The Celtics move ahead of the Pacers with a 117-97 win, getting edge in battle for home court.
Boston gets leg up in battle for home court in playoffs with victory over Indiana
Jayson Tatum scored 22 points and Gordon Hayward added 21 in his return to Indianapolis on Friday night, leading the Boston Celtics to a crucial 117-97 victory over the Pacers.
The Celtics broke a tie with Indiana for the No. 4 seed in the East and essentially took a two-game lead in the chase for home-court advantage because they won the season series 3-1 — giving them the tiebreaker, too. Boston also is building postseason momentum with three straight wins and five in their past six games.
Indiana’s two-game winning streak ended. Myles Turner led the Pacers with 15 points and seven rebounds, while Domantas Sabonis and Tyreke Evans each scored 12. Rockets 120, Knicks 96: James Harden had 26 points, eight assists and eight rebounds in just 29 minutes to lead Houston over new York. Chris Paul and Clint Capela both had double-doubles for Houston, with Paul getting 11 points and 10 assists and Capela adding 12 points and 15 rebounds. With Knicks point guard emmanuel mudiay sidelined with a sore left shoulder, mario Hezonja started, posting 16 points, 16 rebounds and 11 assists. Hezonja’s triple-double was the first for the Knicks since Jan. 11, 2018, when Jarrett Jack had one against Atlanta. Henry ellenson also had 16 points off the bench for the Knicks, who lost their ninth straight on the road. Kevin Knox added 13 and mitchell robinson had 12.
Spurs 129, Wizards 112: Lamarcus Aldridge scored 24 points, rudy Gay added 18 and San Antonio beat Washington. Bryn forbes and Patty mills each scored 17 for the Spurs, who had lost five of eight. demar derozan scored 16 points. Bradley Beal scored 25 points and thomas Bryant had 19 for Washington, which has lost eight of its past 10.
Timberwolves 111, Heat 109: Karl-anthony towns had 13 points and 12 rebounds and minnesota slowed miami’s push for a postseason berth as dwyane Wade’s 3-pointer try at the buzzer missed the mark. the Heat missed a chance to pull into a tie with Brooklyn in the race for the eighth spot in the eastern Conference.
Magic 149, Hawks 113: orlando used a franchise-record 81 points in the first half to cruise past Atlanta in its regular-season home finale and take another step toward a playoff berth. nikola Vucevic, terrence ross and evan fournier scored 25 points each for orlando, which set a season high for points despite having 19 turnovers.
Hornets 113, Raptors 111: Kemba Walker scored 29 points, and Jeremy Lamb made another clutch 3-pointer as Charlotte beat toronto. Lamb’s winning shot came less than two weeks after he hit an improbable half-court buzzer-beater to shock the raptors in toronto. the Hornets (37-42) kept their slim postseason hopes alive. Thunder 123, Pistons 110: Paul George scored 30 points to help oklahoma City beat detroit. russell Westbrook added 19 points, 15 assists and eight rebounds for the thunder, who have won two straight. Grizzlies 122, Mavericks 112: delon Wright set career highs with 26 points and 14 assists in his first triple-double after dirk nowitzki’s first dunk of the season opened the scoring in what could be his second-tolast home game for dallas, and memphis beat the mavericks.
Jazz 119, Kings 98: donovan mitchell and Grayson Allen each scored 23 points to lead utah to its seventh straight victory. Note: the memphis Grizzlies have signed 7-footer tyler Zeller for the rest of the season and waived guard dusty Hannahs.