Doncic drops 31 but Knicks leave no chance for Mavs and record third consecutive win / News - Basketnews.com

Credit: USA TODAY Sports-Scanpix Credit USA TODAY Sports-Scanpix

Julius Randle scored 26 points Wednesday night for the visiting New York Knicks (28-38), who extended their winning streak to three games by leading wire-to-wire in a 107-77 (31-17, 30-17, 22-31, 24-12) victory over the Dallas Mavericks (40-26).

Player of the Game EFF 24 Mitchell Robinson Points 11 Accuracy 4-4 Rebounds 11 Assists 0

Mitchell Robinson had a double-double (11 points, 11 rebounds) for the Knicks, who pulled within 3 1/2 games of the Atlanta Hawks in the race for 10th place in the Eastern Conference and the final spot in the play-in tournament. The Hawks fell to the Milwaukee Bucks, 124-115, earlier Wednesday night.

RJ Barrett (18 points), Alec Burks (15 points), Taj Gibson (11 points), and Evan Fournier (10 points) also scored in double figures for the Knicks, whose winning streak is their longest since a three-game run from Jan. 10-15.

Luka Doncic scored 17 of his 31 points in the third quarter for the Mavericks, who struggled badly from outside as their five-game winning streak was snapped. Dallas missed its first 19 3-pointers and finished 6-for-44 (13.6 percent) from beyond the arc.

Doncic also picked up his 14th technical foul of the season in the fourth quarter, which leaves him two shy of earning a one-game suspension.

Spencer Dinwiddie (13 points) was the only other player to reach double figures for the Mavericks.

Robinson scored six points as the Knicks immediately took control with a game-opening 13-2 run. The Mavericks closed within seven points four times, the last at 19-12, before New York mounted a quarter-spanning 22-5 run that included 10 unanswered points to open the second.

The Knicks led by as many as 28 points and entered the half with a 61-34 lead. New York held a pair of 28-point leads in the third before the Mavericks mounted their surge. Doncic score seven straight points to cut the deficit to 67-46 and later ended a 9-0 run with a 3-pointer that pulled Dallas within 74-60 with 2:54 left.

But Randle hit a layup out of a timeout to snap an 0-for-7 stretch by the Knicks, who scored eight of the final 13 points of the quarter. New York led by at least 17 points throughout the fourth and extended its advantage to 32 points three times.

Knicks: Julius Randle 26 (8 REB, 5 AST), R.J. Barrett 18 (7 REB), Alec Burks 15 (11 REB, 5 AST), Taj Gibson 11 (5 REB), Mitchell Robinson 11 (11 REB), Evan Fournier 10.

Mavericks: Luka Doncic 31 (6 REB), Spencer Dinwiddie 13, Dorian Finney-Smith 9 (5 REB).

Luka Doncic's performance

Full game highlights

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