Donovan Mitchell is concerned he may have re-aggravated the groin injury that kept him out recently in the final play of the Cleveland Cavaliers' 105-103 loss to the New York Knicks.

Mitchell had missed the Cavs' past three games with groin tightness and said he felt the issue tighten as he drove to the bucket trying to score a game-tying bucket.

The All-Star's shot was blocked by Isaiah Hartenstein, flooring Mitchell who somehow got the rebound and dished a pass to Evan Mobley, whose also missed, ending the game.

Mitchell remained on the ground after the buzzer, initially clutching his right leg in apparent pain and frustration, before being helped to his feet by training staff and gingerly walking to the locker room.

"I went up to try dunk it, both my legs cramped and my groin just tightened up and locked up on me," Mitchell told reporters.

"Three things happened at the same time. As soon as I jumped, then I tried to get the rebound and that was that."

Mitchell, who finished the game with 24 points on nine-of-24 shooting, said the injury felt similar to his previous groin issue, although he was yet to be assessed.

"It felt the same as before," he said. "I don't know what comes next.

"I felt good enough to come back, and for that to be the last five seconds of the game really pisses me off."

When asked why he stayed on the ground for so long after the game, he added: "It's definitely both [frustration about the injury and his play], but more so [the injury]. I'm praying that I'm all right.

"I screwed that [the play] up. The last few possessions, I can cry about the foul calls all I want. I've just got to be more poised for our group. I had one turnover on a layup, even though I feel like I got fouled, pull it out, run a play, get something.

"Then the second one where I air-balled the layup, that's on me. I let the team down at the end of the game. We played a really good game up until that point, all of us, and I didn't do my job. And that's on me."

The win snapped the Knicks' five-game losing run as Julius Randle led the way with 36 points and 13 rebounds.

Julius Randle enjoyed one of his best games of the season on Sunday in the New York Knicks' 117-104 road victory against the Detroit Pistons.

Randle became the first Knicks player to score at least 40 points and grab 15 rebounds or more in the same game since Patrick Ewing in 1996.

He finished with 42 points on 15-of-24 shooting to set a new season-high, while his 15 rebounds were par for the course during his red-hot start to 2023.

Since the new year began, Randle is averaging 24.5 points and 14.7 rebounds per contest, snatching at least 15 rebounds in five of the seven games to propel the Knicks to seven wins from their past eight outings.

Speaking after the game, Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau heaped praise on the man seeking to make his second All-Star team this season.

"Just great – not just the scoring, it was all around, everything," he said. "I loved how we started the game, and I thought [Randle] set the tone for us.

"In watching [the Pistons] play, getting ready to play them, I knew how well they had been playing. Sometimes that's hard to get across, but I thought Julius helped set the tone for being ready.

"Getting that lead early – we needed all of it. Whenever we needed a big bucket, [Randle] stepped up and delivered. 

"His defense – there's so many things – his rebounding is just huge. He got every big rebound down the stretch. He had tough covers, he was all over the place, on the perimeter guarding guards and everything else. I thought he was terrific."

Fellow Knicks All-Star-hopeful Jalen Brunson has also started 2023 in fine fashion, averaging 33.3 points, 6.0 assists and 5.7 rebounds in January, but he made it clear Randle is at the centre of New York's success.

"He played great, he played how Julius plays," he said. "He was aggressive, he was dominant on both sides of the ball.

"He was focused – he's been focused for a long time – and he's taken it up a notch. We just have to keep following his lead, he's doing a great job."

With the win, the Knicks moved to 25-19, and 14-8 on the road, which is tied for the second-best record away from home this season.

Thibodeau said that is no coincidence, and it all starts on the defensive end. New York boast the NBA's third-best defense (110.1 points per 100 possessions) during away games, but are 25th (113.3) at home.

"I just think it's about going in and understanding that it starts with defense, and that's what carries you," he said. "Your defense, your rebounding and taking care of the ball – so eliminate all the ways in which you beat yourself first.

"On offense, if you're willing to share and we help create rhythm for each other, we're going to be very good offensively.

"Tonight, we made it a power game. They went small, so we rebounded the ball, got to the line, and did the things we wanted to do to control the game."

The Knicks will try to make it eight wins from nine when they host the Toronto Raptors on Monday.

The New York Knicks have now won six of their past seven games after Jalen Brunson excelled in a 112-108 victory against the Washington Wizards on Friday.

Brunson, who is averaging career-highs in points (21.9) and assists (6.4) since signing with the Knicks in the offseason, was once again his side's best player.

He scored a team-high 34 points on 12-of-24 shooting with eight rebounds and eight assists, continuing the red-hot form that has seen him average 33.2 points, 5.6 assists and 5.2 rebounds on 52 per cent shooting since the new year began.

Another player in scintillating form since the start of January is Knicks forward Julius Randle, and he is now averaging 24.8 points and 14.4 rebounds this month after putting up 23 points (eight-of-19 shooting) and 16 rebounds.

The Knicks overcame a terrific performance from Wizards wing Kyle Kuzma, who scored a season-high 40 points on 14-of-27 shooting with seven rebounds and seven assists.

New York are now 24-19, and sit sixth in the Eastern Conference.

No Jokic, no problem for the Nuggets

The Denver Nuggets showed they can survive without reigning back-to-back MVP Nikola Jokic as they defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 115-103.

It was just the third contest Jokic has missed out of 41 total opportunities, but while on the sidelines nursing a wrist injury he watched Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr pick up the slack.

Murray scored a team-high 24 points on eight-of-17 shooting with eight rebounds and four assists, while Porter had 22 points (nine-of-17) with four rebounds and three assists.

The highlight of the game came courtesy of Clippers star Kawhi Leonard, who dunked on the head of Zeke Nnaji on his way to 24 points (10-of-21) and nine rebounds.

Hawks bigs deliver the win

Despite having two All-Stars in their backcourt, the Atlanta Hawks frontcourt came to the rescue in a 113-111 triumph over the Indiana Pacers.

Third-year center Onyeka Okongwu was tremendous with 18 points (nine-of-12 shooting), a career-high 20 rebounds, four assists, four blocks and two steals. 

His interior partner, John Collins, was less impactful for the first three quarters, and while he only finished with seven points, he scored the game-winning tip-in with less than a second remaining on the clock.

The Boston Celtics rode another impressive performance from MVP candidate Jayson Tatum to a 107-99 home win against the Chicago Bulls on Monday, improving their league-best record to 29-12.

Boston also boast a 16-5 home record, and while they have been the NBA's best offense for most of this season, it was their defense getting the job done against the Bulls.

After holding their opponent to under 100 points only four times from their first 37 games this season, the Celtics have now accomplished the feat in two of their past three outings.

While part of the Bulls' offensive issues boiled down to DeMar DeRozan leaving with a quadriceps strain, the Celtics were also able to hold the red-hot Zach Lavine to 40 per cent shooting (10-of-24), despite his otherwise impressive figures of 27 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

Jayson Tatum was clearly the Celtics' best player, scoring a game-high 32 points on 10-of-21 shooting with eight rebounds and seven assists, while Grant Williams chipped in 20 points (eight-of-15 shooting) and eight rebounds off the bench.

Tatum's 30.8 points per game has him sitting fifth in the league, while his field goal percentage of 47.2 is the highest since his rookie year (47.5 per cent).

The loss for the Bulls snaps a three-game winning streak, and leaves them 10th in the Eastern Conference at 19-22.

Nuggets remain top of the West

The Denver Nuggets had no issue dealing with the visiting and LeBron James-less Los Angeles Lakers, defending home court with a 122-109 triumph.

It was another playmaking masterclass from reigning back-to-back MVP and arguably the greatest playmaking center in the history of the sport, with Nikola Jokic dishing a game-high 16 assists, grabbing 11 rebounds and finishing a perfect five-of-five from the field for his 14 points. 

He handed lead-scoring duties to Jamal Murray for the night, and he delivered with a season-high 34 points on 13-of-29 shooting, leaving the Nuggets tied with the Memphis Grizzlies for the top seed in the West at 27-13.

Russell Westbrook continues to build his case for Sixth Man of the Year, contributing 25 points (10-of-21 shooting), seven rebounds and seven assists off the Lakers' bench.

Brunson heroics not enough for the Knicks

New York Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson scored a career-high 44 points as his side went down 111-107 against the Milwaukee Bucks.

Brunson shot 15-of-30 from the field, hitting all 10 of his free throws, but a 38-point final quarter from the Bucks saw them claw back from a deficit that reached 17 points in the third period.

Giannis Antetokounmpo was solid by his standards with 22 points (six-of-15 shooting), 10 rebounds, five assists and two blocks, while offseason signing Joe Ingles impressed off the bench with 17 points (six-of-14 shooting) and five assists.

New York Knicks All-Star Julius Randle believes his side are figuring things out defensively after smothering the Phoenix Suns 102-83 on Monday.

The Knicks began the season shaky on the defensive end, posting the seventh-worst defensive rating in the league during their 16 games in November, giving up 115.1 points per 100 possessions.

They were a different team in December, limiting teams to 108.2 points per 100 possessions for the third-best defense, and that included a five-game losing streak at the end of the month where they conceded at least 113 points in each defeat.

But after getting back on the right track with a 108-88 victory against the Houston Rockets on New Year's Eve, the Knicks held their second consecutive opponent under 90 points for the second time this season, illustrating how imposing they can be on that end of the floor when they are switched on.

Their back-to-back defensive masterclasses have boosted the Knicks to the eighth-ranked defense for the season, with every team ahead of them essentially already pencilled into the playoffs.

Against the Suns, Randle received MVP chants from the Madison Square Garden crowd as he led the way with a game-high 28 points (seven-of-18 shooting), a game-high 16 rebounds and an equal team-high six assists.

It was a great way to start January after he put up terrific figures of 28.3 points, 11.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists on 47.8 per cent shooting in December, rediscovering the form that made him an All-Star in the 2020-21 season.

Speaking to the media after the game, the man who has endured his fair share of criticism from Knicks fans said "it's good to be on the good side of The Garden", before breaking down what has been behind their strong form.

"Defensively, we had to get back to our ways," Randle said. "When we won eight in a row, the defensive end was big for us. We feel that rhythm and chemistry coming back on that end."

Randle also spoke about how the addition of point guard Jalen Brunson in the offseason has helped his game.

"Honestly, it’s a lot easier [to score this season]," he said. "I attributed a lot of that to Jalen [Brunson], obviously.

"Also [Immanuel Quickley], and our guards… I’m not having to work as hard to get buckets or score. So, the game is a lot easier on my body."

When asked if he has put any thought into a potential return to All-Star Weekend, Randle said he is hoping to get another chance to share that experience with his loved ones.

"Obviously, you work hard to put yourself in a position to do that," he said. "So it would be amazing [to play in the All-Star Game]. 

"I love it. Not necessarily for me, obviously it is great, but I love it to be able to experience it with my family because they’re the ones that really make the true sacrifice, and have led me to dedicate myself to the game the way I’ve been able to do in the summers, and night-in, night-out.

"So I love to be able to let them enjoy it and see the rewards of it and stuff like that, that’s why it’s important. But for me, whatever the team needs night-in and night-out – whatever it is – I just want to help the team."

New York Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau would not champion Julius Randle and Immanuel Quickley's standout performances in Thursday's loss to the San Antonio Spurs, stressing his focus is on the whole team.

The duo posted 41 and 36 points respectively in their 122-115 defeat at AT&T Center, becoming the first pair of Knicks team-mates to score 35-plus points in the same game since 2008.

Their efforts, however, could not prevent a fifth consecutive loss for their team, whose eight-game win streak earlier this month is now firmly a thing of the past.

Thibodeau refused to be drawn on the standout efforts of his two players afterwards, instead reaffirming his immediate need is to figure out why his side have fallen out of form.

"I don't get wrapped up in the individual, I look at what the team does," he said. "That's the important thing, how you impact the team.

"We didn't play well. Numbers when you don't win don't mean anything to me. They hit us, and it was too little, too late at the end. We've got to figure it out."

With an 18-18 record following their difficult festive run, the Knicks will have a chance to resume a winning advantage when they face off with the Houston Rockets on Saturday.

Thibodeau will hope to drill his side through the basics again before then, suggesting his team posted enough points to win their match before mistakes cost them.

"We scored 115 points, that's enough," he added. "That puts you in a position to win.

"Everyone is capable of playing defense, everyone is capable of rebounding, everyone is capable of taking care of the ball. If we do those things as a team, we can beat anybody."

Luka Doncic earned plaudits from the great and the good of the NBA after recording the league's first 60-point, 20-rebound triple-double.

Doncic improbably led the Dallas Mavericks to an overtime win against the New York Knicks on Tuesday, requiring an historic performance to overturn a big late deficit.

The Knicks were up by nine points in the final 35 seconds, but Doncic brought the Mavs back, tying the game with a second to play after sensationally seizing the rebound from his own missed free throw.

In OT, the 23-year-old moved to another level entirely – not just for his career but for the NBA as a whole.

No player had previously had 60 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists in the same game; indeed, since Wilt Chamberlain retired in 1973, no player had achieved each of those three statistics in separate games across a single season.

Doncic finished with 60, 21 and 10, prompting Mavs owner Mark Cuban to post on Twitter: "We are watching greatness @luka7doncic. I've never seen anything like that ever."

"The history of the game is written by the players, and it was written again tonight," said coach Jason Kidd.

Kristaps Porzingis, Doncic's former Dallas team-mate, wrote: "60/20/10?? This guy is not normal."

It was not just those with connections to the Mavs who were marvelling at the record-setting Slovenian, however.

Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau rued coming up against a "monster player", while former MVP Kevin Garnett referenced the recent unveiling of a Dirk Nowitzki statue in Dallas as he said: "It'll be another statue in Dallas... Luka is like that!"

Paul Pierce, Garnett's team-mate on the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets, added: "Luka is the best offensive player in the league. I said offensive. Think about it."

Nets superstar Kevin Durant compared Doncic's display to the sort you might see on NBA 2K: "That was a MyCareer type performance from Luka tonight. Some video game s***."

Luka Doncic moved to a "whole different level" in the view of Dallas Mavericks team-mate Dwight Powell after hitting a historic 60-point triple-double against the New York Knicks.

The three-time NBA All-Star ended with figures of 21-for-31 shooting, 21 rebounds, 10 assists, two steals and a block in one of NBA's all-time great individual showings.

Doncic's magic inspired the Mavs to a 126-21 home win over the Knicks on Tuesday in a contest his side trailed 112-103 with less than 30 seconds to go in the fourth quarter.

He scored seven of the Mavericks' 11 points in the overtime period to complete the comeback en route to topping Dirk Nowitzki's franchise record of 53 from December 2004.

"Guys say all the time that we see it and we know his greatness, but he's showing up on a whole different level in a whole lot of different ways," Mavs center Powell said. 

"This tonight, there's not really any way to accurately describe that. It's hard to believe – what he's done is different."

Doncic is the only NBA player in the post-Wilt Chamberlain era to have a 60-point game, a 21-rebound game and a 10-assist game in the same season – let alone the same game.

The 23-year-old tied the record for the highest-scoring triple-double in NBA history, level with James Harden's 60 for the Houston Rockets against the Orlando Magic in 2018.

Chamberlain, who did so twice, and Elgin Baylor are the only others to have registered at least 20 rebounds during a 50-point triple-double game.

Reflecting on the highest-scoring individual performance of the season, Mavs coach Jason Kidd said: "To do something that's never been done before, that's hard to do.

"There's been some great players before him. Elgin Baylor and Wilt... he was in that class, and then he separated himself and made his own class."

Dallas became the first team in at least two decades to win a game in which they trailed by at least nine points in the final 35 seconds with their comeback against the Knicks.

With four seconds on the clock and still trailing by three points, Doncic was sent to the line for two free throws. 

He made the first, before intentionally missing the second, tracking down his own rebound and putting it back in to tie the game, which Dallas won to go 19-16 for the season.

"I thought we won the game," Doncic said of his late heroics in regulation time. "Then I see it's tied. I was like, 'Oof.' I didn't know what to do.

"The whole team just keeps going. Everybody just kept it together. We believed. But now I'm tired as hell and need a recovery beer."

Jalen Brunson's first game back in Dallas against the team that drafted him will have to wait, as he will miss the New York Knicks' road game against the Mavericks on Tuesday due to a sore right hip.

Brunson, 26, spent the first four years of his career with the Mavericks after being drafted 33rd overall in the 2018 NBA Draft.

After shining in the 2022 playoffs – averaging 21.6 points while starting all 18 games – Brunson entered free agency and signed with the Knicks, where his father Rick Brunson is an assistant coach.

It has proven to be a savvy career move on a statistical level, stepping out of Luka Doncic's shadow to get his own team to run. 

He is averaging career-highs in points (20.2), assists (6.6) and steals (1.1), and has played in all 34 of the Knicks' games up to this point, guiding them to an 18-16 record to sit sixth in the Eastern Conference.

Philadelphia 76ers point guard James Harden did not deny the report that he is mulling a potential return to the Houston Rockets while addressing the comments after his side's 119-112 Christmas Day win against the New York Knicks.

The 76ers received terrific performances from both Harden, with 29 points (seven-of-16 shooting) and 13 assists, as well as back-to-back MVP runner-up Joel Embiid, who scored a team-high 35 points (12-of-22) with eight rebounds.

But despite improving their winning streak to eight games, the biggest news from the day was the report from ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski claiming Harden is seriously considering leaving Philadelphia at the end of this season to head back to his former team.

His contract includes a player-option for next season, meaning he can opt out and become an unrestricted free agent.

Harden reportedly has fond memories of his time with the Rockets – where he won three consecutive scoring titles and one league MVP – despite forcing his way out of the franchise just two seasons ago

When asked about the report during his post-game media appearance, Harden made no long-term commitment to the 76ers, simply saying he is "excited" to be in Philadelphia.

"I'm here," he said. "We're playing very well, and I don’t know where that report came from, but I’m excited to be here, and we're playing very well. We're continuing to get better."

Harden is currently leading the NBA in assists at 10.9 per game, and has looked back to his All-NBA level recently, including in Friday's win over the Los Angeles Clippers where his triple-double included a career-high 21 assists.

DeMar DeRozan did not "think too much" as he sealed a last-second victory for the Chicago Bulls against the New York Knicks on Friday.

After RJ Barrett had put the Knicks three ahead with under 30 seconds remaining at Madison Square Garden, Zach LaVine pulled it back to one, before Jalen Brunson missed two free-throws at the other end.

That gave DeRozan the chance to win it, which he did with a jumper from just inside the arc in the final second of the contest as Chicago left New York with a 118-117 victory.

"You don't think too much about it," DeRozan said, having hit just eight of his 20 field-goal attempts prior to that moment. 

"You just read the way they're playing you. It's second nature. I don't care how many shots I missed before. That's a brand-new opportunity and you approach it that way."

On the Knicks' profligacy from the free-throw line on the night, where they missed 11 of 26 attempts, DeRozan added: "I'm glad they missed. The bad luck we've had all season of things not going our way, some went our way tonight and we capitalised on it."

Barrett was the star performer for the Knicks, albeit in defeat, as he ended the game with 44 points, and coach Tom Thibodeau said it was the other end of the court where his team struggled.

"It wasn't any one particular play. I just felt like we never really got our defense established and it was an offensive game," Thibodeau said.

"It's hard to slow those guys down once they get their confidence going like they did. We missed some free throws. Things can change real fast in this league."

Jalen Brunson savoured a savaging of the Golden State Warriors and insisted the New York Knicks are only getting started after their winning streak reached eight games.

Recruited in July from the Dallas Mavericks, Brunson is averaging a career-best 20.8 points and 6.2 assists with the Knicks, and his numbers against the Warriors were in keeping with that strong form, posting 21 points and five assists.

His latest impressive display came in a 132-94 drubbing of last season's NBA champions, who were without Stephen Curry for a third successive game due to a shoulder injury and lost for the 15th time in 18 road outings this term.

Brunson told TNT: "This is great. We want to keep stacking wins, keep getting better. We've got a lot more to do, a lot more to prove.

"This is only the beginning for us, we've got to keep going. I'm learning as I'm going, my team-mates trust me, the coaching staff trusts me, I trust them. We're growing every day, we're getting better every day.

"We've got to keep fighting and can't be complacent."

The Knicks have shot up to sixth in the Eastern Conference by turning a 10-13 record into an 18-13 standing, putting them in playoffs contention for now.

With six players in double figures for points, led by Immanuel Quickley's 22-point haul that included five three-pointers from six attempts, the Knicks won by their biggest margin in the last two seasons.

They have the longest current winning streak in the NBA, but Brunson is taking nothing for granted at this stage. The Knicks have had just one top-10 finish in the Eastern Conference in the last eight seasons, and this campaign remains in its early stages.

Asked what else the Knicks have left to work on, Brunson said: "Everything. We can't be complacent at all, we've just got to keep grinding, staying focused.

"This is only game 31, and we've got to have our eyes on the prize."

The New York Knicks extended their winning run to eight games to shoot into playoffs contention while they compounded the Golden State Warriors' road woes with a 132-94 rout on Tuesday.

The reigning champions, missing 2022 NBA Finals MVP Stephen Curry for a third straight game with a shoulder injury, slumped to 3-15 on the road this season, sitting 15-17 overall.

Offseason Knicks addition Jalen Brunson scored 21 points with five assists, while Immanuel Quickley top scored off the bench with 22 points. Julius Randle had 15 points with 12 rebounds and five assists.

The Knicks, who never trailed in the blowout win, had six players reach double-digit scores, with the 38-point triumph their largest margin of victory in the last two seasons.

The victory also means the Knicks boast the longest active win streak in the NBA, having conceded an NBA-best 97.8 points per game during the streak.

The Knicks, who had not beaten the Warriors at home for almost a decade, hit 11 triples in the first half, finishing the game with 17-of-40 three-point shooting, led by Quickley with five.

Jordan Poole scored a team-high 26 points for the Curry-less Warriors, who had James Wiseman play 22 minutes, scoring four points with three rebounds.

The Knicks improved to 18-13 overall to sit sixth in the Eastern Conference.

Markkanen shoots Jazz past Pistons

Seven-foot Finnish power forward Lauri Markkanen scored a career-high nine three-pointers in his 38-point haul as the Utah Jazz won 126-111 over the Detroit Pistons.

Jordan Clarkson had 12 points within 1:51 of gametime but it was Markkanen who stole the show, matching his career-high points output.

The game was the Jazz's third in four evenings, with Malik Beasley adding 17 points off the bench while Clarkson finished with 21. Jarred Vanderbilt had 18 points with 13 rebounds.

Nuggets take over in the west

The Denver Nuggets moved into top spot in the Western Conference with a 105-91 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies led by another Nikola Jokic triple-double.

The back-to-back NBA MVP recorded his sixth triple-double of the season, putting on a brilliant passing display, with 13 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists.

The Nuggets (19-11) defense kept the Grizzlies to 44.4 per cent shooting and only 19.2 per cent from beyond the arc, with Ja Morant top scoring for Memphis with 35 points along with 10 assists.

Julius Randle looks back to his best as he led the New York Knicks to a 121-102 victory against the Charlotte Hornets on Friday for his side's third consecutive win.

Randle, 28, is slowly rediscovering the form that saw him named to the All-NBA Second Team for the 2020-21 season, rebounding from a slow start to this campaign.

After averaging 18.3 points on 43.8 per cent shooting in October, Randle raised that to 22.2 points per game at 47.1 per cent shooting in November, before taking another step forward in the Knicks' current December winning streak.

In the Knicks' three wins this month, Randle is averaging 25.3 points, 10.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists while shooting 47.2 per cent from the field and 37.0 per cent from deep on a gaudy nine attempts per contest.

He had a game-high 33 points against the Hornets, hitting four-of-10 from three-point range, while R.J. Barrett produced an efficient 26 points (nine-of-18 shooting) and Jalen Brunson set it all up with 11 points and 11 assists.

Speaking to the media after the game, Barrett kept it short and to the point when hyping up Randle.

"He's cooking," he said. "We need him to keep doing that."

Head coach Tom Thibodeau was willing to expand further on what exactly has changed in Randle's play, and he pointed to his overall effort, including the plays that do not make the highlight reel.

"[Randle] had a play where he was behind the play, beat everyone down the floor, pulled everyone in, and we ended up getting a three on it," he said. "There’s no stat for that, other than it helps you create rhythm for your team. 

"He’s made several plays like that when he’s getting double-teams, getting off the ball, moving without the ball, he’s screening off the ball. He’s playing a great all-around game. 

"I think that helps set the tone for the team. I thought we played very unselfishly."

Randle believes his terrific form is primarily about his mindset.

"I'm just being aggressive and taking what the defense is giving me," he said. "I'm playing with confidence.

"It's a lot of fun and everybody is in a rhythm. The energy is contagious."

The Knicks have now pulled their record even at 13-13, and are tied with the Atlanta Hawks for the seventh-best record in the Eastern Conference.

All-Star guard Dejounte Murray exited the Atlanta Hawks' game with the New York Knicks on Wednesday with a left ankle sprain.

Murray, who was traded to the Hawks from the San Antonio Spurs in the offseason, limped off in the first quarter after only four minutes on court.

The 26-year-old landed awkwardly on R.J. Barrett's foot as came down from a mid-range jump shot and was slow to get to his feet.

The guard had initially been listed as questionable, before the Hawks later ruled him out for the game.

Murray is averaging a career-high 21.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 6.5 assists through 24 games this season for the Hawks, who came into Wednesday's game with a 13-11 record.