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Brunson's 31 points, Anunoby's 23 lead Knicks past 76ers 112-109

Sport

Brunson's 31 points, Anunoby's 23 lead Knicks past 76ers 112-109
Sport

Sport

Brunson's 31 points, Anunoby's 23 lead Knicks past 76ers 112-109

2026-01-25 13:57 Last Updated At:14:10

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jalen Brunson scored 31 points, OG Anunoby added 23 and the New York Knicks followed their most lopsided win in franchise history with a 112-109 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday.

The Knicks crushed the Nets 120-66 on Wednesday and then exploded with a 30-point third quarter in a stiffer road test that sent them to their first win in three tries this season over the 76ers.

Joel Embiid had 38 points and 11 rebounds, but turned the ball over on the final play of the game after the Knicks seemingly tried to intentionally foul him. Tyrese Maxey scored 22 points for the Sixers but shot an airball on a late tying 3-point attempt from near halfcourt as he anticipated an intentional foul that didn’t come.

The 76ers had pulled within two late until Anunoby and Landry Shamet followed with consecutive 3s that helped the Knicks stave off the late-game collapse.

Led by Brunson, the Knicks opened the quarter on a 21-7 run and made Philly sound a bit like the inside of Madison Square Garden. The “Let’s go Knicks!” chants that had largely been tamped down by boos in a competitive first half, instead filled the arena with each big Knicks bucket.

Brunson gave a little wave after he buried a 3 for an 84-72 lead. Embiid tried to rally the Sixers and his three-point play in the fourth — aided by a sixth foul on Karl-AnthonyTowns — cut it to 98-92.

It wasn’t enough and a Knicks team that had lost nine of its previous 11 games heading into the Nets game has now won two straight. Modest, yes, but good enough to ensure the Sixers didn’t gain ground on them in the East standings.

HORNETS 119, WIZARDS 115

CHARLOTE, N.C. (AP) — Brandon Miller scored 21 points as the Charlotte Hornets beat Washington, sending the Wizards to their ninth straight loss.

Miles Bridges and LaMelo Ball each scored 20 points, Kon Knueppel added 16 and Moussa Diabate 11 as the Hornets won consecutive games for the first time since January 3-5 against Chicago and Oklahoma City.

Tre Johnson had career-highs of 26 points and six assists for the Wizards, who, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, fielded the youngest starting lineup, by average age, since the NBA began tracking starters in 1970-71. Washington’s starting five, at an average age of 20.64 years old, beat the previous youngest lineup of 20.74, fielded by Oklahoma City on April 10, 2021 against Philadelphia.

CAVALIERS 119, MAGIC 105

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Donovan Mitchell scored 27 of his 36 points in the second half and Cleveland pulled away to a win over Orlando.

Jaylon Tyson added 17 points for the Cavaliers and Evan Mobley had 13 points and seven rebounds.

Paolo Banchero led the Magic with 27 points. Desmond Bane added 20 points and Anthony Black finished with 16 points, five rebounds and five assists.

Jalen Suggs returned after missing eight games with a bruised right knee and had 9 points and six assists in 24 minutes for Orlando.

Playing without Darius Garland (sore toe) and DeAndre Hunter (sore knee), the Cavaliers won for the fifth time in six games.

After Mitchell scored on four layups and a short bank shot in the third quarter, Cleveland got 3-pointers from Lonzo Ball, Mobley and Tyrese Proctor in the first 3 1/2 minutes of the fourth quarter to take a 97-79 lead, the largest of the game.

Banchero hit three 3-pointers in the final period, but the Magic could get no closer than nine.

Mitchell made 15 of 30 shots and had nine assists and two steals.

BULLS 114, CELTICS 111

CHICAGO (AP) — Kevin Huerter made a 3-pointer just before the buzzer, lifting Chicago past Boston before retiring Derrick Rose’s jersey number.

Coby White scored 22 points and hit five of Chicago’s 21 3s, helping the Bulls win their fourth straight.

Rose entered rarified air after the game when the Bulls sent his No. 1 to the rafters, putting the Chicago product alongside Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Jerry Sloan and Bob Love as the only players with numbers retired by the team.

The Bulls gave their crowd plenty to cheer before they honored the South Side product and former MVP by squeezing out a win over the Eastern Conference’s second-place team, even though Jaylen Brown scored 33 for Boston.

Chicago led 111-109 when White missed a driving layup and Smith missed the putback with 20 seconds remaining. Brown got the rebound and drove for a layup to tie it with 14 seconds left.

The Bulls called a timeout and worked the ball to Huerter, who nailed a 3 from the corner with less than a second remaining. Huerter arrived at United Center wearing a No. 1 jersey in honor of Rose.

Nikola Vucevic scored 16 for Chicago, and Smith and Matas Buzelis added 14 points apiece.

LAKERS 116, MAVERICKS 110

DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic had 33 points and 11 assists, and the Lakers erased a 15-point deficit in the final seven minutes of a victory over the Mavericks in the star guard’s second visit to Dallas since his shocking trade to Los Angeles almost a year ago.

LeBron James scored 11 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter, when Rui Hachimura had a four-point play before another 3-pointer on the next possession to put the Lakers in front for good as Doncic improved to 4-0 against his former team.

Hachimura’s 3-pointer for a 108-106 lead started an 11-2 run that Doncic capped with a driving layup for an eight-point edge, prompting the Slovenian star to turn his old bench and declare the game over.

Max Christie, who came to Dallas along with injured 10-time All-Star Anthony Davis in the trade for Doncic, scored 24 points. Naji Marshall had 21 points and 11 rebounds as Dallas’ season-best four-game winning streak ended.

The Mavericks outscored the Lakers 41-14 from the start of the third quarter until early in the fourth, turning a 13-point deficit into a 14-point lead. Brandon Williams, who scored 20 points, had eight on a 10-2 run to finish the third, which started with a 20-4 Dallas burst.

The lead was 15 points with less than 7 minutes remaining when the Lakers started their rally, sparked by James after a slow start had him with a minus-28 rating early in the fourth.

HEAT 147, JAZZ 116

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Bam Adebayo had 26 points and 15 rebounds to lead Miami to a victory over Utah.

Nikola Jovic added 23 points and Pelle Larsson had 20 as the Heat matched their most points in a game this season. Miami beat Denver 147-123 last month.

The Heat, who are 2-2 on their five-game West Coast road trip, narrowly ended its streak of nine straight games allowing 117 points or more.

Jusuf Nurkic had 17 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds to become the first player in Jazz history with three consecutive triple-doubles. He had only one triple-double in his career before this streak, and the last came on Jan. 16, 2019, while playing for Portland.

Brice Sensabaugh scored 23 points for the Jazz, which has lost six of seven. Keyonte George finished with 19 points.

The Heat took the lead for good with 6:44 remaining in the first quarter and cruised to a 73-52 lead at halftime.

New York Knicks' Ariel Hukporti, left, blocks the shot by Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid, right, during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

New York Knicks' Ariel Hukporti, left, blocks the shot by Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid, right, during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Voting was underway on Sunday in Myanmar in the final round of a three-stage general election, capping a nearly monthlong process that has already ensured the country’s military rulers and their allies will command a parliamentary majority to form a new government.

Critics say the polls are neither free nor fair, and are designed to legitimize the power of the military after it ousted the elected civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.

The army-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, or USDP, has already won most of the seats contested in the first two rounds of voting. Twenty-five percent of the seats in the upper and lower houses of the national Parliament are reserved for the military, guaranteeing it and its allies control of the legislature.

Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, who heads the current military government, is widely expected by both supporters and opponents to assume the presidency when the new Parliament meets.

The army's 2021 takeover triggered widespread opposition that dragged Myanmar into a civil war. Security concerns engendered by the fighting meant voting was not held in more than one-fifth of the country’s 330 townships, another reason the process has been described as neither free nor fair.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan on Tuesday said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Myanmar is a member, did not send observers and would not certify the election, citing concerns over the lack of inclusive and free participation.

Min Aung Hlaing pushed back against critics of the polls on Sunday, declaring that “the people who live in Myanmar are the ones who vote. Not those from outside."

“We are not concerned whether this is recognized by foreign countries or not. We recognize the people’s vote. It should be like that,” he told journalists after inspecting a polling station in Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city.

Asked if he intended to take part in the new government, he declined to comment, noting the president would be selected when Parliament meets.

Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s 80-year-old former leader, and her party are not participating in the polls. She is serving a 27-year prison term on charges widely viewed as spurious and politically motivated. Her party, the National League for Democracy, won landslide victories in the 2020 and 2015 elections, but was forced to dissolve in 2023 after refusing to register under new military rules.

Other parties also refused to register or declined to run under conditions they deem unfair, while opposition groups called for a voter boycott.

A new Election Protection Law imposed harsh penalties for most public criticism of the polls, with the authorities charging more than 400 people recently for activities such as leafleting or online activity.

The previous two rounds of voting were disrupted by armed groups opposed to military rule carrying out attacks on polling stations and government buildings in several townships, killing at least two administrative officials, according to the military government.

Voting on Sunday began at 6 a.m. in 61 townships across six regions and three states, including many areas that have seen clashes in recent months.

At the polling station in Dagon township in Yangon, the country’s largest city, 86-year-old Soe Tint said he cast his ballot because he wants the country to be peaceful and develop “in all sectors, including education.”

At the same station, Lae Lae Yi, 62, was less hopeful.

“I’m not expecting anything at all, because there is no motivation,” she said.

The election is being held in three phases due to the armed conflict. The first two rounds took place on Dec. 28 and Jan. 11 in 202 of the country’s 330 townships. A total of 67 townships – mostly areas controlled by armed opposing groups – did not participate, reducing the original seats in the 664-member national parliament to 586.

Final results for all parliament seats are expected to be announced later this week. The military government has announced that Parliament will be convened in March, and the new government will take up its duties in April.

The party with a majority in the combined upper and lower houses of Parliament can select the new president, who in turn names a Cabinet and forms a new government.

More than 4,800 candidates from 57 political parties are competing for seats in national and regional legislatures, though only six are contesting nationwide. Seventeen other parties aside from the USDP have won a small number of seats in the legislature, ranging from one to 10.

The military government said there are more than 24 million eligible voters, about 35% fewer than in 2020. The turnout in the first two rounds of voting was between 50% and 60%, it announced.

Peck reported from Bangkok.

A official of the Union Election Commission prepares a voting booth at a polling station, one day ahead of the third phase of the general election, in Yangon, Myanmar, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)

A official of the Union Election Commission prepares a voting booth at a polling station, one day ahead of the third phase of the general election, in Yangon, Myanmar, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)

A voter casts her ballot at a polling station during the third phase of general election in Mandalay, central Myanmar, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

A voter casts her ballot at a polling station during the third phase of general election in Mandalay, central Myanmar, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

An official of the Union Election Commission sets up an electronic voting machine at a polling station, one day ahead of the third phase of the general election, in Yangon, Myanmar, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)

An official of the Union Election Commission sets up an electronic voting machine at a polling station, one day ahead of the third phase of the general election, in Yangon, Myanmar, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Thein Zaw)

An official of the Union Election Commission announces the open of a polling station during the third phase of general election in Mandalay, central Myanmar, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

An official of the Union Election Commission announces the open of a polling station during the third phase of general election in Mandalay, central Myanmar, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

A voter holds up her finger marked with ink indicating she voted at a polling station during the third phase of general election in Mandalay, central Myanmar, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

A voter holds up her finger marked with ink indicating she voted at a polling station during the third phase of general election in Mandalay, central Myanmar, Sunday, Jan. 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Aung Shine Oo)

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