NEW YORK — LeBron James, frustrated at himself and his Miami Heat teammates after being routed by Oklahoma City, took it out on the New York Knicks in a 106-91 triumph Saturday. James, a four-time NBA Most Valuable Player, scored 30 points, grabbed eight rebounds and passed out seven assists to beat a Knicks team that had won four of its prior five games against Miami. Carmelo Anthony led New York with 26 points. “I didn't like our performance in the second half against Oklahoma City and I took it upon myself to hold myself and the team accountable,” James said. “Tonight we got stops, we forced turnovers and got rebounds. We executed and when we do that we're a pretty good team.” The reigning NBA champion Heat were humbled 112-95 at home Wednesday by Oklahoma City, which has the NBA's best record. NBA scoring leader Kevin Durant netted 33 points for the Thunder. The next day, James came to practice determined to use the lackluster loss as inspiration to make himself and his teammates better. “This performance started two days ago,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He was on the court, drilling, sweating, letting everybody know this was not acceptable. His actions are speaking louder than his words.” England football icon David Beckham, Australian actor Hugh Jackman and new NBA commissioner Adam Silver, at his first game as league boss after taking over from retired David Stern hours earlier, were among a sellout crowd of 19,812 at Madison Square Garden. Wizards 96, Thunder 81: Oklahoma City forward Kevin Durant's return to his hometown ended rudely as All-Star guard John Wall and the Washington Wizards snapped the Thunder's 10-game winning streak with a 96-81 win. Wall had 17 points, 15 assists and six steals for the Wizards, who pulled away from the Western Conference leading Thunder with a 27-11 second-half run. Forward Trevor Ariza scored 18 points. Durant, who was born in Washington and raised in the nearby Maryland suburbs, scored 26 points, but lacked consistency with his usually potent shot. Pacers 97, Nets 96: The All-Star duo of forward Paul George and center Roy Hibbert scored 20 points each to lead the Indiana Pacers to a 97-96 victory over the Brooklyn Nets. The back-and-forth battle had nine lead changes and seven ties with the Pacers' largest lead of 11 points early in the second half, while the Nets' largest of seven was in the first. Pistons 113, 76ers 96: Center Andre Drummond led five players in double figures, four of whom scored at least 20 points, to help the Detroit Pistons earn a lopsided 113-96 win over the Philadelphia 76ers. Hawks 120, Timberwolves 113: Forward Kevin Love scored 43 points but it was not enough to finally get the Minnesota Timberwolves a victory in Atlanta. Guard Kyle Korver had 17 points in the second half and the Hawks won for the 11th successive time over Minnesota at home with a 120-113 victory. Korver, who was 3-for-5 from behind the arc, scored 24 points, and forward Paul Millsap had 20 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out with four minutes to play. Pelicans 88, Bulls 79: Forward Anthony Davis scored 15 of his game-high 24 points in the second half and grabbed eight rebounds and blocked six shots to lift the New Orleans Pelicans to a 88-79 victory over the Chicago Bulls. Other results: Grizzlies 99, Bucks 90; Rockets 106, Cavaliers 92; Spurs 95, Kings 93; Suns 105, Bobcats 95; Trail Blazers 106, Raptors 103; Clippers 102, Jazz 87. — Agencies
