiting Houston to 40 percent shooting from the floor.

Russell provided a steady hand as six Nets scored in double figures. Williams paired 21 points with eight rebounds while Day’Ron Sharpe tallied 13 points off the bench. Jalen Wilson and Keon Johnson added 13 points and eight rebounds each to round out the balanced attack.

Jalen Green scored a game-high 29 points for the Rockets, who played a second consecutive game without All-Star center Alperen Sengun (calf). Steven Adams posted 11 points and seven boards filling in for Sengun but the forward tandem of Amen Thompson and Dillon Brooks, who combined for 69 points in a win at Boston last week, totaled 24 points on 11-for-30 shooting.

The Rockets lost Fred VanVleet to an ankle injury with 4:19 remaining in the first half. Houston dropped consecutive games for the first time since falling to Minnesota and Miami at home in late December.

Brooklyn started 3 of 4 from behind the arc and carried that momentum to a 26-23 lead by the close of the first period after Sharpe converted a second-chance basket. The Nets established a double-digit lead in the second quarter when Houston started that period 0 for 7 from the floor.

Williams’ alley-oop dunk in transition lifted Brooklyn to a 45-35 lead with 2:35 remaining in the first half.

The Rockets followed with another shooting drought, missing their final five shots of the half en route to a 5-for-22 shooting display in the second period that enabled the Nets to seize a 53-38 halftime lead.

Aaron Wiggins enjoys career night as Thunder trounce Kings

Aaron Wiggins recorded a career-high 41 points and 14 rebounds to lift the host Oklahoma City Thunder to a 144-110 victory over the Sacramento Kings on Saturday.

Wiggins’ previous career highs were 28 points as a rookie in 2021-22 and 10 rebounds the following season.

Wiggins was in the starting lineup as a replacement of All-Star Jalen Williams, who was out with a right wrist sprain.

The Thunder have won four of their last six games, while the loss was the fourth in five games for the Kings.

Oklahoma City’s 144 points were its most this season and the most allowed by Sacramento.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 29 points and nine assists before sitting the entire fourth quarter with Oklahoma City having the game well in hand.

By then, the game was all about Wiggins, who scored 14 points in the fourth quarter.

In Wednesday’s loss to Golden State, the Thunder were just 9 of 39 on 3-pointers.

Against Sacramento, they hit eight during a 46-point second quarter. Oklahoma City built its lead to as much as 29 before halftime.

The Thunder led by just five to start the second but ripped off a 29-9 run that ate up much of the latter half of the quarter to take control.