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- Western Conference leaders Oklahoma City rallied from a 21-point deficit for a 115-101 home win over the Miami Heat
- In New York, Jalen Brunson drilled the go-ahead basket with 11.3 seconds left in overtime and the Knicks held on for a 149-148 victory over the Atlanta Hawks
LOS ANGELES: Jayson Tatum scored 32 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to propel the NBA champion Boston Celtics to a 116-103 victory over Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday.
With Jaylen Brown sitting out their last game before the All-Star break with a sore right knee, the Celtics didn’t miss a beat, scoring 37 points in the first quarter to seize control and pushing their lead to as many as 24 on the way to a 66-47 halftime advantage.
The Spurs made inroads after the break and had the deficit down to eight points early in the fourth quarter before the Celtics pulled away again.
Tatum produced his third straight 30-point performance and added seven assists. Kristaps Porzingis delivered 29 points and Derrick White added 19 for the Celtics, whose 18 three-pointers helped make up for 17 turnovers leading to 22 Spurs points.
Boston notched a third straight win and their seventh in their last eight games.
“We know these kind of games heading into the All-Star break are tough,” Porzingis said. “But we’ve got to protect home court.
“We’ve had enough slips already in he first part of the season,” Porzingis added of the Celtics, who had lost three of their last four home games.
De’Aaron Fox, acquired by the Spurs at the trade deadline, led San Antonio with 23 points. Wembanyma added 17 points and 13 rebounds with two blocked shots.
With his 85th straight game with at least one block, Wembanyama passed Hakeem Olajuwon for the fifth-longest such streak in NBA history.
“He’s one of the generational talents,” Porzingis said of the French phenomenon. “He’s still in his second year and he’s already a big force in this league.”
With the win the Celtics remained 5.5 games behind Eastern Conference leaders Cleveland, who cruised past the Raptors 131-108 in Toronto.
Donovan Mitchell scored 21 points to lead seven Cavs players to score in double figures.
Western Conference leaders Oklahoma City rallied from a 21-point deficit for a 115-101 home win over the Miami Heat.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 14 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter, when the Thunder scored 24 straight points to open the period as a Heat team with three players sidelined by a stomach illness faded.
Bam Adebayo scored a team-high 27 points for the Heat and Tyler Herro — who was questionable to start after battling the stomach bug — added 14.
In New York, Jalen Brunson drilled the go-ahead basket with 11.3 seconds left in overtime and the Knicks held on for a 149-148 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 44 points with 10 rebounds for the Knicks and Brunson added 36 points with eight assists as New York snapped the Hawks’ three-game winning streak.
The Indiana Pacers needed overtime to get past the league-worst Washington Wizards 134-130.
Obi Toppin came off the bench to score 31 points and pull down 10 rebounds and Bennedict Mathurin added 28 points off the bench for the Pacers, who trailed by as many as 19 in the third quarter.
Jordan Poole scored 42 points for the Wizards but missed a three-pointer as time expired in regulation.
The Milwaukee Bucks, missing both Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard, edged the Minnesota Timberwolves 103-101.
Gary Trent Jr. scored 21 points off the bench to lead the Bucks and Brook Lopez added 14 — including two free-throws to cap the scoring after Kevin Porter Jr.’s basket pulled the Bucks level at 101-101 with 38.4 seconds left.
Anthony Edwards led the Timberwolves with 28 points but missed a potential game-winner with 3.5 seconds remaining.