Celtics conquer Warrior hangover
The Boston Celtics easily could have mailed it in Saturday night after losing a grueling double-overtime game to the Warriors the night before. But that’s not Boston’s style. Instead, the Celtics gutted it out on the second night of a back-to-back — just as they’ve done most of this season under coach Brad Stevens.
Avery Bradley scored 23 points, Isaiah Thomas added 21 points and 13 assists, and the Celtics snapped the host Charlotte Hornets’ four-game winning streak with a 98-93 victory.
The Celtics improved to 4-1 on the second night of back-to-backs.
“It’s our determination to come out every single night and play hard for each other,” Bradley said. “Mentally, some guys could say we played a double-overtime game and we’re tired and we’re hurting, but we came out tonight and no matter what, we wanted to get the win, and that shows a lot about the team.”
Jae Crowder added 16 points and seven rebounds for the Celtics (14-10), who have won seven of their past 10 games.
Stevens called it a big win over a Hornets team that was 10-3 at home coming into the game.
“We have been awfully good on the second night of back-to-backs, for whatever reason, on the road,” Stevens said. “So we have a lot of confidence that we are going to, if we struggle early, we will find that second wind. We’re not going to make any excuses.”
The Hornets had a chance to tie the game late, but Nicolas Batum’s 30-foot jumper off a side inbounds play with 6.6 seconds remaining missed everything. Evan Turner put away the game with a layup.
Batum led the Hornets with 21 points and eight rebounds.
Knicks 112, Trail Blazers 110: Carmelo Anthony tied a season high with 37 points, and New York rallied from a 10-point, fourth-quarter deficit. Anthony, who scored 20 points in the first half, shot 13-of-21 from the field as New York ended a four-game losing streak. He hit six free throws during the final 30 seconds. Damian Lillard led Portland with 29 points but missed a three-point shot at the buzzer that would have won the game after he chased down the rebound of his intentionally missed free throw.
Spurs 103, Hawks 78: Kawhi Leonard scored 22 points and visiting San Antonio allowed only 25 first-half points in the strongest defensive effort by any NBA team this season. The Spurs led 47-25 at halftime. The Hawks’ total — 13 points in the first quarter, 12 in the second — was the lowest for any NBA team in any half this season, according to Stats LLC.
The previous low was Houston’s 26 second-half points on Nov. 1 at Miami. Paul Millsap led Atlanta with 22 points, including 17 in the third quarter. No other Hawks player scored in double figures.
Wizards 114, Mavericks 111: Otto Porter scored a career-high 28 points, John Wall had 26 points and 16 assists, and visiting Washington ended an 11-game losing streak against Dallas. The Wizards had not beaten the Mavericks since Oct. 27, 2009. Washington was playing its second straight game without Bradley Beal. The team announced before the game that Beal will be sidelined for at least two weeks with a right leg injury. Beal is the team’s second-leading scorer with 19.8 points per game. Porter more than picked up the slack, scoring 17 points during Washington’s
39-point third quarter as the Wizards built a 21-point lead. Wesley Matthews led the Mavericks with 28 points, including six three-pointers.
Rockets 126, Lakers 97: James Harden scored 30 points for host Houston. Kobe Bryant had 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists for Los Angeles, which has lost six in a row and 13 of 14.
Clippers 105, Nets 100: Blake Griffin and J.J. Redick each scored 21 points, and Los Angeles ended a sevengame, two-state road losing streak against Brooklyn. Chris Paul had 15 points and 14 assists for the Clippers, who hadn’t beaten the Nets on the road since Dec. 11, 2007, when the Nets played in East Rutherford, N.J.
Bulls 98, Pelicans 94: Pau Gasol had 18 points and Aaron Brooks scored 15 of his 17 in the fourth quarter for host Chicago, which trailed for most of the game. Anthony Davis and Tyreke Evans each scored 22 points for New Orleans, which fell to 1-11 on the road. Eric Gordon added 14. Davis tied the score 94-94 with a threepoint play with 1:47 remaining, and Brooks’ layup gave the Bulls a 96-94 lead with 40 seconds to play. Gordon missed a jumper with 30 seconds left before Derrick Rose nailed a 15-footer for a 98-94 lead with 11.5 seconds remaining. Evans missed a three right before the buzzer.
Pistons 118, Pacers 96: Reggie Jackson had 21 points and nine assists to lead a balanced attack for host Detroit. Ersan Ilyasova added 20 points, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope finished with 18 points, a careerhigh eight assists and seven rebounds. Six Pistons scored in double figures, and Andre Drummond had eight points and 11 rebounds. George Hill led the Pacers with 14 points, and Paul George finished with 13 on 4of-16 shooting, missing all four of his three-point attempts.