NBA: Knicks upset Spurs while Pistons tame Grizzlies
New York Knicks’ Langston Galloway (2) defends San Antonio Spurs’ Tony Parker (9) during the overtime period of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 17, 2015, in New York. The Knicks won the game 104-100. AP
NEW YORK, United States – Two of the NBA’s Eastern Conference divisional doormats, New York and Detroit, took shock triumphs Tuesday over top Western Conference’s clubs, stunning the Memphis Grizzlies and reigning champion San Antonio.
The league-worst New York Knicks upset visiting San Antonio 104-100 in over-time while the Detroit Pistons recovered from a 15-point half-time deficit to defeat visiting Memphis 105-95 and snap a 10-game losing streak.
New York’s Langston Galloway scored 22 points while Russian backcourt partner Alexey Shved added 21, Lou Amundson had 12 points and 17 a career-high 17 rebounds and Italy’s Andrea Bargnani contributed 16 points and 10 rebounds as the Knicks improved to 14-53, still the NBA’s worst mark.
Spurs slide
Tony Parker led the Spurs with 21 points while Tim Duncan added 17, Kawhi Leonard added 13 points and Tiago Splitter had 12 points and 13 rebounds in a losing cause.
The Spurs slid to 41-25, seventh in the Western Conference.
At Detroit, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 24 points and Reggie Jackson added 23 points and career-high 20 assists in the Pistons’ comeback, which saw them outscore Memphis 66-41 in the second half.
Jackson scored seven points in a 15-2 run late in the fourth quarter to seal the Grizzlies’ fate.
Jeff Green led Memphis with 21 points while Marc Gasol had 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who had not lost at Detroit since 2009.
The Pistons are 24-43, last in the NBA Central division, while Memphis remained atop the Southwest division despite falling to 47-21, still the third-best record in the NBA.
Thompson ankle sprain
In Oakland, Golden State guard Klay Thompson, who has helped the Warriors to the NBA’s best record, will miss up to 10 days with a sprained right ankle, the team announced Tuesday.
The 25-year-old standout from Los Angeles will be reevaluated in a week to 10 days, meaning he will be sidelined for Wednesday’s home showdown with the Atlanta Hawks.
The Warriors have won seven of their past eight games to stand 53-13, just ahead of Atlanta (53-14) for the league’s top mark entering their mid-week matchup.
The team with the best overall record when the season ends in four weeks will own a home-court edge all the way through the NBA Finals if it can keep advancing.
Thompson, who has averaged 21.9 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists a game over 64 games for Golden State this season, would also miss home games against New Orleans, Utah and Washington and a visit to Portland even in the best-case scenario for his return.
