Celtics extend win streak with 126-94 win over Clippers
Boston Celtics guard Payton Pritchard (11) drives to the basket against Los Angeles Clippers guard Kris Dunn (8) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
BOSTON (AP) — Jayson Tatum scored 20 points and the Boston Celtics made 22 3-pointers in a 126-94 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night.
Payton Pritchard added with 20 points for Boston, which extended its season-high win streak to six games.
Kristaps Porzingis finished with 16 points on 6 of 12 shooting, to go along with six rebounds and two blocks in his season debut following offseason ankle surgery. He made the start and played 23 minutes with Al Horford (illness) and Luke Kornet (hamstring) out.
Ivica Zubac led the Clippers with 23 points and 10 rebounds. James Harden added 19, nine assists and eight rebounds. The loss snapped a five-game win streak for LA.
PACERS 114, PELICANS 110
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Tyrese Haliburton finished with 34 points and 13 assists and made a season best nine 3-pointers, leading Indiana past short-handed New Orleans.
Haliburton’s tiebreaking 3 with 3:06 to go and Bennedict Mathurin’s alley-oop dunk off Haliburton’s pass with a minute left finally secured the win.
Myles Turner added 17 points, including seven straight during a fourth-quarter flurry that swung the momentum back to the Pacers.
Trey Murphy III led the Pelicans with 24 points, matching his season high. CJ McCollum added 23 points in his first action in nearly a month, and Elfrid Payton dished out a career high 21 assists — the most in an NBA game this season.
The Pelicans have lost five straight, this one with WNBA star Caitlin Clark watching inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse to the delight of some girls dressed in Clark’s Indiana Fever and Iowa jerseys.
MAGIC 95, HORNETS 84
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Franz Wagner scored 13 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, and Orlando withstood a 44-point performance by LaMelo Ball to beat short-handed Charlotte.
Moritz Wagner and Cole Anthony each had 16 points and eight rebounds off the bench, and Jonathan Isaac knocked down three fourth-quarter corner 3s to finish with 11 points for the Magic.
Ball, coming off a career-high 50-point performance against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday night, also had nine rebounds and seven assists. Brandon Miller added 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Hornets, who had their four-game home win streak snapped.
Ball and Miller also combined for 13 of the Hornets’ 27 turnovers. Those giveaways led to 33 Orlando points, and the rest of Charlotte’s players combined for just 20 points.
Orlando shot just 39% from the field. But Charlotte, missing several players, was only slightly better at 41% and looked out of sync on offense most of the night.
PISTONS 102, RAPTORS 100
DETROIT (AP) — Jaden Ivey hit a jumper as time expired to give Detroit a victory over Toronto.
The Raptors took a 98-96 lead on RJ Barrett’s 3-pointer with 1:47 left, but Ivey’s driving layup tied it with 1:07 to go.
After both teams missed, Isaiah Stewart got free for a go-ahead dunk, but Scottie Barnes hit a layup in traffic to make it 100-100 with 22.3 seconds to play.
The Pistons called a timeout to set up the play. Ivey ran the clock down before driving past Ochai Agbaji for an off-balance jumper from the right baseline.
Ivey finished with 25 points as the Pistons broke a three-game losing streak.
Barnes led the Raptors with 31 points and Barrett added 17.
MAVERICKS 129, HAWKS 119
ATLANTA (AP) — Kyrie Irving had 32 points, six assists and seven rebounds, and Dallas beat Atlanta without star Luka Doncic.
Jaden Hardy had a season-high 23 points in his first start of the season for Dallas, which has won five of six. Naji Marshall and Spencer Dinwiddie had 22 points each.
Irving had 10 points at halftime after being stifled by Hawks guard Dyson Daniels but heated up in the second half, including a stretch where he hit five consecutive field goals.
Doncic missed his third straight game with a right wrist strain.
Jalen Johnson had 28 points and 10 rebounds for the Hawks, who have lost four of five. Trae Young had 18 points and 16 assists.
GRIZZLIES 123, TRAIL BLAZERS 98
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Ja Morant had 22 points and 11 assists in his return to the lineup after missing eight games with a hip injury, leading the Memphis to a victory over Portland.
Morant shot 6 fo 12 from the field, including 2 for 3 from 3-point range. Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 21 points, and Santi Aldama finished with 13 points and a career-high 17 rebounds.
Deni Avdija led Portland with 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Shaedon Sharpe added 15 points for the Trail Blazers, who lost for the third time in four games.
KNICKS 145, NUGGETS 118
DENVER (AP) — OG Anunoby scored a career-high 40 points, Jalen Brunson had 17 of New York’s team record-tying 45 assists and they rode a torrid start to a rout of Denver.
Brunson had 23 points to go with his career-best assist performance. The Knicks’ 45 assists matched the single-game team record set against Cleveland on Nov. 24, 1979.
New York led by 12 after the first, 23 at halftime and by many as 30 points on a night the team shot a sizzling 60.9% from the floor. The starters for the Knicks played late in the game despite the large lead.
Karl-Anthony Towns was a game-time decision with a sore calf, but came up big with 30 points and 15 rebounds.
Reserve Russell Westbrook had 27 points and Nikola Jokic finished with 22 points along with a season-low seven rebounds for Denver.
THUNDER 130, KINGS 109
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 37 points and Oklahoma City’s bench players combined for 40 points in a win over Sacramento that extended their losing streak to four.
Jalen Williams scored 28 points and Isaiah Hartenstein returned from a stint on the injured list with 17 points for the Thunder.
DeMar DeRozan scored 19 points in the first half and finished the game with 30 for the Kings. The Kings bench scored half of what the Thunder’s bench did, and Sacramento shot just 25% from 3-point range.
NETS 128, WARRIORS 120
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Dennis Schroder scored 31 points, Cam Thomas added 23 and undermanned Brooklyn rallied to beat Stephen Curry and Golden State.
Curry made a 3-pointer with 3:26 left and pulled the Warriors within three, but Golden State couldn’t make the crucial stops and squandered an 18-point lead. Curry scored 28, and Andrew Wiggins added 18 points.
Schroder’s 3 with 11:10 remaining tied the game at 92, and he put his team ahead with another at the 9:43 mark.
Jalen Wilson had 18 points for the short-handed Nets in a road back-to-back after a 108-103 win at Sacramento a night earlier.
Schroder missed Sunday’s game at Sacramento with right ankle soreness but returned for Brooklyn, which jumped ahead 9-2 before a Warriors timeout and ensuing run got the home team going.