The New York Knicks changed coaches but it didn’t change their nose-diving direction.
John Wall had 28 points with 17 assists, Bradley Beal scored 26 with five triples, and the visiting Washington Wizards spoiled Kurt Rambis’ Knicks head coaching debut, 111-108 on Tuesday.
“It’s a win,” Wizards coach Randy Wittman said. “Trust me, I’m happy.”
Marcin Gortat had 14 points with 10 rebounds, and Jared Dudley also netted 14 for Washington (23-27), which knocked down 16-of-26 from behind the arc in the victory.
New York promoted Rambis from associate coach to replace fired Derek Fisher on an interim head coach basis Monday following a 23-31 record.
But despite a courageous comeback effort, the results were the same and the downward-spiraling Knicks (23-32) fell for the sixth straight time and 10 in the last 11 games.     
“I was pleased with our determination to get back into the ball game, guys picked up their effort,” said Rambis, who has had previous head coaching stints with the LA Lakers and Minnesota.
“We’re still trying to play with each other and we’ll get better at that. Our defence must continue to get better.”
Another slow start put the Knicks behind by 16 in the opening quarter but they dug themselves out and caught the Wizards at 83-apiece after three quarters, led by 14 points from Kristaps Porzingis.
Down by 10 with 1:51 left to play, the Knicks appeared to cut the lead to three when Arron Afflalo hit a driving layup while drawing a blocking foul on Beal.
However, officials reviewing the play nullified the basket, ruling that Beal was outside the restricted area.  
Behind 107-103, Langston Galloway drained a straightaway three pulling the Knicks to within one with 8.5 seconds left.
The Knicks were forced to foul and Wall made four free throws around two by Carmelo Anthony at the other end, making it 111-108 with 4.3 seconds remaining.
The Wizards had a defensive breakdown and allowed Galloway to get free on the right wing but his potential game-tying triple bounced off the rim at the buzzer and he crumpled to the floor in disappointment.
Anthony led the Knicks with 33 points and 13 rebounds while Porzingis finished with 20 points.    
“We started off slow again, it’s tough to come back but we were right there,” Porzingis said. “We have to move forward, keep going and learn from the coach we have.”
•San Antonio Spurs 119, Miami Heat 101: LaMarcus Aldridge scored 28 points, Kawhi Leonard had 23 and the visiting Spurs (44-8) notched their fifth straight win after beating the Heat.
Dwyane Wade scored 20 points while Chris Bosh had 18 for Miami (29-24).
•Utah Jazz 121, Dallas Mavericks 119 (OT):  Gordon Hayward nailed the game-winning step-back jumper from the left corner over Zaza Pachulia at the overtime buzzer, and the surging Jazz won their season-high seventh in a row after edging the host Mavericks.
Rodney Hood had 29 points, including the tying 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds left in regulation, while Haywood finished with 20 as the Jazz (26-25) snapped an 10-game drought in Dallas dating back to Jan.  9, 2010.
Chandler Parsons scored 24 points, Deron Williams added 23 for Dallas (29-26), which has dropped four of its last five games.