Fast-break points spur Brooklyn to victory over Boston
Short-handed Hawks roll past Miami
NEW YORK — Kyrie Irving just missed a triple-double despite an awful shooting night, Joe Harris scored 20 points and the Brooklyn Nets regained first place in the Eastern Conference with a 109-104 victory over the Boston Celtics on Friday night.
Irving had torched his former team for 77 points in 67 minutes in a pair of victories this season, but this time shot just 4 for 19, missing all six of his 3-pointers.
But he scored 15 points, including the finishing free throws with 1.6 seconds left, and added 11 assists, nine rebounds and four steals as the Nets finished a season sweep of the Celtics, just the third in their franchise history.
Jayson Tatum had 38 points and 10 rebounds but was doing it mostly alone in the first half, when he had 25 of the Celtics’ 51 points.
Payton Pritchard (22 points) and Marcus Smart (19) got it going after halftime and each added points, but the Celtics couldn’t overcome 19 turnovers that gave Brooklyn a whopping 32-0 advantage in fast-break points.
Both teams were without two of their three best players. Kevin Durant missed a third straight game with a bruised left thigh, remaining sidelined along with James Harden (right hamstring).
Jaylen Brown missed his second straight game with left shoulder bursitis, while Kemba Walker rested his left knee on the second night of Boston’s backto-back after beating Phoenix on Thursday.
Boston cut Brooklyn’s 17-point lead to 98-95 with about 3½ minutes left after consecutive 3-pointers by Pritchard and Tatum. But Harris answered with a 3-pointer and Irving passed ahead to Jeff Green for a dunk to quickly push the lead back to eight.
Green had 19 points for Brooklyn, which won for only the third time in six games. But that’s good enough to move back ahead of idle Philadelphia, which has dropped three in a row.
CLIPPERS 109, ROCKETS 104: In Houston, Paul George had 33 points and 14 rebounds and Los Angeles shook off an 11-point third quarter to beat Houston for its fourth straight victory.
The Clippers were 5 of 22 from the field and 0 for 6 from 3-point range in the third to fall behind 80-76. Reggie Jackson hit three straight 3s early in the fourth as part of an 11-2 run that helped Los Angeles regain the lead. Jackson finished with 19 points.
John Wall had 27 points and 13 assists for Houston. Christian Wood had 24 points and 19 rebounds, and Kelly Olynyk 23 points and 10 rebounds.
The Rockets have lost eight of their last nine and 13 of their last 15. Houston is 4-34 since Feb. 4.
WIZARDS 129, THUNDER 109: In Oklahoma City, Russell Westbrook had another triple-double in his return to Oklahoma City, and Washington won its seventh straight.
Westbrook had 37 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists — his fourth straight triple-double and his 14th in 16 games. Westbrook has 174 triple-doubles in his career and is closing in on Oscar Robertson’s career record of 181. .
WARRIORS 118, NUGGETS 97: In San Francisco, Stephen Curry scored 32 points, Draymond Green had 19 assists and 12 rebounds, and Golden State welcomed back fans for the first time since the pandemic began by beating Denver.
Nikola Jokic scored 19 points for Denver in a matchup of MVP candidates with Curry, who received a rare technical with 33.7 seconds left in the third when he wanted a foul call. Michael Porter Jr. led the Nuggets with 26 points, hitting seven 3-pointers.
GRIZZLIES 130, TRAIL BLAZERS 128: In Portland, Ore., Ja Morant had 33 points and 13 assists and Memphis handed Portland their fourth straight loss .
Dillon Brooks added 25 points for Memphis, which snapped a two-game losing streak.
Damian Lillard overcame a slow start and finished with 27 points, and Jusuf Nurkic added 26 points and a season-high 17 rebounds.
Portland has lost six of its last seven..
HORNETS 108, CAVALIERS 102: In Charlotte, N.C., Miles Bridges had 25 points and 10 rebounds and Charlotte overcame a 10-point second-half deficit to get past Cleveland.
P.J. Washington and Terry Rozier also each had 25 points for the Hornets.
Collin Sexton had 28 points for the Cavaliers.
HAWKS 118, HEAT 103: In Atlanta, Bogdan Bogdanovich scored 21 points, John Collins added 20 and injury-depleted Atlanta surprised Miami.
Atlanta played without its two best players, leading scorer Trae Young and NBA rebounding leader Clint Capela.