Irving, Brown lead Celtics to overtime win over Wizards
WASHINGTON » Kyrie Irving scored 12 of Boston’s last 17 points and finished with 28 to help the Celtics remain in sole possession of the Eastern Conference lead with a 110-104 overtime victory over the Washington Wizards on Thursday night.
Jaylen Brown added five of his 18 points in overtime for Boston. The Celtics have won five of six, and remained a game ahead of Toronto in the race for the East’s top playoff seed after the Raptors win over New York earlier Thursday.
Otto Porter had 27 points and 11 rebounds for Washington, and Bradley Beal had 18 points and matched his career high with nine assists.
But as John Wall remains sidelined following knee surgery, the Wizards committed 22 turnovers and shot just 2 for 12 in the overtime period, dropping their second straight game after winning five straight.
Irving went 9 of 10 from the foul line in his second game back from a thigh injury. And after Boston allowed Washington to come back from a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit, he tied it from the line in the late seconds on three made foul shots after luring Markieff Morris into a foul on a 3-point attempt. RAPTORS 113, KNICKS 88» Jonas Valanciunas had 18 points and 10 rebounds, Pascal Siakam added 14 points and a career-high six assists and Toronto beat New York.
New York played its first game since losing All-Star forward Kristaps Porzingis to a torn left ACL in Tuesday’s loss to Milwaukee.
Serge Ibaka and Jakob Poeltl scored 13 points, Delon Wright and C.J. Miles each had 11, and Fred VanVleet 10 as the Raptors won their fifth straight home meeting with the Knicks. MAGIC 100, HAWKS 98 » Evan Fournier scored 22 points, D.J. Augustin added 16 points and nine assists, and Orlando held on to beat Atlanta.
Marreese Speights added 14 points and Jonathon Simmons had 13 for the Magic.
Warriors’ Green fined $50,000
OAKLAND » Golden State forward Draymond Green was fined $50,000 by the NBA on Thursday for directing inappropriate and offensive language toward a game official two days earlier, and he was hardly the only member of the Warriors to lose his cool.
Green was ejected with 8:13 remaining in the game after a second technical for arguing with the officials, specifically female referee Lauren Holtkamp. The NBA said the specific incident for which he was penalized came in the second quarter of the Warriors’ 125-105 home loss to Oklahoma City on Tuesday night.
The defending champion Warriors had five technicals in all, prompting general manager Bob Myers to address the topic with the team Thursday ahead of a home game against Dallas.
“With great expectations comes great scrutiny. So how do we live in that? What’s the best way to be in that?” Myers said. “So, empathetic toward the role and the place they have in all this as players as the most visible parts of our organization, the most important parts. Just kind of bringing that out and reminding them.”
Celtics sign Monroe
BOSTON » The Celtics signed free agent center Greg Monroe in their lone move at the trade deadline on Thursday.
Monroe was waived last week by Phoenix after being traded from Milwaukee in November.
He is averaging 10.4 this season. points and 7.4 rebounds