Celtics overcome Beal’s 44 points

BOSTON 140 WASHINGTON 133

Jayson Tatum was so disappointed in his last game that he went to the team’s practice facility later that night to work on his shooting.

The Boston Celtics forward could go straight home on Wednesday.

Tatum followed up his historically bad shooting performance by scoring 23 points, and Kemba Walker had 25 to help the Celtics overcome 44 points from Bradley Beal and beat Washington 140-133 for Boston’s ninth straight victory.

Tatum was one for 18 in the victory over Dallas on Monday and then posted on Instagram a video of himself back at the team’s practice facility, saying, “1-18 gotta be able to laugh at ya self sometime.” On Wednesday, he was nine for 20, going one for five from three-point range.

“Before the game, I’m like, ‘Every night’s not gonna be the best night. It’s all about the bounce back.’ And he bounced back tonight,” Walker said. “I love the way he works on off days to improve his game. We need that kid. We need him a lot, man.”

at Minnesota 129, San Antonio 114:

Andrew Wiggins had 30 points on 12-for-23 shooting and the Timberwolves handed the Spurs their third straight loss. Karl-Anthony Towns scored 28 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, giving Minnesota’s maximum-contract duo a third consecutive game with 25plus points apiece.

at Orlando 112, Philadelphia 97:

Nikola Vucevic had 25 points and 12 rebounds and the Magic used a big fourth quarter to win. Josh Richardson led the 76ers with 19 points, and Ben Simmons added 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists. 76ers center Joel Embiid sat out because of a sore left knee.

Memphis 119, at Charlotte 117:

Rookie Ja Morant scored on a driving left-handed layup with 0.7 seconds left to lift the Grizzlies. In his first NBA game in the Carolinas, Morant had his first double-double with 23 points and 11 assists to help the Grizzlies win consecutive games for the first time this season. The South Carolina native was 10 of 15 from the field.

Toronto 114, at Portland 106:

Pascal Siakam scored 36 points and Fred VanVleet had 30 to lift the Raptors. Siakam scored 13 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter to help Toronto bounce back from Monday night's loss to the Clippers.

at Houston 102, Clippers 93

at Lakers 120, Golden State 94