Celtics’ Walker returns from neck injury, scores 39

Kemba Walker returned from a neck injury to score a season-high 39 points — to the delight of the crowd that came to taunt the person he replaced — and Boston beat the Brooklyn Nets 121-110 Wednesday on a night the fans seemed more interested in taunting former Celtics point guard Kyrie Irving.

Missing one game after leaving the court on a stretcher wearing a neck brace following a head-totorso collision with Semi Ojeleye, Walker had 13 points in the third quarter, when Boston scored nine straight to turn a one-point deficit into a 91-83 lead. Jaylen Brown added 22 points and 10 rebounds, and Jayson Tatum had 16 points and nine boards to help the Celtics improved to 7-0 at home.

Garrett Temple scored 22 points, and Joe Harris had 21 for Brooklyn, which made a season-high 21 of the 56 3-point shots it attempted. Jarrett Allen had 17 points and 14 rebounds, and Spencer Dinwiddie had 16 points and 11 assists.

Brooklyn led 83-82 with just over 3 minutes left in the third when the Celtics scored the next nine points before Temple made a 3 to close out the third quarter. Boston led 104-101 in the fourth before scoring 17 of the next 24 points — nine of them from Walker.

The crowd might have bought tickets to heckle Irving on his return, but earlier in the week it was reported that he wouldn’t play in the game. Irving did not make the trip, but that didn’t slow down the fans who came to let him know how they feel. 76ERS 97, KINGS 91 >> Joel Embiid rebounded from the worst game of his career with 33 points and 16 rebounds to lead Philadelphia past Sacramento.

Embiid was scoreless Monday night in a 101-96 loss at Toronto. Against the Kings, he scored the first points of the game with an emphatic dunk 23 seconds in and had some key points late in the game to help Philadelphia improve to 8-0 at home. He finished 10 of 19 from the field and 12 of 14 from the free-throw line.

PACERS 121, JAZZ 102 >> Domantas Sabonis and T.J. Warren each scored 23 points and Malcolm Brogdon added 22 to help Indiana beat Utah for its fourth straight victory. Sabonis also had 12 rebounds. Bojan Bogdanovic had 30 points in his first trip back to Indiana since leaving the team as a free agent last summer. Donovan Mitchell added 26 points, and Rudy Gobert had 14 points and 13 rebounds after missing the previous two games with a sprained left ankle.