In a New Year's Eve game that kept fans on the edge of their seats, Julian Champagnie sank 11 three-pointers, and Victor Wembanyama put up 31 points, helping the San Antonio Spurs rally and beat the New York Knicks 134-132.

The Spurs, who lost to the Knicks in the NBA Cup final two weeks before, got their revenge. They came back from a 19-point deficit in the second quarter to grab an awesome win.

Wembanyama, the talented French player, was a key part of the win. He scored 31 points and grabbed 13 rebounds before leaving the game with a leg injury early in the fourth quarter.

The 21-year-old later returned to the bench and celebrated with his teammates as the Spurs finished off the exciting win. This improved their record to 24-9, keeping them second in the Western Conference, just behind the Oklahoma City Thunder (29-5), who have the best record in the NBA.

While Wembanyama was important in the comeback, Champagnie brought the heat on offence, hitting a bunch of three-pointers and ending the night with 36 points.

The 24-year-old American hit four threes in the fourth quarter, helping San Antonio tie the game and then pull ahead.

"It feels great, man—I just go out there and do my job," he said after the game. That’s all I can do... I was just trying to shoot the basketball.

The crowd of 18,602 at San Antonio’s Frost Bank Centre got quiet when Wembanyama limped off the court after landing awkwardly while going for a rebound.

But he later said he thought he would recover quickly from what he called a left knee hyperextension.

My body’s feeling good, just sore, Wembanyama said. I’m very confident and positive.

I expect to be back next game—I don’t know if the team expects that, he added.

San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson said, I have no idea what to say, but it was good to see him walk back out and be able to finish the game on the bench with his teammates.

Jalen Brunson led the Knicks with 29 points, while Karl-Anthony Towns and Jordan Clarkson each scored 20.

In other games on Dec 31, the Golden State Warriors kept up their good play, beating the Charlotte Hornets 132-125 on the road.

Stephen Curry, playing in front of his hometown fans, scored 26 points for Golden State, including five three-pointers. The Warriors have now won five of their last six games, improving their record to 18-16 in the Western Conference.

Jimmy Butler and Brandin Podziemski each added 19 points to support Curry.

Curry, who heard MVP chants during a road game against the Brooklyn Nets on Dec 29, was warmly welcomed by a record Charlotte crowd of 19,685 fans.

“I’m always amazed by the support he gets everywhere,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said about Curry. It makes sense because of who he is, what he’s done, and what kind of person he is... It shows how much Steph impacts people; there’s something special about him.

Elsewhere, the Thunder easily beat the Portland Trail Blazers 124-95, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scoring 30 points.

Other scores: The Atlanta Hawks beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 126-102, thanks to 34 points from Jalen Johnson. The Orlando Magic edged out the Indiana Pacers 112-110, with Paolo Banchero scoring 29 points and grabbing 10 rebounds.

In Cleveland, Donovan Mitchell outscored Devin Booker to lead the Cavaliers to a 129-113 win over the Phoenix Suns.

Mitchell had 34 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists, while Booker scored 32 points in the loss.

The Los Angeles Lakers are facing even more injury troubles, which is making this season even tougher.

Rookie forward Adou Thiero has a sprained right MCL, the team said. He will be checked again in about a month, which means he'll be out for a while during the regular season.

This is bad timing for the 21-year-old since he just started to find a spot in the NBA. He played in the Lakers' last six games, including four minutes in the fourth quarter of their big loss to the Detroit Pistons (128-106).

It's hard for a rookie to build confidence when he keeps getting interrupted like this.

This injury is just the latest problem in Thiero's rocky first season in Los Angeles. Before getting hurt, the second-round pick played in 15 games, usually for short periods. But he showed the athleticism and defensive skills that made him an interesting player to watch grow.

It's not clear exactly when Thiero hurt his MCL, but it came after an earlier knee issue that delayed his NBA start. That problem led to him spending time with the Lakers' G League team, the South Bay Lakers, to get back in shape.

In three G League games, Thiero averaged 15 points, five rebounds, 1.6 assists, and two steals in just over 20 minutes per game, while shooting well from the field (55.6 percent).

South Bay won all three of those games. One highlight was a 19-point performance against the Santa Cruz Warriors on Nov. 21, where he scored efficiently and had three steals in 19 minutes.

After being called back up and making his NBA start in mid-November, the hope was that Thiero would be able to play consistently and become a reliable player off the bench. But injuries have stopped that from happening.

From the team's view, Thiero's absence makes their lack of depth even worse. He wasn't a regular player, but he could defend different positions and bring energy off the bench, which gave the Lakers some flexibility. They've had trouble keeping that up this season.

"We're just going to find chances to give him minutes," coach JJ Redick said before the injury. I think he's had some good three-to-four-minute stretches, and some where he looks like a rookie, which is fine. We're also going to keep using South Bay to get him practice time.

Now, the MCL sprain stops any progress Thiero was making toward getting a bigger role. Knee injuries can be different, but even mild sprains usually need weeks of rest, recovery, and a slow return to playing basketball.

The Lakers waiting four weeks before checking him again suggests they're being careful and focusing on his long-term health.