Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
White’s fourth-quarter shots carry Boston past Memphis
CELTICS 119, GRIZZLIES 109
BOSTON — Derrick White scored 23 points to help a shorthanded Boston team hold off Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies 119109 on Sunday.
Sam Hauser added 20 points, tying his career-high with six three-pointers, Al Horford had 16 points and Payton Pritchard added 12 for Boston, which won its fourth in a row. Celtics star Jayson Tatum didn’t have his sharpest game, finishing with 16 points but making 3 of 16 shots and missing 7 of 8 on three-point attempts.
“That’s the beauty of this team,” said White, who also had 10 assists. “We’re just so deep. We’ve got a lot of guys that can do a little bit of everything.”
Morant led the Grizzlies with 25 points, 7 assists and 6 rebounds, while Desmond Bane scored 18 and Jaren Jackson Jr. had 15 points and seven rebounds.
Boston was without starting point guard Marcus Smart, who missed his 10th in a row with a bone bruise in his right ankle, as well as forward Jaylen Brown (facial fracture he suffered from an inadvertent elbow by Tatum) and reserve guard Malcolm Brogdon ( sore Achilles).
Boston moved to 11/ 2 games ahead of the idle Bucks for the Eastern Conference’s best record ahead of their matchup in Milwaukee on Tuesday.
The Celtics were clinging to a one-point lead early in the final quarter before White scored six points — with a conventional threepoint play and three-pointer from the right wing — during a 16-7 spurt that moved them ahead 104-94 with just over four minutes to play.
“We have some of our top dogs out now and it’s just an opportunity for guys to showcase what they can do,” Hauser said. “Try to fill that void of the guys that were out. They bring a lot to the table. We try to do our best to do whatever we can to help the team win.”
Trailing by 13 at halftime, the Grizzlies used a 13-point third quarter by Morant that featured one-handed driving baskets, flips in the lane and twisting shots to wipe out the deficit, taking the lead briefly late in the third,
Morant said last month that he wasn’t worried about facing any team in the West in the playoffs. He brought it up again Sunday.
“The confidence I had when I said that is the confidence that got us to the point where we’re at now — being one of the top teams in this league,” he said.
RAPTORS 119, PISTONS 118
TORONTO — Fred VanVleet scored 35 points, topping 30 for a career-best ninth time this season, and Pascal Siakam added 28 points as Toronto beat Detroit for its fourth win in five games.
Scottie Barnes scored 20 points and Precious Achiuwa had 11 points and 11 rebounds as Toronto won its second consecutive win over Detroit after losing the previous six meetings.
Toronto is 20-7 all-time when VanVleet scores 30 or more points.
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 33 points, Alec Burks had 21, and Hamidou Diallo and Jaden Ivey each had 18 for the Pistons. Detroit failed once again to win consecutive games for the second time this season.
Ivey’s three-pointer with 10.1 seconds left in the fourth quarter cut it to 116-113 before VanVleet answered with a pair of free throws.
Bogdanovic hit two free throws, but Achiuwa made one of two at the line to put Toronto up by four points with 4.4 seconds left. Ivey’s three-pointer at the buzzer wasn’t enough for the Pistons.
Detroit beat San Antonio in double overtime Friday in a matchup of two of the NBA’s worst teams. The Pistons haven’t won back-to-back games since victories at Denver and Utah on Nov. 22 and 23, following all 10 wins since with defeats.
Detroit center Jalen Duren injured his right ankle in the second quarter, but returned to start the second half. The rookie teenager scored a career-high 30 points Friday. The 19- year- old Duren finished with six points in 21 minutes.