New Haven Register (New Haven, CT)
Tatum, Celtics rally past Wizards late
BOSTON — Jayson Tatum made two twisting, driving baskets in the final 15 seconds and finished with 31 points Sunday night, leading the Boston Celtics to a 111-110 comeback victory over the Washington Wizards despite 46 points by Bradley Beal.
Kemba Walker scored 21 points for the Celtics, and Daniel Theis had 20 points and nine rebounds. Boston, which beat Indiana on Friday, has won consecutive games for the first time since late January.
Russell Westbrook had 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Wizards, who had won seven of eight. Davis Bertans added 20 points.
The Wizards led 110-105 after Beal’s driving basket with 47 seconds left before the Celtics sliced it to one on Tatum’s acrobatic shot in the lane with 15 seconds left.
Washington then turned the ball over before Tatum’s twisting bucket gave the Celtics a 111-110 edge with 4.7 seconds left.
Beal got trapped in front of Boston’s bench and fired up a shot that bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded.
Boston trailed 106-98 after Westbrook’s 3-pointer from the left corner with 2:58 to go, but Tatum’s fadeaway capped a 7-0 spurt with 1:34 to play.
Robin Lopez then nailed a short hook shot and Beal had a driving basket.
Beal’s four-point play made it 95-94 with just over five minutes left. He followed a basket by Walker with a 3-pointer and had a three-point play, making it 101-96 with 3:57 left.
Coming off a victory at home a night earlier against Minnesota, the Wizards took a while to get going, but after an extremely slow start they opened the final quarter with an 11-2 spurt to take their first lead of the game.
The Celtics had matched their largest lead of the game on Walker’s 3 from the right wing, giving them a 68-57 edge early in the third quarter, before Beal scored eight of the Wizards’ points during a 12-2 run over a 5:03 stretch.
KNICKS 109, PISTONS 90
DETROIT — After a string of relatively close losses, the Pistons couldn’t get over the hump against New York in a 109-90 loss at Little Caesars Arena.
R.J. Barrett (21 points) scored eight straight points for the Knicks (18-17) and helped get them to a 25-20 lead after the first quarter. The Pistons got within
34-31 on a free throw by
Josh Jackson (12 points) before the Knicks ended the quarter with a 14-6 run, with a 3-pointer and a fadeaway jumper by All-Star Julius Randle (25 points, eight rebounds and six assists), pushing the lead to 48-37.
Jerami Grant had 21 points and eight rebounds, Wayne Ellington 15 points, Josh Jackson 12 points and Saddiq Bey 10 points for the Pistons (9-25). The Pistons have two games, both on the road, remaining in the first half of the season: Tuesday at Toronto (in Tampa, Fla.) and Thursday at the Knicks.