Knicks Defence Tightens As Spurs' 11-game Winning Streak Ends

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The New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves and Boston Celtics all posted statement wins, halting streaks and shifting positioning in a busy NBA night that featured dominant defence, standout individual displays and important implications for both the Eastern and Western Conference playoff races as the schedule moves deeper into the stretch run.

New York overwhelmed the San Antonio Spurs 114-89, Minnesota beat the Denver Nuggets 117-108 to climb above them, and Boston defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 114-98 behind a career outing from Neemias Queta, despite big scoring efforts from Nikola Jokic and Tyrese Maxey in losing causes.

The Knicks relied on intense defence to halt San Antonio’s 11-game winning streak, limiting the Spurs to a season-low points total after San Antonio had averaged 124.8 points during that run, while forcing 22 turnovers and holding the visitors to 26.5 per cent from three-point range and just 38 points in the paint.

San Antonio opened strongly and built a 12-point cushion at 19-7, appearing set to extend February’s form, but New York answered with a 26-2 burst that bridged the first and second quarters, flipped the scoreboard to 33-21, and the Spurs never recovered, losing for the first time since January 31 despite Victor Wembanyama’s 25 points.

Anthony Edwards led Minnesota with 21 points and Bones Hyland contributed 18 against his former club, scoring 15 before half-time, as the Timberwolves defeated Denver 117-108, completed a three-game road sweep, improved to 38-23, moved one game ahead of the Nuggets in the Western Conference and finally beat Denver after three earlier losses.

The result pushed Minnesota into fourth place in the West, with only 1.5 games separating third-seeded Houston from the Los Angeles Lakers in sixth, while Denver’s Nikola Jokic amassed 35 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists and Jamal Murray added 25 points on 9-of-22 shooting, including 4-of-6 from long range.

Denver has now dropped four of six contests since the All-Star break and continues to deal with injury problems, as forward Aaron Gordon remained unavailable with a hamstring issue that has sidelined Gordon since January 30, while Peyton Watson also missed the matchup due to a hamstring strain against their Northwest Division rivals.

NBA: Celtics lean on Neemias Queta against 76ers

Neemias Queta produced the best performance of Queta’s career, delivering 27 points and 17 rebounds along with three blocks for Boston, securing an 11th double-double this season and a third double-double with at least two blocks in the last five games, as the Celtics became the fourth team to reach 40 victories.

Jaylen Brown matched Queta’s scoring with 27 points while adding eight rebounds and eight assists, and Derrick White supplied 21 points with eight assists as Boston, which has taken six of its last seven games, recovered from a sluggish opening spell to gain control against Philadelphia.

Philadelphia, which had won three straight before visiting Boston, trimmed a 16-point second-half deficit to 103-97 with a little over four minutes remaining behind Tyrese Maxey’s 33 points and six assists and VJ Edgecombe’s 23 points, but Queta then scored Boston’s next eight points to restore a double-digit margin and close the game.

Across the three NBA matchups, Wembanyama’s double-double, Jokic’s near triple-double and Maxey’s scoring burst were not enough to prevent the Knicks, Timberwolves and Celtics from claiming important victories that snapped streaks, altered Western Conference seeding and reinforced Boston’s strong form near the top of the Eastern Conference table.