Walker scores 22, Celts beat Cavs in Hayward’s return
BOSTON » Kemba Walker led Boston’s balanced scoring with 22 points, Gordon Hayward had 14 points in his return from a broken hand and the Celtics remained unbeaten at home with a 110-88 victory over the sinking Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday night.
Jaylen Brown had 20 points and seven rebounds, Jayson Tatum added 19 points with 11 boards, and Daniel Theis scored 10 for Boston, which improved to 10-0 at TD Garden.
Jordan Clarkson led Cleveland with 19 points, and Tristan Thompson had
17 points with 11 rebounds. The Cavaliers have lost seven straight games and
13 of 14. Hayward returned exactly a month after breaking his left hand when he collided with San Antonio’s LaMarcus Aldridge as the Spurs’ big man was setting a screen. Hayward played
26 minutes, finishing with five rebounds and four assists.
He was expected to miss about six weeks. But he said this weekend the bone is healed and — thanks to a plate with screws — might even be stronger than it was before.
The Celtics, who never trailed, led by 13 at halftime and broke it open by outscoring the Cavaliers 2610 over the opening 7:53 of the second half. Tatum had eight points and Hayward six in a spree that gave Boston a 79-50 edge.
Cleveland did make it somewhat interesting by scoring 14 straight points spanning the end of the third quarter and early in the fourth. The Cavaliers sliced the margin to 8573 on John Henson’s layup with just over nine minutes to play, but Tatum nailed a 3-pointer to spark a 7-0 spurt that pushed the Celtics ahead comfortably. CLIPPERS 110, PACERS 99 » Paul George scored 36 points in his first trip to Indianapolis with the Clippers and Montrezl Harrell added 26 on Monday to power the short-handed Los Angeles Clippers past the Indiana Pacers, 110-99.
Booed repeatedly early in the game, George finished with a season-high seven 3-pointers as the Clippers won for the fourth time in five games.
Malcolm Brogdon led Indiana with 20 points despite playing with a splint on his sore shooting hand.
Domantas Sabonis added 18 points and a career-high 22 rebounds as the Pacers lost their third home game of the season.
With Kawhi Leonard sitting out, George had the green light to take charge against his former team and he didn’t disappoint.
After making three free throws late in the second quarter, he knocked down back-to-back 3s on the next two possessions to give the Clippers a 55-46 lead. Harrell and Ivica Zubac continued the flurry by making four straight free throws before Zubac capped the 14-4 run with a tip-in that made it 60-48 at the half.
George was just warming up.
His fifth 3 extended the lead to 18 early in the third quarter and when Indiana cut the deficit to 13, George knocked down two more 3s and accounted for all of the Clippers’ points in an 8-0 run. When it ended, with 2:58 left in the third, the Clippers led 84-65.
Indiana made one last charge, getting within 10699 on T.J. Warren’s 13-footer with 1:46 left, but Maurice Harkless answered with a layup and the Pacers didn’t score another point.