NEW YORK — Derrick Rose scored 26 points, Julius Randle shook off a miserable first half to lead a third-quarter turnaround and the New York Knicks beat the Atlanta Hawks 101-92 on Wednesday night in Game 2 to tie the series.

Randle was 0 for 6 with just two points at halftime and the Knicks were staring at a 13-point deficit. But with Rose moving into the starting lineup to open the third quarter, Randle scored 11 points on 4-for-5 shooting in the quarter as the Knicks surged into the lead.

The winner of the NBA’s Most Improved Player award finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds despite another poor shooting night. He was 5 for 16 after going 6 for 23 in the opener.

But he came through with it counted along with Reggie Bullock, who made four 3-pointers in the second half and also had 15 points as the Knicks guaranteed there will be at least one more home game in this surprising season.

Trae Young scored 30 points for Atlanta after having 32 and hitting the tie-breaking shot in Game 1. Bogdan Bogdanovic and De’Andre Hunter added 18 apiece.

Game 3 is Friday night in Atlanta, where the Hawks will be allowed to welcome a full capacity crowd for the first time

Rose made the basket the gave the Knicks the lead for good at 93-91 with 4:45 to play and played 39 minutes as Coach Tom Thibodeau stuck with one of his most trusted players to keep the series – and maybe season – from slipping away.

76ERS 120, WIZARDS 95: Ben Simmons put a spin move on Russell Westbrook that sent him sprawling to the floor several minutes before a leg injury sent the NBA’s triple-double king to the locker room.

With Simmons soaring and Westbrook ailing, Philadelphia won at home to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series.

Game 3 is Saturday night at Washington.

Westbrook went down after colliding with Furkan Korkmaz early in the fourth quarter. He limped off the floor and was restrained by security after a fan threw popcorn at him as he was headed under the tunnel.

Simmons and Joel Embiid each scored 22 points and Tobias Harris added 19 for the top-seeded Sixers.

NOTES

HORNETS: The Charlotte Hornets have picked up the team option on Coach James Borrego’s contract for next season, said a person familiar with the situation.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the Hornets do not publicly release information about staff contracts. It’s unclear if the Hornets will look to sign Borrego to a long-term contact.

Borrego is 95-124 in three seasons with the Hornets, including a 33-39 mark this season. The Hornets qualified for the play-in tournament as the 10th seed in the Eastern Conference but were eliminated after being routed 144-117 by the Indiana Pacers.

Several players called the performance embarrassing.

The Hornets were in fourth place in April, but injuries and COVID-19-related issues sidelined key players, including Gordon Hayward, LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges, Devonte Graham and Malik Monk and the team began to slide. Charlotte finished the season losing its last six games.

Borrego received an endorsement after the season from GM Mitch Kupchak, who said he believes “the coach did a great job.”