NEW YORK (AP) — Jalen Brunson had 42 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, and the New York Knicks outlasted the Denver Nuggets 134-127 in two overtimes Wednesday night for their eighth straight victory.
Karl-Anthony Towns added 24 points and 12 rebounds while playing with a bandage over his right eye after he was bloodied in a head-to-head collision in the first quarter. He fouled out in the first overtime, but Brunson took over with 10 points in the second extra period.
Jamal Murray scored 39 points for the Nuggets, while Nikoka Jokic had 30 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists in his first triple-double since returning from a knee injury last week. Denver lost its third straight, having fallen to conference leaders Oklahoma City and Detroit in his previous two games.
The Knicks had won by an average of 24.7 points during their winning streak before Wednesday’s thriller in which neither team led by double digits. OG Anunoby scored 20 points.
The Nuggets lost starting forwards Peyton Watson and Spencer Jones to injuries during the game, with Watson limping off in the fourth quarter with an apparent right leg injury,
The Knicks appeared to have it won in the first overtime when Murray was short on a 3-point attempt in the last second. But officials whistled Mikal Bridges for a loose-ball foul against Christian Braun that review showed came before the clock expired. Braun hit the two free throws with 0.3 seconds left to tie it at 119.
Brunson then scored the first six points of the second OT.
Towns was driving to the basket in the first quarter when he banged heads with Jones, opening a cut over his right eye. After getting treated and bandaged, he made the free throws in his blood-stained white jersey before going directly to the locker room.
Up next
Nuggets: Visit Chicago on Saturday.
Knicks: Visit Detroit on Friday.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA