DALLAS – Kyrie Irving scored 23 points and the Dallas Mavericks improved to 4-1 this season without superstar Luka Doncic, defeating the New York Knicks 129-114 on Wednesday night.

Jalen Brunson matched 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 after scoring a career-high 40 through two nights.

Doncic missed his fourth straight game with a right wrist sprain, 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 PJ Washington had 19 points and 10 rebounds.

Takeaways

Knicks: Towns faced the Mavs for the first time since the West final against Minnesota. He shot 28% in the first three games as the Timberwolves fell 3-0 and lost the series in five games. Towns came to New York as part of the blockbuster trade that sent Julius Randle to Minnesota.

Mavericks: Doncic and Brunson, drafted together in 2018, have faced each other just once on five occasions since Brunson signed with the Knicks as a free agent in 2022. Dallas won their only meeting in New York in December 2022, six months after the pair reached the West final together.

Key moment

When Tom Brady entered the stadium in the first quarter, he caused excitement in the crowd. The NFL analyst was in town for the Dallas-New York Giants Thanksgiving game on Thursday.

Key statistics

The Knicks had their season-low 15 points in each quarter the first two nights after setting the NBA high this season with a 145-118 win at Denver.

Next

The Knicks are in Charlotte on Friday. The Mavericks play at Utah on Saturday.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba