Celtics top Mavs in OT, win 16th straight
DALLAS — Kyrie Irving scored 10 of his season-high 47 points in overtime as the Boston Celtics rallied once again from a double-digit deficit to beat the Dallas Mavericks 110-102 and extend their winning streak to 16 games.
The Mavericks led by as many as 13 points in the fourth quarter, but, as they have several times during their winning streak, the Celtics stormed back.
The winning streak ties the fourth longest in Celtics history.
Boston tied the game at 96 when Irving stole the ball from Dirk Nowitzki and fed Jayson Tatum for an alley-oop layup that hung on the rim for a full second before dropping through.
Irving scored his team’s first six points of overtime. Then, after Jaylen Brown gave Boston a 104-102 lead with a jumper with 1:39 to play, Irving went to work on Yogi Ferrell, backing him down and drawing contact on a layup with 48.5 seconds to play. Though Irving missed the free throw to keep the score 106-102, Dallas never got closer.
CAVALIERS 116, PISTONS 88
LeBron James scored 16 of his 18 points in the first quarter as Cleveland made 11 3-pointers in the first half on the way to a rout at Detroit.
Cleveland led 73-46 at halftime thanks to an overwhelming shooting performance, an indication that Detroit’s stay atop the Central Division might not last much longer.
HORNETS 118, T-WOLVES 102
Dwight Howard had 25 points and 20 rebounds, and Charlotte defeated visiting Minnesota.
Howard, acquired in an offseason trade from Atlanta, was 8-for-10 from the field and 9-of-14 at the foul line, where he has struggled all season.
PELICANS 114, THUNDER 107
Anthony Davis had 36 points and 15 rebounds, and New Orleans rallied after DeMarcus Cousins’ ejection for a flagrant foul on Russell Westbrook to top visiting Oklahoma City.
76ERS 107, JAZZ 86
Ben Simmons scored 27 points, a fired-up Joel Embiid added 15 points and 10 rebounds despite a sore knee, and host Philadelphia beat a cold-shooting Utah, which was 35.3 percent from the field.
SPURS 96, HAWKS 85
LaMarcus Aldridge had 22 points and 11 rebounds as San Antonio held off visiting Atlanta.
Atlanta lost its 20th straight game in San Antonio, a skid spanning 20 years.
WIZARDS 99, BUCKS 88
Bradley Beal scored 23 points to lead Washington to a win at Milwaukee, which was without coach Jason Kidd, who missed the game following the birth of his daughter.
KNICKS 107, CLIPPERS 85
Kristaps Porzingis scored 25 points as New York extended visiting Los Angeles’ losing streak to nine games.
PACERS 105, MAGIC 97
Victor Oladipo had 29 points, nine rebounds and seven steals to lead visiting Indiana past Orlando for its fourth straight win.
BLAZERS 100, GRIZZLIES 92
C. J. McCollum scored 24 points, and Damian Lillard added 21 points as visiting Portland sent Memphis to its fifth straight loss.
NUGGETS 114, KINGS 98
Will Barton and Trey Lyles made two 3-pointers apiece during a big run in the third quarter as Denver pulled away to win at Sacramento.