Celtics never trail, throttle Raptors
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Jaylen Brown scored 20 points, Jayson Tatum added 18, and the Boston Celtics never trailed on the way to an emphatic 122-100 win over the Toronto Raptors on Friday.
Kemba Walker scored 17 points in 23 minutes for the Celtics, who led by 40 at one point and kept slim hope alive of catching the Raptors for the No. 2 spot in the Eastern Conference postseason race. Boston also won the season series against Toronto, taking three of the four meetings.
Fred Vanvleet scored 13 for Toronto, which got 11 from Kyle Lowry and 11 more from Pascal Siakam. The Raptors’ starters — Vanvleet, Lowry, Siakam, Marc Gasol and OG Anunoby — combined to shoot 16-for-45 (36 percent) from the field, including 3-for-19 (16 percent) from 3-point range.
Toronto’s biggest deficit in its first three games in the bubble was six points against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Raptors trailed Miami by three and then didn’t trail Orlando at any point Wednesday.
Five minutes into this one, the Raptors were down eight.
The biggest deficit Toronto had faced this season was a 30-point hole against Dallas on Dec. 22, a game in which the Raptors rallied to win. The Celtics didn’t allow anything close to a rally Friday.
It was 91-57 entering the fourth, and the Raptors went with subs the rest of the way. Making the night even worse for Toronto: Forward Serge Ibaka left early in the fourth after get
ting hit in the face on a drive by Boston’s Gordon Hayward.
■ Grizzlies 121, Thunder 92: Findlay Prep product Dillon Brooks scored 22 points for Memphis, which shot 55 percent in its first win since the season restart.
Jonas Valanciunas had 19 points and 11 rebounds and Ja Morant 19 points and 19 assists for the Grizzlies, who avoided falling into a tie with Portland for eighth place in the West.
Chris Paul scored 17 points for Oklahoma City, which wasted an 18-point first-quarter lead and trailed 63-60 at halftime.
■ Spurs 119, Jazz 111: Derrick White had 24 points and Jakob Poeltl 19 points and 10 rebounds for San Antonio, which moved into sole possession of 10th place in the West, a halfgame ahead of Phoenix.
Reserve Jordan Clarkson scored 24 points to lead Utah, which was missing five players — including three starters — and shot 41.8 percent.
Rudy Gay scored 10 of his 14 points in the third quarter, helping the Spurs open a 16-point lead.
■ Nets 119, Kings 106: Caris Levert had 22 points and Jarrett Allen 17 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists for Brooklyn, which clinched a playoff berth.
Joe Harris scored 21 points on 8-for-11 shooting for the Nets, who led 63-53 at halftime and are 3-2 since the season restart.
Bogdan Bogdanovich scored 27 points and De’aaron Fox 21 for Sacramento, which is 1-4 since the restart.
■ 76ers 108, Magic 101: Tobias Harris had 23 points and 15 rebounds and Joel Embiid 23 points and 13 rebounds for Philadelphia, which improved to 3-1 since the season restart.
Alec Burks scored 22 points and Al Horford 21 for the Sixers, who were without All-star guard Ben Simmons (dislocated kneecap).
Evan Fournier had 22 points and Nikola Vucevic 21 points and 12 rebounds for Orlando, which lost its third straight since opening the restart 2-0.
■ Pelicans 118, Wizards 107: Jrue Holiday scored 28 points for New Orleans, which moved 2½ games behind eighth-place Memphis in the West and 1½ games behind ninth-place Portland.
The Pelicans were without top draft pick Zion Williamson, held out in the second game of a back-to-back to manage his recovery from a right meniscus tear.
Rui Hachimura scored 23 points and Thomas Bryant 22 for Washington, which is 0-5 since the season restart.