Towns drops 40 as Knicks maul Pacers; Sixers fall short vs Raptors

LOS ANGELES, United States — Karl-Anthony Towns scored 40 points as the New York Knicks blew past the Indiana Pacers, 128-115, in the latest installment of the two clubs' bitter NBA rivalry on Tuesday (Wednesday Manila time).

Towns produced a dominant all-round performance with 12 rebounds, five assists and three steals to go with his 40-point game as the Pacers were outgunned before their home crowd.

The Pacers-Knicks rivalry is one of the most intense in the NBA, reaching its zenith in the 1990s when the two teams met in the playoffs on six occasions between 1993 and 2000.

But the Knicks ensured they would claim bragging rights over their rivals on Tuesday with victory in their third and final meeting of the regular season after splitting two earlier games at one apiece.

Towns was backed by 30 points from Josh Hart while Miles McBride added 15 from the bench, including a perfect 4-of-4 from 3-point range. Jalen Brunson was kept to eight points.

Pascal Siakam led Indiana's scoring with 24 points.

The Knicks improved to 35-18 to remain in third place in the Eastern Conference, with fourth-placed Indiana falling to 29-23.

In other games on Monday, the struggling Philadelphia 76ers slumped to their fourth straight defeat after stumbling to a 106-103 loss at home to the Toronto Raptors.

A miserable night for the Sixers was epitomized by Joel Embiid, whose costly turnover as Philadelphia attempted to snatch victory in the dying seconds all but handed the win to Toronto.

With the Sixers trailing 105-103, Embiid found himself wide open on the edge of the arc but passed up the chance to shoot and instead drove for the basket only to lose possession.

Sixers coach Nick Nurse blamed his team's defeat on offensive shortcomings.

"It's no fun losing games. I do see some growth on things defensively, but the offense is pretty clunky right now," Nurse said.

"There were opportunities tonight — we just didn't shoot the ball very well."

Toronto improved to 17-37 with the win, while Philadelphia slumped to 20-33 and remain 11th in the Eastern Conference, outside the playoff places.

The Detroit Pistons, meanwhile, ran riot in a ruthless road victory demolition over the Chicago Bulls, winning 132-92.

Malik Beasley rattled in seven 3-pointers in a 24-point haul from the bench to lead the Pistons scoring, while Cade Cunningham added 20 points for Detroit, who improved to 28-26. The Bulls fell to 22-32.