New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) is blocked by Detroit Pistons forward Paul Reed (7) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

NEW YORK (AP) — Cade Cunningham had 42 points and 13 assists to lead the Detroit Pistons to a 126-111 win over the New York Knicks on Thursday night.

The Pistons have defeated the Knicks in the teams’ three meetings this season.

Paul Reed scored 18 points, Tobias Harris had 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Ausar Thompson added 10 points for Eastern Conference-leading Detroit.

Jalen Brunson led New York with 30 points, and Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds.

Landry Shamet scored 15 points and Josh Hart had 11 as the Knicks shot a miserable 23% (8 of 35) from 3-point range.

The Knicks scored the first five points of the game, taking their biggest lead at 9-2. The Pistons then went on a 21-8 run, taking the lead for good.

Detroit ended the second quarter on a 7-0 run and took its first double-digit lead of the game, 58-48, at halftime.

The Knicks pulled within 62-60 on Towns’ basket early in the third quarter. But, Duncan Robinson hit back-to-back 3s and the Pistons extended their lead to 13 points before settling for a 90-79 advantage heading into the final quarter.

Detroit went up by a game-high 19 points at 104-85 on Daniss Jenkins’ tip-in with 7:50 left in the game.

The Knicks closed within 11 at 120-109 on a 3-pointer by Brunson with 1:33 remaining, but got no closer.

CAVALIERS 112, NETS 84

CLEVELAND (AP) — Donovan Mitchell scored 17 points, James Harden added 16 and Cleveland routed Brooklyn to extend its winning streak to a season-high six games.

The Cavaliers have also won five straight at home and 11 of their last 12 overall. It was the second straight game and sixth time this season they haven’t trailed in a game.

It was the start of five games in seven days for Cleveland. With a 102-67 lead at the end of the third quarter, coach Kenny Atkinson rested his starters for the final 12 minutes.

Michael Porter Jr. had 14 points and Ochai Agbaji 13 for Brooklyn, which is 5-20 since Dec. 29.

Harden and Mitchell were in sync early. Harden got a steal off a bad pass by Brooklyn’s Noah Clowney and started a fast break. He lobbed a pass to Mitchell for an alley-oop that gave the Cavaliers a 14-3 lead.

Harden made his first six from the field, including three 3-pointers. He also had nine assists and five rebounds. Mitchell was 7 of 12 from the field.

Cleveland was up by 18 points at the end of the first quarter. Jarrett Allen scored 10 of his 15 points in the first 12 minutes.

The Cavaliers shot a season-best 64.2% from the field in the first half (27 of 42) and had a 70-48 advantage at halftime.

ROCKETS 105, HORNETS 101

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kevin Durant made two free throws with 3.2 seconds left for the last of his 35 points, and Houston held on to beat Charlotte.

Jabari Smith Jr. added 15 points, and Reed Sheppard and Alperen Sengun each had 13 for Houston. The Rockets overcame an 11-point first-half deficit.

Grant Williams led the Hornets with 20 points. Brandon Miller scored 17 points, but was 1 of 12 from 3-point range.

LaMelo Ball, playing a day after being involved in a two-car crash in downtown Charlotte, had 11 points, seven assists and seven rebounds.

The Hornets, who had won 11 of 12 going into the All-Star break with the only loss coming to Eastern Conference-leading Detroit, looked sharp early and bolted to an 11-point lead early in the second quarter.

But the Rockets would start to pull away in the fourth quarter with Sengun making a spinning reverse layup against rookie 7-foot- center Ryan Kalkbrenner and baby hook shot on back-to-back possessions to Houston its biggest lead at 95-84 with five minutes left.

WIZARDS 112, PACERS 105

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bub Carrington and Anthony Gill each scored 13 points and helped spark a decisive fourth-quarter run as Washington outlasted Indiana.

Kadary Richmond and Jaden Hardy also had 13 points each as Washington snapped a three-game slide on a day it announced Trae Young is still at least a week from his team debut.

Bilal Coulibaly and Tristan Vukcevic scored 12 points each in the opener of a back-to-back set against the same opponent.

Jarace Walker scored 19 points and grabbed 13 rebounds for the Pacers, who fell to 2-3 during a season-long, six-game road trip wrapped around the All-Star break.

Taelon Peter added 16 points as Indiana fell a game behind Washington at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. Jay Huff and Ben Sheppard scored 15 each.

Pacers guards Kam Jones (back soreness) and Aaron Nesmith (ankle sprain) both left by halftime.

The Wizards led by 17 early in the third quarter before the Pacers responded with a 14-3 run to take a 92-91 lead early in the fourth.

Washington answered later with its own 14-0 run to put it away.

HAWKS 117, 76ERS 107

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jalen Johnson had 32 points and 10 rebounds and CJ McCollum added 23 points as Atlanta beat Philadelphia in the teams’ first game after the All-Star break.

Dyson Daniels finished with 15 points, Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 14, and Zaccharie Risacher and Jock Landale each had 10 as the Hawks snapped a three-game losing streak with their third win over Philadelphia this season.

Tyrese Maxey scored 28 points and Rising Stars MVP VJ Edgecombe added 20 for the Sixers, who were without center Joel Embiid, who missed the game due to soreness in his right shin.

Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 17 points and Quentin Grimes scored 10 of his 14 points in the first half for Philly. Andre Drummond contributed 10 points and 14 rebounds as the Sixers lost their third in a row and for the fourth time in five games.

RAPTORS 110, BULLS 101

CHICAGO (AP) — Brandon Ingram scored 31 points and Toronto returned from the All-Star break to beat Chicago.

With Chicago coach Billy Donovan away following his father’s death Saturday, assistant coach Wes Unseld Jr. directed the Bulls. Chicago has lost seven straight, also falling to the Raptors two weeks ago in Toronto.

Fifth in East, Toronto won for the eighth time in 12 games to improve to 33-23. Ingram also had eight rebounds and six assists. Scottie Barnes, Immanuel Quickley and Ja’Kobe Walter each had 14 points, and RJ Barrett added 13.

After Anfernee Simons hit a 3-pointer to cap a 7-0 run and pull Chicago to 103-101 with 2:12 left, Collin Murray-Boyles had a three-point play with 1:18 remaining and Ingram hit a 17-footer with 36 seconds to go to make it 108-101.

Simons led Chicago with 20 points in his fifth game since coming over from Boston in a trade. Isaac Okoro added 16.

SPURS 121, SUNS 94

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Stephon Castle scored 20 points, Victor Wembanyama added 17 and San Antonio beat short-handed Phoenix for its seventh straight victory.

San Antontio also will face Sacramento on Saturday in Austin, a city the Spurs covet as part of a mega-region that they’ve cultivated for years.

Castle converted 8 of 11 shots from the field and had four assists and three steals in 21 minutes. Wembanyama had 11 rebounds and five blocks while playing 25 minutes. De’Aaron Fox added 15 points and eight assists in 22 minutes.

The Spurs received big contributions from backups Dylan Harper (17 points) and Luke Kornet (10 points, nine rebounds).

Jalen Green, playing in just his eighth game of an injury-plagued season, led Phoenix with 26 points. Mark Williams had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Suns star Devin Booker played only nine minutes, all early in the game, before leaving with right hip soreness.

News from © The Associated Press, 2026