Irving scores 31 to lead Celtics
The Celtics are back from the break and appear to be back on track.
Kyrie Irving had 31 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, leading Boston over the New York Knicks 121-112 at Madison Square Garden on Saturday for its second victory in two nights since the All-Star break.
“Certainly we can build off of that, but we’re not in it for two games, we’re in it for the last 23,” coach Brad Stevens said.
Irving scored 15 points in a dazzling third quarter and then helped the Celtics finish it off with his passing in the fourth, highlighted by a behind-the-back dish to Jaylen Brown for a dunk.
Brown had 24 points for the Celtics, who went into the break with three straight losses but came back with a victory in Detroit on Friday.
The slump cost the Celtics the top spot in the Eastern Conference. They trail Toronto by a half-game. Trail Blazers 106, Suns 104: Damian Lillard scored 40 points, the last two on a driving, left-handed layup with nine-tenths of a second to play, and visiting Portland rallied from 15 down in the final 7½ minutes to hand Phoenix its ninth straight loss and 14th in the Suns’ past 15 games. Lillard scored 19 points in the fourth quarter. Devin Booker scored 30 for the Suns.
Heat 115, Grizzlies 89: Tyler Johnson scored 23 points to lead six players in double figures, and host Miami stopped a three-game slide with a win over reeling Memphis. The Grizzlies lost their ninth game in a row, the longest active streak in the NBA. The Heat, scrambling for a playoff berth, managed to win for only the second time in the past 10 games.
Timberwolves 122, Bulls
104: Jeff Teague scored 25 points, Andrew Wiggins added 23 and host Minnesota — playing its first game since All-Star Jimmy Butler was injured — beat Chicago. Zach LaVine scored 21 to lead the Bulls in his first return to Target Center since the blockbuster offseason trade that sent Butler to Minnesota.
Lakers 113, Kings 108: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope shot 8-for-14 from beyond the arc on his way to a season-high 34 points as visiting Los Angeles beat Sacramento. Jazz 97, Mavericks 90: Donovan Mitchell had 25 points, five rebounds and five assists as host Utah won for the 12th time in 13 games. J.J. Barea scored 17 for lowly Dallas.
76ers 116, Magic 105: Joel Embiid had 28 points and 14 rebounds and visiting Philadelphia extended its seasonhigh win streak to seven.