NBA: Knicks top reeling Magic for rare back-to-back wins; Spurs' bench outgun Trail Blazers

NEW YORK (REUTERS) - Julius Randle hit the tie-breaking lay-up with 56.8 seconds left on Monday (Jan 18) as the Knicks posted a rare back-to-back sweep by beating the Orlando Magic 91-84 in the National Basketball Association (NBA).

The Knicks, who beat the Boston Celtics on Sunday, won on back-to-back days for the first time since Oct 29-30, 2017, when they beat the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Denver Nuggets. New York played 40 back-to-back sets in between sweeps.

Randle (21 points, 17 rebounds) and RJ Barrett (22 points, 10 rebounds) each had double-doubles for the second straight game. Reggie Bullock scored 13 points, Elfrid Payton added 12 points and Immanuel Quickley added 11 points off the bench.

Nikola Vucevic had 24 points and 14 rebounds and Aaron Gordon (18 points, 17 rebounds, nine assists) just missed a triple-double for the Magic, who have lost six straight since Markelle Fultz suffered a season-ending knee injury.

Terrence Ross had 19 points off the bench.

The Knicks led for almost 40 consecutive minutes but squandered a 14-point, fourth-quarter advantage before mounting their late run.

Ross, Vucevic and Gordon generated a 19-5 run to tie the game. Ross and Vucevic had seven points apiece and Gordon scored five in a 19-5 run by the Magic that ended with Gordon sinking the three-pointer that evened the scores at 73-73 with 5min 50sec left.

Ross' three-pointer tied the game again at 78-78 with 3:39 left. The Magic squandered two chances to take the lead before Khem Birch won a jump ball to set up a frantic sequence in which Ross drained an off-balance three-pointer as the shot clock expired to give Orlando an 81-80 lead - their first lead since 9-6 - with 1:41 left.

Randle hit one of two free throws on the Knicks' next trip down the floor.

After Ross missed a three-pointer, New York called timeout and Randle subsequently drove the lane, generated contact with Birch and hit the go-ahead lay-up as Birch fell to the ground.

Bullock stole a Gordon pass on the Magic's next possession and Barrett converted the lay-up on the other end to extend the Knicks' lead to 85-81.

Gordon then missed a pair of lay-ups and New York put the icing on the cake by going 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final 27.1 seconds.

In Portland, Patty Mills and Rudy Gay combined for 42 points and helped San Antonio's bench dominate in the late third and early fourth quarters as the Spurs swamped the Trail Blazers 125-104.

The Spurs led by five points heading to the final period but ran off to a 108-91 lead with 6:33 to play on the strength of 11 points by Gay and six by Mills. Portland never got closer than 11 points the rest of the way despite nine fourth-quarter points by Damian Lillard.

LaMarcus Aldridge led San Antonio with 22 points but never saw the court in the final period as Mills and Gay, who scored 21 points each, played key roles in the rout.

DeMar DeRozan added 20 points and 11 assists, Jakob Poeltl scored 11 points, Keldon Johnson hit for 10 points, and Dejounte Murray had 11 assists for the Spurs, who won their second straight game and third of their past four outings.

San Antonio's bench outscored the Trail Blazers' reserves 59-25.

Lillard led all scorers with 35 points. Rodney Hood, who entered the game averaging 1.6 points a game, added 21, and Carmelo Anthony chipped in 14 for Portland, who lost two of their past three games after a four-game win streak.

In Atlanta, De'Andre Hunter scored a season-high 25 points and Clint Capela recorded his fourth straight double-double to help the Hawks to a 108-97 win over the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves.

Hunter had to momentarily leave the game in the first quarter when he cut his right hand, but returned to go 8-for-15 from the field, including three three-pointers. Capela scored 23 points, two shy of his season high, and had 15 rebounds, his second straight game with that many boards.

In New York, James Harden collected 34 points and 12 assists, Kevin Durant added 30, including the go-ahead three-pointer with 36.8 seconds left and the Brooklyn Nets outlasted the Milwaukee Bucks for a 125-123 victory.

In Chicago, Zach LaVine scored a game-high 33 points, Lauri Markkanen added 18 points and five different players swished at least three three-pointers to lift the Bulls to a 125-120 victory against the Houston Rockets.

In Tampa, Kyle Lowry scored 23 points, grabbed nine rebounds and handed out seven assists as the Toronto Raptors defeated the Dallas Mavericks 116-93.

In Memphis, Grayson Allen hit a go-ahead three-pointer with 1:06 remaining and added four clinching free throws in the final seconds as the Grizzlies outlasted the visiting Phoenix Suns 108-104 in a nationally televised Martin Luther King Jr. Day showcase game.

Allen finished with 16 points, while Ja Morant recorded a 17-point, 10-assist double-double for the Grizzlies, who won their fifth straight game.

In Miami, Bam Adebayo produced his fifth double-double of the season with 28 points and 11 rebounds, helping the short-handed Heat rally to a 113-107 win over the Detroit Pistons.

In Los Angeles, Stephen Curry bombed in Golden State's final points on a three-pointer with 1:07 remaining and the Warriors forced LeBron James into an errant trey at the horn, completing a shock 115-113 victory over the Lakers.

Curry finished with 26 points, the last three giving Golden State a 115-110 lead.

James countered with two free throws with 51.2 seconds left and Los Angeles' Dennis Schroder made one 21 seconds later to slice the deficit to two. After Curry missed a jumper, the Lakers had one final possession with 11.3 seconds left.

After a timeout, James could do no better than get an off-balance 28-footer that missed the mark, ending the Lakers' five-game winning streak.