Hayward sinks go-ahead 3 to elevate Celtics past 76ers
PHILADELPHIA — Gordon Hayward scored 26 points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:50 remaining, and the Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers 112-109 on Tuesday night.
Al Horford had 23 and Jayson Tatum scored 20 and grabbed 10 rebounds to help the Celtics continued their dominance over the Sixers.
Playing without All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving, who sprained his right knee Saturday night, the Celtics beat Philadelphia for the third straight meeting this season after defeating Philadelphia in five games in the Eastern Conference semifinals last season.
Joel Embiid had 23 points and 14 rebounds, and Jimmy Butler scored 22 for Philadelphia.
Hayward’s 3 from the corner put Boston up 105-103, and Marcus Smart added a free throw. The Sixers had a chance to tie when Jimmy Butler went to the line for three free throws, but he missed two. After a turnover, Embiid lost the ball with under a minute left. Smart then blew past Ben Simmons for a dunk to extend the lead to 108-104 with 24 seconds left. Butler made a driving layup and a free throw to cut it to 108-107.
After Horford sank two free throws, Tobias Harris missed a 3, and Embiid put it back in with only 2.4 seconds left. Butler couldn’t get a desperation 3 off in time before the buzzer sounded as the Sixers dropped their first game in three since acquiring Harris in a flurry of moves last week.
The Celtics answered the call in their first game since Marcus Morris questioned the team’s toughness after they surrendered leads of 28 points to the Clippers and 18 points to the Lakers on their home court. Both teams are tied for the fourth spot in the East with a 36-21 record.
After trailing for nearly the entire first half, the Sixers opened the third quarter on a 9-0 run to take a 55-52 lead. J.J. Redick’s 3-pointer capped the run. Minutes later, Ben Simmons thrilled the crowd by driving around Tatum and throwing down a thunderous righthanded jam. But Tatum answered at the opposite end with a spin move around Embiid and dunk over Simmons.
WARRIORS 115, JAZZ 108
Stephen Curry overcame a sluggish night shooting and made a pair of pivotal 3pointers in the fourth quarter, Kevin Durant had 28 points and seven assists, and Golden State rallied from behind for the third consecutive game to beat visiting Utah.
Curry had 24 points on 8 of 19 shooting. The two-time MVP missed his first five shots beyond the arc and finished 5 of 14 on 3s.
Klay Thompson scored 22, and DeMarcus Cousins added 12 points and 10 rebounds to help Golden State to its fifth straight win.
Donovan Mitchell had 25 points and seven rebounds for Utah. Rudy Gobert added 13 points and 16 rebounds. Gobert's doubledouble is his 46th of the season.
Golden State came back from 17 down to beat Phoenix on Friday and was down 19 to Miami on Sunday before winning. Both of those deficits were at halftime.
This time, Golden State fell behind 91-84 early in the fourth before going on a 21-4 run.
HAWKS 117, LAKERS 113
Rookie Trae Young had 22 points and 14 assists, John Collins also scored 22 points despite foul trouble, and Atlanta beat LeBron James and visiting Los Angeles.
Atlanta snapped a threegame losing streak despite a triple-double from James, who had 28 points, 16 assists and 11 rebounds.
Both teams struggled mightily in the final quarter after an up-and-down track meet over the first three periods.
Atlanta scored just seven points in the final 6:33 but managed to hold on. Taurean Prince delivered a key 3-pointer with 1:48 remaining, and Young darted past James for a lay-in and a foul that thwarted any hope of a Los Angeles comeback.
Atlanta tied a franchise record for 3-pointers in a quarter, going 10 of 17 in the opening period for a 38-32 lead. The Lakers fought back to take a 69-65 edge at the half, but Atlanta pulled ahead for good to lead 10095 going to the fourth.
MAGIC 118, PELICANS 88
Disgruntled star Anthony Davis scored three points on 1-of-9 shooting, outplayed badly by big man Nikola Vucevic as visiting Orlando beat a listless New Orleans.
Davis played 24 minutes in his third game since his agent told New Orleans the six-time All-Star wanted to be traded to a championship-contending team and won't sign an extension.
It was also his third game since returning from an injured left index finger. In his first game back, he had 32 points in a win over Minnesota, but he has averaged 8.5 points over the two games since.
Vucevic had 25 points and 17 rebounds, Evan Fournier scored 22 points, and Jonathan Isaac scored a career-high 20 points, including 16 in the first quarter, when Orlando raced to a 3911. Aaron Gordon added 20 points for Orlando, which led by as many as 31 points and kept the lead above 20 the rest of the way en route to its fourth straight victory.