NEW YORK — Devin Booker scored 32 points and the Phoenix Suns beat the New York Knicks 118-97 on Friday night for their 15th straight victory, matching the second-longest winning streak in franchise history.
Chris Paul had 14 points and 10 assists for the Suns, who improved to 16-3. The reigning Western Conference champions will try to wrap up a perfect four-game trip Saturday in a showdown with East-leading Brooklyn.
Phoenix also won 15 straight during the 2006-07 season and won a franchise-best 17 in a row later that season.
Deandre Ayton finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Booker was 14 for 27 from the field, making four 3-pointers. He did not attempt a free throw.
HORNETS 133, TIMBERWOLVES 115: Kelly Oubre Jr. matched a career high with seven 3-pointers and had 27 points off the bench, helping surging Charlotte snap visiting Minnesota’s five-game winning streak.
Miles Bridges and Gordon Hayward each had 18 points ,and LaMelo Ball added 10 points and 13 assists. The Hornets have won eight of their last nine games.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 25 points for Minnesota, and D’Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley each scored 18.
The Hornets tied a franchise record with 23 3-pointers and shot 57.5% from beyond the arc against the NBA’s top-ranked 3-point defense.
BULLS 123, MAGIC 88: DeMar DeRozan scored 23 points, Zach LaVine added 21 and Chicago cruised to a win in Orlando.
Chicago center Nikola Vucevic, playing in Orlando for the first time after nine seasons with the Magic, added 16 points and eight rebounds, and Coby White came off the bench to score 20 points on 9-for-11 shooting.
Wendell Carter Jr., who went the other way in the March 25 trade that sent Vucevic to Chicago, had 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Magic. Orlando has lost five straight.
CLIPPERS 107, PISTONS 96: Reggie Jackson scored 21 points and Los Angeles got back on track with a victory at home against lowly Detroit.
After dropping three of four games, the Clippers never trailed against Detroit.
Jackson missed his first five shots but was 8 of 14 the rest of the way. Terance Mann added 16 points and tied a career high with 10 rebounds. Eric Bledsoe had 15 points after scoring 15 combined in his previous four games.
Jerami Grant had 20 points and 10 rebounds for Detroit, which has dropped five straight. Trey Lyles added 13 points.
Isaiah Stewart returned from his two-game suspension after being involved in an altercation with the Lakers’ LeBron James and had four points and 10 rebounds.
Bledsoe scored 11 straight points in the first quarter to help the Clippers take a 13-4 lead. They extended their advantage to 64-40 at halftime and led by 29 midway through the third quarter.
HAWKS 132, GRIZZLIES 100: Trae Young had 31 points and 10 assists to lead Atlanta to a win at Memphis, which lost star point guard Ja Morant to a left knee injury.
Clint Capela finished with 23 points and a season-high 17 rebounds, while John Collins scored 21 points. Young was 12 of 16 from the field, hitting three of his four 3-point attempts.
The Hawks won their seventh straight – the best active streak in the Eastern Conference.
WIZARDS 101, THUNDER 99: Kantavious Caldwell-Pope scored a season-high 20 points, Bradley Beal also had 20 and Washington won at Oklahoma City.
The Wizards trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half before rebounding to snap a two-game skid.
Lu Dort led Oklahoma City with 21 points, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 15. After winning four in a row, the Thunder have lost seven of eight.
PACERS 114, RAPTORS 97: Domantas Sabonis had 23 points and 18 rebounds, and Indiana beat visiting Toronto.
Caris LeVert scored 19 points for the Pacers, who had seven double-digit scorers.
NOTES
PELICANS: Zion Williamson has been cleared to participate in full team activities, the club announced, but there remains no specific timetable on when the 2019 top overall draft choice will play.
The upgrade in Williamson’s status came after he underwent imaging Wednesday on his right foot, which he fractured during an offseason workout. Dr. Richard Ferkel of Southern California Orthopedic Institute and Dr. Scott Montgomery of Ochsner Health subsequently studied Williamson’s scans before he was cleared for expanded work in practice.
The Pelicans lost 16 of their first 20 games without Williamson, an All-Star last season who led New Orleans with 27 points per game. New Orleans was playing at Utah on Friday night in the first of three road games in four days.
CAVALIERS: Rookie forward Evan Mobley could return to the lineup sooner than expected after missing less than two weeks because of a sprained right elbow.
Mobley got hurt on Nov. 15 against Boston. At the time, the Cavs estimated he could out for as long as one month. However, the No. 3 overall pick has made quick progress and is listed as probable for Saturday’s game against the Orlando Magic.
Mobley averaged 14.6 points and 8.0 rebounds in his first 15 games. He’s been equally effective on defense, averaging 1.6 blocks and being amongst the league’s leaders in contested shots.
FINES: LeBron James was fined $15,000 for an obscene gesture by the NBA, which also warned the Lakers superstar about using profane language.
James made the gesture after making a shot late in a 124-116 overtime victory at Indiana on Wednesday night.
Also Friday, the NBA fined Portland’s Robert Covington $15,000 for throwing his facemask at a referee on Wednesday. He was given a technical foul and ejected with 49 seconds left in the second quarter of the Trail Blazers’ 125-121 loss at Sacramento.
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