NBA: Julius Randle helps streaking Knicks beat Wizards

Julius Randle bounced back from a quiet performance to score 39 points and the New York Knicks led wire to wire and pulled away down the stretch to beat the host Washington Wizards 121-105 on Saturday night.

A night after going 1-of-11 and being held to eight points in a big win in Philadelphia, Randle helped the Knicks get their season-high fourth straight victory. The forward made 13 of 23 shots from the floor and 10 of 13 at the free-throw line and contributed seven rebounds and five assists.

Randle finished two points shy of his season high and equaled his second biggest, which came Monday against the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves.

Jalen Brunson added 33 points and eight assists on Saturday as the Knicks remained unbeaten in four games since acquiring OG Anunoby from the Toronto Raptors a week ago. Donte DiVincenzo contributed 10 points and Isaiah Hartenstein added 19 rebounds and four steals.

The Knicks shot 49.4 percent and led by as many as 26 in the first half.

Kyle Kuzma scored 27 points but the Wizards dropped their fourth straight game and seventh in their last eight. Deni Avdija added 23 points, 10 rebounds and six assists as Washington shot 47.1 percent but allowed 23 points off 20 turnovers.

Randle scored 13 points as the Knicks shot 54.5 percent and held a 34-19 lead through the opening quarter, capped when Miles McBride converted a putback at the horn.

Washington was within 40-28 on Avdija's dunk with 8:20 left, but the Knicks used a 16-2 run to get a 56-30 lead on Hartenstein's uncontested dunk. New York took another 26-point lead on Randle's dunk with 2:09 left before taking a 63-43 edge by halftime.

Washington opened the second half with a 19-5 run and cut the lead to 68-62 on Kuzma's 3-pointer with 7:59 left, and prompted the Knicks to use a third timeout when another trey by Kuzma made it 74-69 with 5:26 remaining.

However, New York outscored Washington 17-6 for the rest of the quarter and led 91-75 going into the fourth.

New York extended the lead to 99-79 on a 3-pointer by Quentin Grimes with 8:24 left, and Kuzma's three-point play made it 99-87 with 7:15 left.

Brunson and Randle combined to score 12 straight points for New York to push the lead to 111-92 with about four minutes left, before Anunoby converted a dunk to finish it.

--Field Level Media/Reuters