Brown, Tatum lead Celtics past Pistons
Celtics 113, Pistons 104: Jaylen Brown scored 27 points and Jayson Tatum added 26 points and 11 rebounds as the Boston Celtics beat the host Detroit Pistons on Saturday.
The Celtics have won 11 of their last 12 games, the blemish a 112-111 home loss to Detroit on Feb. 16. On Saturday, Boston was able to take advantage of Cade Cunningham’s foul trouble.
Cunningham led Detroit with 25 points in 27 minutes, but no one else approached 20 points.
Nets 126, Bucks 123: Kyrie Irving scored a season-high 38 points and Brooklyn stopped its recent slide by beating host Milwaukee. Bruce Brown made a 3-pointer to put the Nets ahead for good 118-116 with 1:38 left. Bobby Portis had 30 points and 12 rebounds for the Bucks.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 29 points, 14 rebounds and six assists. Khris Middleton added 25 points.
Grizzlies 116, Bulls 110: Ja Morant scored a career-high 46 points and Memphis hung on to beat Demar Derozan and host Chicago. Steven Adams added 12 points and a season-high 21 rebounds, and the Grizzlies frustrated Derozan even though the five-time Allstar scored 31 points.
Heat 133, Spurs 129: Bam Adebayo scored a season-high 36 points, Tyler Herro added 27 off the bench and Miami overcame an early 16-point deficit to beat San Antonio.
Jimmy Butler scored 27 points in 30 minutes to help Eastern Conferenceleading Miami improve to 40-21. Butler didn’t play in the fourth quarter.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich remained at 1,334 regular-season wins, one victory behind Don Nelson – one of his former bosses – on the NBA’S career list.
Devin Vassell had a career-high 22 points for the Spurs.
Nuggets 115, Kings 110: Monte Morris hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 28 seconds left, Nikola Jokic had 18 points, 11 assists and 10 rebound and Denver won at home.
It was Jokic’s 16th triple-double of the season and the 73rd of his career. His rebound with 19 seconds remaining finished the triple-double and helped Denver to its second win over the Kings in three nights.
Cavaliers 92, Wizards 86: Lauri Markkanen scored 23 points, and Allstar center Jarrett Allen had 18 points and 14 rebounds and host Cleveland beat Washington.
Washington matched the largest lead of the game at 84-75 on Daniel Gafford’s follow shot with 6:39 remaining, but Cleveland answered with 12 straight points, capped by two free throws by Allen to pull in front for good.
Kyle Kuzma made a career-high eight 3-pointers and scored 34 points for Washington.
Hawks 127, Raptors 100: Trae Young returned to his All-star form by scoring 41 points and host Atlanta rode a dominant third quarter to a victory over Toronto.