Jayson Tatum on Friday scored 41 points to propel the Boston Celtics to a 127-116 victory over the Charlotte Hornets, while elsewhere Giannis Antetokounmpo led the Milwaukee Bucks to their 10th straight win.
Tatum posted his eighth 40-point game of the season, but even with Jaylen Brown sidelined by a facial fracture and Al Horford out with a sore knee, he did not have to carry the offensive load alone.
Derrick White scored a career-high 33 points and handed out 10 assists. His output included eight of the Celtics’ 25 three-pointers, which came on 55 attempts.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“Shot was feeling good,” White said. “I was getting some good looks and just letting it fly.”
The Celtics had a franchise-record 16 three-pointers in the first half, and even when the Hornets put together a 15-0 scoring run in the third quarter, Boston’s lead remained in double digits.
Tatum, 24, drained five from beyond the arc and became the first NBA player to make 1,000 three-pointers before his 25th birthday.
Photo: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY
The Celtics improved their NBA-best record to 40-16 and remained one game ahead of the Bucks atop the Eastern Conference.
For the second straight night Antetokounmpo put on a show in Los Angeles, following up his 38-point performance against the Lakers with 35 points in a 119-106 victory over the Clippers.
Brook Lopez added 22 points and 15 rebounds, while Jrue Holiday added 19 points for the Bucks, who have their first double-digit winning streak since they won 18 in a row in the 2019-2020 season.
“There’s a point in the season where things get repetitive, and winning has been,” Holiday said.
The Clippers were without Kawhi Leonard due to injury management, while the Bucks were missing Khris Middleton.
Antetokounmpo set an early tone, dominating in the paint and connecting on 13 of his 25 shots from the field. The attention he forced from the Clippers defense allowed his teammates opportunities from outside. The Bucks finished with 17 three-pointers.
“We’re all playing confidently, playing together and clicking,” Lopez said.
“You have a 7-footer [2.13m player] that shoots a three-point shot [Lopez], and if you put a forward on Giannis, he’s going to attack the basket, get to the free-throw line, finish at the rim,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “They put you in a tough predicament. That’s why they’re a good team and they won a championship a few years ago.”
The Philadelphia 76ers, third in the East, avenged a humbling Sunday defeat in New York City with a 119-108 home triumph over the Knicks.
Philadelphia’s star center Joel Embiid scored 35 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, while Tyrese Maxey added 27 points off the bench as the Sixers rallied from 13 down to win.
Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson scored 30 points apiece for the Knicks, Brunson pouring in 20 in the first quarter alone.
However, the 76ers turned the tide in the third quarter and trailed by just one going into the final period, in which they out-scored the Knicks 27-15.
Things were close in Miami, where Jimmy Butler jammed home the game-winner with 0.3 seconds remaining in the Heat’s 97-95 victory over the Houston Rockets.
Tyler Herro led the Heat with 31 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, while Bam Adebayo added 20 points and Butler scored 16, but the Heat looked in danger of losing to the league-worst Rockets when they trailed by five with 3 minutes, 40 seconds remaining.
Houston guard Jalen Green’s driving layup with 0.7 seconds left knotted the score at 95-95, but on Miami’s ensuing inbound, Gabe Vincent found Butler for the alley-oop dunk.
Elsewhere, Lauri Markkanen and Walker Kessler scored 23 points apiece to help the Utah Jazz erase a 12-point deficit with 4 minutes, 53 seconds remaining in a 122-116 victory over the Raptors in Toronto.
In Memphis, Ja Morant scored 32 points with nine rebounds and nine assists, while Desmond Bane added 20 in the Grizzlies’ comfortable 128-107 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Kyrie Irving, in his second game since the trade that took him from Brooklyn to Dallas, scored 25 points and handed out 10 assists to lead the Mavs to a 122-114 victory over the Kings in Sacramento.
Luka Doncic remained sidelined by a bruised heel, but the Mavs are hoping he can team up with Irving for the first time when they play the Kings again this weekend. That game starts this morning Taiwan time.
Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had another big night, scoring 44 points in the Thunder’s 138-129 victory over the Trail Blazers in Portland.
The Canadian’s efforts saw the Thunder withstand a 38-point performance from Portland star Damian Lillard.
Phoenix downed Indiana 117-104, fueled by 22 points and 11 rebounds from Deandre Ayton and 21 points from Devin Booker.
Elsewhere on Friday, it was:
‧ Pistons 138, Spurs 131 (2OT)
‧ Pelicans 107, Cavaliers 118
‧ Pacers 104, Suns 117
Additional reporting by AP
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