Celtics off to 18-0 start at home for first time, beat Wolves in OT
BOSTON » Jayson Tatum scored 45 points — 14 of them in the fourth quarter and another 12 in overtime — as the Boston Celtics beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 127-120 in a matchup of the two conference leaders Wednesday night to remain perfect at home.
Jaylen Brown had 35 points and 11 rebounds for the Celtics, who are 18-0 at home for the first time in franchise history. Jrue Holiday scored 12, including a corner 3-pointer off an offensive rebound by Derrick White to cap a 14-3 run that gave Boston a 111-109 lead with 26 seconds left in regulation.
With Timberwolves coowner — and Boston nemesis — Alex Rodriguez sitting courtside, Anthony Edwards hit a pair of free throws to tie it. Tatum missed an off-balance shot at the buzzer that could have won the game in regulation.
Edwards had 29 points and Karl Anthony-Towns scored 25 with 13 rebounds for Minnesota (2611), which has the best record in the Western Conference and trails only Boston (29-8) overall.
KINGS 123, HORNETS 98 » Keegan Murray scored 25 points, Domantas Sabonis had 24 points and 10 rebounds and Sacramento beat Charlotte for its second straight victory.
Former Hornets firstrounder Malik Monk added 20 points for Sacramento. De’Aaron Fox scored 19 points, and Sabonis also had seven assists. The Kings improved to 23-14, getting revenge for a 111104 home loss to Charlotte last week.
Miles Bridges led the Hornets with 24 points. Terry Rozier added 22, Brandon Miller had 15 and Nick Smith, Jr. 11. Charlotte, at 8-27, has lost 157 man-games because of injury or illness, including starters LaMelo Ball (20), Mark Williams (16), Rozier (11), Gordon Hayward (10). SPURS 130, PISTONS 108 » Victor Wembanyama had 16 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists for his first tripledouble in the NBA, leading San Antonio over Detroit.
Wembanyama, the No. 1 pick in the draft, pulled off the feat in just 21 minutes playing against the franchise that was hoping to land him. Detroit had the league’s worst record last season, but didn’t get the first pick in the draft lottery.
Wembanyama was 6 of 16 from the field, missing all four of his 3-point attempts. The 7-foot-3 French phenom showed his playmaking skills on the break and in the post, setting up teammates with slick passes to surpass his previous season high of seven assists.
The Spurs (6-30) entered the game with the secondworst record in the NBA, with only the lowly Pistons behind them, and a fivegame losing streak. Detroit (3-35) has lost six consecutive games since breaking its NBA record-tying 28game losing streak.
THUNDER 128, HEAT 120 »
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 28 points, Chet Holmgren added 23 and Oklahoma City used two big second-half runs to beat Miami.
Jalen Williams finished with 19 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds, and Lu Dort scored 14 points and Isaiah Joe added 11. Oklahoma City beat Miami for the second time in the last 10 meetings.
Bam Adebayo led Miami with 25 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 21 points and Haywood Highsmith had a career-best 19.
HAWKS 139, 76ERS 132, OT »
Jalen Johnson hit two tying free throws in overtime and then added a go-ahead 3-pointer with 39 seconds remaining, sending Atlanta over Tyrese Maxey and Philadelphia.
Johnson, who had 25 points and 16 rebounds, added two more free throws with 13 seconds remaining to help close it out.
BULLS 124, ROCKETS 119, OT » Coby White scored 30 points and Zach LaVine made a big 3-pointer with 1:46 left in overtime, helping Chicago top Houston.
LaVine finished with 25 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and three steals in Chicago’s third consecutive win. DeMar DeRozan scored 19 points on 5-for19 shooting, and Nikola Vucevic had 18 points and 15 rebounds.
PACERS 112, WIZARDS 104 » Myles Turner had 18 points and 13 rebounds and Indiana overcame star guard Tyrese Haliburton’s absence to beat Washington for its eight win in nine games.
Haliburton, the NBA assists leader and Indiana scoring leader, strained his left hamstring Monday night in a 133-131 home victory over Boston. He will be re-evaluated in two weeks.
Bruce Brown and Bennedict Mathurin each added 16 points for the Pacers. Obi Toppin added 15 points, and Brown also had nine rebounds and six assists.
Jordan Poole led Washington with 28 points. Corey Kispert had 15 points, all in the first half. Deni Avdija also had 15 in the Wizards’ sixth straight loss.