Jayson Tatum’s injured ankle looked fine Wednesday night as he scored a team-high 37 points and pulled down 13 rebounds to help the Boston Celtics kick off a six-game homestand with a 125-112 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
Tatum was listed as questionable on the team’s injury report Wednesday with a sprained left ankle, but Boston coach Joe Mazzulla upgraded him to available before the game. Tatum injured his ankle when he landed on DeMar DeRozan’s foot during Monday’s loss to the Chicago Bulls.
Jaylen Brown (31), Al Horford (14), Malcolm Brogdon (13), Marcus Smart (13) and Derrick White (12), also scored in double figures for the Celtics, who shot 53.6 percent from the field (45 of 84) and made 17 of their 34 3-point attempts. Smart finished the game with nine assists.
Dallas received a game-high 42 points from Luka Doncic, who added nine assists and eight rebounds. Christian Wood added 26 points for the Mavericks. Spencer Dinwiddie tossed in 15 and Dorian Finney-Smith finished with 10.
Warriors 124, Clippers 107
Andrew Wiggins hit six 3-pointers en route to 31 points, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson combined for 40 more and Golden State took advantage of the absence of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George to thump Los Angeles in San Francisco.
Curry finished with 22 points and Thompson 18, while Draymond Green chipped in nine points, seven rebounds and 12 assists, helping the Warriors win for their third time in their last four games. Marcus Morris Sr. went for a team-high 19 points for the Clippers, who saw a three-game winning streak come to an end.
With Leonard nursing a sore right ankle and George out with a strained right hamstring, the Clippers never led after the seventh minute and fell back by as many as 29 in the first of four meetings with their Pacific Division rival this season.
Bulls 118, Bucks 113
DeMar DeRozan scored 36 points and the duo of Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic each poured in 18 as Chicago beat earned its first regular-season win in Milwaukee since 2017.
The Bulls set a season high for made 3-pointers, going 18-for-42 from beyond the arc. They hit three consecutive 3-pointers to erase a three-point deficit and take a 115-109 lead with 20.6 seconds left, with two of those treys coming from Coby White. Seven different Bulls players made multiple 3-point shots in the victory.
Giannis Antetokounmpo led the way for the Bucks, finishing with 36 points on 15-for-27 shooting while grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing seven assists. He scored all but eight of his points in the second half.
Pelicans 129, Spurs 110
Zion Williamson piled up a season-high 32 points and took 11 rebounds to help visiting New Orleans to an easy win over sinking San Antonio.
The Pelicans manhandled San Antonio with Williamson and Jonas Valanciunas (22 points, 10 rebounds) dominating the paint and Devonte’ Graham bombing away from outside with six 3-pointers. Williamson’s 28 points in the paint tied for the most in a game in the NBA this season; he was 14 of 18 from the floor and added four free throws.
Devin Vassell led San Antonio with 26 points, with Doug McDermott adding 21, Jeremy Sochan 12 and Keita Bates-Diop 10. Jakob Poeltl pulled down 14 rebounds for the Spurs, who have dropped six straight games and 11 of their past 12.
Heat 113, Wizards 105
Kyle Lowry scored 28 points and Caleb Martin collected a season-high 24 along with nine rebounds to propel short-handed Miami past visiting Washington.
Lowry made 7 of 12 shots from the floor and joined Tyler Herro by sinking five 3-pointers to help the Heat snap a four-game losing skid. Lowry eclipsed his previous season high of 24 points, set during Miami’s 107-106 overtime loss to Washington on Friday. Miami played without leading scorer Jimmy Butler (knee) and fellow forward Duncan Robinson (ankle), as well as guards Max Strus (shoulder impingement) and Victor Oladipo (knee).
Kyle Kuzma had 33 points and Kristaps Porzingis collected 21 points and nine rebounds for the Wizards, who fell for just the second time in eight games.
Nets 112, Raptors 98
Kyrie Irving scored 19 of his 29 points in the third quarter and visiting Brooklyn defeated Toronto.
Royce O’Neale added 15 points and seven assists for the Nets, who were coming off a road loss to the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday. Nic Claxton had 14 points and 12 rebounds, and Ben Simmons contributed 14 points on 7-for-9 shooting.
Gary Trent Jr. scored 19 points for the Raptors, who have lost two in a row. O.G. Anunoby added 15 points, and Chris Boucher had 12 points and 16 rebounds but shot just 2-for-15 from the field.
Pistons 125, Jazz 116
Former Utah players Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks made key plays and combined to score 41 points against their old team to help Detroit to a win in Salt Lake City.
Bogdanovic, playing in Utah for the first time since being traded two months ago, led Detroit with 23 points. Burks scored 18 off the bench as Detroit finished a tough back-to-back set in the Rocky Mountains with consecutive wins. The Pistons, who eked out a win at Denver on Tuesday, had lost their first 10 road games this season.
Malik Beasley drained eight 3-pointers and scored a game-high 29 points off the bench to pace the Jazz, but a couple of his misses late in the fourth quarter proved costly as Utah’s rally fell short.
Timberwolves 115, Pacers 101
Rudy Gobert went for 21 points and 16 rebounds, Karl-Anthony Towns flirted with a triple-double at a team-high 23 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists and Minnesota snapped Indiana’s five-game winning streak in Indianapolis.
Gobert and Towns led a dominant Minnesota attack inside the lane, shooting 9 of 11 and 8 of 11 from the floor, respectively, to contribute to the Timberwolves’ overwhelming 74-38 advantage for points in the paint.
Myles Turner shot 7 of 9 from 3-point range for Indiana, recording a game-high 31 points in the process. The Pacers doubled up the Timberwolves from deep, hitting 16 3-pointers to Minnesota’s eight, but it was not enough to overcome the visitors’ dominance on the interior. Bennedict Mathurin added 21 points and Tyrese Haliburton finished with a double-double of 10 points and 14 assists.
Cavaliers 114, Trail Blazers 96
Donovan Mitchell scored a game-high 34 points while Jarrett Allen had 24 points and 13 rebounds to lead Cleveland past visiting Portland.
For Mitchell, it was his 10th game of at least 30 points this season. Cavaliers’ point guard Darius Garland scored 24 points and directed the offense with 12 assists to lead Cleveland to a four-game sweep of its homestand.
Jusef Nurkic had 22 points while Jerami Grant added 21 for the Trail Blazers, who dropped their second straight on a four-game road trip and fourth straight overall.
Hornets 107, 76ers 101
Terry Rozier scored 22 points as Charlotte won for just the second time in its last 13 games, beating visiting Philadelphia.
P.J. Washington’s 19 points and Kelly Oubre Jr.’s 14 points were also huge for the Hornets, who made just six of 23 attempts from 3-point range.
Shake Milton scored 22 points, De’Anthony Melton posted 20 points and Tobias Harris added 19 points for the 76ers, who were trying to win for the second night in a row after defeating visiting Brooklyn on Tuesday night.
Hawks 115, Kings 106
Trae Young scored 35 points and Atlanta beat visiting Sacramento to end the Kings’ seven-game winning streak.
Young was 11-for-19 from the floor, 4-for-7 on 3-pointers and 9-for-9 at the free-throw line, along with seven assists. It was his sixth game with 30-plus points this season. One of his 3-pointers restored Atlanta’s lead to 11 points with 57 seconds left and put the game away.
Young made a rare five-point play in the third quarter. He was fouled on a 3-point basket, made the free throw and made a free throw for the technical foul assessed to De’Aaron Fox. The five-point possession turned a 12-point game into an 81-64 Hawks lead.
Nuggets 131, Thunder 126 (OT)
Nikola Jokic scored 39 points and Aaron Gordon heated up late to finish with 30 to lift Denver over host Oklahoma City. The scoring totals were season highs for both players.
As Jokic backed down a defender in the final two minutes of overtime, Vlatko Cancar cut to the basket and Jokic found him to put Denver ahead by five. Then in the closing seconds, Bruce Brown’s floater all but put the game away.
Jokic finished with 10 rebounds and nine assists. Cancar also scored a career high with 20 points. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 31 points and 11 assists. Isaiah Joe scored a career-high 21 off the bench, hitting seven 3-pointers.
–Field Level Media
