Tatum and Hayward pace Celtics victory
Jayson Tatum scored 22 points and Gordon Hayward added 21 on Friday night, leading the visiting 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 its last six games.
at Golden State 120, Cleveland 114: Stephen Curry scored 40 points to move into third place on Golden State’s career list, as the Warriors inched closer to clinching the Western Conference in their second-tolast regular-season game at Oracle Arena.
at Phoenix 133, New Orleans 126 (OT): Josh Jackson scored eight of his season-high 35 points in overtime, and the Suns rallied from 15 points down to beat the Pelicans.
at Charlotte 113, Toronto 111: Kemba Walker scored 29 points, and Jeremy Lamb made another clutch three-pointer as the Hornets kept their slim postseason hopes alive and surpassed their win total of the last two seasons.
at Orlando 149, Atlanta 113: The Magic used a franchise-record 81 points in the first half to cruise past the Hawks and take another step toward a playoff berth.
at Minnesota 111, Miami 109: Karl Anthony Towns had 13 points and 12 rebounds and the Minnesota Timberwolves slowed the Heat’s push for a postseason berth.
San Antonio 129, at Washington 112: LaMarcus Aldridge scored 24 points, Rudy Gay added 18 and the Spurs beat the Wizards to stay in the eighth spot in the West.
at Houston 120, New York 96: James Harden had 26 points, eight assists and eight rebounds in just 29 minutes to lead the Rockets.
at Oklahoma City 123, Detroit 110: Paul George scored 30 points to help the Thunder try to avoid the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference playoffs.
at Utah 119, Sacramento 98: Donovan Mitchell and Grayson Allen each scored 23 points to lead the Jazz to their seventh straight win.
Memphis 122, at Dallas 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 for the Mavericks.
Lakers 122, at Clippers 117