< Jaylen Brown
celebrates his 3-pointer during the Celtics’ 110-89 win over the Knicks on Tuesday night. Brown scored 23 points.
Celtics 110, Knicks 89
Jaylen Brown scored 23 points, Jayson Tatum added 22 and Boston beat New York on Tuesday night. Kyrie Irving added 20 points and seven assists. Al Horford finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds. After dropping their first two games to open the season, the Celtics have won two straight. The Knicks remain winless through their first three games. Enes Kanter led New York with 16 points and 19 rebounds. But he got most of them in a first half in as his team struggled mightily from the field. The Knicks scored the first basket of the night, but never led again. They shot just 42 percent and went 1 of 12 from the 3-point line. Boston played without guard Marcus Smart, who sat out his second straight game with a sprained left ankle. But they didn't need him. The Celtics played like a team coming off four days' rest, taking as much as a 25-point lead late in the second quarter. New York never recovered. Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said before the game that Tim Hardaway Jr. had been playing through an ankle injury. He took a couple of hard spills, but still logged 28 minutes. He finished with six points, connecting on just 2 of his 11 shots. Kanter had 16 rebounds in the first half.
Cavaliers 119, Bulls 112
LeBron James scored 34 points in a rare start at point guard and Cleveland, using another early season lineup, awakened after a sluggish first half and beat Chicago. Although he often handles the ball and runs Cleveland's offense, James had not officially been listed as a guard since 2012 with Miami. He added 13 assists, including a no-look, behindthe-back dish to Jae Crowder for a 3-pointer during Cleveland's 15-3 spurt in the third quarter. Kevin Love had 20 points and 12 rebounds, and Dwyane Wade, who asked Cavs coach Tyronn Lue to take him out of the starting lineup, came off the bench and added 11 points. Justin Holiday scored 25 and rookie Lauri Markkanen 19 for Chicago, which made a season-high 17 3-pointers. The 7-foot Markkanen became the first player in NBA history to make 10 3-pointers in his first three career games. Cleveland trailed 92-91 entering the fourth before Love dropped a 3 and Kyle Korver made a pair of 3s in 33 seconds. Chicago closed within six in the final two minutes, but the Cavs came up with two offensive rebounds to reset the shot clock before James took Markkanen to the hole and dropped a left-handed layup to make it 118-110. The Cavs were coming off an embarrassing loss to Orlando and their defense was atrocious in the first half, when the Bulls made 12 3-pointers and scored 65 points — 12 less than in their previous game. Lue has been experimenting with lineups and combinations because of new players and injuries. He trotted out another new starting five — his third in three games — against the Bulls, moving James from small forward to the point, and starting Tristan Thompson at center so Love wouldn't have to guard 7-foot-1 Robin Lopez the entire game.
Magic 125, Nets 121
Aaron Gordon scored a career-high 41 points, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 35 seconds remaining, and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead Orlando to a victory over Brooklyn. Evan Fournier added 28 points in game that went back and forth late in the fourth quarter. He finished the scoring with two free throws with 15.5 seconds to play. D'Angelo Russell scored 27 points for the Nets, while DeMarre Carroll had 19 and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson 18.
Pacers 130, Timberwolves 107
Victor Oladipo scored 28 points and Cory Joseph added 21 to lead hot-shooting Indiana past Minnesota. Darren Collison had 15 points and 16 assists, Bojan Bogdanovic scored 19 points and Domantas Sabonis had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Pacers, who shot 67 percent from the floor. Karl-Anthony Towns had 28 points and seven rebounds for the Timberwolves. Minnesota was missing forward Jimmy Butler, who sat out with an upper respiratory infection. Shabazz Muhammad took Butler's spot in the starting lineup, and he contributed to Minnesota's slow start, going 1-for-5 from the floor and missing two free throws in the first quarter.