Jalen Brunson hit the tiebreaking jumper with 29.5 seconds left Saturday night for the host New York Knicks, who mounted a furious fourth-quarter comeback from an 18-point deficit to stun the Houston Rockets, 108-106.
The Rockets trailed by as many as 13 points in the second quarter before outscoring the Knicks 72-41 over the next 24 minutes and taking a 93-75 lead on Dorian Finney-Smith’s layup with 10:53 left in the game.
But the Knicks outscored the Rockets 33-13 the rest of the way while limiting Houston to 4-of-15 shooting and forcing nine turnovers.
New York inched within two points three times before Jose Alvarado’s steal – the second of three consecutive turnovers by the Rockets – led to Brunson’s reverse layup that tied the score at 103-103 with 1:26 left.
Kevin Durant lost the ball out of bounds and Alvarado’s shot was blocked by Alperen Sengun before Brunson drew a charge on Durant with 48.4 seconds left. Brunson then drained his fallaway jumper, after which Durant missed an 18-footer and Jabari Smith Jr. misfired on a 3-pointer.
The Rockets committed two fouls to get the Knicks in the bonus. OG Anunoby sank two free throws with 5.4 seconds left before Durant hit a 3-pointer – Houston’s first field goal in more than two minutes – to pull the visitors within 107-106 with 2.4 seconds left.
Landry Shamet split a pair of free throws, and Durant missed a half-court heave at the buzzer.
Karl-Anthony Towns collected a team-high 25 points and seven rebounds for the Knicks, who have alternated wins and losses over their last seven games. Brunson scored 18 of his 20 points in the second half, including eight in the final 4:40.
Anunoby also had 20 points while Shamet finished with 14 points off the bench. Mikal Bridges added 11 points.
Durant had 30 points for the Rockets, who have dropped four of seven. Amen Thompson (12 points, 10 rebounds) and Tari Eason (11 points, 12 rebounds) each had double-doubles.
Smith scored 21 points and Sengun had 16 points. Reed Sheppard added 10 points off the bench.
