Mamukelashvili makes NBA history with 34 points in 19 minutes to fuel Spurs' 120-105 win over Knicks

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Sandro Mamukelashvili scored a career-high 34 points on 13-for-14 shooting in 19 minutes to become the first player in NBA history to score 34 points while playing less than 20 minutes as the San Antonio Spurs upended the New York Knicks 120-105 on Wednesday night.

Mamukelashvili, who was 7 for 7 from 3-point range, had 13 points, seven rebounds and an assist in eight minutes in the first half as San Antonio rolled to a 28-point lead.

He had 21 points in the final quarter to help the Spurs secure the victory.

Stephon Castle added 22 points as San Antonio won for the third time in eight games. Chris Paul added 12 points and nine assists.

Karl-Anthony Towns had 32 points and nine rebounds to lead New York while OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges added 14 points each. The Knicks are 3-3 since Jalen Brunson suffered a sprained right ankle.

The Spurs had their most inspiring victory since losing Victor Wembanyama (blood clot in right shoulder) and De'Aaron Fox (left pinkie surgery) to season-ending injuries.

The Spurs outscored the Knicks 38-23 in the second quarter when New York had a 3:37 scoreless stretch. The Knicks responded with a 29-16 third quarter.

Knicks: Mitchell Robinson had 13 points and 11 rebounds in his ninth game this season since returning from left ankle surgery. Robinson was 5 for 6 from the field in 17 minutes off the bench.

Spurs: Jeremy Sochan had 10 points, six rebounds and had three assists in his return to the starting lineup.

Devin Vassell’s 3-pointer with 2:37 remaining in the first half capped a 30-7 run that put the Spurs up 61-35.

The Spurs outrebounded the Knicks 61-48 despite having no player taller than 6-foot-9 available.

Knicks: Are at Charlotte on Thursday night.

Spurs: Host Philadelphia on Friday night.

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

San Antonio Spurs forward Sandro Mamukelashvili (54) celebrates the win with rapper Flavor Flav and Spurs guard Stephon Castle, rear, after an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks, Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)

San Antonio Spurs forward Sandro Mamukelashvili, left, celebrates a dunk with Spurs guard Keldon Johnson during the second half of their NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks, Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)

San Antonio Spurs forward Sandro Mamukelashvili celebrates a dunk during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks, Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)

New York Knicks guard Mikal Bridges (25) drives against San Antonio Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)

San Antonio Spurs guard Devin Vassell (24) shoots against New York Knicks' Miles McBride (2) and O.G. Anunoby (8) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)

New York Knicks guard O.G. Anunoby (8) dunks during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the San Antonio Spurs, Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)

New York Knicks guard O.G. Anunoby (8) swats the ball away from San Antonio Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan (10) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)

New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) looks to pass as he is defended by San Antonio Spurs' Jeremy Sochan (10) and Julian Champagnie (30) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)

San Antonio Spurs forward Sandro Mamukelashvili (54) dunks against New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)

LONDON (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of passengers faced flight cancelations at Europe's busiest travel hub after a fire knocked out power to London's Heathrow Airport, forcing it to close for the day.

At least 1,350 flights to and from Heathrow were affected already, including several from U.S. cities that were canceled, flight tracking service FlightRadar 24 said.

Here's the latest:

NEW DELHI — All Air India flights to Heathrow were suspended until Friday midnight, the carrier said in a statement, adding that it will “update about resumption of operations as soon as we have more information.”

The airline also said one of its flights had to return mid-air to Mumbai and another was diverted to Frankfurt. The company didn’t specify how many flights were affected in total.

Some passengers at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport said they had been informed of cancellations, while others said they were still waiting for the airline to provide them with alternate flights.

“As soon I went inside to get my boarding pass, they (airline staff) told us that the flight has been cancelled and there is no flight for next two, three days,” passenger Vikas Swarup said.

Emma Fulton, who was in India’s Jaipur city for a wedding, said she received a text message en route to the airport.

“We had a text message about 20 mins before we arrived here, but we were already on the road,” she said.

DUBAI — Eight outbound flights from Dubai International Airport to Heathrow, and one inbound from London to Dubai, were canceled Friday, according to Dubai Airports.

Travelers were told to contact their airlines for rebooking options.

Any travelers impacted by the Heathrow closure should contact their airline.

If a phone call doesn’t go through, travelers can also try contacting the airline on social media. Several airlines were responding to passengers’ posts on social platform X on Friday. A representative for British Airways, for example, was telling customers on X to send a direct message to the airline’s account so they could assist in rebooking.

For customers who are seeking a refund or other compensation, a European Union regulation known as EU261 could apply. Because the United Kingdom is no longer part of the EU, however, not every flight will be covered under EU261. The regulation covers flights within the EU, as well as flights departing from the EU to a non-EU country.

Spanish airport operator Aena said on Friday morning that 20 flights to and from Madrid and Barcelona had been cancelled due to the Heathrow power outage. A total of 54 flights headed to or departing from its terminals were affected.

In a post on X, the state-controlled commercial airport operator advised travelers to contact airlines for more information about disrupted flights.

ROME — The fire that shut Heathrow airport has caused limited disruption at Rome’s Leonardo da Vinci international airport in Fiumicino.

A spokesperson said that so far 10 flights, to and from Heathrow, have been canceled, but passengers have been kept informed and there were no lines at the airport.

GLASGOW — Lawrence Hayes was three-quarters of the way to London from John F. Kennedy International in New York when Virgin Atlantic announced they were being diverted to Glasgow.

“It was a red-eye flight and I’d already had a full day, so I don’t even know how long I’ve been up for,” Hayes told the BBC as he was getting off the plane in Scotland. “Luckily I managed to get hold of my wife and she’s kindly booked me a train ticket to get back to Euston (railway station in London), but it’s going to be an incredibly long day.”

DUBLIN — Ryanair has added eight “rescue flights” between Dublin and Stansted, another London airport, on Friday and Saturday to help travelers impacted by the fire at Heathrow, the budget airline announced.

Ryanair does not operate at Heathrow.

Four of the flights will occur Friday afternoon, and the remaining on Saturday morning.

BERLIN — All flights by Lufthansa Group to and from Heathrow were canceled on Friday.

The company didn’t specify how many flights were affected in total, but said in an emailed statement that “passengers affected by the flight cancellations have been rebooked on other flights and informed about it.”

Lufthansa Group includes Germany’s biggest airline, Lufthansa, as well as Austrian Airlines, Swiss, Brussels Airlines and others.

LONDON — British officials working to determine the cause of an electrical substation fire that shut Heathrow Airport have not yet found evidence it’s suspicious.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband says “it’s too early to say” what caused the huge blaze, but there’s “no suggestion” of foul play.

London’s Metropolitan Police say the fire brigade is leading the investigation, suggesting it’s not thought to be criminal.

TOKYO — The closure of Heathrow forced two Japanese flights that had already departed to return to Tokyo and a third to change its destination, airline officials said.

Japan Airlines said one of its two Heathrow-bound flights Friday returned to Tokyo’s Haneda international airport, and another one diverted to the Finnish capital, Helsinki. A third flight out of Tokyo, operated by All Nippon Airways, another major Japanese carrier, also returned to Haneda.

Airline officials advised passengers to check the latest flight information for Saturday.

The noise from Europe's busiest airport is a constant bugbear for those who live nearby, but has temporarily fallen silent.

“Basically living near Heathrow is noisy. There are planes every 90 seconds or so, plus the constant hum of traffic, but you get used to it, to the point of no longer noticing," said James Henderson, who has lived next to Heathrow for over 20 years.

"Today is different. You can hear the birds singing.”

Australian airline Qantas diverted its Singapore-London and Perth-London flights to Paris on Friday and then bused the travelers to London, a spokesperson said.

Customers will be contacted directly if their flight is impacted.

LONDON — Aviation consultant John Strickland says it will take several days for global airline travel to recover from a daylong closure of Heathrow Airport.

He said: “We’re talking about several days’ worth of disruption to get the planes recovered and start using them again to move planned and disrupted passengers.”

Strickland compared the disruption to “a contained version of 9/11 or, to an extent, the Icelandic volcanic eruption” that shut European airspace in 2010.

“I remembered seeing on those occasions – particularly more so on 9/11 – it happened so quick and then U.S. airspace was closed, they were turning back aircraft and holding planes. That’s the parallel I would make.

“Heathrow being such a busy airport and full, there’s no kind of wriggle room for getting out of these kind of things.”

The closure of Heathrow rippled through global aviation. The long-haul carrier Emirates in Dubai, which has London as one of its top destinations, cancelled six round-trip flights to Heathrow on Friday alone.

Etihad in neighboring Abu Dhabi cancelled two round-trip flights, while one flight diverted to Frankfurt, Germany. Qatar Airways said at least seven scheduled flights were “impacted,” with its staff working with passengers.

A British government minister says a “catastrophic” fire knocked out a backup generator as well as the electrical substation that supplies power to Heathrow Airport.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband told the BBC that the blaze is “unprecedented.”

He said it’s too early to know the cause but that lessons will have to be learned about “protection and the resilience that is in place for major institutions like Heathrow.”

Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways rerouted two overnight flights to Amsterdam and canceled at least two daytime flights to Heathrow, according to the flight status page on its website.

The London Fire Brigade says the electrical substation blaze closed Heathrow Airport is under control.

The fire caused a widespread power outage, affecting thousands of homes, local businesses, and disrupting thousands of flights.

LFB Assistant Commissioner Pat Goulbourne says the fire was under control just after 8 a.m.

“This was a very visible and significant incident, and our firefighters worked tirelessly in challenging conditions to bring the fire under control as swiftly as possible,” he said. “Thanks to their efforts and a coordinated multi-agency response, we successfully contained the fire and prevented further spread.”

Heathrow is one of the world’s busiest airports for international travel. It had its busiest January on record earlier this year, with more than 6.3 million passengers, up more than 5% for the same period last year. January also was the 11th month in a row it averaged over 200,000 passengers a day, with the airport citing transatlantic travel as a key contributor.

Heathrow normally opens for flights at 6 a.m. due to nighttime flying restrictions. It said the closure would last until 11:59 p.m. Friday.

The U.K. government earlier this year approved building a third runway at the airport to boost the economy and connectivity to the world.

Seven United Airlines flights returned to their origin or diverted to other airports and its flights Friday to Heathrow were canceled, the airline said.

The FlightAware website showed more cancelations including two from John F. Kennedy International in New York, a Delta Airlines flight and an American Airlines flight.

Other jets were diverted to Gatwick Airport outside London, Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris and Ireland’s Shannon Airport, tracking services showed.

National Rail canceled all trains to and from the airport.

Flames soared into the sky when a transformer at an electrical substation caught fire in west London late Thursday night. The fire continued to smolder after daybreak.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks said in a post on X the power outage affected more than 16,300 homes. About 150 people were evacuated.The cause of the fire is yet to be determined.

Passengers wait for the information on flights destined for the Heathrow Airport in London, outside the Indira Gandhi International Airport, in New Delhi, India, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Shonal Ganguly)

A passenger stands in front of a flight information screen showing cancelled flights destined for the Heathrow Airport in London, at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, in New Delhi, India, Friday, March 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Shonal Ganguly)

FILE - Airplanes are seen at the Heathrow Airport in London, May 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, File)

Emergency services are seen at the scene in Roseville Road, west London, Friday, March 21, 2025, near the North Hyde electrical substation, which caught fire Thursday night. (James Weech/PA via AP)

Emergency services are seen at the scene in Roseville Road, west London, Friday, March 21, 2025, near the North Hyde electrical substation, which caught fire Thursday night. (James Weech/PA via AP)

FILE - A plane takes off over a road sign near Heathrow Airport in London, June 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, File)