ATLANTA (AP) — The New York Knicks set an NBA playoff record Thursday night by taking a 47-point halftime lead over the Atlanta Hawks in Game 6 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.
The Knicks led 83-36 at the break, after leading by as many as 51 at one point in the second quarter.
Before Thursday, the biggest halftime playoff lead was 41 points. It had happened twice: Cleveland led in Boston 72-31 at the break on May 19, 2017, and Indiana led the Cavaliers 80-39 at the half of game on May 11, 2025.
The 47-point lead tied for the second-biggest — including regular season games — in the NBA's shot-clock era, which started in 1954. Dallas led the Los Angeles Clippers by 50 points at the break on Dec. 27, 2020, and Golden State led Sacramento by 47 at the half of their game on Nov. 2, 1991.
New York also tied for the third-highest first-half point total in NBA playoff history. Oklahoma City scored 87 against Denver on May 7, 2025; Cleveland scored 86 against Golden State on June 9, 2017; and Dallas scored 83 against Sacramento on May 8, 2003.
Atlanta actually had a 9-0 run in the early moments to take a 9-5 lead. The Knicks answered that with a 43-6 run.
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New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) shoots during Game 6 in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series against the Atlanta Hawks Thursday, April 30, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) shoots during the first half of Game 6 in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series Thursday, April 30, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
New York Knicks guard Josh Hart (3) shoots during Game 6 in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series Thursday, April 30, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A North Texas man who claimed he wasn’t the shooter in a fatal robbery that killed two people nearly 18 years ago and who said prosecutors misused rap lyrics he wrote to secure his death sentence was executed Thursday evening.
James Broadnax was pronounced dead after receiving a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) north of Houston.
Earlier Thursday, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a request by Broadnax’s attorneys to stop his execution.
He was condemned for the 2008 shooting deaths of two men outside a suburban Dallas music studio. Prosecutors say Broadnax and his cousin, Demarius Cummings, fatally shot and robbed Stephen Swan and Matthew Butler in the parking lot of Butler’s recording studio in Garland. Cummings was sentenced to life without parole.
Broadnax was defiant in a final statement in which he also sought forgiveness from the victims' relatives. Seven relatives, including parents of each of the victims, were present.
“I prayed to God for your forgiveness," he said, when asked by the warden if he had a final statement. “Despite what you think about me, I hope to God that prayer was answered. But no matter what you think about me, Texas got it wrong. I’m innocent, the facts of my case should speak for itself. Period," he said.
The execution also was punctuated by screams of “I love you” from his wife, who also was among witnesses to the punishment. She was emotional at times during the procedure, leaning up to the death chamber window with arms spread, and had to be helped out of the prison.
As the lethal dose of the sedative pentobarbital began, Broadnax urged his supporters to keep fighting. “Don’t give up,” he said, and was stopped in another mid-sentence by a gasp. He shook his head briefly and all movement stopped. He was pronounced dead 21 minutes later, at 6:47 p.m. CDT.
Prosecutors said Broadnax, 37, confessed to the shooting, telling reporters during jailhouse interviews that “I pulled the trigger” and that he had no remorse.
His lawyers had focused his final appeals on two issues: Cummings had recently confessed to being the shooter; and Broadnax’s constitutional rights were violated because prosecutors eliminated potential jurors during his trial on the basis of race.
“I’m really gonna tell it like it’s supposed to be told, that it was me, that I was the killer. I shot Matthew Bullard, Steve Swan,” Cummings said recently from prison in a video created as part of the efforts to stop Broadnax’s execution.
His attorneys also alleged prosecutors dismissed all seven potential Black jurors on the basis of their race, “utilizing a spreadsheet during jury selection that bolded only the names of every Black juror,” according to court documents. One Black juror was later reinstated to the jury. Broadnax was Black.
In a 1986 ruling known as Batson v. Kentucky, the U.S. Supreme Court determined that excluding jurors because of their race violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
Broadnax’s attorneys had argued in an earlier appeal that prosecutors had violated his constitutional rights by using some of the rap lyrics he wrote to portray him as a violent and dangerous person in order to secure a death sentence. A number of A-list rappers, including Travis Scott,T.I. and Killer Mike, had filed briefs at the Supreme Court in support of Broadnax’s appeal.
Theresa Butler, Matthew Butler’s mother, had asked that the execution proceed.
“This so called confession from cummings is just a stall tactic by Broadnax’s desperate defense team. Its all a lie,” Butler wrote in a post on social media.
Broadnax was the third person put to death this year in Texas and the 10th in the country. Texas has historically held more executions than any other state.
About an hour before Broadnax’s execution on Thursday, Florida put to death James Ernest Hitchcock, 70, for beating and choking his 13-year-old step-niece to death.
Lozano reported from Houston. Follow Juan A. Lozano: https://x.com/juanlozano70
This undated photo provided by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, shows Texas death row inmate James Broadnax. (Texas Department of Criminal Justice via AP)
FILE - The main entrance of the building housing the execution chamber at the Huntsville Unit of the Texas State Penitentiary is seen, Oct. 17, 2024, in Huntsville, Texas. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke, File)
