Wizards Roll Over Knicks, NBA Scores

By ESPN

Unhappy with the ease Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks were having on offense, Washington Wizards coach Scott Brooks let his team have it at halftime.

"Our mindset needed to be adjusted a little bit," Brooks said.

Mindset adjusted, the Wizards clamped down in the third quarter and went on to roll over the short-handed Knicks 117-101 on Tuesday night to win their fifth in a row and tie for first place in the Southeast Division.

Bradley Beal went shot for shot with Anthony and scored 28 points as Washington won for the 11th time in 13 games overall and extended its home winning streak to 15.

"We weren't playing our type of defense, our type of game," said Beal, who shot 12 of 18. "We were still winning, but we weren't happy with our focus and our energy on the floor. In the third quarter we just played with aggression."

Markieff Morris scored 24 points and John Wall had 15 to go along with 13 assists. Anthony finished with 26 but only nine after halftime as the Wizards' suddenly trademark defense took hold.

The Wizards opened the third quarter on a 16-2 run as New York committed turnovers and missed six consecutive shots to fall behind by 19. Playing their second consecutive game without Derrick Rose because of a sprained left ankle and missing Kristaps Porzingis, who was a late scratch with an illness, the Knicks couldn't mount any response to one of the NBA's hottest teams.

"I think we came out flat in that second half, and we didn't seem to kind of get the energy and momentum back after they made their run and made their push," said Anthony, who shot 10 of 17.

Six players scored in double figures for the Wizards, who tied the Golden State Warriors by winning 12 games in January. Only the defending Western Conference champions are hotter than Washington, which is now tied with the Atlanta Hawks atop the Southeast Division.

"We're just going out there and playing basketball, playing basketball that we know we're capable of playing and every night going out there and giving it our all," said Kelly Oubre, who had 14 points.

Tuesday, January 31 Scoreboard

Washignton 117, New York 101

Toronto 108, New Orleans 106 (OT)

Houston 105,  Sacramento 83

San Antonio 108, Oklahoma City 94

Portland 115, Charlotte 98

Los Angeles Lakers 120, Denver 116

Wednesday,  February 1 Schedule (All Times Central)

Indiana at Orlando, 6 p.m.

Minnesota at Cleveland, 6 p.m.

Toronto at Boston, 6:30 p.m.

New York at Brooklyn, 6:30 p.m.

Atlanta at Miami, 6:30 p.m.

New Orleans at Detroit, 6:30 p.m.

Philadelphia at Dallas, 7:30 p.m.

Memphis at Denver, 8 p.m.

Milwaukee at Utah, 8 p.m.

Los Angeles Clippers at Phoenix, 8 p.m.

Chicago at Oklahoma City, 8:30 p.m.

Charlotte at Golden State, 9:30 p.m.