DALLAS (AP) — Kyrie Irving scored 23 points and the Dallas Mavericks improved to 4-1 this season without superstar Luka Doncic, beating the New York Knicks 129-114 on Wednesday night.
Jalen Brunson tied his season high with 37 points for New York in his second game in Dallas against his former team. Karl-Anthony Towns had 25 points and 14 rebounds, but OG Anunoby was limited to eight points on 3-of-15 shooting two nights after getting a career-high 40.
Doncic missed his fourth consecutive game with a sprained right wrist, and the defending Western Conference champions were without two other starters in Klay Thompson (plantar fascia) and Daniel Gafford (illness).
Dallas' Naji Marshall scored 24 points, Spencer Dinwiddie added 21 and P.J. Washington had 19 points and 10 rebounds.
Takeaways
Knicks: Towns was facing the Mavs for the first time since the West finals with Minnesota. He shot 28% through the first three games as the Timberwolves fell behind 3-0 and lost the series in five. Towns came to New York in the blockbuster trade that sent Julius Randle to Minnesota.
Mavericks: Doncic and Brunson, drafted together in 2018, have faced each other just once in five opportunities since Brunson signed with the Knicks as a free agent in 2022. Dallas won the only meeting in December 2022 in New York, six months after the pair went to the West finals together.
Key moment
Tom Brady had the courtside crowd buzzing when he walked in during the first quarter. The NFL analyst was in town for Thursday's Dallas-New York Giants Thanksgiving game.
Key stat
The Knicks had their season low for any quarter with 15 points in the first two nights after setting the NBA high this season in a 145-118 victory at Denver.
Up next
The Knicks are at Charlotte on Friday. The Mavericks play at Utah on Saturday.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Schuyler Dixon, The Associated Press