The Knicks Won by 32, the Suns Scored 133: Tuesday Night in the NBA

Tuesday's six games split cleanly in two. At the top, the teams that fancy themselves contenders spent the night looking settled: New York won by 32, Boston by 22, Phoenix by 23, and Portland beat Oklahoma City by 20. At the bottom, three franchises — Milwaukee, Sacramento and Utah — all woke up Wednesday morning with the same record: 1-10. Here is the whole night, game by game.

Knicks 117, Bucks 85 — Towns closes in on Willis Reed

The game at Madison Square Garden was competitive for exactly one quarter. New York led 26-21 after the first, then outscored Milwaukee 32-13 in the second to take a 58-34 halftime lead, and the Bucks' one push — a 38-27 third quarter — was answered by a 32-13 fourth. Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 23 points and passed 11,000 for his career along the way. Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 21 points and 16 rebounds in just 27 minutes, OG Anunoby added 19 points on five three-pointers, and the bench joined in: Tyler Kolek scored 12 points in 15 minutes and Andre Drummond grabbed 14 rebounds in 16.

Towns' line carried the history. It was his 10th straight double-double to open the season, making him just the third Knick ever to start a season that way, after Walt Bellamy, who reached 13 in 1965-66, and Willis Reed, who reached 11 in 1970-71. One more against Cleveland on Wednesday night ties Reed. These are the defending champions, and after an 0-3 start they have won four straight and six of seven to reach 6-4; Tuesday's 32-point margin was their most lopsided win of the season. "We started off slow and now we're picking it up," Towns told reporters afterward. The other side of the box score explains the margin: no Buck scored more than Jaime Jaquez Jr.'s 16 points, Kyle Kuzma managed five and Myles Turner three, and Milwaukee's 85 points were a season low. At 1-10, with seven straight losses in their first season without Antetokounmpo, the Bucks are off to their worst start since 1993-94. The full box score lives in the Game Center for Bucks at Knicks.

Suns 133, Clippers 110 — seven Suns in double figures

Phoenix scored at least 29 points in every quarter and never let the Clippers breathe after an 18-point first quarter in Phoenix. The loudest line in the box score belonged to Jordan Goodwin: 18 points in 14 minutes off the bench, on six made shots — every one of them a three-pointer, six of seven from deep. Devin Booker scored 17 with five assists, Luke Kennard added 14, Jalen Green 13, Collin Gillespie 12 with a team-high eight assists, Khaman Maluach 11 with seven rebounds and Ryan Dunn 10 with eight rebounds. Seven Suns in double figures is what a rout by committee looks like.

The Clippers had balance too, just at the wrong altitude: Darius Garland, Rui Hachimura and Baba Miller each scored 13, Max Strus had 12 and Derrick Jones Jr. 11 — nobody above 13 on a night Phoenix put up 133. Los Angeles is 2-8 and still winless on the road at 0-5. Phoenix, at 4-6, will take the style points — and Goodwin's quarter-hour might be the most efficient shooting night anybody has all season.

Heat 115, Jazz 109 — Giannis, then a scare

There is still something strange about typing it, so let the box score say it: Giannis Antetokounmpo, of the Miami Heat, scored 30 points with 11 rebounds and four assists in 31 minutes in Salt Lake City, shooting 12 of 21. Davion Mitchell added 19 points and eight assists, Pelle Larsson scored 14 and Andrew Wiggins 13, and Miami built a 92-72 lead through three quarters even with Bam Adebayo shooting 1 of 8 — Adebayo still finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

Utah nearly stole it anyway. The Jazz outscored Miami 37-23 in the fourth quarter behind their two young cornerstones: Darryn Peterson scored 25 points and Ace Bailey 23, 48 between them, and Isaiah Collier added 17 points, five rebounds and five assists off the bench. The comeback ran out of clock at six points. Miami is 5-6; Utah, like Milwaukee and Sacramento, is 1-10 — but of the three, the Jazz are the one that can watch a night like this and see the outline of something. The Game Center for Heat at Jazz has the full play-by-play.

Magic 107, Kings 100 — Wagner and Black carry Orlando

Orlando led 34-27 after one quarter in Sacramento and spent the rest of the night keeping the Kings at arm's length. Franz Wagner was the best player on the floor: 33 points on 11-of-23 shooting, a perfect 10 of 10 at the line, seven rebounds and seven assists in 38 minutes. Anthony Black gave him a genuine co-star — 26 points, seven rebounds and five assists on 10-of-17 shooting — and Desmond Bane added 15 despite a 5-of-19 night.

Sacramento's backcourt nearly matched them shot for shot. Zach LaVine scored 31 with six three-pointers and Darius Acuff Jr. added 29 points and six assists in 40 minutes, but the Kings got a scoreless 24 minutes from Domantas Sabonis and almost nothing from their bench, and a seven-point hole from the first quarter never closed. Orlando is 3-7 and needed this one; Sacramento is 1-10 and winless at home, and the Golden 1 Center crowd is running out of patience with a season that is eleven games old.

The two games we covered in full

Boston won its ninth in eleven games, 123-101 in Philadelphia, behind 36 points from Paul George, who shot 14 of 22 and made six three-pointers on what was supposed to be Jaylen Brown's revenge night against his old team. Jayson Tatum added 21 for the Celtics, Tyrese Maxey led the 76ers with 24, and Boston's 9-2 record is the best in the East. The whole strange evening is here: Paul George stole Jaylen Brown's revenge night in Philadelphia.

And in Portland, the Trail Blazers beat Oklahoma City 123-103: Damian Lillard scored 25 points in 24 minutes and became the franchise's career leader in field-goal attempts, Deni Avdija added 24 points and eight assists, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 26 were not enough for the Thunder. Portland is 7-3. Our wrap: Lillard took over the third quarter and Portland beat Oklahoma City.

Towns gets Cleveland, and Oklahoma City stays in Portland

Wednesday brings ten games and one immediate rematch: Oklahoma City stays in Portland for a second straight night against the Blazers, in the Game Center for Thunder at Trail Blazers before tip-off. At the Garden, Towns gets his chance to tie Reed when Cleveland visits New York on ESPN. San Antonio, 9-2 and winners of nine straight, goes for ten in Chicago. Golden State and Houston — both 8-3 — meet in Houston on ESPN, with the Warriors short-handed: Jimmy Butler and Moses Moody are out with knee injuries and Gary Payton II is also out. Boston visits a Toronto team still missing Kawhi Leonard, who will be out at least another week, and Scottie Barnes, and the Lakers, the West's best at 10-2, visit the 1-10 Bucks. Every score, as it happens, is in the Previously NBA hub, and the season lines for Towns, Wagner and the rest are in the NBA Stats Hub.