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.

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.

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.

Knicks: At Cleveland on Tuesday night.

Bulls: Host Charlotte on Tuesday night.

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

New York Knicks' Ariel Hukporti (55) battles Chicago Bulls' Nick Richards (13) for a loose ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

New York Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns, center, drives against Chicago Bulls' Nick Richards (13) and Guerschon Yabusele (28) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

New York Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns (32) celebrates after making a 3-point basket while Chicago Bulls' Nick Richards (13) reacts during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

New York Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns (32) and Jeremy Sochan, second from right, battle for a rebound against Chicago Bulls' Patrick Williams (44) and Josh Giddy (3) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

MEXICO CITY (AP) — The Mexican army killed the country’s most powerful cartel leader and one of the United States’ most wanted fugitives on Sunday, notching a major victory while cartel members responded with a wave violence across the country.

The killing of Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes during an attempt to capture him in Jalisco state was the highest-profile blow against cartels since the recapture of former Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán a decade ago.

Following Oseguera Cervantes' death, gunmen unleashed violence across the country. Cars burned out by cartel members blocked roads in 20 Mexican states and left smoke billowing into the air. People locked themselves in their homes in Guadalajara, Mexico's second-largest city and Jalisco's capital, and school was canceled Monday in several states as security forces were placed on alert all over the country. Even Guatemala reinforced security on its border with Mexico.

The killing could give the government a leg up in its dealings with the U.S. Trump administration, which has been threatening tariffs or unilateral military action if Mexico does not show results in the fight against the cartels.

But the long-term effect on Mexico's security landscape remains unclear.

Here's what to know:

Oseguera Cervantes, better known as “El Mencho,” was 59 years old and originally from the western state of Michoacan. His ties to organized crime went back at least three decades.

In 1994, he was tried for trafficking heroin in the U.S. and sent to prison for three years. Upon returning to Mexico, he quickly rose through Mexico's drug trafficking underworld.

Around 2009, he founded the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which became Mexico's fastest-growing criminal organization, moving cocaine, methamphetamines, fentanyl and migrants to the United States, and innovating in violence with the use of drones and improvised explosive devices.

The cartel earned a reputation for brazen attacks on Mexican security forces, including downing a military helicopter in Jalisco in 2015 and attempting a spectacular, but unsuccessful, assassination of Mexico City Police Chief Omar García Harfuch, who is now Mexico's federal security secretary.

It recruited aggressively, experimenting with new ways to reach potential members online.

Oseguera Cervantes was killed during an attempt to capture him, as his followers attempted to fight off Mexican troops.

Mexico's Defense Department said in a statement that the army launched an operation in the southern part of Jalisco state to capture Oseguera Cervantes, involving the Mexican Air Force and special forces.

The cartel counterattacked, and in the ensuing confrontation, federal forces killed four members of the criminal group, including its leader, and wounded three others who died later during transfer by air to Mexico City, according to the statement.

Three soldiers were injured and two people were detained in the action. Rocket launchers capable of shooting down aircraft and destroying armored vehicles were seized at the scene.

Oseguera Cervantes' will help Mexico's government show results to the U.S., which is pressuring its neighbor to pursue drug cartels more aggressively. Both countries said intelligence collaboration helped lead to Sunday's operation.

Oseguera Cervantes was facing multiple indictments in the United States and the U.S. State Department had offered a $15 million reward for information leading to his arrest. The Trump administration designated his cartel and others foreign terrorist organizations a year ago.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, who was U.S. ambassador to Mexico during the first Trump administration, applauded the operation via X, writing “The good guys are stronger than the bad guys. Congratulations to the forces of law and order in the great Mexican nation.”

Mike Vigil, former chief of international operations for the DEA, said Mexico had sent a “a strong message to Donald Trump's administration that they are fighting aggressively and effectively” against the most powerful cartels. He added that “the majority of the information came from the Mexican armed forces and all credit goes to Mexico.”

It's not clear who will succeed Oseguera Cervantes, or if any one person can.

The Jalisco cartel has a presence in at least 21 of Mexico's 32 states and is active in almost all of the United States, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. But it is also a global organization and the loss of its leader could be felt well beyond Mexico.

“El Mencho controlled everything, he was like a country's dictator,” Vigil said.

His absence could slow the cartel's rapid growth and expansion and leave it initially weakened against the Sinaloa cartel on several fronts where they or their proxies are fighting. The Sinaloa is locked in its own internal power struggle, however, between the sons of “El Chapo” and the faction loyal to Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, who is in U.S. custody.

Vigil said Mexico should seize the moment to launch “an effective frontal assault based on intelligence.”

“This is a big opportunity for Mexico and the United States if they work together,” he said.

Security analyst David Saucedo said that if relatives of Oseguera Cervantes take control of the cartel, the violence seen Sunday could continue. If others take power, they could be more willing to turn the page and continue operations.

The greatest fear would be that the cartel turns to indiscriminate violence. They could decide to “launch narcoterrorism attacks ... and generate a scenario similar to what Colombia lived in the 1990s,” a full on attack against the government “car bombs, assassinations and attacks on aircraft.”

National Guards patrol the area outside of the General Prosecutor's headquarters in Mexico City, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, after authorities reported that the Mexican Army killed Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera, known as "El Mencho." (AP Photo/Ginette Riquelme)

A charred vehicle sits at a damaged supermarket in Guadalajara, Jalisco state, Mexico, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, after the death of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho." (AP Photo/Alejandra Leyva)

Pedestrians walk past a charred vehicle after it was set on fire, on a road in Cointzio, Michoacán state, Mexico, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, after the death of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho." (AP Photo/Armando Solis)

A soldier stands guard by a charred vehicle that was set on fire in Cointzio, Mexico, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, amid reports the Mexican Army killed Jalisco New Generation Cartel leader Nemesio Oseguera, known as "El Mencho." (AP Photo/Armando Solis)

A police officer stands guard by a charred vehicle after it was set on fire, on a road in Guadalajara, Jalisco state, Mexico, Sunday, Feb. 22, 2026, after the death of the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, known as "El Mencho." (AP Photo/Alejandra Leyva)