Phoenix Suns edge closer to top of West by snapping New York Knicks’ hot streak

The Phoenix Suns finished a tough trip to the Eastern Conference with an 118-110 victory over the New York Knicks that snapped the hosts’ nine-game winning streak.

Devin Booker helped the Suns bounce back from successive defeats, with the guard pouring in 33 points as his side headed back to Phoenix with a 3-2 record from their road trip and edging closer to the top of their conference.

The West-leading Utah Jazz slumped to their third defeat this season at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves, who squeezed past the visitors 105-104 in Minneapolis after D’Angelo Russell scored a season-high seven three-points in his 27-point haul.

The San Antonio Spurs ended the Washington Wizards’ season-best eight-game winning run with a 146-143 overtime victory in the US capital.

DeMar DeRozan led seven Spurs players into double-digit scoring with 37 points, while Bradley Beal finished with a game-high 45 points in a losing cause for Washington.

The Philadelphia 76ers, sitting second in the East, brushed aside the Oklahoma City Thunder 121-90 while the Detroit Pistons were similarly impressive en route to a 100-86 victory over the Atlanta Hawks, who managed to shoot just 39 per cent from the field.

The Toronto Raptors have now won five of their last six games after they surged ahead of the injury-hit Cleveland Cavaliers to end their encounter in Tampa 112-96 victors.

Elsewhere in Florida, the Los Angeles Lakers roared to life in the fourth quarter when Dennis Schroder scored 13 of his 21 points as his side rallied from a point down to beat the Orlando Magic  114-103, while the Chicago Bulls held off the Miami Heat’s late efforts to triumph 110-102.

The West’s 11th-placed side, the New Orleans Pelicans, kept their post-season hopes alive with a 120-103 upset victory over the fifth-placed Los Angeles Clippers, whose fellow Californians the Sacramento Kings were 113-106 winners over the Dallas Mavericks.

The Denver Nuggets stayed strong at home, where they defeated the Memphis Grizzlies for the third time in a row, with Nikola Jokic recording a league-leading 53rd double-double after his 24 points and 15 rebounds helped the hosts to a 120-96 victory.