Celtics take heated battle over Raptors
Marcus Morris had 25 points and nine rebounds before getting ejected in the closing seconds, and the Boston Celtics rallied to beat the Eastern Conference-leading Toronto Raptors 110-99 on Saturday night.
Jayson Tatum added 24 points, six rebounds and four assists as Boston posted its sixth straight win and moved within two games of Toronto for the top seed in the East.
Both teams have six games remaining. They meet for the final time on Wednesday in Toronto.
Things got heated in the final seconds when four technical fouls were assessed between the teams. Morris was hit with two and was tossed. Toronto’s C.J. Miles and Serge Ibaka received one each.
For Morris, it was his fourth straight game with at least 20 points.
DeMar DeRozan led Toronto with 32 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Ibaka added 15 points and 10 rebounds.
After giving up 24 points in the paint in the first half, the Celtics mixed in some zone defensively in the second half to try to limit the Raptors’ opportunities.
It was effective late, and helped ignite a 10-0 Celtics run that gave them a 104-94 lead with 3:27 left on a layup by Tatum. There were 15 ties and 20 lead changes.
DeRozan extended his franchise record for 30-point games to 92. Toronto’s franchise-record streak of hitting at least 10 3-pointers ended at 17 games.
WIZARDS 107, HORNETS 93 >> John Wall had 15 points and 14 assists in his first game in two months, Otto Porter Jr. had 26 points and 11 rebounds, and Washington beat Charlotte to clinch their fourth playoff berth in five seasons.
Wall, who last played on Jan. 25 and had left knee surgery six days later, made his first shot of the game a 3-pointer from the top of the key and played 33 minutes.
Bradley Beal scored 22 points and hit 6 of 8 3-pointers as the Wizards tied a franchise high with 18 made shots from deep. PISTONS 115, KNICKS 109 >> Andre Drummond narrowly missed a second straight 20-20 game with 22 points and 17 rebounds, and Detroit beat New York for its fourth straight victory. NETS 110, HEAT 109 >> Caris Levert scored with about a half-minute left in overtime to put Brooklyn up for good, Dwyane Wade missed on a play where he thought he got fouled at the buzzer and Brooklyn beat Miami.