Jayson Tatum had 28 points and 10 rebounds, Jaylen Brown finished with 20 points and eight rebounds and the visiting Boston Celtics raced to beat the Denver Nuggets 105-87 on Sunday.
Marcus Smart and Kemba Walker each scored 14 and Robert Williams III scored 10 points for the Celts, who went on a 31-3 run in the third and fourth quarters.
Nikola Jokic had 17 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds, Michael Porter Jr. had 22 points and 11 rebounds for Denver. The Nuggets’ eight-game winning streak was snapped.
Denver led 79-65 with 2:17 left in the third quarter, but the Celts took control of that point. Walker scored seven points, Brown had six to get Boston within a point early in the fourth quarter, and Romeo Langford hit two free throws to give the Celtics an 80-79 lead, their first of the game.
Hawks 105, Hornets 101
Lou Williams scored on a groundbreaking drive for shorthand Atlanta with 58 seconds left as the Hawks picked up a win in Charlotte.
Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 32 points, making eight 3-point shots, and Clint Capela had 20 points and 15 rebounds for the Hawks, who moved ahead of Charlotte and into fourth place in the Eastern Conference.
Charlotte didn’t score in the final two minutes as the Hawks ended the game on a 16-4 run, including Williams’ basket, which put Atlanta at 103-101 lead. Miles Bridges topped the Hornets with 23 points.
Knicks 102, Birds of Prey 96
Julius Randle finished with 26 points, eight rebounds and five assists in holding New York to end a nine-game, head-to-head losing streak against Toronto.
The Knicks won their second in a row despite letting an 18-point, third-quarter lead slip away against the Raptors, who had won the last four meetings between the teams at Madison Square Garden.
RJ Barrett finished with 19 points and five assists for the Knicks. Coming off a career-high 44 points in his previous game, Gary Trent Jr. led the Raptors again with 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting. Kyle Lowry totaled 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
Heat 107, Trail Blazers 98
Miami held Damian Lillard, who started the night in third place in the NBA while scoring at 29 points per game, to just 12 points in beating Portland.
Lillard made just 3 of 10 shots from the floor in 37 minutes in his lowest-rated game of the season. CJ McCollum and Norman Powell led the Trail Blazers with 17 each.
Miami was led by Bam Adebayo, who had a game-high 22 points. Jimmy Butler added 20 points. Butler also had game highlights in assists (five) and steals (four).
Pelicans 116, Cavaliers 109
Zion Williamson scored 38 points while visiting New Orleans caught Cleveland.
Williamson made 16 of 22 field goals shooting 6 of 8 from the free throw line. Brandon Ingram added 27 points and rookie Naji Marshall scored a season-high 15 as the Pelicans won their sixth straight game against the Cavaliers.
Dean Wade led Cleveland with a career-high 21 points, rookie Isaac Okoro had a season-high 19, Kevin Love added 19 and Cedi Osman scored 15.
Bucks 124, Magic 87
Khris Middleton collected 21 points and eight rebounds while visiting Milwaukee to victory over Orlando.
Middleton made 8 of 13 shots from the floor in his return from a one-game absence from a sore right knee. He was not alone, as Jrue Holiday (bruised left knee), Donte DiVincenzo (bruised right hip) and Brook Lopez (sore back) returned after sitting out Milwaukee’s loss to ‘ r Hornets on Friday.
Bobby Portis recorded 16 points and 10 rebounds and Holiday added 12 points and seven assists for the Bucks, who grabbed a three-game skid despite playing without Giannis Antetokounmpo (sore left knee). Orlando’s Mo Bamba highlighted his career-high 21 points by shooting 5 of 6 from 3-point range.
Clippers 131, Pistons 124
Los Angeles completed a 7-2 homestand on a winning note, but not without a fight from Detroit, an Eastern Conference cellar resident, who stayed close until the final three minutes.
Marcus Morris Sr led the Clippers with 33 points, while Paul George finished with 32 points and nine assists.
The Pistons, who completed the Western Conference road trip at 2-3, got 26 points from Josh Jackson and 25 from Saddiq Bey.
Spurs 119, Mavericks 117
DeMar DeRozan scored 33 points, including the deciding jumper with one second to play, to lift visiting San Antonio to a victory over Dallas that snapped a five-game losing streak.
Dejounte Murray added 25 points for the Spurs, who played the first of a back-to-back road that continues on Orlando on Monday.
Kristaps Porzingis scored 31 points and took 15 rebounds for Dallas before fouling out with 1:14 to play. Luka Doncic added 29 points for the Mavericks, who have lost two of their last three.
Pacers 132, Grizzlies 125
Caris LeVert scored 34 points, Malcolm Brogdon added 29 and a visit to Indiana never resulted in his victory over Memphis.
LeVert shot 14 of 20 from the floor on his way to his highest total since joining the Pacers on March 13, and his 34 points represented his second-highest output of the season.
Jonas Valanciunas matched a career high with 34 points and grabbed 22 rebounds, 12 of which came on the offensive end.
Timberwolves 121, Bulls 117
Karl-Anthony Towns recorded 27 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists to help Minnesota beat Chicago in Minneapolis.
D’Angelo Russell also scored 27 points and his linebacker Naz Reid had 18 points for Minnesota. Ricky Rubio made five 3-pointers while adding 17 points and nine assists for the Timberwolves.
Zach LaVine registered 30 points, seven rebounds and six assists and Nikola Vucevic scored 18 points for the Bulls, who lost for the 10th time in the last 14 games.
—Field Media Media