NBA results | Friday
Celtics 133, Wizards 129
BOSTON — Jayson Tatum scored 35 points and sparked a thirdquarter rally to help the NBAleading Boston Celtics get their 40th win of the season, 133-129 over the Washington Wizards on Friday night.
Kristaps Porzingis added 34 points and 11 rebounds, and Jrue Holiday finished with 20 points for the Celtics (40-12), who reached 40 victories the fastest in a season since the 2008-09 squad did it in 49 games. It was Tatum’s 20th game this season in which he scored 30 or more points.
Deni Avdija had 24 points and 11 rebounds, and Corey Kispert also scored 24 for the Wizards, who have lost five straight. Bilal Coulibaly finished with 21 points.
The Wizards led by as many as eight in the third quarter and closed within 131-127 in the final minute. But Boston was able to close it out at the foul line.
Bucks 120, Hornets 84
MILWAUKEE — Doc Rivers won his 1,099th regular-season game to move into eighth place on the NBA’s list, Damian Lillard scored 26 points in his return from a two-game injury absence and Milwaukee sent Charlotte to its 10th straight loss.
Malik Beasley made seven 3-pointers on nine attempts and finished with 21 points for Milwaukee, which improved to 2-5 under Rivers, who moved past Larry Brown.
Brandon Miller and Nick Richards each scored 16 points for the Hornets (10-41), who had just 10 available players and used all of them after making several moves at the trade deadline Thursday.
Hawks 127, 76ers 121
PHILADELPHIA — Trae Young scored 37 points and hit several key shots in the fourth quarter as Atlanta Hawks held on to beat short-handed Philadelphia.
Onyeke Okongwu added 21 points and Saddiq Bey had 16 points and 11 rebounds as Atlanta snapped a two-game skid.
Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 28 points and Tobias Harris had 21 for Philadelphia, which has lost eight of its last nine in a stretch during which the 76ers lost reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid to a meniscus tear. Buddy Hield and Cam Payne, acquired before the trade deadline on Thursday, each scored 20 points in their Philadelphia debut.
Raptors 107, Rockets 104
TORONTO — Immanuel Quickley scored 25 points, RJ Barrett had 21 and Toronto held on to beat Houston for its fourth straight home win over the Rockets.
Jakob Poeltl had 16 points and 12 rebounds and Scottie Barnes added 13 points and 10 rebounds as the Raptors won their second straight after losing eight of nine. Toronto, coming off a victory over Charlotte on Wednesday, hadn’t won consecutive games since beating Cleveland on Jan. 1 and Memphis on Jan. 3.
Barnes shot 4 for 16 and narrowly missed a triple-double, finishing with eight of Toronto’s 24 assists.
Dillon Brooks scored 11 of his 20 points in the fourth, and Jabari Smith Jr. had 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Rockets. Cam Whitmore scored 17 points before leaving because of a sprained right ankle as Houston lost its fourth straight on the road. Houston is 5-19 away from home.
Kings 135, Nuggets 106
SACRAMENTO — Domantas Sabonis had 17 points, 17 rebounds and 10 assists to break a tie with Nikola Jokic for the NBA triple-double lead with 16 in Sacramento’s win over Denver.
Jokic, the NBA triple-double leader the last two seasons, had 23 points, eight rebounds and seven assists to fall just short of keeping pace with Sabonis.
Malik Monk added 23 points for the Kings. Keegan Murray had 17 points, and De’Aaron Fox finished with 15 points, 10 assists and five steals.
The defending champion Nuggets lost for the first time in four games and missed a chance to slip past the Minnesota Timberwolves for the top spot in the Western Conference.