DeRozan, Raptors stop Celtics’ winning streak
Rose returns to Knicks, gets fined
TORONTO — DeMar DeRozan scored a season-high 41 points, Kyle Lowry had 24 and the Toronto Raptors rallied to end the Boston Celtics’ four-game winning streak with a 114-106 victory Tuesday night.
DeRozan added 13 rebounds for his second double-double of the season, and Jonas Valanciunas had 18 points and a careerhigh 23 rebounds. The Raptors bounced back after losing to Chicago and Houston last weekend.
Toronto also kept itself above Boston in the Eastern Conference standings. A win would have pulled the Celtics even with the Raptors for second place behind Cleveland.
Isaiah Thomas had 27 points and Marcus Smart scored 16 for the Celtics. ROCKETS 121, HORNETS 114: In Houston, James Harden had 40 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists for his second consecutive triple-double, and Houston outlasted Charlotte for its ninth straight win.
The Rockets missed 10 shots in a row and let an 18-point lead evaporate before coach Mike D’Antoni called a timeout with 2:26 left. Ryan Anderson made Houston’s first shot in more than four minutes with a 3-pointer out of the timeout, and after a block on the other end, Harden’s layup put Houston up 115-111 with just over a minute to play.
Kemba Walker cut the deficit to one with a 3-pointer, but another layup by Harden made it 117-114 with 28.6 seconds left. Charlotte missed three 3-point tries in the final seconds.
Harden got his 11th tripledouble this season and the 20th of his career. He had 40 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds Sunday against Toronto, making him the fourth player in NBA history with at least 40 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in consecutive games. WIZARDS 101, BULLS 99: In Washington, John Wall scored 26 points, including a game-winning baseline jumper with 5.9 seconds left, and added 14 assists as Washington moved above .500 by defeating Chicago.
Marcin Gortat had 10 points and 12 rebounds for Washington.
JAZZ 100, CAVALIERS 92: In Salt Lake City, Gordon Hayward went blow for blow with LeBron James in the second half to help Utah beat Cleveland.
Hayward had 22 points and went back and forth with James during a decisive third quarter. James brought the Cavs back from a 15-point halftime deficit before Hayward drove the lead back to 14.
Hayward had 11 points while the Jazz used a 16-0 run midway through the quarter to lead 74-60. The Cavs had a 17-0 roll after halftime thanks an aggressive James and his 13 third-quarter points.
BUCKS 109, SPURS 107: In San Antonio, Michael Beasley scored a season-high 28 points in place of an ill Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Milwaukee rallied to beat San Antonio.
Kawhi Leonard had 30 points for San Antonio, which had its nine-game home winning streak snapped.
WARRIORS 107, HEAT 95: In Oakland, Calif., Stephen Curry had 24 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, Kevin Durant added 28 points and Golden State picked it up late to beat Miami.
Durant also had eight rebounds and Draymond Green had 13 points, nine rebounds and five assists in the Warriors’ fifth straight win against the Heat and eighth in 10. TRAIL BLAZERS 108, LAKERS 87: In Los Angeles, C.J. McCollum scored 25 points and Portland used a dominant third quarter to defeat Los Angeles.
The Blazers trailed by two to start the second half, but held the Lakers to 21.7 percent shooting (5 of 23) and blocked four shots in the third quarter, outscoring Los Angeles 23-12.
HAWKS 117, NETS 97: In New York, Dennis Schroder had 19 points and 10 assists, Dwight Howard added 14 points and 16 rebounds, and Atlanta beat Brooklyn to win its season-high seventh straight.
Paul Millsap added 14 points for the Hawks.
Brook Lopez scored 20 points for the Nets, who have lost seven in a row and 12 of 13.
KNICKS: Derrick Rose returned to practice after missing New York’s game the night before for what he described as family reasons.
The Knicks’ public relations department posted a photo on Twitter on Tuesday that showed Rose in his No. 25 practice jersey, standing with his teammates at their training facility.
The team later announced he had been fined for missing the 110-96 loss to New Orleans on Monday and said he was expected to be in uniform tonight in Philadelphia.
Rose told reporters he had returned to Chicago for family reasons and that his absence had nothing to do with basketball. He said he apologized to his teammates and Knicks management, telling them it wouldn’t happen again.