BOSTON (AP) — Jayson Tatum scored 34 points with a career-high 19 rebounds, following Al Horford’s overtime 3-pointer with one of his own on Thursday night to help the Celtics pull away from Golden State in an NBA Finals rematch and beat the Warriors 121-118.
Jaylen Brown added 16 points and nine rebounds, making a 3-pointer with 18 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime. Horford had 20 points, 10 boards and three blocked shots for the Celtics, who lost to the Warriors in the NBA Finals in six games and then lost a fourth straight game to them in their first regular-season matchup in December.
Stephen Curry scored 29 points, Jordan Poole had 24 and Klay Thompson also had 24 before fouling out in overtime for the defending champions, who fell to 5-18 on the road this season.
The Warriors won the finals in Game 6 in Boston, and then won the first rematch of the regular season on Dec. 10 in San Francisco. Although the Celtics have come out to the best record in the NBA this season, the losses to Golden State still rankle them.
SUNS 117, NETS 112
PHOENIX (AP) — Mikal Bridges scored 28 points, Deandre Ayton had 24 points and 14 rebounds and Phoenix held off Brooklyn.
Brooklyn fought back from 20 points down in the fourth quarter to make things tight in the final minute.
Kyrie Irving — who scored 21 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter — hit a 3-pointer to cut it to 113-110 with 10.9 seconds remaining, After the Suns hit a free throw, Nic Claxton’s dunk with 7.4 seconds made it 114-112, but that’s as close as the Nets would get to taking the lead.
Brooklyn has lost four straight. The Suns snapped a three-game losing streak.
The Suns welcomed back forward Cam Johnson, who played for the first time in more than two months because of a knee injury. He had 19 points and made four crucial free throws in the final 20 seconds.
76ERS 105, TRAIL BLAZERS 95
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Joel Embiid scored 32 points and Philadelphia stretched its winning streak to four games, all on the road, with a victory over Portland.
James Harden added 16 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds for the Sixers, who led by as many as 26 points before holding off a late Portland rally.
Damian Lillard had 25 points and 11 assists for the Blazers and Jerami Grant scored 24 points against his former team.
BULLS 126, PISTONS 108
PARIS (AP) — With Victor Wembanyama sitting courtside and watching some of the players he’ll go up against next season, Zach LaVine scored 30 points and Chicago never trailed in a win over Detroit at the NBA Paris Game.
DeMar DeRozan added 26 points for the Bulls, and Nikola Vucevic finished with 16 points, 15 rebounds and six assists.
Bojan Bogdanovic led the Pistons with 25 points. Killian Hayes, the only French player on either roster, scored four points for Detroit on 2-of-13 shooting, but had a game-high eight assists.
Hamidou Diallo had 17 points on 7-for-8 shooting for Detroit, while Saddiq Bey and Jaden Ivey each scored 16 for the Pistons.
TIMBERWOLVES 128, RAPTORS 126
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — D’Angelo Russell scored 16 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter, Anthony Edwards had 23 and Minnesota rallied to beat Toronto.
Kyle Anderson added 20 points and 10 rebounds for Minnesota, which was down Rudy Gobert and Austin Rivers and playing the second game of a back-to-back after a fourth-quarter collapse a night earlier in Denver.
The Timberwolves erased a 14-point deficit midway through the fourth with a defensive effort not typically seen from Minnesota, particularly without Gobert making an impact down low. Toronto scored just seven points in the final 9:46.
Scottie Barnes had 12 of his season-high 29 points in the fourth for Toronto, which had won four of six. Fred VanVleet added 25 points and 10 assists for the Raptors. Toronto scored 62 points in the paint without Gobert to protect the rim and added 23 fast-break points.