Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum led a 51-point second quarter as the Boston Celtics stretched their winning streak to six games by beating the visiting Los Angeles Clippers 126-94 Monday.
Brown scored 13 points and Tatum added 12 as Boston tied an NBA record by connecting on 12 3-pointers in the second quarter. The Celtics made 22 of 51 3-point attempts in the game (43.1 percent).
Kristaps Porzingis made his season debut for the Celtics, who own the NBA’s longest winning streak. Porzingis missed Boston’s first 17 games while recovering from offseason foot surgery.
Porzingis made 6 of 12 field goal attempts and scored 16 points in 23 minutes. He also had six rebounds and two blocked shots.
Tatum led the Celtics with 20 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Payton Pritchard came off the bench to add 20 points, 18 of which came on 3-pointers.
It was the second stop on a four-game road trip for the Clippers, who allowed an opponent to score more than 100 points for the first time in their last five games.
Ivica Zubac had 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Clippers.
Zubac made 11 of his 14 field goal attempts.
Los Angeles received 19 points from James Harden and 11 from Derrick Jones Jr. Terance Mann and Jordan Miller each scored 10 off the bench.
The loss ended the Clippers’ five-game winning streak.
Derrick White (19), Brown (17) and Neemias Queta (12) also scored in double figures for Boston. Queta matched Tatum with a team-high nine rebounds.
The Celtics led 27-20 after one quarter and 78-49 at halftime. Boston made 16 of its 34 3-point attempts in the first half (47.1 percent).
Los Angeles sliced its deficit to 19 points by starting the third quarter on a 10-0 run, but the Celtics had a 99-78 advantage heading into the final 12 minutes.
Boston played without Luke Kornet (hamstring) and 38-year-old Al Horford (second night of back-to-back games).
OG Anunoby, Jalen Brunson set career-highs as Knicks rout Nuggets
OG Anunoby scored a career-high 40 points, Karl-Anthony Towns had 30 points and 15 rebounds, and the visiting New York Knicks used a big first half to rout the Denver Nuggets 145-118 on Monday night.
Jalen Brunson had 23 points and a career-high 17 assists and Mikal Bridges paired 14 points with six helpers for New York, which had a season-high in points and tied a franchise record with 45 assists. Miles McBride contributed 13 points, Josh Hart had 12 and Cameron Payne finished with 11.
Russell Westbrook scored 24 of his team-high 27 points in the fourth quarter, Nikola Jokic had 22 points, Jamal Murray finished with 20 points, Michael Porter Jr. had 18 points and 10 rebounds and Christian Braun scored 14 points for Denver.
The Nuggets have lost two straight at home.
The Knicks led by two late in the first quarter but finished the period on a 14-4 run to lead 36-24, and they dominated the second quarter.
After Porter’s short jumper made it 39-29, Payne sandwiched a three-point play and a 3-pointer around a Towns dunk. Towns then drained a 26-footer to put New York ahead 50-29.
Anunoby’s floater stretched the lead to 23 but Denver went on a 14-5 run to get within 64-50 with 2:52 left in the half.
The Knicks finished strong, taking a 76-53 lead into the break after Brunson’s three-point play to end the second quarter.
Monday marked the second straight home game the Nuggets have allowed more than 70 points in the first half. They allowed 73 in a 123-120 loss to Dallas on Friday night.
New York increased its lead to 92-67 in the third quarter, and after Denver closed it back to 20, Anunoby converted a three-point play and drained a 3-pointer to make it 101-77.
Porter gave the Nuggets some life when his three-point play cut the deficit to 19, but Anunoby scored eight points in less than two minutes and Towns hit a layup to help the Knicks build a 113-87 lead after three quarters.
New York led by as many as 30 in the fourth and cruised to its fifth win in six games.
Ja Morant returns, scores 22 to lead Grizzlies past Blazers
Ja Morant returned to the lineup after missing eight games with a right hip injury and scored 22 points with 11 assists to lead the host Memphis Grizzlies to a 123-98 victory Monday night over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Jaren Jackson Jr. added 21 points, six rebounds and three blocks, Santi Aldama posted a double-double of 13 points and a career-high 17 rebounds and Brandon Clarke contributed 11 points, nine rebounds and three blocks for the Grizzlies, who won their third straight and seventh in the last 10 games.
Deni Avdija paced Portland with 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists and Shaedon Sharpe scored 15, but Anfernee Simons, who led the Trail Blazers with 25 points in Saturday’s win over Houston, was 2-for-14 shooting and finished with only five points. Portland was limited to 33.3 percent shooting and made only eight of its 46 3-pointers.
Morant was hurt in the Grizzlies’ Nov. 6 home win against the Los Angeles Lakers, but, from the outset Monday, he played as if he hadn’t missed any time.
He scored or assisted on six of the team’s first seven field goals as the Grizzlies built an early double-digit lead. He also dished behind-the-back assists and threw down a windmill dunk on a fastbreak off an assist from Scotty Pippen Jr. in the opening minutes.
At the half, Morant was the only player on either team in double figures.
He had 20 points and six assists. Memphis shot 49 percent in the opening half, including 53.3 percent from beyond the arc. Portland struggled in the first two quarters shooting 36 percent and making only three of 20 shots from 3-point range.
The Grizzlies, who never trailed in the game, boosted their advantage to 27 points early in the fourth quarter following a driving left-handed dunk from Jackson.
Memphis won its second consecutive game in wire-to-wire fashion for the first time since November 2022.
The victory was the second lopsided win against the Trail Blazers this season. Memphis defeated Portland, 134-89, Nov. 10 in Portland without Morant.
Portland played short-handed. Donovan Clingan, who had 19 rebounds in the Trail Blazers’ 104-98 win over Houston Saturday, did not play because of a left knee injury he sustained in that victory.
Portland also was missing several other key players, including DeAndre Ayton, Scoot Henderson and Kris Murray. Ayton missed his seventh straight game with a right finger sprain.
Marcus Smart returned for the Grizzlies after missing the past four games with an illness. He came in off the bench in the opening quarter, his first time playing as a reserve since March 16, 2021.
Closing surge from Kyrie Irving, Mavs topples Hawks
Kyrie Irving scored 16 of his game-high 32 points in the fourth quarter, helping lead the visiting Dallas Mavericks to a 129-119 win over the Atlanta Hawks.
Jalen Hardy added 23 points while Naji Marshall and Spencer Dinwiddie each scored 22 as the Mavericks won their fifth game in six tries.
PJ Washington chipped in 11 points and 10 rebounds and Daniel Gafford scored 10 off the bench.
Jalen Johnson led Atlanta with 28 points and 11 rebounds, while Trae Young added 18 points and 16 assists. Bogdan Bogdanovic also had 18 points, while Dyson Daniels logged 17 and Clint Capela produced 12. The Hawks dropped their third straight game.
Holding a six-point halftime lead, the Hawks extended their advantage to 80-69 on Johnson’s 3-pointer with 8:42 left in the third quarter.
Dallas cut the deficit to four before Johnson dunked with 5:27 remaining in the period.
From there, the Mavericks went on a 14-7 run capped by a basket from Marshall. Dallas led 96-95 entering the fourth quarter.
After Young’s 3-pointer trimmed the Hawks’ deficit to 108-107 with 7:35 left, Irving hit three 3-pointers to highlight a 10-2 Dallas spurt.
Hardy and Irving each scored layups to cap the game’s scoring and ice the win.
In the first quarter, the Hawks raced out to a 27-16 lead on Kobe Bufkin’s reverse layup at the 3:18 mark. Bufkin then gave Atlanta its largest edge to that point at 31-18 with a mid-range jumper with 2:09 left.
Dallas answered with a 10-0 run to end the opening quarter, stamped by Marshall’s buzzer-beating triple.
With 3:04 left in the first half, Hardy’s three-point play extended the Mavericks’ lead to 59-53. The Hawks then finished the first half with a 14-2 run, capped by layups from Daniels and Johnson on the final two possessions.
Johnson led Hawks with 15 first-half points, while Hardy’s 15 paced Dallas.