Jalen Brunson scored eight of his 26 points in the fourth quarter Wednesday night for the host New York Knicks, who took control of their Eastern Conference semifinal final by stopping the Philadelphia 76ers down the stretch to earn a 108-102 win in Game 2.

The Knicks lead the best-of-seven set series 2-0. Game 3 is scheduled for Friday night in Philadelphia.

Karl-Anthony Towns produced 20 points and 10 rebounds despite playing just 27 minutes due to foul trouble for the Knicks, who ended the game on a 12-3 run to close out a contest that included 14 ties and 25 lead changes.

OG Anunoby had 24 points while Mikal Bridges added 18 points as New York won its fifth straight game overall. The Knicks’ average victory margin in the previous four games was 33.8 points.

New York center Mitchell Robinson was a late scratch due to illness.

Tyrese Maxey scored 26 points for the 76ers, who managed just 12 points on 4-of-19 shooting (21.1%) in the fourth quarter. Philadelphia took its final lead at 99-96 on Kelly Oubre Jr.’s 3-pointer with 6:52 left, after which it the Sixers hit 1 of 10 from the field with two turnovers.

Oubre and Paul George each finished with 19 points. VJ Edgecombe had 17 points.

Philadelphia big man Joel Embiid missed the game for the due to ankle and hip injuries.

The 76ers took their biggest lead by opening with a 15-8 run in which George scored 11 points. The Knicks responded with a 10-2 surge to go in front for the first time at 18-17 and begin the seesaw affair in earnest.

The 76ers led 33-31 at the end of the first, 62-61 at the half and 90-89 through three quarters.

Midway through the fourth quarter, New York’s Josh Hart answered the 3-pointer by Oubre with a trey to begin a decisive 9-0 run. The Knicks grabbed their biggest lead to that point at 105-99 on Bridges’ 20-footer with 2:56 left.

The teams combined for four consecutive empty trips before Maxey split a pair of free throws with 1:33 left. Brunson answered by making two foul shots before Maxey’s layup cut the margin to five. Hart and George traded missed 3-point attempts, after which McBride hit 1 of 2 free throws with 22.1 seconds left.

Maxey missed a 26-footer and Brunson collected the rebound with 12.6 seconds left and dribbled out the clock.

–Field Level Media

Michael Busch drew a bases-loaded walk with two outs in the 10th inning and the Chicago Cubs beat the visiting Cincinnati Reds 7-6 on Wednesday for their eighth straight win.

Cincinnati moved ahead 6-4 after Spencer Steer sparked a four-run ninth inning with a leadoff homer. The Cubs pulled even in the bottom of the ninth on Pete Crow-Armstrong’s two-run homer against Graham Ashcraft.

Ian Happ went 3-for-5 with a two-run homer for the Cubs, who have opened the four-game series with three straight walk-off victories. Right-hander Trent Thornton (1-0) pitched a scoreless 10th inning for the win in his Cubs debut.

Chicago has won 14 straight games at Wrigley Field, matching the team’s longest home-winning streak since winning 14 in a row in 2008.

Matt McLain homered among his two hits for Cincinnati, which has lost a season-high six consecutive games and eight of its last 10.

Busch capped the Cubs’ victory by drawing a five-pitch walk from Brock Burke (1-2).

Cincinnati took the lead in the top of the ninth after Steer’s homer against Corbin Martin. The Reds loaded the bases with one out before JJ Bleday singled in a run against Hoby Milner and two runs scored on Elly De La Cruz’s sacrifice fly to deep right field.

The Reds took a 1-0 lead in the first inning against Colin Rea when TJ Friedl drew a leadoff walk, moved to second on an errant pickoff throw, took third on Bleday’s single to left and scored on De La Cruz’s groundout.

Rea allowed two runs (one earned) on six hits over 5 1/3 innings. He walked three and struck out five.

Chicago answered with two runs in the bottom of the first against Brady Singer, who retired the first two batters before Alex Bregman singled and scored on Happ’s two-run shot to left-center field.

Happ extended his on-base streak to 27 games with the 399-foot shot, his ninth homer of the season and the 33rd of his career against the Reds.

Chicago tacked on two runs in the fourth. Happ singled to begin the inning and scored on Seiya Suzuki’s double. Suzuki moved to third on Busch’s single and scored when Carson Kelly grounded into a double play.

Singer gave up four runs on six hits with one walk and six strikeouts over six innings.

McLain snapped a 0-for-19 hitless streak with a single in the third inning before slugging a leadoff homer in the fifth. The 371-foot homer was McLain’s third of the season.

–Field Level Media

Rookie Chase DeLauter’s two-run, go-ahead single in the fifth inning highlighted a two-hit night, and Joey Cantillo yielded one run over five innings as the visiting Cleveland Guardians defeated the Kansas City Royals 3-1 on Wednesday.

DeLauter, batting .308, extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a third-inning double, then came through in the fifth with the Guardians down 1-0. Austin Hedges opened the frame with a walk and went to second on Petey Halpin’s single. Following a double steal, DeLauter drove in both on a single past the drawn-in Royals infield to put Cleveland ahead for good.

Meanwhile, Cantillo (2-1) allowed three hits and three walks while striking out one as the Guardians snapped a three-game skid.

Maikel Garcia had two of the four hits collected by the Royals, who had won the first two games of the four-game set that concludes Thursday. Kansas City had a five-game winning streak end.

The Royals opened the scoring in the third inning. Garcia singled and was forced out at second on Bobby Witt Jr.’s grounder. After Lane Thomas walked, Witt stole third with a nifty swim-move slide and scored on Salvador Perez’s sacrifice fly to right field.

Royals starter Cole Ragans was pulled after three innings due to left triceps and elbow soreness. He allowed one hit and two walks while striking out four in a 58-pitch effort.

Luinder Avila (0-2) gave up Kansas City’s lead in the fifth. He was permitted two runs in two innings.

The Guardians, clinging to a 2-1 lead, added another run in the eighth. Jose Ramirez walked to open the inning, stole second and went to third on a flyout. He scored on a ground ball that third baseman Garcia knocked down but went to first base for the sure out on David Fry.

Cleveland relievers Matt Festa, Erik Sabrowski, Hunter Gaddis and Cade Smith combined to allow one hit and two walks while striking out seven in four innings. Smith gave up a hit but fanned three in the ninth for his ninth save.

–Field Level Media