Jaylen Brown had 31 points, eight rebounds and eight assists to help the Boston Celtics end the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder’s 12-game winning streak with a 119-109 victory Wednesday in a game that featured the last two NBA champions.
Jayson Tatum added 19 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists for the Celtics, who trailed by 13 in the first quarter. Boston received 14 points from Payton Pritchard, who was 4 of 6 from 3-point territory off the bench.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 33 points and eight assists for Oklahoma City, last season’s NBA champion. Gilgeous-Alexander was 10 of 12 from the field and 10 of 12 from the free-throw line. Lu Dort made four 3-pointers and finished with 14 points.
Oklahoma City was within six with 1:30 to play, but a Brown jumper gave Boston a 117-109 advantage with 47.3 left to put the game away. Boston was 7 of 24 (29.2%) from the floor in the first quarter and trailed 31-20 after 12 minutes.
Timberwolves 110, Rockets 108 (OT)
Jaden McDaniels scored 25 points on 10-for-17 shooting and Minnesota stormed back for a stunning overtime win over Houston in Minneapolis.
Julius Randle added 24 points for Minnesota (45-28), which won for the fourth time in its past five games. Rudy Gobert finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds and Naz Reid tallied 14 points and 13 boards off the bench.
Kevin Durant and Alperen Sengun scored 30 points apiece to lead Houston (43-29), which has lost four of its last six. Jabari Smith Jr. notched a double-double with 16 points and 12 boards. After the Rockets rallied from down 10 with 5:15 left in regulation to force overtime — with Durant scoring the Rockets’ final seven points of the fourth quarter — the Timberwolves finished the game on a 15-0 run.
Nuggets 142, Mavericks 135
Jamal Murray scored 33 of his season-high 53 points in the first half, Nikola Jokic had 23 points, 21 rebounds and 19 assists, and host Denver held on to beat Dallas.
Jokic, who has triple-doubles in three straight games, recorded his 6,000th career assist on Murray’s layup midway through the second quarter — becoming the first center in NBA history to reach that milestone — on his way to a season-high assist total. Peyton Watson scored 21 and Cam Johnson finished with 12 for Denver, which has won four in a row.
Cooper Flagg had 26 points, Naji Marshall scored 22, P.J. Washington had 19 points and 15 rebounds, and Brandon Williams and Khris Middleton added 11 points each for Dallas, which has lost five straight and 24 of its last 28.
Lakers 137, Pacers 130
Luka Doncic scored 28 of his 43 points in the first half as Los Angeles defeated Indiana in Indianapolis.
Doncic also had seven assists and six rebounds for Los Angeles, while Austin Reaves paired 25 points with eight assists. LeBron James flirted with a triple-double, racking up 23 points, nine boards and nine assists, and Jaxson Hayes posted season highs of 21 points and 10 rebounds.
Pascal Siakam scored 20 points and Jay Huff contributed 18 as eight Pacers reached double figures. T.J. McConnell added 17 and Andrew Nembhard’s 14 points were complemented by a career-best 19 assists as Indiana rallied late to turn a 29-point third-quarter deficit into a two-possession game late.
76ers 157, Bulls 137
Joel Embiid scored 35 points and Paul George added 28 in their returns to the lineup as Philadelphia rolled past visiting Chicago.
Philadelphia welcomed back Embiid (oblique), who had missed the previous 13 games, and George (suspension), who had sat out the last 25 contests. Tyrese Maxey (finger) continues to sit out, but the Sixers (40-33) barely missed him in this one, as they posted the eighth-highest point total in team history and won for the fifth time in their last seven games.
The Bulls (29-43) gave up 51 third-quarter points — their most ever allowed in a quarter and the most the Sixers had scored in any quarter since the 1960s. Josh Giddey paced Chicago with 23 points and 12 assists, while Matas Buzelis contributed 18 points.
Hawks 130, Pistons 129 (OT)
Jalen Johnson had 27 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds as streaking Atlanta won again, edging host Detroit in overtime for the Hawks’ 14th win in their last 15 games.
CJ McCollum also had 27 points while Nickeil Alexander-Walker tossed in 21. Dyson Daniels added 16 points and 13 rebounds for Atlanta (41-32), which avoided a four-game season sweep at the hands of the Pistons.
Jalen Duren led Detroit (52-20), which had its four-game winning streak snapped, with 26 points and 14 rebounds. Tobias Harris had 22 points and Daniss Jenkins supplied 19 points and 10 assists.
Spurs 123, Grizzlies 98
Victor Wembanyama had 19 points, 15 rebounds and seven blocks as visiting San Antonio dominated from the opening minutes and posted a wire-to-wire victory over injury-riddled Memphis.
Devin Vassell finished with 19 points and seven rebounds for the Spurs, while Keldon Johnson and Stephon Castle scored 15 apiece. San Antonio, which has won 12 of its last 13, is now just two games back of Oklahoma City for the top spot in the Western Conference standings.
GG Jackson had 20 points and seven rebounds to lead Memphis (24-48), which lost for the 12th time in 13 games. Olivier-Maxence Prosper scored 17 points and DeJon Jarreau added 15 for the Grizzlies, who were without Ty Jerome and Jaylen Wells in addition to the numerous players ruled out for the season.
Heat 120, Cavaliers 103
Norman Powell scored 19 points and Bam Adebayo collected 17 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, allowing visiting Miami to beat Cleveland after blowing a 21-point lead.
Tyler Herro added 18 points, and Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Pelle Larsson each scored 14 points for Miami (39-34), which snapped a five-game losing streak and claimed sole possession of eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
Donovan Mitchell scored 28 points in 33 minutes before fouling out for the first time in his career for the fourth-place Cavaliers (45-28). Sam Merrill and James Harden had 18 points apiece, while Keon Ellis scored 17.
Wizards 133, Jazz 110
Julian Reese scored 26 points and collected 17 rebounds to help Washington snap a 16-game losing streak with a victory over Utah in Salt Lake City.
Will Riley added 19 points, 10 rebounds and five assists and Jaden Hardy chipped in 21 points while making five 3-pointers for the Wizards, who never trailed and led by as many as 37 points. Washington shot 55.3% from the field and made 13 3-pointers.
Cody Williams led the Jazz with 24 points, Blake Hinson added 21 points off the bench and Kennedy Chandler chipped in 14 points and eight assists. Utah lost for the third straight time and seventh in the last eight games.
Trail Blazers 130, Bucks 99
Scoot Henderson scored 23 points off the bench and Portland never trailed in a dominating victory over visiting Milwaukee.
Deni Avdija recorded 18 points and seven assists and Jerami Grant also scored 18 points as Portland (37-37) won for the sixth time in its past eight games to remain a half-game back of the eighth spot in the Western Conference standings.
Ryan Rollins scored a career-high 36 points and made six 3-pointers for the Bucks, who played without star forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (left knee) for the fifth straight game and lost for the 12th time in the last 15 games.
Warriors 109, Nets 106
Gui Santos scored a career-high 31 points and Brandin Podziemski added 22 as Golden State rallied to beat Brooklyn in San Francisco.
Golden State won for the third time in its last 11 games, while Brooklyn lost its ninth straight. Kristaps Porzingis had 17 points and 10 rebounds, De’Anthony Melton added 14 points and Gary Payton II scored 10 for the Warriors, who won despite matching a season high with 26 turnovers.
Ziaire Williams led Brooklyn with 19 points and Jalen Wilson had 15. Ben Saraf scored 14 points with seven assists, Malachi Smith added 12 points, Chaney Johnson chipped in 11 and Drake Powell finished with 10.
Clippers 119, Raptors 94
Kawhi Leonard, Darius Garland and Bennedict Mathurin combined for 74 points as Los Angeles routed visiting Toronto in Inglewood, Calif., thanks to a dominant first quarter.
Los Angeles led nearly wire-to-wire on the way to their third consecutive win, building a 14-point lead by the end of the first 12 minutes behind a hot start from Brook Lopez. The veteran center scored 11 of his 14 points in the opening period. The LA bench added 52 points in the game.
Toronto, closing out a 2-3 road swing, could not close the gap to within a single-digit-point margin, shooting just 40 of 96 from the floor. Brandon Ingram, who scored a team-high 18 points, and Jakob Poeltl, who finished with 10 points, were the only Raptors starters to connect at better than a 33% clip.
