Thomas and Celtics take down LeBron and Cavs
Jokic has another triple-double
BOSTON — Isaiah Thomas scored 31 points, including the go-ahead free throws, as the Boston Celtics outlasted LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers 103-99 on Wednesday night.
Boston’s win overshadowed the seventh tripledouble of the season for James, who finished with 28 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists. Kyrie Irving added 28 points for the Cavaliers, who lost for the first time when leading at any point in the fourth quarter on the road.
The game marked the third meeting this season between the top two teams in the Eastern Conference, and the first win by the Celtics.
Deron Williams, signed by Cleveland earlier this week, scored four points in 24 minutes in his Cavaliers debut. NUGGETS 110, BUCKS 98: In Milwaukee, Nikola Jokic had his second tripledouble in two nights to lead Denver over Milwaukee.
Jokic finished with 13 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists for his fourth career triple-double — all in his last 13 games.
Danilo Gallinari scored 22 points for Denver, which built a 31-point lead despite playing without point guard Jameer Nelson (illness) for the first time this season.
The Nuggets, coming off a victory Tuesday at Chicago, have won backto-back road games for the first time this season. They’ve also won consecutive games for the first time since taking three straight Jan. 24-28.
Khris Middleton had a season-high 21 points to go with five rebounds and five assists for the Bucks.
WIZARDS 105, RAPTORS 96: In Toronto, Bojan Bogdanovic had 27 points off the bench and Bradley Beal added 23 as Washington snapped an eight-game losing streak against Toronto.
SPURS 100, PACERS
99: In San Antonio, Texas, Kawhi Leonard had 31 points and 10 rebounds, and San Antonio returned from an eight-game road trip to beat Indiana.
HAWKS 100, MAVERICKS 95: In Atlanta, Paul Millsap scored with 30.5 seconds remaining and Atlanta held off Dallas.
After Millsap’s basket put the Hawks ahead 96-95, Harrison Barnes missed a chance to put the Mavericks back in front. His jumper was off the mark with Kent Bazemore in his face. Ersan Ilyasova was fouled going for the rebound and made both free throws with 11.1 seconds left.
Dallas still had a chance to force overtime, but Seth Curry slipped on the inbounds pass and Bazemore scooped up the loose ball, taking off the other way for a dunk that clinched the victory.
Millsap had 18 points and just missed a triple-double, dishing out 10 assists to go with eight rebounds. Ilyasova also finished with 18 points.
Barnes led the Mavericks with 25 points. HEAT 125, 76ERS 98: In Miami, Tyler Johnson scored 24 points off the bench, and Miami never trailed in a win over
Philadelphia.
Wayne Ellington made six 3-pointers for 18 points for Miami, which has won 10 of its past 11 at home. Hassan Whiteside, Dion Waiters and Goran Dragic all scored 15 for the Heat, and Whiteside also grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.
Robert Covington scored 19 for the 76ers, who learned earlier Wednesday that center Joel Embiid will miss the remainder of the season with a left knee injury.
In New Orleans, Anthony Davis had 33 points and 14 rebounds, and New Orleans snapped a threegame skid with a victory over Detroit.
Pistons 6-foot-11 center Andre Drummond was ejected for swatting at the back of 6-1 Pelicans guard Tim Frazier’s head after Frazier had ripped away a rebound late in the third quarter. Drummond had 13 points and 17 rebounds to that point, but also missed nine of 10 free throws.
Jrue Holiday had 22 points for the Pelicans, who were without newly acquired All-Star DeMarcus Cousins because of Cousins’ one-game suspension that was triggered when he received his 18th technical foul of this season on Sunday night. KNICKS 101, MAGIC 90: In Orlando, Fla., Kristaps Porzingis had 20 points and nine rebounds, and Derrick Rose scored 19 to help New York cruise past Orlando. T-WOLVES 107, JAZZ 80: In Salt Lake City, KarlAnthony Towns had 21 points and 15 rebounds to lead Minnesota over Utah.