WITHOUT HAYWARD, WALKER LEADS WAY
Piston lose despite return of Griffin from injury
Kemba Walker and the Celtics beat Dallas without Gordon Hayward, who had surgery Monday on a broken hand.
BOSTON — Kemba Walker took on some extra responsibility at the offensive end in Boston’s first game since Gordon Hayward broke his left hand.
Walker made a trio of key 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and finished with 29 points, and Jaylen Brown added 25 points and 11 rebounds as the Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks 116-106 Monday night.
“I was just trying to be aggressive, trying to make the right plays,” Walker said. “My shot felt good the whole night. I was just missing them. Then, in the fourth quarter, just naturally, the competitive nature just comes out and I try to do what I can do to put the ball in the basket.”
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. Maxi Kleber had 15 points with eight boards.
During the first quarter, the Celtics released a statement 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. Hayward is expected to be out about six weeks.
“I got word at halftime that surgery went well,” Boston coach Brad Stevens said.
TIMBERWOLVES 120, PISTONS 114:
In Detroit, Andrew Wiggins scored 33 points as Minnesota spoiled Blake Griffin’s return to Detroit’s lineup.
Griffin played for the first time this season, coming back from hamstring and knee issues. Derrick Rose also returned to the Detroit lineup from a strained hamstring, but both he and Griffin played limited minutes.
Griffin scored 19 points but Rose added just six.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 25 points for Minnesota, which snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Pistons.
Minnesota shot 8 of 10 from 3-point range in the first quarter and led 41-26, and the Pistons never cut too far into the deficit until the fourth.
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.
GRIZZLIES 113, SPURS 109:
In San Antonio, Texas, Jaren Jackson Jr. had 24 points as Memphis put a damper on Tony Parker’s jersey retirement celebration by beating San Antonio.
Parker’s uniform was lifted to the rafters alongside fellow Big Three members Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili following the game.
Jackson was involved in two pivotal plays with the Grizzlies up 111-109 in the final minute. His 3-pointer with 25.5 seconds was overturned when replays determined the Grizzlies forward was out of bounds.
Jackson then blocked DeMar DeRozan’s ensuing drive to maintain Memphis’ twopoint advantage.
CLIPPERS 98, RAPTORS 88:
In Los Angeles, the Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard scored only 12 points in LA’s win against the team he led to the NBA title last season.
Leonard shot 2-for-11 from the field, but the Clippers got a team-best 21 points from Lou Williams to close to half a game of the front-running LA Lakers in the Pacific Division.
New Mexico State alum Pascal Siakam led the Raptors with 16 points.
ROCKETS 122, PELICANS 116:
In New Orleans, James Harden scored 39 points, including 13 straight during a stretch of the fourth quarter, as Houston beat 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.
JAZZ 122, WARRIORS 108:
In San Francisco, Utah’s Rudy Gobert had 25 points as the Jazz beat San Francisco. The Warriors (2-9) have the worst record in the league.