NBA: Cavs ride huge first half to crushing win over Warriors

LOS ANGELES  -- The Cleveland Cavaliers continued their perfect start to the NBA season in sensational style on Friday, seizing a 41-point halftime lead on the way to a 136-117 rout of the Golden State Warriors.

The Cavs improved to 10-0, ending the Warriors' five-game winning streak and handing them their first road defeat of the season.

The damage was done early, the Cavs' 83 first-half points tying a franchise record for most scored in any half and their 41-point halftime lead was the biggest in team history.

Against the Warriors' second-ranked defense, the Cavs posted their fifth game of the young season with at least 130 points.

That ties a team record for the most 130-plus point games for an entire season.

"Ten-0 is a magic number," Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson said. "We're playing really good basketball and I'm just really pleased with where the group is.

"I was worried about tonight -- they're 7-1 and rolling and they're coming in here, they're champions and they're going to try and knock our block off."

Darius Garland scored 27 points, Evan Mobley added 23 and Ty Jerome chipped in 20 off the bench as six Cavs players scored in double figures against a Warriors defense that came in ranked second in the league.

Meanwhile, they kept the potentially explosive Warriors offense in check, opening the game on a 20-2 scoring run.

"The way we came out tonight -- that surprised me, how ready we were, how hungry we were," Atkinson said.

Andrew Wiggins with nine points and Stephen Curry with seven were the only Warriors starters to score before the break.

Golden State were able to adjust after the break, out-scoring the Cavs 41-29 in the third quarter.

"First half, can't play much better than that," Atkinson said. "But second half, way we came out, they scored 13 points in the first three minutes. It was a little frustrating."

The Warriors, however, were in too deep a hole.

Jonathan Kuminga led Golden State with 21 points off the bench, Curry finished with 12 on five-of-10 shooting, making just one from three-point range.

"We've got to execute better," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. "Thirteen turnovers in the first half -- we were completely disorganized."

- Celtics edge Nets -

In Boston, Jayson Tatum scored 33 points to lead the Celtics in a 108-104 overtime victory over the Brooklyn Nets, who led by as many as 14 in the first half and didn't surrender the lead until the fourth quarter.

In Detroit, Cade Cunningham drove for the go-ahead basket with 8.5 seconds left to play in the Pistons' 122-121 victory over Atlanta, then sealed the victory with a block on a driving Onyeka Okongwu.

Cunningham finished with a triple-double of 22 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists with a steal and the game-saving block.

Jusuf Nurkic's free throw with eight-tenths of a second remaining lifted the Phoenix Suns to a 114-113 victory over the Mavericks in Dallas.

Kevin Durant scored 26 points and Nurkic added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Suns, who notched a seventh straight victory to improve to 8-1.

"It's been fun," Durant said of the Suns' start. "(It has) definitely been nerve-wracking with the tight games we've been in, but I think that's great for our team to understand what it's like in crunch time."

Luka Doncic scored 30 points and Kyrie Irving added 29 for Dallas, who have now lost twice this season to Phoenix.

Elsewhere Friday, the Los Angeles Lakers got back to winning ways with a 116-106 defeat of the Philadelphia 76ers at home.

The Lakers had lost four of their five previous games but overpowered the Sixers thanks to 31 points from Anthony Davis and 21 from LeBron James with Austin Reaves adding 20.

In New York, Karl-Anthony Towns scored 32 points for the Knicks, who led by as many as 30 in a 116-94 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 24 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for Milwaukee, who trailed all the way.

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Bucks, Celtics, Knicks advance in NBA In-Season Tournament

Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 33 points and Damian Lillard added 32 as the Milwaukee Bucks beat Miami, 131-124, on Tuesday to reach the knockout rounds of the NBA In-Season Tournament.

On the final night of group-stage play in the NBA's inaugural version of a World Cup, the Bucks won the East Group B crown at 4-0, taking the top Eastern Conference seed in the fight to reach next month's semi-finals in Las Vegas.

"We completed the task," Milwaukee's Khris Middleton said. "To get to Vegas now, we've got to do a little bit more.

"We want it. We're hungry for it. It's exciting times for us. We want to go to Vegas so we're happy."

The quarterfinals will find Boston at Indiana and New Orleans at Sacramento on Monday, with New York at Milwaukee and Phoenix at the Los Angeles Lakers next Tuesday.

Boston routed Chicago, 124-97, to win East Group C and advance, while New York, second behind Milwaukee in Group B, beat Charlotte, 115-91, and advanced as a wildcard based on superior point differential over Cleveland, 42-29.

Sacramento edged Golden State, 124-123, to win West Group C, rallying from 24 points down in the second quarter to advance.

The Warriors knew they had to win by 12 points to win the group on a point differential tiebreaker and took a 72-55 half-time lead before the Kings, led by 29 points from De'Aaron Fox, rallied late to trim the margin then swipe the triumph.

"We still wanted to win the game, it counts for the regular season, but we knew what the number was," Fox said.

Phoenix took a West wildcard spot when Minnesota beat Oklahoma City, 106-103, while New Orleans won West Group B when the Dallas Mavericks downed visiting Houston, 121-115.

At Miami, the Bucks opened a 15-2 lead, Miami answered with a 16-4 run, then Milwaukee closed the first quarter on a 12-4 spurt for a 31-22 lead.

"We started out great, but it's hard," Middleton said.

"You're just not going to knock a team down in the first five minutes. They did a great job coming back. We did a great job keeping our composure and finding a way to close this thing out."

Miami, lacking Jimmy Butler and Tyler Herro due to ankle sprains, led 97-93 after three quarters.

Middleton, who had 17 points and eight rebounds, hit back-to-back jumpers for a four-point lead and dunks by Brook Lopez and Antetokounmpo settled matters.

"Thankfully I was able to hit a couple shots," Middleton said. "I'm just happy we won a tough game."

Antetokounmpo made 11-of-16 from the floor and 10-of-13 from the free-throw line and grabbed 10 rebounds with five assists, while Lillard, 9-of-18 from the floor and 10-of-10 from the line, added nine assists.

At New York, Julius Randle scored 25 points and grabbed 20 rebounds while Immanuel Quickley had 23 points off the bench to spark the Knicks.

Boston needed a lopsided win to advance and got it as Jaylen Brown scored 30 points, grabbed eight rebounds and passed off six assists to lead the hosts over Chicago.

Jayson Tatum added 21 points and Al Horford had 16 points, nine rebounds and six assists for the Celtics.

Injuries hit Warriors 

Golden State's Chris Paul went out in the first quarter with lower left leg soreness and Gary Payton II went down with a right calf injury in the third quarter at Sacramento, which had lost two prior meetings with the Warriors this season.

Golden State's Draymond Green, back from a five-game ban for putting Minnesota's Rudy Gobert in a headlock, received a technical foul in the fourth quarter for arguing referee calls.

Dallas star Luka Doncic dominated Houston with 41 points, nine rebounds and nine assists while Kyrie Irving added 27 points for the Mavs, keeping the Rockets winless on the road this season.

Western Conference overall season leader Minnesota (13-4) hung on to top spot by edging visiting Oklahoma City (11-6).

Anthony Edwards, who left the game with a bruised right hip, led the Timberwolves with 21 points, while Gobert added 17 points and 16 rebounds.

But Phoenix took the West wildcard on point differential 34-0 over Minnesota.

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Heat rout Celtics to book NBA Finals showdown with Denver

BOSTON -- Jimmy Butler played a starring role as the Miami Heat advanced to the NBA Finals by routing Boston 103-84 on Monday, denying the Celtics a historic comeback after trailing the playoff series 3-0.

Butler had 28 points, seven rebounds and six assists while Caleb Martin added 26 points and 10 rebounds to spark Miami, which will visit Denver on Thursday to begin the best-of-seven championship final.

Miami recovered from a gut-punch of a game-six defeat, where they fell on a last-second tip-in, to win the Eastern Conference final 4-3, silencing a loud Boston crowd.

Taking full advantage of an injury to Boston star Jayson Tatum in the opening seconds and a cold-shooting Celtics start, the Heat avoided becoming the first team in 151 attempts to lose a playoff series after leading 3-0.

"We stayed together as a group," Butler said. "We talked about going to get a tough one on the road and we did just that.

"But we're not satisfied. We're happy. We're ecstatic. But we've got one more to get."

Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said he never doubted his resilient squad could win game seven.

"Sometimes you have to suffer for the things you really want," he said. "This group has shown fortitude when there are inevitable let-downs and failures, but had that perseverance to pick yourself up, that collective spirit to keep on forging ahead."

The Heat, seeking a fourth NBA title and first since 2013, last reached the NBA Finals in 2020, losing to the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Nuggets, into the NBA Finals for the first time, swept the Lakers in the Western Conference final.

It was a determined effort by a Miami squad that lost to Boston in seven games in last year's East finals. Miami also lacked any momentum after squandering their 3-0 edge to set up a winner-takes-all road game.

"When the ship gets rocky, just stay together and keep believing in one another," said Miami's Bam Adebayo, who had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Spoelstra said last year's loss had weighed on the team. "They made us get better. We thought about it all season long," he said.

Butler said his teammates enabled him to sink key shots and shut down Boston comeback bids.

"They give me so much confidence to hoop at a high level," he said. "They're the reason we're here. I know how good a team we are and we made it happen."

- 'A shell of myself' -

Tatum, who finished with 14 points on 5-of-13 shooting, turned his left ankle landing awkwardly after a baseline jumper in the opening seconds. He grimaced often and took only one shot in the first 17 minutes.

"It swelled up," Tatum said. "I was like a shell of myself. It was tough to move. It was frustrating especially that it should happen on the first play."

Miami stretched the lead as high as 17 points in the second quarter but Boston pulled within 59-51 early in the third.

Caleb Martin sank a baseline jumper to put Miami ahead 76-66 entering the fourth. Martin sank a three-pointer to ignite a 7-0 Miami run to open the fourth quarter for an 83-66 edge.

"Not shooting the ball well had an effect on us," Tatum said. "And it kind of snowballed."

The Celtics went nearly four minutes without scoring and never again threatened, finishing a woeful 9-of-42 from three-point range.

"They gave it everything they had," Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. "That's the most important thing to take from this. We failed, but it's not because the guys didn't have a sense of togetherness and character."

Jaylen Brown led Boston with 19 points but had a career-high eight turnovers while Derrick White added 18 points.

"We failed. I failed," Brown said. "We let the whole city down."

An 18-6 Heat run to close the first quarter gave Miami a 22-15 lead with the Celtics matching their season low for first-quarter points.

Boston went 0-for-10 from three-point range in the first quarter, missing the first 12 from beyond the arc overall, and made only 6-of-23 from the floor in the opening period.

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NBA: Buzzer-beating Boston force Miami to game seven

MIAMI  -- With a dramatic buzzer-beater from Derrick White, the Boston Celtics forced their NBA Eastern Conference Finals series with the Miami Heat to a winner-take-all game seven in a heart-stopping 104-103 win in South Florida on Saturday.

The Celtics became just the fourth team in NBA history to level a best-of-seven playoff series after trailing 3-0.

They will now have a chance on Monday to mark an even more impressive milestone if they can become the first team to win a series after losing the opening three games and earn a place in the final against the Denver Nuggets.

It was a crushing loss for Miami, who were less than a second away from reaching their seventh NBA Final before White's inspired touch.

The Celtics had led for most of the contest but Miami looked to have grabbed the win and the series when Jimmy Butler was fouled, attempting a three-point shot, by Boston's Al Horford.

With three seconds left on the clock, Butler, who had been well below-par until he came alive late in the fourth quarter, kept his cool to sink all three free throws and give the Heat a 103-102 lead.

Facing elimination, Marcus Smart's three-point attempt bounced off the rim, but White was alert and strong to tip the rebound into the bucket, the shot leaving his fingertips only a fraction of a second before the buzzer.

The Miami crowd were distraught as the Celtics celebrated in a huddle on the court.

"Ball came to me, I made the shot. That's what I saw," said White, reflecting on the game-winning moment.

"It felt good. Everybody was asking me, 'did you get it off?' And I was like, 'yeah, I think so,' but it was so close, you never know," he said.

"I'm happy we won. Whatever it takes. We got our backs against the wall. Just happy we won."

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra rued his team's luck on the decisive final play.

"That thing just bounced a different way. That's the only place it could have bounced to hurt us. I thought we had a lot of things covered on that play and sometimes things just don't break your way," he said.

Jayson Tatum led Boston with 31 points and had 11 rebounds and five assists, while Jaylen Brown came up with 26 points and 10 rebounds.

Butler went into the fourth quarter with just nine points but ended with 24, while Caleb Martin provided 21 points for Miami.

Butler shot just 5-of-21 and took responsibility for Miami's situation.

"I told the guys in the locker room, if I play better we are not even in this position," said Butler, who vowed to be back to his best in game seven.

- 'To hell and back' -

The Celtics had led by 11 points midway through the second quarter as Miami struggled at both ends of the court, but the Heat rallied to reduce the deficit to 57-53 at half-time.

Boston opened up another double-figure lead in the third, but once more couldn't quite shrug off Miami, and the Heat found a way to grab the lead with a Butler tip lay-up making it 83-82 with 7:57 left in the fourth.

But the Celtics responded strongly with a 16-5 run before the late drama began to unfold, with Butler scoring 10 points to give Miami the lead with three seconds to go.

Butler was philosophical in defeat.

"That's basketball for you. Basketball at its finest. Very, very, very entertaining," he said.

"We can do it. I know that we will do it. We've got to go on the road and win in a very, very, very tough environment. But we are capable of it. So let's get busy."

The momentum is clearly with Boston after yet again roaring back from a possible exit.

"It gives you a supreme boost in confidence, man. It doesn't get too much worse than being down 0-3. We feel like we've been to hell and back," said Brown.

"We feel like we can face any adversity that gets thrown at us in the duration of the game or the duration of the season or in the postseason. It all means nothing if we don't come out and give our best effort on our home floor on Monday night."

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Celtics pummel Heat to keep NBA title hopes alive

Boston poured in 16 three-pointers in a dominant 110-97 victory over the Miami Heat on Thursday that kept the Celtics alive in the NBA championship chase.

For the second straight game, the Celtics fended off elimination, cutting the deficit in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals to 3-2 with the wire-to-wire triumph.

Miami will try again to close it out when they host game six on Saturday. The Celtics will be trying to take one more step toward becoming the first NBA team to rally from a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-seven playoff series.

"The only thing that can stop us is us," Celtics forward Jaylen Brown said in an on-court interview.

Before a rapturous, raucous crowd at TD Garden in Boston, the Celtics looked every inch the favorites they were before the series started -- before the upstart eighth-seeded Heat grabbed the first two games in Boston then embarrassed the second seeds in game three.

Four Celtics starters scored more than 20 points, Derrick White leading the way with 24 on a night when he made six of eight attempts from three-point range.

Marcus Smart added 23 while Brown and fellow star forward Jayson Tatum scored 21 apiece.

More importantly, the Celtics harried the Heat into 16 turnovers that led to 27 Boston points and they had 17 second-chance points compared to Miami's seven.

"Tonight we were the tougher playing team," Brown said. "We set the tone from start to finish."

Boston were locked in on both ends of the floor from the opening tip-off, roaring to a 23-7 lead in a matter of minutes.

After Tatum was whistled for a technical foul with 8:43 in the first quarter the Celtics responded with three consecutive three-pointers.

Tatum scored 12 points in the first quarter and Brown took over with 12 in the second.

Meanwhile Heat talisman Jimmy Butler struggled to get going, scoring eight points in the first half and finishing with 14 -- his lowest scoring game of the playoffs. He sat out most of the fourth quarter.

Duncan Robinson led the Heat with 18 points off the bench. Bam Adebayo scored 16 points but coughed up six turnovers.

Kyle Lowry starting at point guard after Gabe Vincent was ruled out with a sprained ankle, scored five points with four turnovers.

The Heat, who won the NBA title in 2006, 2012 and 2013, still only need one more win to reach a seventh NBA Finals.

Boston, whose 17 NBA titles are tied with the Los Angeles Lakers for the most in history, last won it all in 2008 and came up short in last season's championship series against the Golden State Warriors.

The winners of the series will play the Western Conference champion Denver Nuggets, who swept the Lakers in four games to reach the NBA Finals for the first time.

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NBA: Butler brilliance as Miami stuns Boston

LOS ANGELES  -- Jimmy Butler led a fourth-quarter fightback as the Miami Heat stunned the Boston Celtics 111-105 to take a 2-0 lead in their NBA Eastern Conference finals series on Friday.

Miami talisman Butler finished with 27 points as the eighth seeds grabbed a second straight victory at Boston's TD Garden to leave the Celtics with a mountain to climb if they are to reach the NBA finals.

Miami had trailed by 11 points early in the fourth quarter and the Celtics led by as much as nine with under seven minutes of the final frame remaining.

But Butler led a sensational 20-9 Miami run in the final minutes of the fourth quarter that turned the game on its head and left his team just two wins away from returning to the NBA finals as the best-of-seven series heads to Miami for games three and four.

"We got some dogs, and I love it, I love every bit of it," an elated Butler said during an on-court interview after the Miami win.

"Guys never quit, guys never give up, we love playing with one another -- we got so much faith and trust in one another."

Nine of Butler's 27 points came during the fourth-quarter rally, with the Miami star fired up after an angry nose-to-nose exchange with Boston's Grant Williams midway through the fourth quarter.

At that stage in the game, Boston led 96-89, but Miami launched a devastating late run that turned the contest decisively in favor of the Heat.

Butler later admitted that Williams' apparent taunts had fueled his inspired late contribution.

"Yes, it did," Butler replied when asked if he had been motivated by Williams' trash-talk.

"But that's just competition at its finest. He hit a big shot. Started talking to me; I like that. I'm all for that. It makes me key in a lot more. It pushes that will that I have to win a lot more.

"It makes me smile. It does. When people talk to me, I'm like, 'Okay, I know I'm a decent player, if you want to talk to me out of everybody that you can talk to.'

"But it's just competition. I do respect him, though. He's a big part of what they try to do. I just don't know if I'm the best person to talk to."

 - 'Beauty in the struggle' -

Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said his team's battling, never-say-die approach had been forged through the challenges of the regular season when they only just scraped into the playoffs.

"This year was really unique for all of us," Spoelstra said. "There's a beauty in the struggle. There's a beauty in that grind."

Butler received offensive support from Caleb Martin, with 25 points off the bench, while Bam Adebayo delivered another all-round effort with 22 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists.

Duncan Robinson added 15 points from the bench, including three three-pointers.

A shell-shocked Boston, meanwhile, were left reflecting on another shattering defeat at home despite 34 points from Jayson Tatum.

Jaylen Brown finished with 16 points but had a wayward shooting night, making only seven of 23 from the field, while Robert Williams III and Malcolm Brogdon had 13 points apiece.

Boston coach Joe Mazzulla blamed indiscipline and mental frailty for his team's defeat.

"It comes down to the details and the margins," Mazzulla said.

"This is a series of discipline and mindset. And there were times throughout the game where we weren't the more disciplined team."

Asked if he believed Boston's late collapse was "mental", Mazzulla agreed.

"It's mental from the standpoint of who can make the right plays at the right times, who can make the simple plays, who can win those details and those margins," Mazzulla said. "So, yeah, it's definitely mental."

Tatum, meanwhile, insisted that all was not lost despite Boston dropping the opening two games of the series on their home court.

"It's tough. It's a challenge. No point in being up here sad, right. They came in and won two games," Tatum said.

"They played well, you give them credit. But we're not dead or anything. I still have the utmost confidence, everybody has the utmost confidence."

Game 3 takes place in Miami on Sunday.

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NBA: Tatum propels Celtics to Game 7 win over Sixers for Eastern Conference finals berth

LOS ANGELES -- Jayson Tatum poured in an historic 51 points on Sunday to lead the Boston Celtics to a 112-88 Game 7 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers and into the NBA Eastern Conference finals.

Tatum added 13 rebounds five assists and a couple of steals and the Celtics' suffocating defense neutralized newly minted NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid as Boston booked a return date with the Miami Heat -- the team they beat in seven games in last year's conference finals.

Jaylen Brown added 25 points for Boston, who broke open a close game in the third quarter as they out-scored the 76ers 33-10.

Philadelphia went six minutes of the period without a basket and trailed by 26 heading into the fourth, when Boston pushed the lead to 30 with less than four minutes to play.

His 51 points eclipsed the game-seven record of 50 set by Golden State's Stephen Curry against the Sacramento Kings in the first round this month.

It was a bounce-back performance for Tatum, who struggled for long stretches in the series and endured a horrific shooting night until drilling four crucial three-pointers in the fourth quarter of the Celtics' series-extending game-six win on Thursday.

He began fashioning his game-seven masterpiece in the opening minutes.

The 76ers turned an early six-point deficit into a 29-23 lead through one quarter, while a nip-and-tuck second period saw the Celtics up 55-52 at halftime.

Then the Celtics blew it wide open in the third. Tatum scored 17 points in the period, draining four of his six three-pointers as the shell-shocked 76ers struggled, and failed, to find a response.

"Going into game six I was too locked-in, I was too tight, thinking about what I need to do, how many points I need to score," Tatum said.

After a lighthearted practice on Saturday, Tatum said he was more himself.

"That's when I play my best is when I'm having fun."

It was another crushing playoff exit for the 76ers and Embiid, who was held to 15 points on five-of-18 shooting.

Philadelphia's Doc Rivers fell to 6-10 in game sevens as a coach. That's the most game seven defeats of any NBA coach in history and Rivers remained without a game-seven win on the road in his coaching career.

The 76ers had the third-best regular-season record behind the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston, but even with Embiid enjoying an MVP season it failed to translate into post-season success.

They have reached the playoffs for six straight seasons but haven't made it out of the second round.

Tobias Harris led the 76ers with 19 points but Boston limited the Sixers to 37.3% shooting from the floor and harried them into 14 turnovers.

- Turnover trouble -

Star guard James Harden scored just nine, making three of his 11 shots from the field.

Boston veteran Al Horford did a terrific job guarding Embiid. He scored just six points but grabbed 10 rebounds with two steals and three blocked shots.

Rivers said the rot set in for the 76ers in the second quarter.

"We were playing so well. We trusted, the ball was moving, and then we had I think it was three or four turnovers in a row," Rivers said.

Rivers pointed to a flagrant foul called on Harden after his arm hit Brown in the face as the ball slipped out of Harden's hands on a layup attempt.

Instead of going up by 10, the Sixers gave up the ball.

"After that, we never played right again," Rivers said.

The Celtics will host the Heat in game one of the Eastern Conference finals on Wednesday with an NBA Finals berth on the line.

Last year the Heat were the top seeds in the East. This year they are the first eighth-seeded team to reach the conference finals since the 1999 Knicks.

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NBA: Tatum comes through as Celtics hold off 76ers to level series

Jayson Tatum scored 16 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter as the Boston Celtics held off the Philadelphia 76ers, 95-86, on Thursday to force a decisive Game 7 in their NBA playoff series.

The star Boston forward was enduring a dismal shooting night, making just one of 13 attempts from the floor through the first three quarters before erupting with four three-pointers in the final period as the Celtics thwarted Philadelphia's rally bid and leveled their Eastern Conference semifinal at three games apiece.

They'll host Game 7 on Sunday, trying to deny the Sixers a first trip to the conference finals since 2001.

James Harden epitomized the 76ers' offensive struggles. He scored 13 points on four-of-13 shooting while newly minted NBA Most Valuable Player Joel Embiid scored 26 points with 10 rebounds.

Tatum, who averaged 30.1 points per game in the regular season, said he never lost confidence even as he struggled.

"It's a long game," Tatum told broadcaster ESPN. "Thankfully I've got some great teammates that held it down."

Marcus Smart led the Celtics with 22 points. Jaylen Brown added 17 and Malcolm Brogdon scored 16 off the bench.

Even amid Tatum's troubles the Celtics raced to a 15-3 lead, Smart and Brogdon carrying the early load before the Sixers began to find their feet.

Philadelphia cut the deficit to three points before the Celtics pulled away again, pushing their advantage to 16 points twice in the second period.

But the Sixers clawed back, taking advantage of 17 Celtics turnovers and finally taking the lead on two free throws from Harden that put them up 64-62 with less than five minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Philadelphia led 73-71 going into the final frame and were up by two when Tatum made his first three-pointer of the game to put Boston ahead.

Tatum then drilled a step-back three-pointer over Tyrese Maxey.

Another pair from beyond the arc pushed the Celtics' lead to 11 points with 37.6 seconds remaining.

"All that mattered was we won this game," said Tatum, who also had seven rebounds, six assists, a steal and two blocked shots. "It's game seven, it doesn't get any better than that."

Later Thursday, the banged-up Phoenix Suns tried to fend off elimination when they hosted Western Conference top seeds Denver in Game 6 of their series.

Phoenix were again without veteran point guard Chris Paul, who missed games three four and five after suffering a groin injury in game two. Center Deandre Ayton was ruled out with a rib injury that has reportedly affected his breathing while All-Star guard Devin Booker went into the contest nursing an ankle injury.

The Nuggets, who routed the Suns on Tuesday to take a 3-2 lead in the series behind a 29-point triple-double from Nikola Jokic, listed ailing Jamal Murray as questionable.

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NBA: Celtics spoil Embiid MVP moment, grab 2-1 playoff series lead

LOS ANGELES -- Jayson Tatum scored 27 points to lead six Boston players in double figures on Friday as the Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers 114-102 to take a 2-1 lead in their NBA Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Jaylen Brown added 23 points and Al Horford scored 17 for the Celtics, who regained home court advantage with a second straight victory after dropping game one in Boston.

They kept the momentum going on an emotional night in Philadelphia, where Sixers center Joel Embiid accepted his Most Valuable Player trophy from NBA commissioner Adam Silver in a pregame ceremony.

Embiid scored 30 points with 13 rebounds and four blocked shots in his second game back from a sprained knee.

But teammates James Harden and Tyrese Maxey struggled. Harden connected on just three of 14 shots on the way to 16 points while Maxey scored 13 points on 4-for-16 shooting.

Geared up for the hostile environment at the Wells Fargo Center, the Celtics got off to a quick start, powering to a 14-4 lead.

Tatum, who scored just seven points in game two, bounced back with a vengeance adding 10 rebounds five assists, two steals and a blocked shot, putting up 10 points in the first fur minutes.

The Sixers, however, kept it close and led by one after the first quarter.

They couldn't maintain momentum, however. They were down by seven at halftime and never led after the break.

Embiid's tip-in basket with 3:51 remaining pulled Philadelphia within four points, but Horford responded with a three-pointer and Tatum sank a turnaround basket and the Celtics were up by nine again.

Philadelphia fans were soon heading for the exits, a disappointing end to a night that began with loud chants of "M-V-P" for Cameroon's Embiid, who received his trophy with his parents standing by, and addressed spectators holding his toddler son, Arthur -- clad in a "My dad is the MVP" shirt.

"Honestly, he's the main reason why I'm really here," Embiid said "Becoming a father really changed my whole life. I just wanted to show him a good example."

The Celtics made sure the feel-good moment didn't last.

"We knew we could win," Tatum told broadcaster ESPN. "This is a great team, the crowd's electric, you love being in that environment.

"But we are not surprised. To win a championship you've got to win one on the road. We'll take it."

In the second game of the day's double-header, the Phoenix Suns aimed to turn things around on their home floor against the top-seeded Nuggets, who won the first two games of their Western Conference semifinal in Denver.

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NBA: Ice-cool Harden scores 45 as Sixers stun Celtics, Jokic downs Suns

NEW YORK  -- James Harden scored 45 points as the Philadelphia 76ers stunned the Boston Celtics in the NBA playoffs on Monday before Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets took a commanding 2-0 series lead over the Phoenix Suns.

In a pulsating Eastern Conference duel in Boston, Harden produced a vintage performance -– including a pivotal go-ahead three-pointer with 8.4 seconds remaining -- to leave the TD Garden in stunned silence as the Sixers snatched a 119-115 game one victory.

The Sixers' win was achieved without their best player, injured talisman Joel Embiid, who watched from the bench after failing to recover from a knee injury.

"We're just a resilient team," Harden said. "Even without Joel, we've got the confidence to come here and win games.

"We've been doing it all year long, that's a good one for us."

Harden's points haul came from 17-of-30 shooting and included seven three-pointers.

"He was awesome," Sixers coach Doc Rivers said. "Kept his cool, knew when to attack, knew when to give it up."

Tyrese Maxey provided offensive support with 26 points while Tobias Harris added 18 and De’Anthony Melton 17.

The Celtics were led by 39 points from Jayson Tatum while Jaylen Brown chipped in with 23 points and Malcolm Brogdon 20.

With Boston exploiting the absence of Embiid to score freely in the paint, the Celtics jumped out to lead by 12 in the second quarter.

But Harden and Maxey's scoring ensured that the Sixers remained in touch coming down the stretch with only a handful of points separating the two teams in the closing stages.

A loose pass from Brogdon with 32 seconds left on the clock handed Maxey an easy uncontested layup to put Philadelphia 114-113 up, before Tatum hit back with two free throws to give Boston a slender 115-114 advantage.

But with the clock running down, Harden advanced up the court and took his time before nervelessly sinking a sublime three-pointer from 25 feet to give Philadelphia a 117-115 lead with just seconds remaining.

Rivers said Harden's ice-cool three-pointer at the death was a rebuttal to critics who have long accused the 33-year-old former NBA Most Valuable Player of folding under pressure.

"I thought he had just the perfect mindset tonight," Rivers said. "I'm so happy for him because it just tells you what he can do on a given night.

"It's amazing -- the guy's a Hall-of-Famer and all you hear is the other stuff about him. He's fantastic."

Game two of the best-of-seven series takes place in Boston on Wednesday.

- Suns eclipsed -

In Monday's other playoff game, Denver's reigning two-time NBA MVP Jokic finished with 39 points as the Nuggets staged a fourth-quarter rally to eclipse the Phoenix Suns 97-87 and take a 2-0 series lead.

Devin Booker finished with 35 points for Phoenix while Kevin Durant added 24, but the Suns were unable to respond as Denver pulled away to outscore the visitors 27-14 in the fourth quarter.

Jokic's 39-point haul included 26 after half-time as the Nuggets took control of a low-scoring contest that saw Phoenix lead by eight points in the third quarter.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope delivered a crucial cameo for Denver with a flurry of three three-pointers in the fourth quarter, helping to take the game away from Phoenix as the clock ran down.

A gloomy night for Phoenix was compounded by an injury to veteran Chris Paul, who limped to the locker room near the end of the third quarter after appearing to injure his groin.

"Both teams didn't shoot well, it was a low-scoring game 87-97, it was a tough, rough game -- but we won the game and that's the most important thing," Jokic said.

The victory came as Jokic prepares to discover on Tuesday whether he has won the NBA's regular season MVP award for a third straight year.

Nuggets coach Michael Malone said Jokic had delivered an MVP-caliber performance to drag Denver over the line.

"Nikola's an MVP for a reason. He can take over a game. He can beat you in a lot of ways. I love an aggressive Nikola Jokic," Malone said.

The Denver coach said Jokic however was only focused on ending the Nuggets' wait for a first NBA Championship.

"I know what motivates Nikola Jokic, myself, and the rest of the guys in that locker room - it's not the MVP," Malone said.

"If he wins it, we'll be celebrating and very happy for him because it's a huge accomplishment, three years in a row.

"And if he doesn't win it I'm going to give him a hug because he's still the MVP in my eyes."

The series now heads back to Arizona for game three on Friday.

Agence France-Presse

NBA: 76ers' Embiid doubtful for Game 1 against Boston

WASHINGTON -- NBA scoring champion Joel Embiid is doubtful to play in Monday's opening game of Philadelphia's second-round playoff series against Boston on Monday, 76ers coach Doc Rivers said on Saturday.

The 29-year-old Cameroonian 7-footer (2.13m) suffered a sprained right knee in game three of the 76ers' sweep over Brooklyn in their best-of-seven first-round series.

Embiid, who averaged 33.1 points and 10.2 rebounds a game for the Sixers, will have rested for 10 days before the 76ers visit Boston for the opener against the Celtics.

"He didn't do anything today," Rivers said after a weekend workout. "If I was a betting man, I would probably say doubtful for at least game one, but we'll see."

In four games against Boston this season, Embiid averaged 36.8 points, 11.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists.

The Celtics went 3-1 against the 76ers this season.

Embiid missed the first two games of last year's second round of the playoffs against Miami with a right orbital bone fracture and the Sixers lost to the Heat in six games.

Embiid also missed playoff games in 2018 with a left orbital fracture.

Boston has won five consecutive playoff series against Philadelphia, which last ousted the Celtics in the post-season in 1982 Eastern Conference finals.

Agence France-Presse

Celtics hold off Hawks to advance in NBA playoffs

Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum combined for 62 points and the Boston Celtics clamped down late to hold off the Atlanta Hawks in a 128-120 thriller on Thursday to win their NBA Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.

The Celtics, trying to get back to the NBA Finals after falling last season to the Golden State Warriors, won the best-of-seven series, 4-2, to line up a conference semi-final showdown with a Philadelphia 76ers team led by Joel Embiid and James Harden.

Trae Young, hero of the Hawks' 119-117 come-from-behind victory in Game 5 that extended the series on Tuesday, scored 30 points with 10 assists.

But Young ran out of gas in the second half, scoring just five points after the break and finishing the game nine-for-28 from the field.

Brown scored 32 points and Tatum had 30 for the Celtics, who used an 11-0 run in the fourth quarter to finally take control of a game that featured 22 lead changes and was tied 15 times.

"I think in that fourth quarter, four minutes left, we made winning plays," Tatum told broadcaster TNT. "We talked about it before the game -- do whatever it takes."

The lead changed hands seven times in the fourth quarter alone. Former Hawk Al Horford put the Celtics up for good with a three-pointer with 3:35 remaining.

Tatum followed with another three-pointer, Brown produced a block and Tatum slammed home a Horford miss to cap the 11-0 run that had the Celtics up by eight with 2:07 to play.

Atlanta wouldn't get the deficit below five points the rest of the way.

Marcus Smart scored 22 points, Malcolm Brogdon added 17 off the bench and Horford chipped in 10 for the Celtics.

"I thought Smart was tremendous, especially late in the fourth quarter," Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. "He got us organized and then he was kind of the triggerman. They were blitzing, he made the right plays."

Young, whose 38 points in Game 5 included a game-winning three-pointer, said he just couldn't shake Smart in the second half.

"Marcus was being way more aggressive," Young said. "In the second half he was more just connected to me. They picked up the physicality. It was tough."

In the end, Hawks coach Quin Snyder said, the Celtics were just too much.

"Obviously Tatum and Brown were a handful, which we expect," Snyder said. "We blitzed their pick and roll, we hit them on the dribble, hit them on the pass and when we didn't they were able to make plays. When we did, you're susceptible to the three."

The Celtics made 18 of their 42 three-point attempts, Brown draining six from beyond the arc and every Boston starter making at least one trey.

Even so, Snyder said, "we were right there. It's a tough game."

Added Young: "You've just got to tip your cap sometimes and give credit where it's due."

The second-seeded Celtics, the highest seeds left in the East after the Miami Heat's upset of the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks, host the third-seeded 76ers in game one on Monday.

Agence France-Presse

Ex-Celtics coach Udoka hired to guide Rockets: reports

WASHINGTON -- Former Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka has agreed on a deal to be hired as coach of the NBA's Houston Rockets, according to multiple media reports on Monday.

The Houston Chronicle and ESPN cited unnamed sources that said a deal had been struck for Udoka to take charge of a club that went 22-60 this past season, missing the playoffs for the third consecutive campaign.

Udoka, considered a top contender for the vacant Toronto Raptors job, was suspended by the Celtics for the 2022-23 season last September for an improper workplace relationship with a subordinate.

Celtics assistant coach Joe Mazzulla was made Boston's interim head coach until handed the position on a permanent basis in February.

The Rockets spoke with league and Celtics officials about the matter before making the offer to Udoka, ESPN reported.

Udoka, 45, played seven seasons in the NBA before retiring in 2011. He served as an assistant coach at San Antonio, Philadelphia and Brooklyn before being hired by the Celtics in June 2021.

The Celtics went 51-31 last season and reached the NBA Finals, losing to the Golden State Warriors in Udoka's rookie head coaching campaign.

Udoka knows Toronto Raptors president Masai Uriji but decided against seeking that job after the firing of Nick Nurse on Friday, ESPN reported, saying the Rockets sold Udoka on a young roster of talent, a huge amount of money to spend under the NBA salary cap and the team's high chance at winning next month's NBA Draft Lottery.

Taking the top pick from the lottery would put the Rockets in position to select French big man Victor Wembanyama, seen as one of the top prospects since LeBron James.

The club will be trying to avoid suffering a fourth straight losing campaign next season, a drought it hasn't suffered since beginning its existence with seven in a row from 1967-74.

Udoka, who is of Nigerian and American descent, was an assistant coach on the 2014 San Antonio Spurs NBA championship club and on the staff of Spurs coach Gregg Popovich for the Tokyo Olympic champion US squad.

Agence France-Presse

NBA: Knicks dominate Cavs, Hawks claw back against Celtics

LOS ANGELES -- The New York Knicks dominated the Cleveland Cavaliers 99-79 on Friday, electrifying Madison Square Garden as they took a 2-1 lead in their NBA Eastern Conference playoff series.

The Atlanta Hawks also came up with a big home win, downing the Boston Celtics 130-122 to avoid falling into a 3-0 hole in their Eastern Conference series -- a deficit no NBA team has ever recovered from to win a best-of-seven set.

In New York, Jalen Brunson scored 21 points and RJ Barrett added 19 for the Knicks, who rebounded from a humbling game two defeat in Cleveland.

The Knicks' suffocating defense contributed to a dismal night for Cleveland's Darius Garland, who missed 17 of his 21 shot attempts on the way to 10 points.

Donovan Mitchell scored 22 to lead the Cavs, who became the first team this season to be held under 80 points in an NBA game.

To top it off, Garland -- who scored 32 points in the Cavs' win on Tuesday -- needed treatment on his left ankle in the second half after stepping on a courtside photographer's foot.

The game was the first playoff contest at Madison Square Garden in two years and the "chaos" that New York native and Cavs star Mitchell predicted materialized.

Both teams made sloppy starts in the raucous atmosphere, but the Knicks steadied to take a 13-point halftime lead that they pushed to as many as 27.

"This was great," said Brunson, but he warned that the Cavs would punch back in game four on Sunday.

"You want to carry it over, but at the same time we've got to be focused, we've got to be ready to go. It's not just going to be handed to us -- we've got to go out there and get it."

In Atlanta, Trae Young scored 32 points and Dejounte Murray added 25 as the hot-shooting Hawks clawed back into their series against the Celtics.

Young shook off two sub-par performances with a stellar display.

"Our whole team was making plays all night and it was up to me to go make the right one," Young said. "It's not only to score, sometimes it's to get everybody involved.

"So I'm just trying to make the right play and tonight I did."

Young connected on 12 of 22 shots from the field, pulled down six rebounds and handed out nine assists.

He also produced a pair of blocks as the Hawks out-hustled the second-seeded Celtics -- who fell to Golden State in the NBA Finals last year.

- A matter of will -

Jayson Tatum scored 29 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for Boston. Marcus Smart added 24 and Jaylen Brown had 15 for the Celtics, who drained 21 three-pointers but were out-rebounded 48-29.

Smart said there was no secret to the Hawks' advantage on the boards, which led to their 23-9 edge in second-chance points.

"It's just a matter of will," Smart said, "and they wanted it more tonight."

Atlanta shot 67.4 percent from the field in the first half and shot 56 percent for the game overall, Boston managing only for short stretches in the second half to turn up the defensive volume.

Tatum still had a chance to tie it with 58.1 seconds left but his three-point attempt bounced off the rim and the Hawks pulled away.

"I've got to play better," said a dejected Tatum, who said he made too many untimely turnovers and poor decisions. "This one tonight is on me."

Atlanta will try to level the series when they host game four on Sunday.

Elsewhere on Friday, Western Conference top seeds Denver tried to take a 3-0 stranglehold on their series when they visited the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Agence France-Presse

NBA: Booker shines as Suns sink Clippers, Celtics dominant

Devin Booker led a second-half rally as the Phoenix Suns came from behind to defeat the Los Angeles Clippers, 123-109, and level their Western Conference playoff series 1-1 on Tuesday.

Booker scored 18 points in the third quarter before finishing with a 38-point haul to complete a battling comeback by Phoenix, who had trailed by 13 in the second quarter against the Kawhi Leonard-inspired Clippers.

The Clippers stunned Phoenix at home in Game 1 on Sunday and appeared to be well on their way to taking a commanding 2-0 series lead after surging into a 49-36 lead with just over five minutes remaining in the second quarter.

But Kevin Durant, veteran Chris Paul and Booker sparked into life for Phoenix in the closing minutes of the first half to erase the Clippers lead, and Booker drained a 27-foot three-pointer on the stroke of half-time to make it a tie game at 59-59 at the break.

Booker then took over with a flurry of scoring in the third quarter to fire Phoenix into a 92-87 lead heading into the final quarter.

Durant finished with 25 points while Paul chipped in with 16 to help see Phoenix home as the series heads to Los Angeles for game three on Thursday.

"We wanted to protect home court in game two, we got one, and now we're off to LA," Booker said afterwards.

"It's the playoffs, it's win at all costs -- doesn't matter what happened these past two games. You've got to move on to the next one -- it's a new assignment for us."

Leonard led the scoring for the Clippers with 31 points, eight rebounds and seven assists while Russell Westbrook had 28 points.

In other playoff action, Jayson Tatum starred as the Boston Celtics took a 2-0 series lead over the Atlanta Hawks, while Darius Garland delivered a 32-point gem in Cleveland's series-leveling rout of the New York Knicks.

Tatum finished with 29 points as the second-seeded Celtics overcame a slow start to dominate the seventh-seeded Hawks for a 119-106 victory at Boston's TD Garden.

"Playoffs are all about adjustments, trying to move on from game to game, seeing what you can do better -- and I think we played better," Tatum said.

"We want to be peaking at this time of year. Everybody's healthy, playing the right way, playing really well -- but we've got another level we can go to hopefully."

Atlanta jumped out to a 22-11 lead in the first quarter before Boston's offense clicked to give the Celtics a 28-25 lead heading into the second quarter.

Once in front, the Celtics never relinquished the advantage, opening up a 61-49 half-time lead and extending that to 20 points midway through the third quarter as Boston's defense shut down Atlanta's scoring.

Atlanta rallied to get within eight points of the Celtics in the fourth quarter, but Boston never looked like squandering their lead down the stretch and pulled away convincingly to ensure they will take a 2-0 advantage into game three in Atlanta on Friday.

Tatum finished with 29 points including five three-pointers, while Derrick White provided offensive support with 26 points and Jaylen Brown added 18 points.

Dejounte Murray led Atlanta's scorers with 29 points while Trae Young finished with 24.

"They won, we lost -- we've just got to be better," Atlanta playmaker Young said.

Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference on Tuesday, the Cleveland Cavaliers roared back into their best-of-seven series with the Knicks to score a 107-90 win.

Beaten 101-97 in game one on Saturday, the Cavaliers bounced back in spectacular fashion to score a blowout victory.

Cleveland opened up a 25-22 first-quarter lead and never looked back, outscoring Cleveland 34-17 in the second quarter to take a decisive grip on the contest.

New York failed to get within 15 points of the Cavs throughout the second half, as Cleveland powered on to lead by as many as 29 midway through the fourth quarter.

Cleveland point guard Garland produced a sparkling display with 32 points -- 26 of them in a devastating first-half scoring burst.

Caris LeVert added 24 off the bench while Donovan Mitchell added 17 points with 13 assists.

The Knicks offense failed to fire, with the team's 90-point total their second lowest tally of the season.

Julius Randle finished with 22 points while Jalen Brunson added 20.

Game 3 of the series takes place at Madison Square Garden in New York on Friday.

Agence France-Presse

NBA: Kings edge Warriors in playoff thriller as Sixers, Celtics roll

WASHINGTON -- De'Aaron Fox scored 38 points and Malik Monk added 32 off the bench in leading the Sacramento Kings to a 126-123 victory over Golden State for their first NBA playoff triumph in 17 years.

The Kings, who had not reached the post-season since 2006, seized a 1-0 lead over the defending champions in a Western Conference best-of-seven first round series that continues in Sacramento on Monday.

In Eastern Conference playoff series openers on Saturday, the New York Knicks edged host Cleveland 101-97, Boston routed Atlanta 112-99 and Philadelphia beat Brooklyn 121-101.

Fox made 13-of-27 shots in his playoff debut, 4-of-8 from 3-point range, and 8-of-12 free throws then after the victory pushed the button to send the Kings' laser light -- symbolic of a Kings victory -- from the outside of the arena.

Monk sank 8-of-13 from the floor and 2-of-4 from 3-point range plus all 14 of his free throws. He made two late free throws to create the final margin and Stephen Curry missed a final 3-point shot for the Warriors to force overtime.

Reserve Trey Lyles added 16 points and NBA rebounds leader Domantas Sabonis had 12 points and 16 rebounds for Sacramento.

"Our bench came in and they did a hell of a job tonight, especially Malik and Trey. They ignited us," Fox said.

"We knew we had to go out and be physical -- try not to foul because this is probably the best free throw shooting team in the league -- and get it done on the defensive end and we got some key stops."

Fox caught fire in the second half and Sacramento used a late 7-0 run for a 119-114 lead that put the hosts ahead to stay.

"In the second half, I got into a rhythm, my teammates continued to hit me in my spot and I just did what they want me to do," Fox said.

Curry led Golden State with 30 points while Klay Thompson added 21.

At Cleveland, Jalen Brunson scored 21 of his 27 points in the second half to lead New York's victory while the Cavaliers were led by 38 points from Donovan Mitchell.

A late Brunson miss was rebounded by New York's Julius Randle, who had 19 points and 10 rebounds, and that set up two clinching Knicks free throws by Quentin Grimes.

"They just kept fighting," Brunson said. "We kept our composure. Made plays down the stretch, made a couple of huge stops. We just kept fighting, kept sticking together and stayed poised."

NBA scoring champion Joel Embiid had 26 points while NBA assists champion James Harden added 23 points and 13 assists in the Sixers' romp.

The host Sixers, who led the NBA in 3-point shooting percentage, sank a club playoff record 21 3-pointers in 43 attempts.

"(That) was a good win for us," Harden said. "We'll be watching film. Game two is going to be the toughest game of the series for us. We'll be ready to go."

Cameroonian star Embiid went 7-of-15 from the floor and 11-of-11 from the free throw line.

- 'Keep pushing' -

Harden hit 7-of-13 from 3-point range and helped eight Sixers in all make 3-pointers.

"Just finding ways to impact the game possession by possession," said Harden, a former Nets backcourt star.

"It's the playoffs. Things don't go the way you want as much as you want them to. You've got to keep pushing, keep fighting, and I'm happy we got a win."

Philadelphia made a club one-half playoff record of 13 3-pointers on the way to a 67-58 halftime edge.

Brooklyn's Mikal Bridges scored a game-high 30 points, but only seven in the second half.

The Celtics ripped visiting Atlanta 112-99 behind 29 points and 12 rebounds from Jaylen Brown and 25 points and 11 rebounds from Jayson Tatum.

Brown played with a wrapping on cut fingers and a protective mask he has had for two months due to a facial fracture.

"Got to come out and be ready to go," he said. "My team depends on me. My city depends on me. I don't make no excuses. I come out and play ball."

Agence France-Presse

NBA: Embiid 52 as Sixers hold off Celtics, Bucks on brink

Embiid – one of the front-runners for the NBA's regular season Most Valuable Player award – produced a towering performance in a 103-101 victory in Philadelphia that all but extinguished second-placed Boston's hopes of winning the top-seeding in the East.

The Celtics must now win all three of their remaining regular season games and hope that Milwaukee lose their final three fixtures to snatch first place and the all-important home advantage in the playoffs.

Embiid finished with 52 points from 20-of-25 shooting while hauling in 13 rebounds and laying on six assists, while James Harden finished with 20 points.

P.J. Tucker was the only other Sixers player in double figures, with the bulk of his 11 points coming from a flurry of three-pointers late in the fourth quarter.

However the third-placed Sixers were given a scare down the stretch, when they almost blew a 103-96 lead with just 10 seconds remaining to allow Boston to get back to within two points.

Celtics star Jayson Tatum missed a late two-point effort on the buzzer that could have forced overtime.

Embiid was unhappy with the Sixers' late wobble that almost cost his team their first victory over Boston this season.

"I don't know what we were doing," Embiid said. "We've got to be better than that, me included. We've just got to be better.

"Offensively we were not good enough and defensively we got stops when we needed them. But we've got to be better than that - we might see them down the road."

- 'MVP race is over' -

Sixers coach Doc Rivers said Embiid's virtuoso performance ought to settle any debate about the identity of this season's MVP award-winner.

"There were so many things we did wrong tonight -- but what we did right was Joel Embiid," Rivers said.

"The man just scored half our points in an NBA game. I'm biased, but the MVP race is over."

Elsewhere on Tuesday, Giannis Antetokounmpo bagged a triple double as Milwaukee took a giant stride towards sealing top spot in the East with a 140-128 victory over the Washington Wizards.

Antetokounmpo finished with 28 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists to leave the Bucks within touching distance of first place.

The Bucks need only win one of their final three games to guarantee the No.1 seeding.

Once again, the Bucks balanced offense came to the fore in a comfortable victory, with six players finishing in double figures.

Jrue Holiday finished with 26 points and Brook Lopez 20 points while Bobby Portis and Jae Crowder added 19 apiece.

Joe Ingles finished with 12 off the bench -– all from three-point range.

But while the Bucks remain firmly on course to clinch first place in the East, the Denver Nuggets missed a golden opportunity to seal top spot in the Western Conference after slumping to a shock 124-103 defeat on the road to the Houston Rockets, who are bottom of the West with a 19-60 record.

Jalen Green's 32 points led Houston to victory while Denver star Nikola Jokic –- the reigning two-time MVP –- was held to just 14 points.

The battle for the last two remaining automatic playoff places from the Western Conference is poised for a nail-biting finale with the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers all vying for the two berths.

The Warriors improved to 42-38 to move into fifth place in the standings with a 136-125 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder in San Francisco, Steph Curry scoring 34 points and Jordan Poole adding 30.

The Warriors trailed by 10 early in the third quarter but outscored the Thunder 34-19 in the fourth quarter to claim a precious victory.

The Lakers meanwhile are just outside the automatic playoff places after securing a 135-133 overtime win over Utah on Tuesday.

LeBron James led the way for the Lakers with 37 points -- including the game-winning layup in overtime -- to clinch a fourth straight win.

The Lakers are now tied with the sixth-placed Clippers on 41-38, with the two teams due to meet in what promises to be a titanic local derby in the Western Conference on Wednesday.

Agence France-Presse

Depleted Celtics edge Raptors for ninth straight NBA win, 76ers beat Kings

LOS ANGELES --  The Boston Celtics shook off the absence of injured Jayson Tatum and the early exits of Marcus Smart and Robert Williams to beat the Toronto Raptors 106-104 on Saturday and push their NBA winning streak to nine games.

Jaylen Brown scored 27 points and Grant Williams added a career-high 25 for the Celtics, who improved their league-best record to 35-12.

Coming off a gritty overtime win over the Golden State Warriors on Thursday, the Celtics trailed 85-81 going into the fourth quarter.

But they opened the final frame with a 9-0 run courtesy of three-pointers from Brown, Payton Pritchard and Grant Williams and stayed in front until Toronto tied it up at 103-103 on Gary Trent Jr.'s three-pointer with 2:23 to play.

Pritchard, who scored all of his 12 points in the fourth quarter, drained another three-pointer that proved to be enough after veteran Al Horford came up with a block and a steal in the final 10 seconds.

Malcolm Brogdon added 23 points off the bench for Boston, whose top scorer Tatum was sidelined with a sore left wrist.

Grant Williams said Tatum's absence was no reason for the Celtics to surrender the mindset of an elite team gunning to get back to the NBA Finals for a second straight year after falling to Golden State in the title series.

"You can't back down from any challenge, no matter if you're down 12 guys, no matter if you're down four, no matter if you're down two, no matter if you're a full team," he said. "You have to do your job."

Smart rolled his right ankle in the second quarter and left the game while Robert Williams hurt his left knee.

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said Williams's injury was "nothing serious" and Smart had a sprained ankle.

"X-rays were negative," he said of Smart, who had to be helped off the court. "So it's just a matter of how he's able to cope with it day to day."

The Philadelphia 76ers, playing without star center Joel Embiid and playmaker James Harden because of injury management, completed a perfect 5-0 road trip against Western Conference teams with a 129-127 victory over the Kings in Sacramento.

The 76ers ended the Kings' six-game win streak, using a big third quarter to turn the tide after trailing by 21 on the way to a 10-point halftime deficit.

Tyrese Maxey led the Sixers with 32 points and six assists.

Domantas Sabonis had a near triple-double for Sacramento with 16 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists. De'Aaron Fox scored 14 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter -- when the Kings got an 11-point deficit down to one three times before the Sixers closed it out.

- Mobley propels Cavs -

In Cleveland, Evan Mobley scored a career-high 38 points in a 114-102 victory over a Milwaukee Bucks team missing two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton.

A day earlier, the Cavs let a Golden State team missing star shooter Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green get past them, with coach J.B. Bickerstaff saying his team "got what we deserved" after taking the depleted Warriors too lightly.

On Saturday, second-year forward Mobley was laser-focused, connecting on 19 of 27 shots from the field and grabbing nine rebounds.

Mobley scored 14 points in the fourth quarter alone. Darius Garland added 21 points and 10 assists and Caris LeVert, starting in place of the Cavs' injured top scorer Donovan Mitchell, added 13 points.

Milwaukee led by Jrue Holiday's 28 points, trailed much of the contest but managed to edge ahead twice early in the fourth quarter before Cleveland closed the door.

In Minneapolis, Anthony Edwards scored a season-high 44 points to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 113-104 victory over the Houston Rockets.

Elsewhere the lowly Charlotte Hornets claimed back-to-back games for just the second time this season as they eked out a 122-118 victory over the Hawks in Atlanta.

The Hornets, down by as many as 19 in the third quarter, snapped the Hawks' five-game winning streak.

Terry Rozier led Charlotte with 34 points, including three free-throws with 1.1 seconds left and another pair of free throws to seal it.

Agence France-Presse

NBA: Brown leads Celtics over Pelicans, Bucks sink Hawks

Jaylen Brown scored 41 points as the Boston Celtics underscored their status as the NBA's form team with a 125-114 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday.

The Eastern Conference leaders warmed up for Thursday's crunch clash against Brooklyn with a composed performance to overpower the Pelicans, the third-ranked team in the Western Conference this season.

Brown, averaging just under 27 points per game this season, once again delivered for the Celtics, shooting 15-of-21 from the field with 12 rebounds.

"It's a long season, it's a lot of basketball, day-in, day-out -- you've just got to come in ready to do your job," Brown said after his season-high points tally. "I was able to come out and get something going."

Boston's balanced offense proved too much for New Orleans, with Jayson Tatum also chipping in with 31 points and Malcolm Brogdon adding 20 from the bench. 

Al Horford added 14 points for Boston, who were missing starters Marcus Smart and Robert Williams III.

C.J. McCollum excelled for New Orleans with 38 points while Naji Marshall added 18 for a Pelicans team missing the injured Zion Williamson (hamstring) and Brandon Ingram (toe).

Boston lead the Eastern Conference with a 30-12 record heading into Thursday's game against the second-placed Nets.

The third-placed Milwaukee Bucks meanwhile kept up the pursuit of the Eastern Conference leaders with a 114-105 win over the Hawks in Atlanta, Jrue Holiday leading the scoring with 27 points.

Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo was restricted to a season-low seven points but still influenced proceedings with 18 rebounds and 10 assists

Holiday was one of five Milwaukee players in double figures, with Brook Lopez adding 20 points and Bobby Portis and Jevon Carter each scoring 13. Pat Connaughton finished with 10 points.

Milwaukee looked to be in total control early in the second half, jumping into a 24-point third quarter lead and seemingly poised for a routine win. 

However Atlanta chipped away at the Bucks total and eventually grabbed their first lead of the game late in the fourth quarter when Bogdan Bogdanovic's pullup jump shot made it 103-101.

Lopez restored the Bucks’ advantage with a three-pointer to make it 104-103 and Milwaukee reasserted their control to close out the win.

Elsewhere Wednesday, Ja Morant returned from a two-game injury absence to score 38 points as the Memphis Grizzlies claimed a 136-129 win over the San Antonio Spurs.

In other games, the Detroit Pistons moved off the bottom of the Eastern Conference with a 135-118 blowout over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Saddiq Bey led the scoring for Detroit with 31 points as the Pistons snapped a three-game losing streak to climb above the Charlotte Hornets at the foot of the table.

Agence France-Presse