BOSTON (AP) — Jayson Tatum had 40 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists, and the Boston Celtics held off a late rally to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 111-101 on Saturday night.
With LeBron James in the locker room with a strained groin, the Lakers cut a 20-point, fourth-quarter deficit to single digits. But Tatum and Jaylen Brown scored Boston’s final 12 points to preserve the win.
Brown added 31 points as the Celtics earned their fourth straight victory.
James finished with 22 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists before exiting midway through the fourth quarter as the Lakers had their eight-game Los Angeles win streak.
Luka Doncic had 34 points and eight rebounds in his first game in Boston since he and the Dallas Mavericks lost Game 5 of the NBA Finals as Boston clinched its 18th championship.
ROCKETS 146, PELICANS 117
HOUSTON (AP) — Dillon Brooks had 27 points, Alperen Sengun and Aaron Holiday added 20 each and Houston sailed to a win over New Orleans.
Houston never trailed in its second straight victory over the Pelicans after getting a 109-97 win in New Orleans on Thursday night.
A 3-pointer by CJ McCollum got the Pelicans within 11 with 10 seconds left in the first half before Brooks made a 3-pointer and a Pelicans turnover gave Houston the ball back.
Brooks made two free throws to end the second and the Rockets opened the third with an 8-4 run to extend the lead to 82-62 with 9 1/2 minutes left in the quarter.
The Rockets led by 26 entering the fourth and an 8-2 run made it 117-85 with 10 minutes left.
HORNETS 105, NETS 102
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Miles Bridges scored 26 points and Charlotte used a finishing 12-0 run to beat Brooklyn and snap a nine-game losing streak.
Bridges added 12 rebounds, five assists and a huge blocked shot in the closing seconds for the Hornets, who trailed 102-93 with under 3 1/2 minutes remaining. Nick Smith Jr. scored 19 points while shooting 6 for 17 (3 for 9 from 3-point range) and 4 of 4 from the free-throw line.
D’Angelo Russell had 28 points, seven assists and six rebounds for the Nets, who lost their seventh straight. Ziaire Williams added 19 points.
Bridges scored 13 points in the first half and the Hornets went into halftime trailing 58-43. The Nets led 82-76 heading to the fourth. Smith led the Hornets with 17 points in the second half as their team outscored the Nets by 18 points over the final two quarters.
MAGIC 111, BUCKS 109
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Paolo Banchero scored 29 points, Cole Anthony added 22 and Orlando beat Milwaukee to end a five-game skid and snap the Bucks’ four-game winning streak.
Orlando took the lead for good just over three minutes into the game and led 95-80 with less than nine minutes left before the Bucks rallied.
The Magic were clinging to a 111-109 lead when Milwaukee’s Taurean Prince stole the ball from Anthony, a backcourt turnover that led to the Bucks inbounding the ball from in front of Orlando’s bench with 6.6 seconds remaining. AJ Green passed the ball to Damian Lillard, who missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer while being guarded by Franz Wagner and Banchero.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 37 points and 11 rebounds for the Bucks, who lost for just the second time in their last 10 games. Lillard added 26 points.
BULLS 114, HEAT 109
MIAMI (AP) — Josh Giddey scored 26 points and Chicago rallied from a 17-point, first-half deficit to beat Miami.
Coby White finished with 21 points and Zach Collins had 18 points and 15 rebounds. Tre Jones added 15 points for the Bulls, who won their second straight in Florida after beating Orlando on Thursday.
Chicago took the lead for good when White’s three-point play with 1:25 remaining made it 110-109. Giddey’s 3-pointer with 17 seconds left padded the lead.
The Heat built a 51-35 advantage early in the second quarter but allowed the Bulls to stay within distance after they scored four points in the final 7:13 of the period.
Bam Adebayo and Andrew Wiggins each scored 22 points and Tyler Herro added 21 for the Heat. Wiggins returned after missing the last five games because of a right ankle sprain.
WIZARDS 118, RAPTORS 117
TORONTO (AP) — Jordan Poole scored 34 points and NBA-worst Washington won their second straight game, beating Toronto when Raptors guard Jamal Shead’s running layup at the buzzer was ruled to be late.
The teams will meet again Monday night in Toronto.
Bilal Coulibaly added 18 points and 10 rebounds to help Washington improve to 13-49 with its second straight victory. The Wizards beat Utah at home Wednesday night before heading off to Toronto for the start of a seven-game trip that also has a two-game set in Detroit and games at Denver, Portland and Utah.
RJ Barrett led Toronto with 23 points, and Jakob Poeltl added 21. The Raptors beat Utah at home the night before for their third straight victory.
PACERS 120, HAWKS 118
ATLANTA (AP) — Trae Young had 36 points and Caris Lavert added 26 off the bench as Atlanta held off Indiana Pacers for their third win in four games.
Oneka Okongwu had 16 points and 16 rebounds for the Hawks.
The Hawks led by 20 points after the first quarter and 17 at halftime, but the Pacers took the lead midway through the fourth quarter before Atlanta made the key plays down the stretch.
Bennedict Mathurin had 30 points for the Pacers after missing four games with a wrist injury. Pacers All-Star Tyrese Haliburton, who entered the game fourth in the NBA in assists at 8.9 per game, missed his second straight game with a hip strain. Pascal Siakim had 23 points.
Young left the game with 2:58 to play in the third quarter with an apparent thigh injury, but he returned four minutes later. He favored his left leg the rest of the game, but still managed 10 points and three assists in the fourth quarter.
WARRIORS 115, PISTONS 110
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Draymond Green hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 35 seconds left, then secured a loose ball moments later and converted a free throw, Stephen Curry surpassed 25,000 points and Golden State held off Detroit.
Curry made four 3-pointers and needs seven to become the first player in NBA history with 4,000. He had 32 points, making all 12 of his free throws.
Jimmy Butler scored 15 points in the third and made a jumper with 1:22 to play on the way to 26 points, nine rebounds and five assists as the Warriors won their fourth straight and ninth in 10. Golden State is 11-2 since Butler made his debut Feb. 8 — 11-1 in games he played.
Cade Cunningham scored 31 points and gave Detroit a lead on a layup with 50 seconds remaining before Green delivered.
The start of the second quarter was delayed approximately five minutes after a fire alarm blared several times and a scoreboard message asked fans to evacuate. It ended up being nothing.
The Associated Press
