Knicks guard Jalen Brunson drives past Suns center Bismack Biyombo, center, and forward Mikal Bridges, left, during their game Sunday in Phoenix. Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press
PHOENIX — Cameron Payne scored 21 points, Devin Booker added 20 and the Phoenix Suns used a dominating second half to beat the New York Knicks 116-95.
Deandre Ayton had 13 points and 11 rebounds and all of the Suns’ starters scored in double figures. Torrey Craig scored 14 points and Mikal Bridges 13. Reserve Damion Lee scored 15 and shot 4 of 6 from 3-point range.
The Suns, playing without Chris Paul (right heel injury) for the sixth straight game, got 3-pointers from eight different players.
Jalen Brunson scored 27 points on 11-of-21 shooting to lead the Knicks. RJ Barrett finished with 12 points and Quentin Grimes scored 10.
Phoenix outrebounded New York 59-39 overall.
The Knicks shot 46% in the first half and just 34% in the second half. The Suns had 17 3-pointers; the Knicks had seven.
New York, playing the fourth of a five-game West swing, stayed in the game in the first half behind Brunson, who scored 11 of his points in the second quarter. The Knicks erased an 11-point Phoenix lead late in that period but Bridges’ runner rolled around and in to give the Suns a 55-53 lead at the break.
The Suns outscored the Knicks 35-22 in the third period. They extended their lead to 90-73 on 3s from Booker and Duane Washington Jr. and led by as many as 26 points in the fourth quarter.
WIZARDS 106, HORNETS 102: Kyle Kuzma had 28 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, helping Washington win at home.
Bradley Beal scored 26 points, but wasn’t on the floor for the final 9.8 seconds despite Washington being up just two points. He walked with a slight limp to the locker room before the game ended.
All five Washington starters scored in double figures. The Wizards have won six of seven.
Kelly Oubre Jr. led Charlotte with 23 points. Gordon Hayward added 18 points. The Hornets have lost 11 of 12.
KINGS 137, PISTONS 129: De’Aaron Fox had 33 points and seven assists and Sacramento extended its winning streak to six games with a win over Detroit in Sacramento, California.
Fox scored 10 points in the fourth quarter, including a pair of free throws with 22.6 seconds remaining that extended Sacramento’s lead to six points. The Kings have won eight of their last 10 games after starting the season 0-4.
Harrison Barnes had a season-high 27 points with nine rebounds. He hit two free throws with 14.6 seconds left to help secure the victory.
Kevin Huerter hit four 3-pointers and finished with 24 points as all of the Kings’ starters scored in double figures. Domantas Sabonis had 15 points and 13 rebounds.
NETS 127, GRIZZLIES 115: Kyrie Irving returned from his suspension with 14 points, Ben Simmons tuned up for his trip back to Philadelphia with a season-high 22 and Brooklyn beat short-handed Memphis in New York.
Kevin Durant scored 26 points, giving him at least 25 in all 17 games this season. That’s the longest streak to start a season since Rick Barry did it in 25 straight in 1966-67.
But it was the surprise scoring of others who sparked the Nets in this one. Simmons had his first 20-point game since for playing for the 76ers in the 2021 playoffs, and Yuta Watanabe had 16.
Dillon Brooks scored 31 points for the Grizzlies, who were without All-Star Ja Morant, Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. But they trailed by only three after three quarters before Brooklyn opened the fourth with an 18-5 spurt, featuring four 3-pointers from Watanabe, to break it open at 114-98.
The Nets announced Irving would be available to play Sunday morning, after he apologized to anyone who felt threatened or hurt when he posted a link to a documentary with antisemitic material on his Twitter page. They suspended him days later after he had refused to apologize or clarify his beliefs, and he missed eight games.
Irving got a good ovation after resuming his spot as the last player announced during starting lineups, then made a 3-pointer on his first shot attempt. He missed his other four shots in 13 first-half minutes.
WARRIORS 127, ROCKETS 120: Klay Thompson scored a season-high 41 points and Steph Curry added 33 as Golden State beat Houston for its first road win of the season.
The Warriors snapped an 0-8 start away from home to improve to 8-9 on the season. Golden State has won five of its last seven games following a 3-7 start.
Thompson had a vintage performance, hitting a sizzling 10 of 13 3-pointers and went 14 of 23 from the field.
Curry struggled early but finished 11 of 20 from the field, including 7 of 14 from 3. He also had a season-high 15 assists, just one shy of his career high.
CAVALIERS 113, HEAT 87: Darius Garland scored 25 points, Cedi Osman added 20 and Cleveland played one of their its games in weeks, rolling to a win over banged-up Miami in Cleveland.
After ending a five-game losing streak with a double-overtime win Friday, the Cavs didn’t have to work nearly as hard while handing Miami its sixth straight road loss.
Cleveland used a 21-2 tear in the second quarter to open a 19-point lead, and the Cavs pushed their advantage to 31 in the third. Guilty of blowing leads in the fourth quarter so many times this season, they finished the job with ease.
And the Cavs did it while getting just 13 points from leading scorer Donovan Mitchell, who came in averaging 31.2.
NUGGETS 98, MAVERICKS 97: Vlatko Cancar hit a buzzer-beater from near midcourt when the final 2 seconds of the first half were replayed after the break, and outmanned Denver went on to win in Dallas.
The Nuggets went to the locker room thinking they were down seven on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Dallas star Luka Doncic after getting blown out two nights earlier without two-time MVP Nikola Jokic and fellow starters Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon.
Instead, Doncic’s Slovenian countryman brought the Nuggets within a point, and the six-point swing paid off when Michael Porter Jr. hit the deciding 3-pointer with 55 seconds remaining in the game.
A video review showed Doncic stepped out bounds before the second-quarter shot, and since the teams were already off the court, the game had to be picked up from that point after the break.
Denver coach Michael Malone put Cancar in the game, and he hit the running heave from near the right sideline after taking the inbound pass. Denver trailed 56-55 at halftime instead of 59-52.
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