DETROIT — Jaylen Brown scored 33 points and the NBA-leading Boston won their eighth straight game, beating the short-handed Detroit.
Boston improved to 56-15 — an .800 winning percentage. Detroit is tied with Washington at the bottom of the league at 12-58 — 44 games behind the Celtics.
Peyton Pritchard added 20 points, and Derrick White had 19 points and 11 assists. Jayson Tatum sat out against Detroit to rest an ankle for the second time in five days, also missing a 119-94 home victory Monday night.
James Wiseman had a season-high 24 points for Detroit, and Jaden Ivey had 16. The Pistons have dropped nine straight against Boston.
THUNDER 123, RAPTORS 103
TORONTO — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 23 points in his only regular-season trip to his home country, Chet Holmgren had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Oklahoma City pulled away late to beat short-handed Toronto.
Jalen Williams scored 20 points and Kenrich Williams and Cason Wallace each had 12 as the Western Conference-leading Thunder won their fourth straight and extended Toronto’s season-worst losing streak to nine.
Canada native Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with eight assists and also had seven rebounds. Josh Giddey and Lu Dort scored 10 points apiece as Oklahoma City improved to 21-13 on the road.
The Raptors were lead by rookie Gradey Dick with 21 points, one shy of his career-best, and Kelly Olynyk with 16.
TIMBERWOLVES 104, CAVALIERS 91
MINNEAPOLIS — Mike Conley scored 21 points and Naz Reid added 18 points on his beach towel giveaway night, leading Minnesota past Cleveland.
Anthony Edwards had 16 points and 13 rebounds, Rudy Gobert grabbed 15 rebounds and Jaden McDaniels added 15 points, three steals and two blocks for the Timberwolves, who shot 52% from 3-point range and kept pace with first-place Oklahoma City in the Western Conference playoff race.
Minnesota is third, one game behind Denver.
Darius Garland led the Cavaliers with 19 points, Caris LeVert added 16 and Jarrett Allen had his 35th double-double of the season with 15 points and 13 rebounds, but banged-up Cleveland lost for the fifth time in seven games.
PELICANS 111, HEAT 88
MIAMI — CJ McCollum scored 30 points, Jose Alvarado added 17 and New Orleans had no trouble in a win over Miami.
It was McCollum’s fifth 30-point game of the season and his second in the last week. Trey Murphy III scored 14 points and Naji Marshall had 13 for New Orleans, which only got four points in 25 minutes from Zion Williamson and rolled anyway.
Jimmy Butler scored 17 points for the Heat, who fell four games behind Orlando in the Southeast Division race and missed a potential opportunity to climb out of play-in tournament range. Terry Rozier scored 13 and Bam Adebayo finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds for Miami — which was 13 for 47 from 3-point range.
GRIZZLIES 99, SPURS 97
SAN ANTONIO — Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 28 points, including the winning basket with 1.2 seconds left, and undermanned Memphis overcame 31 points and 16 rebounds from Victor Wembanyama to snap a four-game skid with a 99-97 win over San Antonio Spurs.
After going 5 for 35 on 3-pointers, San Antonio made consecutive 3s in seven seconds to tie the game at 97-all with 18.8 seconds remaining. After Devin Vassell hit the first 3-pointer, Jeremy Sochan stole the inbounds and Tre Jones hit the tying 3.
Jackson drained a seven-foot jumper that won the game. Wembanyama missed a fadeaway 3-point attempt at the buzzer.
It was Wembanyama’s 38th double-double in 62 games this season.
Scotty Pippen Jr. added 18 points and Santi Aldama had 15 points and 13 rebounds for Memphis.
PACERS 123, WARRIORS 111
SAN FRANCISCO — Tyrese Haliburton scored 26 points and had 11 assists, Pascal Siakam added 25 points and grabbed 16 rebounds and the Indiana Pacers beat the Golden State Warriors 123-111 on Friday night.
Indiana pulled away in the third quarter, outscoring Golden State 36-21 after trailing by double-digits in the first half. Haliburton, coming off a recent shooting slump, now has at least 20 points in back-to-back games. He keyed the Pacers’ run with 11 points in the third quarter.
Stephen Curry led Golden State with 25 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 6 of 18 from 3-point range. Chris Paul was ejected in the final seconds, picking up two quick technical fouls.
The Pacers entered knowing they at least clinched a spot in the play-in tournament with the Brooklyn Nets losing Thursday, but they were only a half-game ahead of the Miami Heat in the sixth spot as they looked to avoid the play-in entirely.
Indiana improved to 5-0 at Chase Center, remaining the only unbeaten team against the Warriors since they moved to San Francisco. The Pacers improved to 33-13 when six or more players scored in double figures.
The Warriors came into Friday in the final spot in the play-in tournament, trailing the Los Angeles Lakers by a half-game.
Golden State had a 12-point lead midway through the second quarter, but Indiana closed the half on an 18-7 run. A 33-foot 3-pointer by Haliburton at the buzzer cut the Warriors’ lead to 67-66 at halftime.
Back-to-back turnovers by Golden State that led to layups by Siakam and Andrew Nembhard gave the Pacers their first double-digit lead with under five minutes to play in the third quarter.
CLIPPERS 125, TRAIL BLAZERS 117
PORTLAND, Ore. — Paul George scored 31 points, Kawhi Leonard had 22 and the Los Angeles Clippers swept a two-game set in Portland, beating the Trail Blazers 125-117 on Friday night.
At 44-25, the Clippers have a 1 1/2-game lead over New Orleans for the fourth seed in the Western Conference playoff race.
Scoot Henderson had 24 points and 10 assists for Portland in its fifth straight loss. The Trail Blazers were without starting center Deandre Ayton and lost scoring leader Anfernee Simons midway through the third quarter because of a left knee injury.
The Clippers shot 42 per cent from 3-point range and were 56 per cent overall. George was 10 of 14 from the field and Leonard was 9-of-15.
Los Angeles’ largest lead was 26 points, with Leonard and George sitting out the fourth quarter.
LAKERS 101, 76ERS 94
LOS ANGELES (AP) —Anthony Davis had 23 points and 19 rebounds, and D’Angelo Russell set the Lakers record for 3-pointers in a single season during Los Angeles’ victory over Philadelphia.
LeBron James had 20 points, eight rebounds and six assists as the Lakers snapped a seven-game losing streak in their matchups with the Sixers. Los Angeles hadn’t beaten Philadelphia since March 3, 2020.
James scored 11 points and Davis added nine in the fourth quarter, using their size and resilience to overcome a gritty effort by Philadelphia. Neither team led by double digits all night, and the Lakers had their lowest-scoring performance since Jan. 3.
Russell surpassed the 3-pointers record set by Nick Van Exel during the 1994-95 season when he hit his 184th midway through the first quarter. Russell finished with 14 points and four 3-pointers for the Lakers, who hung on for their seventh win in 11 games after having three days off since beating Atlanta on Monday.
Tyrese Maxey scored 22 of his 27 points in the second half for the Sixers, who have lost seven of 10. Kelly Oubre Jr. scored 19 points and Tobias Harris had 16 points and 13 rebounds in his return from a three-game injury absence with a sprained right ankle. Philadelphia is now 0-2 on its four-game West Coast road trip.
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