NEW YORK (AP) — Jalen Brunson had 35 points and 11 assists, Josh Hart scored a season-high 31 points and the New York Knicks erased a 21-point deficit and beat the Sacramento Kings 120-109 on Thursday night to snap a three-game losing streak.
Hours after announcing that Julius Randle would have right shoulder surgery and miss the rest of the season, the Knicks showed why they might still be dangerous without him. Hart shook off a sprained right wrist to shoot 14 for 19 and add nine rebounds and eight assists, and Donte DiVincenzo scored 21 points.
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New York Knicks' Jalen Brunson, right, steals the ball from Sacramento Kings' Domantas Sabonis during the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, April 4, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Knicks' Jalen Brunson (11) protects the ball from Sacramento Kings' Davion Mitchell (15) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, April 4, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Knicks' Isaiah Hartenstein (55) drives past Sacramento Kings' Keon Ellis (23) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, April 4, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Knicks' Jalen Brunson brings the ball up during the first half of the team's NBA basketball game against the Sacramento Kings on Thursday, April 4, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Knicks' Jalen Brunson, right, shoots next to Sacramento Kings' Keon Ellis during the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, April 4, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Knicks' Josh Hart (3) drives against Sacramento Kings' Domantas Sabonis (10) and Trey Lyles (41) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, April 4, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
“For us as a team, we started very slow and eventually got it picked up,” Brunson said. “And definitely the morale was a little low, when one of your guys goes down and he’s fighting to come back and just unable to be where he wants to be.”
The Knicks tied Orlando for the fourth-best record in the Eastern Conference at 45-31. The Magic own the head-to-head tiebreaker and would have home-court advantage in a first-round series if they finish with the same record.
De'Aaron Fox had 29 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Kings, who missed a chance to tie New Orleans and Phoenix for sixth in the West. They had won two in a row. Keegan Murray scored 18 points.
Domantas Sabonis finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for the Kings, who opened a four-game road trip, with back-to-back games against the Pelicans and Suns when they get home next week.
It was a tough start to the day for the Knicks, who announced in the morning that Randle would need surgery for the injury he sustained in a victory over Miami on Jan. 27. The Knicks looked like one of the strongest teams in the league at that point, when they would match the second-most victories for any month in franchise history by finishing 14-2.
And it seemed like it was going to be a tough night when the Kings blitzed them for the first 15 minutes of the game, racing to a 46-25 lead while making 19 of their first 28 shots (68%). But the Knicks answered with a 16-2 run to get into the game, then took control of it in the fourth quarter.
Fox's 3-pointer gave Sacramento a 95-92 lead with 9:55 to play before Brunson and Hart each converted three-point plays in a 13-0 run that gave the Knicks a 105-95 lead on Brunson's 3-pointer midway through the fourth.
“Guys played very, very unselfishly, just made the right play,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “It was a big hole to climb out of but we found a way to win.”
Sabonis scored before Brunson had two straight baskets to push the lead to 12 and Sacramento never threatened again.
Sacramento rode a 7-for-9 start from 3-point range to a 35-20 lead after one quarter. But Kings coach Mike Brown said his players started passing up some open shots, leading to mistakes that gave the Knicks confidence.
“And that’s a product of not consistently doing what we did to start the game,” Brown said. “Move it easy to the open guy and if you’re open let it fly.”
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Kings: Visit Boston on Friday night.
Knicks: Visit Chicago on Friday night.
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New York Knicks' Jalen Brunson, right, steals the ball from Sacramento Kings' Domantas Sabonis during the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, April 4, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Knicks' Jalen Brunson (11) protects the ball from Sacramento Kings' Davion Mitchell (15) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, April 4, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Knicks' Isaiah Hartenstein (55) drives past Sacramento Kings' Keon Ellis (23) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, April 4, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Knicks' Jalen Brunson brings the ball up during the first half of the team's NBA basketball game against the Sacramento Kings on Thursday, April 4, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Knicks' Jalen Brunson, right, shoots next to Sacramento Kings' Keon Ellis during the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, April 4, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
New York Knicks' Josh Hart (3) drives against Sacramento Kings' Domantas Sabonis (10) and Trey Lyles (41) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, April 4, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
BOGUE CHITTO, Miss. (AP) — Anunciata Schwebel could only watch in horror on FaceTime while her friend and tenant slunk into a bathtub to take cover from one of several tornadoes that slammed into Mississippi just after sunset Wednesday.
Her friend screamed that the windows were breaking. Schwebel could see on her screen the devastation to the cluster of cottages she owned in the town of Purvis — walls and roofs ripped away, her tenants huddled in their bathrooms.
“We could see a line of people sitting in their tubs,” Schwebel said Thursday. “We thought people were dead.”
Yet, for a second time in less than a month, a big burst of tornadoes caused no deaths. Authorities estimated that 500 homes were damaged across five counties Wednesday and said at least 17 people were injured. The powerful storms spawned at least three tornadoes across the bottom half of Mississippi that could be seen on weather radar, meteorologists said, possibly more.
Survivors told stories of crawling under furniture while winds tore off the roof and of hiding in a closet, holding on to a child. At Coaltown Baptist Church in Purvis, members hunkered down in a hallway, singing and praying until the storm passed.
A dozen people were hurt at a trailer park in the small community of Bogue Chitto, in rural Lincoln County, said Scott Simmons, a spokesperson for the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency.
Most of the two dozen homes were flattened into heaps of splintered boards and twisted metal. People picked through the debris Thursday morning under cloudy skies as a chain saw buzzed in the background.
Krystal Miller and six others — including babies as young as 4 weeks old — grabbed a Bible and sheltered in their hallway when the tornado sent their home cartwheeling through the air.
“We just flipped, and it threw us all out,” she said. “It scattered everybody out. ... I can’t find the Bible.”
Her young son was in the hospital for monitoring and another child was injured in the face, she said.
“The trailer is in pieces but we made it out,” Miller said. “I'm feeling grateful.”
Max Mahaffey was with his 59-year-old grandmother and watching TikTok videos on his phone when they realized the tornado was bearing down. They ran to the bathroom, but when the roof was torn off, they crawled to the living room and hid under a couch, he said.
“You heard screaming, glass breaking, horns honking — everything,” said the 15-year-old.
Dmell Burnes didn't realize his home was in the tornado’s path until seconds before it struck. The house shook as he covered his 11-year-old daughter in his arms, but the frame inside the closet where they protected themselves held even as the home’s walls and roof came apart.
“It was one of the most scariest moments of my life. Me and my daughter were praying,” Burnes said while standing on what was left from his trailer. “We’re just grateful to be alive.”
Residents dug out jackets, school backpacks, Bibles and a watch — whatever was salvageable.
A storm chaser walking through the debris early Thursday heard a meow but feared the worst when the cries stopped after a few minutes of searching. But after picking through insulation, Ashton Lemley found a tiny kitten, hiding between two wooden posts.
“I’ve been in these situations so many times,” he said. “I don’t try to get overly emotional. But it is very heartbreaking to see any type of animal or human go through something like that.”
National Weather Service meteorologist Daniel Lamb said at least three tornadoes caused significant damage. Investigators plan to survey other areas to determine if more touched down.
“Pray for Mississippi,” Gov. Tate Reeves posted online, saying the state Emergency Management Agency was coordinating response efforts.
Debris from the storms closed Interstate 55 and many other roads in Lincoln County. The governor said a volunteer rescue group was providing a 50-person shelter and supplies to the county, which reported at least 200 damaged homes.
Lamar County to the southeast reported about 275 homes damaged, according to the Emergency Management Agency.
Alisha Marbury was teary eyed as she surveyed the wreckage in Bogue Chitto. Still, she counted her community blessed since it appeared no one had died. Many of the people she knew at the trailer park had been away at work, she said.
“God spared us,” Marbury added. “Houses and homes and cars and stuff are replaceable, but your life ain’t.”
Rico reported from Atlanta and McCormack reported from Concord, New Hampshire. Associated Press writers John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, and Corey Williams in Detroit contributed.
People walk among debris at Gene's Mobile Home Supply, a trailer park in Bogue Chitto, Miss., Thursday, May, 7, 2026, after a tornado cut across the state. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Logan Branch eats a hotdog as he sits among the debris of what is left of his home at Gene's Mobile Home Supply, a trailer park in Bogue Chitto, Miss., Thursday, May, 7, 2026, after a tornado cut across the state. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
A person stands among debris at Gene's Mobile Home Supply, a trailer park in Bogue Chitto, Miss., Thursday, May, 7, 2026, after a tornado cut across the state. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
People stand among debris at Gene's Mobile Home Supply, a trailer park in Bogue Chitto, Miss., Thursday, May, 7, 2026, after a tornado cut across the state. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Damage to Gene’s Mobile Home Supply, a trailer park in Bogue Chitto, Miss., is seen Thursday, May, 7, 2026, after a tornado cut across the state. (AP Photo/Jack Brook)
People stand among debris at Gene's Mobile Home Supply, a trailer park in Bogue Chitto, Miss., Thursday, May, 7, 2026, after a tornado cut across the state. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
A doll and other items are seen amid the destruction at Gene’s Mobile Home Supply, a trailer park in Bogue Chitto, Miss., on Thursday, May 7, 2026, after a tornado cut across the state. (Matt WIlliamson/Enterprise-Journal via AP)
A man stands among debris at Gene's Mobile Home Supply, a trailer park in Bogue Chitto, Miss., Thursday, May, 7, 2026, after a tornado cut across the state. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
People stand among debris at Gene's Mobile Home Supply, a trailer park in Bogue Chitto, Miss., Thursday, May, 7, 2026, after a tornado cut across the state. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
In this frame grab from video taken by WDAM, damaged trees and a house or structure following a storm that tore through part of Lamar County, Mississippi, Wednesday, May 6, 2026. (WDAM via AP)
