Tatum, Boston run over Milwaukee
Boston’s Jayson Tatum scored 20 of his 41 points in the third quarter, and Jaylen Brown knocked down his shots — and knocked down Giannis Antetokounmpo — in the fourth on Sunday to help the host Celtics beat the Milwaukee Bucks 139118 in a matchup of the top two teams in the NBA.
Brown scored 13 of his 29 in the fourth, and Antetokounmpo lost his temper after a hard pick sent him to the floor and retaliated by shoving the Celtics AllStar. Antetokounmpo, who fell hard on his hand on Friday night but was cleared to start, was given a technical foul and went to the bench; the teams played the last 3:41 without further incident.
Antetokounmpo added 27 points and had nine rebounds for Milwaukee, and Jrue Holiday scored 23.
Boston pulled away in the third, opening up a double-digit lead that Milwaukee only briefly chipped into.
Mavericks 124, Lakers 115: Luka Doncic scored 32 points, Tim Hardaway Jr. had 16 of his 26 points in a huge third quarter for Dallas and the Mavericks beat visiting Los Angeles.
Dallas took its first lead during a 51-point third quarter, the highest-scoring quarter on Christmas in NBA history and a league-best this season. Golden State and Orlando have each had a 50-point quarter.
76ers 119, Knicks 112: Joel Embiid scored 35 points, James Harden had 29 points and 13 assists and visiting Philadelphia blew by New York in the final quarter, extending its winning streak to eight games.
The Sixers never led through three quarters, then outscored the Knicks 24-9 to open the fourth to turning a one-point deficit into a 116-102 lead.