Sports

CLEVELAND (AP) — Jaylen Brown scored 23 points and Jayson Tatum had 20 in his second game back from a torn right Achilles, lifting Boston to a win over Cleveland in a battle of Eastern Conference contenders.

Brown also had nine rebounds and eight assists as the Celtics built an 81-55 lead in the third quarter, sweeping their three-game season series with Cleveland. Tatum scored six points in the fourth, finishing 6 of 16 from the field in 27 minutes.

Payton Pritchard added 18 points and Baylor Scheierman had 16 points and 10 rebounds as Boston moved within three games of East-leading Detroit. Neemias Queta grabbed 11 boards.

Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points and Evan Mobley had 24 points and eight rebounds for the fourth-place Cavaliers, who had won a season-high seven straight at home. James Harden had 19 points and 10 assists.

Cleveland, which is 22-9 since Dec. 29, pulled within 94-86 midway through the fourth on Jaylon Tyson’s 3-pointer. Pritchard answered with a 3-pointer and tacked on back-to-back hoops to restore the Celtics’ double-digit lead.

LAKERS 110, KNICKS 97

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Luka Doncic had 35 points and eight rebounds, Austin Reaves added 25 points and Los Angeles overcame LeBron James’ injury absence to grind out a 110-97 victory over New York.

Rui Hachimura scored 13 points for the Lakers, who never trailed the surging Knicks in their fourth consecutive victory even while James missed his second straight game with a bruised left elbow and a left foot injury.

The Lakers slumped in the fourth quarter, managing just one basket in a 6 1/2-minute span down the stretch while New York cut its 23-point deficit to 10. But the Knicks couldn’t hit enough shots to capitalize and committed eight turnovers in the fourth.

Luke Kennard made a 3-pointer with 1:37 left before Doncic iced it on his fifth 3-pointer with 1:05 left.

Karl-Anthony Towns had 25 points and 16 rebounds for the Knicks, who lost for just the second time in six games.

HEAT 121, PISTONS 110

MIAMI (AP) — Tyler Herro scored 25 points, Bam Adebayo had 24 to go over the 10,000-point mark for his career, and Miami beat Detroit to extend the Pistons’ season-worst losing streak to four games.

Jaime Jaquez Jr. had 19 points and seven assists for Miami (36-29), which has won five straight and matched a season best by moving seven games over .500. The Heat are still without Norman Powell (groin) and Nikola Jovic (back), and Andrew Wiggins (toe) was also sidelined.

Adebayo — who added nine rebounds and six assists — entered the night 23 points away from the scoring milestone. He and Dwyane Wade are the only players with 10,000 points in a Heat uniform.

Cade Cunningham finished with 26 points and 10 assists and Jalen Duren scored 24 for the Pistons, whose lead in the Eastern Conference is down to 2 1/2 games over Boston.

RAPTORS 122, MAVERICKS 92

TORONTO (AP) — RJ Barrett scored a season–high 31 points, Scottie Barnes added 17 and Toronto beat struggling Dallas.

Jakob Poeltl had 16 points and 10 rebounds and Sandro Mamukelashvili scored 13 points as the Raptors snapped a four-game losing streak against Dallas.

Daniel Gafford had a season-high 21 points and 11 rebounds, Cooper Flagg scored 17 points and Brandon Williams added 16 but the slumping Mavericks lost their seventh straight and 17th of 19.

Brandon Ingram and Ja’Kobe Walter each scored 11 points, and Immanuel Quickley and Gradey Dick both had 10 as Toronto won for the first time in five home games.

PELICANS 138, WIZARDS 118

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Trey Murphy III scored 24 points, Saddiq Bey added 23 against his former team and New Orleans defeated the reeling Wizards to extend Washington’s losing streak to eight games.

Zion Williamson had 20 points and Dejounte Murray provided 19 for the Pelicans, who outscored Washington 72-44 in the paint.

Trae Young, playing his second game for the Wizards since being traded by Atlanta, had 17 points and eight assists in 18 minutes on the court. It was his 12th game all season.

Wizards rookie Tre Johnson scored 20 points — his fourth time reaching that total. Will Riley added 19.

MAGIC 130, BUCKS 91

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Paolo Banchero scored 33 points and Orlando cruised to a win over Milwaukee, who rested Giannis Antetokounmpo in the second game of a back-to-back.

Jalen Suggs added 20 points and Desmond Bane had 18 for the Magic, who won their fourth straight to remain sixth in the Eastern Conference, one game behind fifth-place Toronto and percentage points ahead of Miami.

Orlando never trailed and led 67-55 at halftime. Early in the fourth quarter, Suggs hit a 3-pointer to start a 12-0 run that extended the Magic’s lead to 26 points. Banchero headed to the bench for good late in the third with Orlando ahead by 31.

Bobby Portis had 18 points and 10 rebounds and Cam Thomas scored 17 for the Bucks, who beat Utah on Saturday night but have lost five of six.

SPURS 145, ROCKETS 120

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Victor Wembanyama had 29 points, De’Aaron Fox had 20 points and 10 assists and San Antonio won their fourth straight, rolling to a victory over Houston.

Stephon Castle added 23 points for San Antonio, which has won 15 of 16.

Kevin Durant and Amen Thompson had 23 points each for Houston, which allowed a season high in points.

The Spurs (47-17) won the season series against the Rockets 3-1 and strengthened their hold on the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.

Houston (39-24) dropped into fourth in the West, a half-game behind Minnesota (40-24) and seven games behind San Antonio in the loss column.

The Rockets, who have alternated wins and losses over their past six games, allowed a season-most 56 points in the paint.

TRAIL BLAZERS 131, INDIANA 111

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Scoot Henderson scored a season-high 28 points on 10-of-15 shooting and Portland beat skidding Indiana.

Jerami Grant and Jrue Holiday added 21 points apiece for the Blazers, who handed Indiana its ninth straight defeat. Henderson also had six assists with no turnovers.

Deni Avdija, who leads Portland in scoring (24.4 points per game) and assists (6.6), returned from a six-game absence caused by a lower back injury. He finished with 18 points and eight assists.

Indiana has dropped its past six games by an average of 20 points. This marks the team’s third losing streak of at least eight games this season.

Pascal Siakam led the Pacers with 22 points and Jay Huff had 16 points and five blocks. Andrew Nembhard added 14 points and nine assists, and Jarace Walker also scored 14.

KINGS 126, BULLS 110

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Russell Westbrook had 23 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds for his NBA-record 208th career triple-double, and Sacramento beat Chicago.

Westbrook shot 7 of 17 with three 3-pointers in 35 minutes. It’s the fourth triple-double of the season for the 37-year-old, who moved within one assist of passing Mark Jackson for sixth on the NBA’s all-time list.

Westbrook’s triple-doubles are an ongoing record for the nine-time All-Star and came six days after he ripped into the Sacramento media for the narrative around the Kings this season.

Denver center and three-time MVP Nikola Jokic has the second-most triple-doubles in the NBA with 181.

SUNS 111, HORNETS 99

PHOENIX (AP) — Devin Booker had 30 points and 10 assists as Phoenix stopped Charlotte's road winning streak at 10 games with a victory.

Booker was 1 for 6 from 3-point range but made all 15 of his free throws.

Collin Gillespie and Jalen Green each scored 24 points for the Suns, who have won four of five. Rasheer Fleming added 16 off the bench, including four 3-pointers.

LaMelo Ball led the Hornets with 22 points. Their road winning streak was the NBA’s longest since the Los Angeles Lakers won 11 straight away from home in 2019-20. Charlotte hadn’t lost on the road since Jan. 17 at Golden State.

The longest road winning streak in NBA history is 16 games, by the 1971-72 Lakers during their league-record 33-game run overall.