Brown 50, Celtics conjure up magic
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Los Angeles, Jan. Jaylen Brown scored a career-high 50 points and the Boston Celtics needed all of them in a 116-111 NBA overtime victory over the Orlando Magic on Sunday.
Brown scored 21 points in the fourth quarter, helping the Celtics rally from 14 down with 4:20 left in regulation.
He opened overtime with his fifth three-pointer of the contest, adding 11 rebounds, four assists and a blocked shot.
“I was just trying to be aggressive the entire time. My teammates encouraged me to take the shots. I feel like I took some good looks and they went down tonight,” said Brown, whose previous careerhigh was 46 against the New York Knicks on October 20.
Brown’s layup with 38 seconds left in regulation knotted the score at 98-98.
He scored again to put Boston up 100-98 with 30 seconds left, but Tim Frazier scored for Orlando to force overtime.
Boston had led 45-42 at halftime after leading by as many as 14 before the break. But the Magic surged in the second half, outscoring Boston 35-20 in the third quarter to take a 77-65 lead into the final frame.
SUNS STING HORNETS
The Phoenix Suns, trying to keep pace with the Golden State Warriors atop the Western Conference despite having four players and coach Monty Williams in Covid protocols, thrashed the Hornets in Charlotte 133-99.
Devin Booker scored 24 points and Jalen Smith tied his career-high with 19 points and 12 rebounds as the Suns improved to 28-8
— half a game behind the Warriors for the best record in the league.
Phoenix, who had lost three of their previous four games, drained 17 three-pointers and outrebounded the Hornets 52-35.
LeBron James cooled off a bit in Los Angeles, scoring a relatively modest 26 points in the Lakers’ 108103 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
DONCIC BACK FOR DALLAS
Dallas star Luka Doncic, returning from a 10-game absence, came up just shy of a triple-double with 14 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds in the Mavericks’ 95-86 victory over the Thunder in Oklahoma City.
Doncic missed five games with an ankle injury, then missed five more over Covid.
Oklahoma City rookie Josh Giddey became the youngest NBA player to post a triple-double with 17 points, 14 assists and 13 rebounds. Giddey, at 19 years, two months and 23 days old surpassed LaMelo Ball as the youngest player with a triple-double.
Elsewhere, the Cleveland Cavaliers ended a threegame skid with a 108-104 victory over Indiana Pacers.