Mikal Bridges outdueled Victor Wembanyama in the fourth quarter Wednesday afternoon, when Bridges scored 15 points in the period to lead the host New York Knicks to a 117-114 comeback win over Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs.
Bridges and Wembanyama combined to score 26 points in a fast-paced fourth quarter in which the teams combined for 60 points while shooting a collective 57.5 percent (23-of-40).
Bridges finished with a season-high 41 points — the second-most by a Knicks player on Christmas Day behind Bernard King’s 60-point effort in 1984. It was the seventh 40-point game of Bridges’ career and his first since he had 42 points for the Brooklyn Nets on Jan. 7, 2024.
Wembanyama had 42 points, 18 rebounds, four assists and four blocks in his Christmas Day debut.
Miles McBride hit the tie-breaking 3-pointer with 2:43 left to give the Knicks the lead for good as the hosts won their season-high fifth in a row and improved to 15-4 since Nov. 15.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 21 points with nine rebounds for New York and just missed his 19th straight double-double, while Josh Hart had 12 points and 12 rebounds). Jalen Brunson finished with 20 points.
Jeremy Sochan had 21 points and nine rebounds for the Spurs, who fell to 5-6 this month. Chris Paul scored 13 points while Devin Vassell added 11 points.
A chaotic and entertaining final 14 minutes began with the Knicks scoring the last 10 points of the third quarter to take an 88-83 lead. The Spurs then scored the first nine points of the fourth before Wembanyama outscored Bridges 7-6 during a span of 1:22, after which Tre Jones converted a three-point play to extend the Spurs’ lead to 102-94.
Bridges, Hart and OG Anunoby answered with three straight 3-pointers before the teams traded the lead on five consecutive trips. Hart’s tip-in of a Bridges miss put the Knicks up 109-106, after which Sochan tied the game for the final time with a 3-pointer with 3:04 left.
McBride answered with his tie-breaking basket to begin an 8-2 run for the Knicks. Paul sank a 25-footer with 42 seconds left, but Hart collected two offensive rebounds on the final possession as New York ran out the clock.
Wolves withstand furious comeback to beat Mavericks
Anthony Edwards scored 26 points and the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves beat Dallas 105-99 on Wednesday, with the Mavericks playing the second half without star Luka Doncic after he sustained a left calf strain late in the second quarter.
Doncic suffered the non-contact injury with 2:31 left in the second quarter and went straight to the locker room. The guard had 14 points in 16 minutes for Dallas, which was trailing 51-38 at the time of his injury.
Dallas fell behind by as many as 28 in the third quarter before mounting a Kyrie Irving-led comeback in the final period. The Mavericks cut the deficit to 101-99 on Klay Thompson’s 3-pointer with 1:05 remaining.
Thompson scored 12 points and made four 3-pointers to pass Reggie Miller (2,560) for fifth on the NBA’s all-time career 3-pointers list with 2,562.
Irving scored 15 of his 39 points in the fourth quarter but missed a 3-pointer that would have given Dallas the lead with 37 seconds left. Edwards scored on Minnesota’s next possession to give the Wolves a four-point lead, and Dallas native Julius Randle hit two free throws to seal the victory.
Minnesota snapped a three-game losing streak while shooting 46.5 percent from the field and 14 of 32 (43.8 percent) from 3-point range.
Randle finished with 23 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Rudy Gobert added 14 points and 10 rebounds, Donte DiVincenzo scored 11 points off the bench, and Mike Conley had 10.
Quentin Grimes scored 10 points and Dereck Lively II had 10 rebounds for Dallas, which trailed by two at the end of the first quarter.
The Wolves closed the first half on a 12-2 run and led 57-40 at halftime after holding Dallas without a field goal in the final 5:46 of the second quarter.
Edwards, Gobert and Randle combined for 34 points in the first half for the Wolves, who held the Mavericks to 32.6 percent shooting in the half, including 8 of 24 (33.3 percent) from beyond the arc.
The Wolves led 90-68 at the end of the third quarter before Dallas began its comeback by opening the fourth quarter on a 10-1 run.
76ers spoil Celtics’ Christmas with 118-114 win
Tyrese Maxey collected 33 points and 12 assists to lead the visiting Philadelphia 76ers to a 118-114 victory over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday.
The 76ers received 27 points and nine rebounds from Joel Embiid and 23 points from Caleb Martin, who made 7 of 9 3-point attempts.
The Celtics, who trailed by 15 in the fourth quarter, trimmed their deficit to 116-114 with 4.9 seconds to play, but Embiid made two free throws to put the 76ers up by four with 2.8 seconds left. Philadelphia has won six of its past eight games.
Jayson Tatum led Boston in points (32) and rebounds (15). Jaylen Brown added 23 points and seven rebounds but shot 10 of 23 from the field. Payton Pritchard missed all eight of his 3-point attempts.
Boston, which was coming off a 108-104 setback against the Orlando Magic on Monday, lost back-to-back games for the first time this season.