Jalen Brunson scored the first six points of the decisive run in the second overtime Wednesday night for the host New York Knicks, who earned their eighth straight win by outlasting the Denver Nuggets, 134-127.

Brunson outscored the Nuggets 10-8 in the second overtime and finished with 42 points, nine assists and eight rebounds as the Knicks continued their longest winning streak since a nine-game run from Dec. 15, 2024 through Jan. 1, 2025.

Karl-Anthony Towns (24 points, 12 rebounds) had a double-double despite missing most of the second quarter with a cut around his right eye following a collision with the Nuggets’ Spencer Jones.

OG Anunoby had 20 points while Landry Shamet added 16 points off the bench. Starter Jordan Clarkson (11 points) and reserve Mitchell Robinson (10 points) also got into double figures.

Nuggets star Nikola Jokic (30 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists) tied Oscar Robertson for second-place all-time with his 181st regular-season triple-double, but he shot a career-worst 1-for-13 from 3-point land and just 37% (10-of-27) overall.

Jamal Murray had 39 points as the Nuggets suffered their season-high third straight loss. Tim Hardaway Jr. (19 points), Julian Strawther (11 points) and Bruce Brown (10 points) all scored in double digits off the bench for Denver, who also received 10 points from Peyton Watson.

Jones didn’t play after the first quarter.

Brunson’s big overtime capped a wild game between a pair of NBA title contenders playing the second game of a back-to-back. There were 20 lead changes and 19 ties and neither team led by more than nine points.

Jokic had a game-winning 3-pointer at the regulation buzzer bounce off the back of the rim, The Knicks appeared to clinch a 119-117 win when Murray missed a 3-pointer just before the overtime buzzer, but Mikal Bridges fouled Christian Braun away from the ball with 0.3 seconds left and Braun drained the free throws – his only free throw attempts of the game.

A dunk by Murray of a Brunson steal opened the second overtime, but Brunson hit a bank shot

before putting the Knicks ahead for good by splitting a pair of free throws with 3:39 left. He then drained a 3-pointer following an errant 3-pointer by Jokic.

Bridges’ lone 3-pointer gave the Knicks a 130-123 lead with 1:25 remaining, after which Jokic went 1-of-3 from the free throw line and Hardaway hit a 3-pointer. Brunson hit a floater and then iced the win with a pair of free throws following another missed 3-pointer by Jokic.

–Field Level Media

Anton Lundell came off the injured list and provided one goal and two assists in regulation and also scored in the shootout as the host Florida Panthers defeated the Boston Bruins, 5-4, on Wednesday night in Sunrise, Fla.

Brad Marchand also scored in the four-round shootout. Victor Arvidsson scored for Boston.

The Panthers, who snapped a season-high-tying four-game losing streak, also got two other players back from the injured list: Marchand and Sam Bennett.

Other prominent Panthers still injured are center Aleksander Barkov and defensemen Seth Jones and Dmitry Kulikov.

The Panthers also got goals from Eetu Luostarinen, Uvis Balinskis and Matthew Tkachuk. Sergei Bobrovsky made 25 saves for his first win since Jan. 24.

Boston, playing its final game before its Olympic break, got two goals from Michael Eyssimont. Prior to Wednesday, he had scored just once since Nov. 17. The Bruins also got one goal each from Mark Kastelic and Casey Mittelstadt.

Joonas Korpisalo added 22 saves as the Bruins lost consecutive games for the first time this calendar year.

Bennett appeared to open the scoring just 84 seconds in, but the goal was wiped out on review due to offsides.

The Panthers made it 1-0 — for real this time — as Boston’s Morgan Geekie fanned on a clearing attempt, and that led directly to Luostarinen scoring from the right circle.

However, Boston closed the first period with a 2-1 lead as Eyssimont scored with 12:42 left and again with 7:17 remaining.

On the first goal, Alex Steeves earned the primary assist as he won a puck battle and made a blind pass to Eyssimont, who was in alone on Bobrovsky. On the second one, Eyssimont scored on another breakaway, faking out Bobrovsky before stuffing the puck just inside the right post.

Florida took a 4-2 lead in the second period, scoring twice on its power play and once short-handed.

First, Tkachuk, operating from behind the goal line, tossed a pass to Balinskis, who scored from the slot. Then, less than three minutes later, Florida struck again as Tkachuk made two more great passes before scoring himself, banking the puck in off the back of Korpisalo.

Both times, the Panthers scored within the first 30 seconds with the man advantage.

Florida then added a short-handed goal as Sam Reinhart came up with a steal and then put the puck on Lundell’s stick for a tap-in tally.

However, Boston tied the score 4-4 with third-period goals by Kastelic and then Mittelstadt. First, Kastelic scored on a deflection off a pass from Charlie McAvoy. Then, with 9:30 left in the third, Mittelstadt scored on a rebound, just nine seconds into Boston’s sixth power play of the night.

–Field Level Media

Derrick White scored a game-high 28 points and Payton Pritchard added 27 points off the bench as the short-handed Boston Celtics throttled the Houston Rockets 114-93 on Wednesday.

The Celtics earned their fourth consecutive victory and claimed both ends of a road back-to-back, including a win in Dallas on Tuesday. The Celtics did so without Jaylen Brown, the Eastern Conference Player of the Month, who paired 33 points with 11 rebounds against the Mavericks, in the second game by unleashing a flurry of 3-pointers early in the third quarter.

White was the linchpin of the decisive surge. The Celtics opened the second half 5 for 7 from behind the arc with White and Baylor Scheierman (15 points, 10 rebounds) nailing two threes apiece before Ron Harper Jr. extended a seven-point halftime lead to 67-48 at the 7:02 mark. When White converted from deep again roughly two minutes later, the Celtics led 72-50.

With 1.1 seconds left in the third, Rockets coach Ime Udoka was assessed a technical foul. The Celtics closed that frame with four free throws, two each from Pritchard and Neemias Queta, and carried an 85-63 lead into the final frame.

Queta posted a double-double of 10 points and 19 rebounds, while Luka Garza added 19 points for the Celtics. Harper paired 11 points with nine rebounds, including a trio of 3-pointers. Boston finished 19 for 51 from behind the arc, with White and Pritchard finishing 11 for 24 from deep.

Kevin Durant led the Rockets with 15 points but missed 7 of 11 shots. Alperen Sengun, who grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, and Jabari Smith Jr. scored 13 points apiece. Amen Thompson (11 points) and Tari Eason (10) also scored in double figures for the Rockets, who shot 41.5%.

The teams combined to shoot 32.6% and missed 17 of 20 3-pointers in the first quarter. The Celtics emerged from that slog with an 8-2 spurt to open the second quarter, only for Smith to drill back-to-back threes that pulled the Rockets to within 26-25.

However, Boston eventually gained some separation later in the quarter to take a 49-42 halftime lead.

–Field Level Media