8TH STRAIGHT WIN FOR CELTICS
Kemba Walker’s fourth quarter outburst powers the Boston Celtics past Dallas Mavericks
KEMBA Walker made a trio of key 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and finished with 29 points, Jaylen Brown added 25 points and 11 rebounds, and Boston beat the Dallas Mavericks 116106 Monday night (Tuesday, PHL time) in the Celtics’ first game since Gordon Hayward had surgery on his broken left hand.
Marcus Smart scored 17 points, Daniel Theis chipped in with 11 and Brad Wanamaker had 10 for Boston, which won its eighth straight game since a season-opening loss at Philadelphia.
Jayson Tatum shot 1 for 18 from the field and scored only five points for the Celtics.
Luka Doncic led the Mavericks (6-4) with 34 points, nine assists and six rebounds. Kristaps Porzingis scored just four points on 1-of-11 shooting.
The Celtics released a statement during the opening quarter that said Hayward had surgery Monday to repair a fracture in his non-shooting hand. He was injured during their previous game in San Antonio when he collided with LaMarcus Aldridge as the Spurs’ big man set a screen.
ROCKETS 122, PELICANS 116
James Harden scored 39 points, including 13 straight during a 2:10 span in the fourth quarter and Houston beat short-handed New Orleans.
Russell Westbrook had 26 points and Clint Capela added 11 points and 20 rebounds to help the Rockets to their fourth straight win.
JJ Redick had 24 points, Josh Hart scored 19, and Jrue Holiday added 18 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds for the Pelicans, who played without leading scorer Brandon Ingram due to a sore right knee.
New Orleans pulled to 97-93 on a four-point play by Redick before Harden’s scoring burst in a 2:10 span gave the Rockets a 110-93 lead with 5:20 left.
GRIZZLIES 113, SPURS 109
Jaren Jackson Jr. had 24 points and Memphis put a damper on Tony Parker’s jersey retirement by beating San Antonio.
Parker’s uniform No. 9 was lifted to the rafters alongside fellow Big Three members Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili following the game. They led San Antonio to four of its five championships and have the most wins (541) of any trio in NBA history.
Jackson was involved in two pivotal plays with the Grizzlies up 111-109 in the final minute. His 3-pointer with 25.5 seconds left was overturned when replays determined he was out of bounds. Jackson then blocked DeMar DeRozan’s ensuing drive to maintain Memphis’ two-point advantage.
Memphis won a coach’s challenge that overturned a foul that would have put DeRozan on the line with the Spurs trailing 113-109.
Dillon Brooks had 21 points and Jonas Valanciunas added 18 points and 12 rebounds for Memphis,
which had lost two straight and five of six.
LaMarcus Aldridge scored 19 points, Rudy Gay added 18 and DeRozan had 12 as San Antonio took its second consecutive home loss.
TIMBERWOLVES 120, PISTONS 114
Andrew Wiggins scored 33 points and Minnesota spoiled Blake Griffin’s return from injury, beating Detroit.
Griffin played for the first time this season, coming back from hamstring and knee issues. Derrick Rose also returned to the Pistons lineup from a strained hamstring, but both he and Griffin played limited minutes.
Griffin scored 19 points and Rose had just six.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 25 for the Timberwolves, who led by 19 in the third quarter and snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Pistons.
A 3-pointer by Detroit’s Tony Snell made it 109-104, but Towns drew a double team at the other end and passed to an open Wiggins, whose 3-pointer restored the lead to eight.
Luke Kennard led the Pistons with 25 points.
CLIPPERS 98, RAPTORS 88
Lou Williams scored 21 points, Kawhi Leonard just missed a triple-double in his first game against his former team and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the defending NBA champion Toronto Raptors 98-88.
Leonard finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists
to go with nine turnovers. Last season, he led the Raptors to their first championship, averaging 30.5 points and 9.1 rebounds in 24 postseason games to earn his second Finals MVP honor.
Pascal Siakam had 16 points
and 10 rebounds, Norman Powell added 15 points and Fred VanVleet had 14 points for the injury-depleted Raptors, who had their three-game winning streak snapped in the second game of a back-to-back. /