Gordon Hayward scored a game-high 29 points and the visiting Boston Celtics played strong defense down the stretch to hold off the Minnesota Timberwolves 127-117 on Friday night.
Jayson Tatum scored 28 points and Jaylen Brown and Daniel Theis chipped in with 25 apiece as the Celtics came out of the All-Star break to win their fourth road game in the last five. Boston has won 12 of 14 overall.
Malik Beasley had 27 points to pace the Timberwolves, who were without star center Karl-Anthony Towns, out with a sprained left wrist.
Boston led most of the way, including by as many as 13 points in the second quarter and 12 in the third period.
Tatum's 3-pointer put the Celtics up 98-88 with 10:50 remaining, before the Timberwolves made a late push. Minnesota got within 100-98 on Jordan McLaughlin's trey and subsequently within one on three occasions, the last time at 108-107 on two Naz Reid free throws with 6:20 to go.
But Hayward countered with a 3-pointer and the Celtics held the Timberwolves to just four points in the next 4:20 while gradually pulling away.
Hayward shot 12 of 17 and the Celtics outshot the Timberwolves 46.3 percent to 40.4 percent.
Tatum (11 rebounds), Theis (game-high 16 rebounds) and Marcus Smart (10 points, 10 assists) all recorded double-doubles for Boston, which went without injured point guard Kemba Walker.
Beasley connected on 4 of 8 from behind the arc for Minnesota, which lost for the 16th time in its last 17 games.
D'Angelo Russell had 18 points and a game-high 13 assists for the Timberwolves. Reid finished with 19 points, Juan Hernangomez 17, McLaughlin 11 and Josh Okogie 10.
The Timberwolves were outrebounded 58-43 but stayed close by outscoring the Celtics 45-30 on 3-pointers.
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Jayson Tatum scored 27 points, Kemba Walker and Jaylen Brown added 20 apiece, and the Boston Celtics overwhelmed the visiting Los Angeles Lakers 139-107 Monday night.
Enes Kanter had 18 points (all before halftime) and 11 rebounds off the bench as the Celtics snapped a three-game losing streak. Gordon Hayward chipped in 16 points.
LeBron James had 15 points and 13 assists for the Lakers, who lost for just the second time in their past 12 games. Anthony Davis had nine points in his return from a five-game absence caused by a bruised tailbone.
Walker (knee) and Brown (thumb) were back in the lineup for the Celtics after one and two missed games, respectively. Walker ended a personal 0-28 career drought against James-led teams.
The Celtics outscored the Lakers 36-25 in the second quarter and led by 14 at halftime. Brown, Walker and Tatum came out firing to start the third, and Boston's lead surpassed 20, 88-66, on a Tatum 3-pointer with 7:11 to go.
The Celtics were up by 27 when they reached the century mark in points on a Semi Ojeleye trey at 2:56 of the third, and the "Beat L.A." chants rained down from the crowd. Boston led 104-80 after three.
The Celtics' advantage topped 30 on a Tatum three-point play with 9:12 remaining, and Los Angeles waved the white flag soon after, pulling James and Davis.
The Lakers began the game on an 8-0 run, but the Celtics led 33-30 at the end of the first quarter. Boston pulled ahead 40-32 early in the second, and after Los Angeles got within 45-44, the Celtics rode a 12-1 stretch to their first double-digit lead.
Boston ran its lead as high as 69-53 on a Kanter tip-in with 1:09 left in the half, and the Celtics led 69-55 at the break. Kanter had 12 points in the second quarter, and Tatum had 13 in the second period and 15 before halftime.
James led the Lakers in the half with 13 points and eight assists.
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Jaylen Brown matched his career high of 34 points and Jayson Tatum scored 24 of his 30 in the first half as the host Boston Celtics cruised to a 129-117 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday.
Brown followed up a season high-tying 30-point performance in Boston's 118-102 victory over Toronto on Wednesday by making 13 of 20 shots, including 5 of 10 from 3-point range.
Tatum, who also made 5 of 10 from beyond the arc, sank 9 of 13 shots from the floor in the first half and finished 11 of 20 to answer a dismal 5-for-18 performance against the Raptors.
Enes Kanter chipped in 14 points and nine rebounds off the bench as the Celtics collected their fifth straight win overall and seventh in a row versus Cleveland.
Kevin Love scored 21 of his 30 points in the first half and made 6 of 11 3-point attempts for the Cavaliers, who had won a season-high three in a row after losing 16 of their previous 18.
Collin Sexton chipped in 21 points and rookie Kevin Porter Jr. added 16 off the bench for Cleveland.
The Cavaliers trimmed the Celtics' lead to 92-81 at the end of the third quarter and Dante Exum opened the fourth with a 3-pointer.
Tatum answered with one of his own, Daniel Theis followed suit and Brown later sank back-to-back 3-pointers to push Boston's advantage to 108-90 with 7:20 to play.
Brown scored the Celtics' first seven points and finished with 12 on 5-of-7 shooting to give his team a 33-22 lead after the first quarter. Boston made 13 of 23 shots in the quarter.
Tatum capped a 10-0 run with a step-back 3-pointer, boosting the Celtics' advantage to 48-26 with 6:50 remaining in the second quarter.
Cleveland chipped away slowly to cut Boston's lead to 62-47 at halftime and scored the first four points of the third quarter before the Celtics reignited their offense.
Tatum took advantage of a mismatch on the low block to convert a 3-point play and give Boston a 76-58 lead with 6:54 remaining in the third quarter.
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Marcus Smart connected on a driving layup with 31.1 seconds remaining and followed with a key steal to lead the host Boston Celtics past the Sacramento Kings, 103-102, Monday night.
Jaylen Brown led Boston with 24 points, Jayson Tatum added 20, and Smart and Enes Kanter were also in double figures with 17 and 13, respectively, as the Celtics won for the second time in their past five games.
Boston played without point guard Kemba Walker, who was ruled out a couple hours before tipoff due to a neck sprain.
Buddy Hield enjoyed a big night for the Kings with a career-high 41 points and a franchise-record 11 3-pointers. Harrison Barnes added 20 points, and Bogdan Bogdanovic had 13 points and eight assists for Sacramento, which lost for the third time in its past eight.
Hield took over in the second half, scoring 21 of his team's 29 points in the third quarter alone. His 10th 3-pointer -- the most ever in a game against the Celtics -- got the Kings within 95-93 with 3:17 left in the fourth.
After a pair of Smart free throws, Hield drilled his 11th from deep to cut the Boston lead to one. Boston got a basket from Brown, but a Cory Joseph trey tied the score at 99. Following a Smart hoop, Bogdanovic hit a 3-pointer to give the Kings a 102-101 lead with 39.8 seconds remaining.
Smart responded with his game-winning layup before coming up with a steal on Bogdanovic with 27.8 ticks left. Though Tatum missed a 3-point try with 8.2 seconds left, the Kings were unable to score on a late shot by Bogdanovic, sealing the result.
The Kings grabbed the largest lead of the first half, up 39-28, on a Barnes 3-pointer with 6:31 left in the second quarter. The Celtics stormed back with a 15-2 run, going up 43-41 on an Enes Kanter basket with 2:26 to go.
After a Hield trey halted the Boston run, the Celtics ended the half with a 10-2 stretch to lead 53-46 at the break.
Barnes led all scorers with 14 at intermission while Tatum, Kanter and Brown were all at 11 for the Celtics.
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The Milwaukee Bucks used a run late in the third quarter to take the lead for good, then rode balanced scoring to keep the host Boston Celtics at arm's length throughout the fourth period en route to a 123-116 victory Friday night in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
Up 2-1 in the best-of-7 set, the top-seeded Bucks will seek a third consecutive win when the clubs meet again Monday night in Boston.
The Celtics scored 10 of the game's first 12 points and led for most of the first half, going up by as many as 12 at one point.
However, the Bucks caught up on two free throws by Khris Middleton at the 4:25 mark of the third period and then took a lead they never relinquished at 81-79 when George Hill dropped in a layup on their next possession.
Hill (two) and Middleton (one) combined for three subsequent 3-pointers in what turned into a 16-3 burst that produced a 93-82 lead near period's end.
The Celtics never threatened over the final 12 minutes, with Middleton and Pat Connaughton burying 3-pointers and Giannis Antetokounmpo contributing eight points to a fourth-quarter pull-away.
Only a generally meaningless 13-5 game-closing flurry by the Celtics made the final score deceptively close.
Coming off a 29-point performance in Game 2, Antetokounmpo was even better in Game 3, leading all scorers with 32 points. Half his scoring came on a 16-for-22 night at the free throw line.
Antetokounmpo completed a double-double with a game-high 13 rebounds, and he also contributed a game-high eight assists.
Hill (21 points) and Connaughton (14) combined for six 3-pointers and 35 points off the Milwaukee bench, while Middleton chipped in with 20 points and Nikola Mirotic 13 in the balanced attack.
The Bucks outshot the Celtics 50.6 percent to 43.2 percent.
All five Boston starters scored in double figures, led by Kyrie Irving with 29 points.
Jayson Tatum had 20 points, Jaylen Brown 18, Al Horford 17, Marcus Morris 16 and reserve Gordon Hayward 10 for the Celtics, who split games with the Bucks at home in the regular season.
Tatum grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds.
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Jayson Tatum buried a go-ahead 3-pointer with 50.8 seconds remaining Wednesday night, allowing the host Boston Celtics to overcome a late Indiana Pacers flurry and pull out a 99-91 victory in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.
With the fourth-seeded Celtics having successfully held serve on their home court to go up 2-0 in the best-of-seven set, the fifth-seeded Pacers will host Games 3 and 4 on Friday night and Sunday afternoon.
Indiana blew a 12-point, fourth-quarter lead. However, the Pacers appeared primed to even the series when Wesley Matthews and Bojan Bogdanovic combined for three 3-pointers in a 70-second spurt, allowing Indiana to retake a 91-89 advantage with 2:16 to go.
But the Pacers didn't score again, and the Celtics finally did when Tatum drilled his third 3-pointer of the game for a one-point lead in the final minute.
After Matthews couldn't connect on a 3-point try at the Indiana end, Gordon Hayward dropped in a layup with 12.1 seconds remaining to increase the Boston lead to 94-91.
The Pacers then turned over the ball with a chance to tie, and the Celtics pulled away with a 3-point play by Tatum and two late free throws by Hayward.
The Celtics scored the game's final 10 points.
Kyrie Irving, who sparked an earlier fourth-quarter comeback, finished with a game-high 37 points for the Celtics, who won the opener 84-74 on Sunday.
Tatum totaled 26 while Hayward added 13.
Boston forward Al Horford, who had been iffy for the game after missing the morning shootaround due to an illness, was able to put in 37 minutes, contributing a game-high 10 rebounds and four points to the win.
Bogdanovic used four 3-pointers as the base for his team-high 23 points for the Pacers, who outscored the Celtics 39-33 from beyond the arc.
Thaddeus Young chipped in with 15 points, while Darren Collison and Tyreke Evans had 13 apiece for Indiana.
The Pacers led for most of the first three quarters, going up by as many as eight in the first half and by 12, 77-65, on a Myles Turner shot with 1:04 remaining in the third period.
Evans made it a 12-point game again with a 3-pointer 40 seconds into the final period before Boston tightened the screws defensively and scored the game's next 16 points to go up 86-82.
Irving hit consecutive 3-pointers, the second of which put the Celtics ahead, and then dropped in a 2-pointer to increase the lead to four.
Matthews ended a nearly eight-minute Indiana drought with a 3-pointer with 3:26 to play to get the Pacers back within one and set up the tight finish.
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Al Horford's second career triple-double led the host Boston Celtics to a 110-105 win over the Miami Heat on Monday in the opener of a home-and-home.
Horford had 19 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for his first triple-double since 2015.
Kyrie Irving added 25 points and eight rebounds, Jayson Tatum scored 19, and Marcus Smart had 16 points as the Celtics (46-32) maintained their grip on a share of the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Goran Dragic scored 30 to lead the Heat (38-39), who narrowly held onto the eighth and final playoff spot in the East as Orlando lost to Toronto.
Bam Adebayo had 19 points and 14 rebounds, and Dwyane Wade chipped in 17 points in his last regular-season game in Boston.
Before the game, Celtics president Danny Ainge presented Wade with a piece of the TD Garden parquet floor from 2008.
Heat starting forward Derrick Jones Jr. sustained a right knee injury in the first half and did not return. The team announced he will be re-evaluated in Miami, where the two teams will meet again Wednesday.
Trailing by 14 at the half, the Heat got within 71-65 on an alley-oop finished by Adebayo with 6:28 left in the third. Miami would get no closer in the period, entering the fourth down 88-77.
The Heat once again threatened in the fourth, getting within three on a trio of Kelly Olynyk free throws with 6:44 to go. Tatum and Terry Rozier responded with 3s for the Celtics, and the Heat took a timeout down 101-92 with 5:16 to play.
A Wade basket got Miami within 103-100 with two minutes left, but a three-point play by Irving with 1:25 to go essentially iced the game.
The teams traded baskets to begin the contest before the Celtics went on a 15-0 run, Tatum scoring eight points. Tatum had 11 points as Boston led 36-17 after one.
The Celtics kept their foot on the gas in the second, taking their biggest lead of the half, 46-23, on a Gordon Hayward layup with 8:02 left.
The Heat responded with a 10-0 stretch, but Irving hit back-to-back 3s as Boston led 52-33 with five to go.
Irving had 15 points at the break as the Celtics led 61-47.
Boston played without swingman Jaylen Brown, ruled out pregame with back spasms.
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Kyrie Irving made the go-ahead layup with 0.5 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter as host Boston Celtics moved into a tie for fourth place in the Eastern Conference with a 114-112 victory over the Indiana Pacers on Friday.
Indiana's Thaddeus Young completed an alley-oop to forge a tie at 112 before missing a driving layup on the next possession. Young redeemed himself with a steal, but Boston made a defensive stop and Irving gained a step on Wesley Matthews and made a ball fake on Young before converting the layup.
Irving scored 20 of his 30 points in the second half and Al Horford added 19 for the Celtics (45-31), who pulled even in the standings with Indiana after winning back-to-back contests on the heels of a season high-tying four-game losing streak.
Jaylen Brown scored 16 points off the bench and Aron Baynes recorded his first double-double of the season with 13 points and 13 rebounds for Boston, which will visit the Pacers in the regular season finale on April 5.
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 18 of his 27 points in the first half for Indiana, which has lost six of its last seven games.
Irving, who sat out Tuesday's 116-106 victory at Cleveland for rest purposes, made a short jumper and then set up Brown for a corner 3-pointer to give Boston a 105-99 advantage with 5 and a half minutes left in the fourth quarter. Indiana answered in short order, with Bogdanovic capping the 6-0 run with a driving layup.
Bogdanovic drilled a 3-pointer in transition and Myles Turner sank an uncontested shot from beyond the arc to cap a 12-2 run and give Indiana an 85-82 lead with 3:29 remaining in the third quarter.
Irving scored 10 points in under a two-minute stretch to begin the second half and stake Boston to a 73-64 lead. Bogdanovic and Turner each sank 3-pointers to cut into the deficit before Irving made a nifty feed to a cutting Horford for a layup.
Indiana claimed a 41-40 lead on the strength of a 16-5 run to open the second quarter, with T.J. Leaf making a three-point play, a 3-pointer and a layup on consecutive possessions. Jayson Tatum drained back-to-back 3-pointers and three in total in the second quarter to help Boston seize a 63-60 lead at intermission.
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Jayson Tatum led six Boston players in double figures with 19 points and the host Celtics ended the Detroit Pistons' four-game winning streak with a 118-110 victory on Wednesday.
Gordon Hayward contributed 18 points and eight assists, while Al Horford supplied 17 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists. Jaylen Brown had 17 points and seven rebounds, Marcus Smart added 16 points and five assists, and Marcus Morris chipped in 11 points.
The Celtics were missing their top two point guards. All-Star Kyrie Irving sat out for the second consecutive night with a right knee strain, while Terry Rozier was sidelined by an illness.
Blake Griffin led Detroit with 32 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Andre Drummond had 21 points, 17 rebounds and four steals, Reggie Jackson tossed in 18 points, and Wayne Ellington added 13 points off the bench.
Both teams were playing their final game before the All-Star break. Boston was playing the tail end of a back-to-back after winning in Philadelphia on Tuesday.
Hayward scored 11 first-half points as Boston led 57-52 at halftime. Brown contributed 10 points off the bench, while Griffin reached the 20-point mark.
The Celtics took control in the third, outscoring Detroit 34-20 to gain a 91-72 lead.
Boston opened up an 11-point lead early in the third with an 8-0 spurt that included 3-pointers from Hayward and Smart.
When Tatum made a trey from the right side with 6:47 left in the quarter, Boston's lead was 72-58.
Later in the quarter, Smart drained back-to-back 3-pointers to extend the Celtics' advantage to 17 at 85-68.
Tatum fired in another long shot in the final minute of the quarter to make it 89-69. Smart made the last basket of the quarter, scoring along the right baseline while falling down.
The Pistons didn't go quietly. They reeled off a 20-2 run, capped by a Drummond steal and dunk, to cut Boston's lead to 10. Horford made a three to end that outburst. Detroit couldn't get the deficit into single digits until the final two minutes.
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Terry Rozier filled in for injured Kyrie Irving and had 17 points, 10 assists and five rebounds, and the Boston Celtics remained hot with an easy 126-94 victory over the visiting Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night.
The Celtics took control of the game in the third quarter, outscoring the Hornets, 35-16, to push a four-point halftime lead to 23. They went on to lead by as many as 35 points in the fourth quarter.
The Celtics (32-19) have won seven of their past eight games. They are also now 24-4 over the past two seasons when playing without Irving, who missed his third game in the past week with a strained left hip.
Jaylen Brown came off the bench to lead the Celtics with 24 points. The Celtics also got 20 points from Jayson Tatum, 15 from Marcus Morris, 14 from Al Horford, and 12 from Gordon Hayward. The Celtics shot 55.6 percent from the field.
Kemba Walker led the Hornets (24-26) with 21 points, although he didn't play in the fourth quarter with the game out of hand. It was Walker's best game since being named as a starter for the Eastern Conference in the All-Star Game.
The Hornets also got 16 points from Malik Monk, 13 points from Nicolas Batum and 10 from Marvin Williams.
The Hornets were without Tony Parker, who has an ankle injury. They have been without Cody Zeller (fractured hand) for the past 13 games, but Zeller worked out before the game and his return is expected soon.
The Celtics led, 35-28, after one quarter and 63-59 at halftime, then pushed the lead to 98-75 after three quarters.
The Celtics and Hornets split two previous games this season. The Hornets won in Charlotte, 117-112, on November 19, then the Celtics won, 119-103, in Boston on December 23.
The Celtics closed out a five-game homestand. They play the Knicks at New York on Friday. The Hornets will return home to host Memphis on Friday.
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Klay Thompson broke the eighth tie of the final 9:07 with two free throws with 46.1 seconds remaining Saturday night and the Golden State Warriors held on to beat the host Boston Celtics 115-111 in a nationally televised showdown of streaking teams.
The win was the Warriors' 10th straight overall and ninth in a row on the road, the longest in the NBA this season.
Boston, which had won its last five games, had a 10-game home winning streak snapped.
Thompson's free throws came after Marcus Smart nailed a 3-pointer with 1:08 to play to draw the teams even at 111.
After Thompson gave the Warriors the lead, the Celtics took two shots at reclaiming the upper hand, but Smart and Al Horford both missed 3-pointers.
Draymond Green missed two free throws with 8.6 seconds remaining to allow the Celtics potentially to get one final opportunity to tie the game or win it, but he managed to grab the offensive rebound and fed Stephen Curry, who was fouled with 6.2 seconds to go.
Curry made two free throws to ice Golden State's fourth straight win on a five-game trip that ends Monday at Indiana.
The two foul shots capped a 4-for-4 night at the line for Curry, who has made his last 46 free throws.
Kevin Durant led the Warriors, the two-time defending champions, with 33 points and nine rebounds, while Curry finished with 24 points and Thompson 21.
DeMarcus Cousins added 15 points and eight rebounds in 23 minutes in his fourth game of the season. Green was the Warriors' leading rebounder with 11 to complement five points, eight assists and three steals.
Golden State outshot Boston 44.6 percent to 41.4.
The Warriors have not lost a road game since Dec. 19 at Utah.
Kyrie Irving recorded a 32-point, 10-assist double-double for the Celtics, who had opened a five-game homestand with wins over Miami and Cleveland.
Horford also logged a double-double with 22 points and a game-high 13 rebounds, while Jayson Tatum added 20 points, Smart 12 and Jaylen Brown 10 for the Celtics.
Twelve of Irving's 32 points came on four 3-pointers as the Celtics outscored the Warriors 45-36 from beyond the arc.
The home loss was the Celtics' first since Dec. 21 against Milwaukee.
Neither team led by more than nine points in the contest.
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Terry Rozier, starting in place of the injured Kyrie Irving, scored 22 of his 26 points in the first half to spark the Boston Celtics to a 125-103 win over the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers.
Irving sat out with flulike symptoms but was hardly missed. Rozier, who played high school basketball in Cleveland, was perfect in the first two periods, going 8-for-8, including connecting on a buzzer-beater from 31 feet to give Boston a 65-50 lead at halftime.
Rozier also finished with eight rebounds and six assists. Jaylen Brown added 23 points, and Jayson Tatum notched 17 points and three steals.
Boston has won 10 straight at home and five straight overall while Cleveland, the NBA's worst team with just nine wins in 49 games, lost its fifth straight.
The Celtics trailed 30-27 entering the second period, despite Rozier scoring 16 first-quarter points. But Boston's defense came alive, recording seven steals in the second and holding the Cavs to just 20 points.
Brad Wannamaker came off the bench to give the Celtics' offense a lift with eight points and two assists in the period.
Marcus Smart's 23-foot 3-pointer at the 6:35 mark gave Boston a 41-39 lead. Boston scored the next seven points and never was threatened the rest of the way.
After hitting his first eight shots, Rozier missed back-to-back shots early in the third, but Boston still was able to expand its lead to 19 at 74-55 with Tatum driving hard to the basket for a layup, and then stealing the ball and taking it all the way for an uncontested layup.
Cleveland cut the deficit to 12 with a Jordan Clarkson layup at the end of the third period, but Boston scored the first seven points of the fourth to build the lead back to 19 at 99-80.
Boston was also without Al Horford, who was given the night off to rest. Horford missed seven games in December because of a sore left knee.
Ante Zizic, the former Celtic, got the start for Cleveland, who played without big men Tristan Thompson and Larry Nance Jr. Zizic scored 19 points and had eight rebounds.
Cedi Osman led Cleveland with 25 points, while Collin Sexton had 16 points, Clarkson added 14 and Alec Burks chipped in 10 points and nine rebounds.
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Kyrie Irving made a go-ahead jumper and added a 3-pointer during an 11-0 run late in the fourth quarter as the Boston Celtics defeated the visiting Toronto Raptors 117-108 Wednesday night.
Irving finished with 27 points and a career-best 18 assists as the Celtics ended a three-game losing streak and snapped Toronto's five-game winning streak.
Al Horford contributed some big points down the stretch in a 24-point game for the Celtics. Gordon Hayward added 18 off the bench, and Jayson Tatum had 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Kawhi Leonard scored 33 points to top Toronto, which led by four in the middle of the fourth quarter and was tied 106-106 with 2 1/2 minutes to go.
Serge Ibaka added 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Raptors. Danny Green scored 15 points, Norman Powell and Greg Monroe scored 11 each, and Kyle Lowry had 10 points and seven assists.
The Celtics, who led by as many 16 during the third quarter, took a four-point edge into the fourth quarter.
Monroe's tip in completed a 9-0 run to give Toronto a three-point lead, but Aron Baynes tied it at 92 on a 3-pointer with 6:44 left.
Leonard's two free throws gave Toronto a four-point lead with 5:16 remaining.
Tatum's 3-pointer put Boston up by two with three minutes to go before Green tied it with a jumper.
Irving's step-back jumper gave Boston the lead again with 2:15 left, and he added a 3-pointer to give Boston a five-point margin with 1:39 left. Horford's layup gave Boston a seven-point lead, and then his dunk made the lead nine with 45.7 seconds left.
The Raptors used a 9-0 run to lead by 11 with 7:18 remaining in the first quarter and finished the period with a 36-30 lead.
The Celtics took their first lead, 41-40, when Baynes, returning from a fractured hand, nailed a 13-foot jumper with 8:39 left in the half.
Toronto had a stretch of 10 straight missed shots while shooting 28.6 percent in a season-low, 17-point second quarter. The Celtics were up 64-53 at halftime after Hayward's floating jumper at the buzzer.
Irving's jumper and free throw increased the lead to 16 in the third quarter. Green's 3-pointer cut that lead in half with 6:01 left in the period.
Boston led 87-83 after three quarters.
The Raptors were without OG Anunoby (personal).
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Jaylen Brown scored a game-high 21 points to lead the Boston Celtics to a 114-93 wire-to-wire victory over the visiting Dallas Mavericks on Friday night.
Jayson Tatum added 18 points and Marcus Smart had 17, including five 3-pointers, to pick up the scoring slack with leading scorer Kyrie Irving missing a second consecutive game with eye irritation.
The Celtics also played without forward Marcus Morris, who hurt his neck after a scary fall in Wednesday's game against Minnesota.
Boston was challenged only once, when their 53-36 second-quarter lead got whittled down to 58-57 early in the third.
But after Mavs rookie sensation Luka Doncic drained a 3-pointer to make it a one-point game, his 3-point attempt to grab the lead missed everything. The Celtics answered with a 21-6 run.
Dallas was trying to put together back-to-back road wins for the first time this season after routing Charlotte on Wednesday. The Mavs made 10 3-pointers in the first quarter of that game.
Against Boston, they made 11 for the entire game on 44 attempts. Boston finished 21 of 45 from deep.
Harrison Barnes led Dallas with 20 points, while Doncic had 19 points, nine rebounds and four assists. DeAndre Jordan tallied 12 points and 15 rebounds.
Dirk Nowitzki, who has averaged more points in his career against the Celtics than any other team, received a standing ovation from the Boston crowd when he checked in.
But the No. 7 scorer in NBA history failed to score and missed all 10 of his shot attempts, eight from beyond the arc. In the final minutes, the Boston crowd cheered him on, trying to will him onto the scoresheet.
The Celtics, who also got 16 points from Gordon Hayward, got off to a fast start, using an 8-0 run to end the first quarter with a 34-23 lead.
The final six points of the spurt came on consecutive 3-pointers by reserve guard Brad Wanamaker to quickly eclipse his previous season-high of five points. He finished with eight points, four assists and three steals in a season-high 22 minutes.
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Boston's Gordon Hayward scored a season-high 35 points and Terry Rozier got the start for an injured Kyrie Irving and scored 16 points on Wednesday to lead the Celtics to a 115-102 home win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Irving suffered a right eye injury in a loss to San Antonio on New Year's Eve and his status remains day-to-day. Minnesota also was short-handed without Jeff Teague, Derrick Rose and Robert Covington dressing.
Hayward connected on 14 of 18 shots and went 4-for-7 from 3-point range, including a 27-footer from the top of the key with 4:37 left that put the Celtics up 106-92 after Minnesota had cut a 21-point deficit to six.
In the teams' first meeting, Hayward scored 30 points in a Celtics' 118-109 win on December 1.
Andrew Wiggins led the Timberwolves with a season-high 31 points. Karl-Anthony Towns finished 28 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists.
Minnesota came alive in the third quarter after the Celtics had grabbed a 60-42 halftime lead. The Timberwolves cut the deficit to 77-67 on a Towns' 26-foot, 3-pointer.
Boston's Marcus Smart sprained his shoulder in a collision with Towns early in the third with the Celtics up 18. When he returned, the Celtics were up only 85-74.
Towns scored 20 third-quarter points and the Timberwolves trailed just 87-81 heading into the fourth quarter.
Marcus Morris also injured his shoulder on a driving layup in the fourth. Morris left the game and did not return.
Boston shot 61.5 percent from the field in the first half and went 8-for-17 from 3-point range. Minnesota was a dreadful 41 percent from the field and only 3 of 10 from beyond the arc in the first 24 minutes.
The Timberwolves looked like they still were dragging from a New Year's Eve loss to New Orleans as the Celtics went on a 16-0 second-quarter run to go up, 47-27.
Hayward's 23-foot, 3-point jumper ignited the rally that saw Minnesota miss nine straight shots and turn the ball over four times.
Tyus Jones ended the drought with a 12-foot jumper, but Hayward answered with another 3 to give the Celtics a 21-point lead.
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Kyrie Irving scored 40 points, including two 3-pointers in the final two minutes of overtime, and the Boston Celtics overcame a five-point deficit in the extra session to defeat the visiting Philadelphia 76ers 121-114 on Tuesday.
Irving, who added 10 rebounds, sent the game into OT by sinking a difficult jumper late in the fourth quarter.
The guard's performance helped overcome 34 points and 16 rebounds by Philadelphia's Joel Embiid.
Jayson Tatum added 23 points and 10 rebounds for Boston. Marcus Morris also scored 23 while Terry Rozier chipped in with 10 points.
Jimmy Butler added 24 points for Philadelphia, JJ Redick had 17 points, Wilson Chandler 15 points and Ben Simmons 11 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists.
The 76ers overcame an 11-point, third-quarter deficit to take a seven-point lead on a 3-pointer by Furkan Korkmaz with 8:13 to play in the fourth quarter.
Rozier's 3-pointer brought the Celtics to within two with 7:14 remaining. Tatum's 3-pointer tied the game at 101 with 5:26 left.
Tatum made one of two free throws with 4:53 to put Boston up by one. Then Philadelphia led by one after Embiid's dunk.
After the teams exchanged one-point leads, Chandler hit a 3-pointer with 37.1 seconds to go in regulation, and the 76ers led by two points.
Irving tied the game at 108 on his shot with 20.9 seconds left and Redick missed at the buzzer, forcing overtime.
The 76ers scored the first four points of overtime on Embiid's two free throws and Butler's jumper.
Boston's Marcus Smart was called for a technical foul, and Redick made the free throw to give Philadelphia a five-point lead.
Dunks by Tatum and Gordon Hayward cut the lead to one with 2:51 left in overtime.
After Simmons made one of two free throws, Irving gave Boston a two-point lead with a 3-pointer with 2:01 to play. He hit another 3-pointer with 1:29 left, and Boston led by four before pulling away.
The Celtics won their second in a row following a three-game losing streak. The 76ers had won their previous two games.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
While Giannis Antetokounmpo got off to a slow start, his Milwaukee teammates used their size and 3-point shooting to build a 26-point first-half advantage, and the visiting Bucks went on to beat the Boston Celtics 120-107 on Friday night.
Antetokounmpo took only four first-half field-goal attempts and scored 11 points before the break. He finished with 30 points on 8-for-13 shooting to go along with eight rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots.
Khris Middleton added 21 points and Eric Bledsoe had 16 for the Bucks.
Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 21 points off the bench. Jayson Tatum finished with 20 points despite missing 10 of 15 shots from the field.
Milwaukee's lead was tenuous throughout the third quarter as Boston cut its deficit to single digits.
But each time Boston got close, Milwaukee turned to Antetokounmpo, Middleton or Snell.
The Bucks seemed in total control as they extended their lead to 18 with 9:20 left on a Snell jumper that made the score 100-82. A 10-3 spurt once again gave Boston a chance to cut the deficit to 10, but Gordon Hayward missed a free throw.
Eric Bledsoe made the Celtics pay, scoring five straight points as Milwaukee pushed the lead back to 108-94.
The Celtics jumped out to a 10-1 lead with Tatum and Semi Ojeleye each scoring five early points. The Bucks took control quickly going on a 16-0 run.
A Kyrie Irving 3-pointer made the score 19-14, but then Milwaukee closed the quarter on a 16-8 run to go up 35-22.
Boston was playing without Al Horford, Marcus Morris and Aron Baynes. The Bucks out-rebounded the Celtics in the first half, 31-13, including grabbing nine on the offensive glass.
The Celtics finished with 36 rebounds. The Bucks had 55.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
Kyrie Irving scored 12 of his 24 points in a 42-point first quarter to spark the Boston Celtics to their eighth straight win, a 129-108 victory over the visiting Atlanta Hawks on Friday.
Irving was 8-for-15 from the floor and 4-for-5 on 3s, with five rebounds, five assists and four steals.
The Celtics had two other starters in double figures: Jayson Tatum scored 22 points and Marcus Morris, who was 6-for-8 on 3-pointers and scored 20 points.
Gordon Hayward added 19 points and five assists and Daniel Theis scored 18, which included two alley-oop dunks.
Irving has shown no lingering effects for the right shoulder soreness that caused him to miss the Dec. 10 game against New Orleans.
He scored Boston's final 12 points on Wednesday when the game was on the line in Boston's overtime win at Washington. In his last two games, Irving has scored 62 points.
The Hawks got a career-high-matching 19 points from Kevin Huerter for his second straight outing. The rookie from Maryland was 7-for-10 from the floor and 5-for-8 on 3-pointers, with three assists and three steals.
Forward John Collins posted his sixth consecutive double-double, scoring 11 points and pulling down 14 rebounds. Kent Bazemore added 13 points and seven assists.
Boston had a 42-19 lead after the first period, but saw it trimmed to 49-45, before recovering to take a 67-46 halftime lead. The Celtics put the game away with a 41-point effort in the third quarter.
Atlanta has dropped two straight and lost six of its last seven.
The Celtics played without ex-Atlanta standout Al Horford (left knee pain), Guerschon Yabusele (right ankle) and Jabari Bird (personal reasons).
Atlanta native Jaylen Brown was able to play after being listed as questionable with an illness.
The Hawks were without Taurean Prince (left ankle), Omari Spellman (right hip) and Alex Poythress (left ankle).
It was the second time Boston has beaten Atlanta this season. The two teams meet again on Jan. 19 in Atlanta.
The Celtics complete a back-to-back on Saturday at Detroit. The Hawks play again on Sunday to complete a three-game road trip in Brooklyn.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
Kyrie Irving collected 22 points and eight assists as the host Boston Celtics placed seven in double figures and recorded a wire-to-wire 128-100 victory over the New York Knicks on Thursday night to extend their winning streak to four games.
Irving recorded his 15th game with at least 20 points and led Boston in scoring for the 13th time. Irving's showing helped the Celtics win for the fifth time in six games since a 117-109 home loss to New York on Nov. 21 in a game Boston trailed by 26 at one point.
Irving shot 9 of 15 and hit 3-pointers as the Celtics matched a season-best by shooting 53.3 percent and reached 120 points for the fourth time. The Celtics also scored at least 115 points in 4 straight games for the first time since December 1990.
Irving ended the game wearing an ice wrap on his right shoulder as the Celtics set a season high in points and in assists with 32.
Jaylen Brown added a season-best 21 and shot 7 of 10 after sitting out the last three games with a back injury. Al Horford added 19 and a season-high 12 rebounds while Jayson Tatum contributed 17 for the Celtics.
Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 22 points for the Knicks, who lost their second straight since an overtime win over Milwaukee on Saturday. Emmanuel Mudiay added 17 and Enes Kanter contributed 14 as the Knicks shot 39.6 percent.
The Celtics shot 55.1 percent in the first half and took a 69-58 lead by halftime.
The Knicks were within 43-40 on a 3-pointer by rookie Kevin Knox with about 9 1/2 minutes left but Terry Rozier hit two 3-pointers in a 10-4 run. New York was within 5 points 3 times in the final 4 1/2 minutes but Horford had 2 dunks and scored Boston's last 11 points of the half.
The Knicks were within 89-82 on a 3-pointer by Hardaway with 3:49 left but Irving and Gordon Hayward hit 3-pointers and Boston finished the third with a 10-2 run to get a 99-84 lead into the fourth.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
Kyrie Irving scored a season-best 43 points, including four in overtime, and added 11 assists as the Boston Celtics came back to defeat the visiting Toronto Raptors 123-116 Friday night.
Gordon Hayward made a jumper and Irving made a layup to give Boston a four-point lead with 3:43 to play in overtime.
When Jayson Tatum made two free throws with 3:09 to play, Boston led by five. Irving's 13-foot pullup jumper gave Boston a seven-point lead.
Tatum added 21 points, Hayward had 15 and Marcus Morris and Al Horford had 11 each for the Celtics.
Kawhi Leonard led the Raptors with 31 points and 15 rebounds.
Serge Ibaka added 21 points, Pascal Siakam 16, Kyle Lowry 14 and Jonas Valanciunas 11 for the Raptors. Danny Green also had 11 points for Toronto before fouling out with 3:43 to play in the fourth quarter.
The Celtics, who had lost their two previous games, handed the Raptors their third straight loss. The teams have split their first two games this season.
The Raptors, who led by as many as 10 points in the third quarter, took a four-point edge into the fourth.
Irving made a running layup after a missed shot by the Raptors to give the Celtics a 92-90 lead with 7:06 to play.
Delon Wright hit a 3-pointer after a Boston miss to give Toronto a four-point lead with 1:29 left.
Boston came back to tie it at 107 with two free throws by Hayward with 24 seconds remaining.
Leonard missed a 17-footer in the final second to force overtime.
The Celtics used a 16-4 burst to lead 21-16 with 3:46 left in the first quarter, which ended with Boston ahead 30-27. Irving topped all scorers with 12 points.
A 15-foot jumper by Morris gave Boston a 44-31 lead with 7:36 left in the second quarter.
The Raptors tightened their defense and took a one-point lead on Ibaka's 20-footer with 1:30 to play in the first half. But Irving's layup gave Boston a 54-52 halftime lead.
Toronto lost OG Anunoby, who scored five points in 9:21, to a sprained right wrist in the first half.
The Raptors led 82-78 after three quarters.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
