Jayson Tatum lost his personal duel with Stephen Curry but the Boston Celtics won their battle with the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night, outfinishing the visitors for a 119-114 win in a nationally televised duel of streaking teams.
Tatum scored a driving hoop to break a tie with 48.8 seconds left, and Kemba Walker delivered the dagger with a 3-pointer 24 seconds later, allowing the Celtics to record their sixth straight win.
Tatum finished with a team-high 44 points, three fewer than Curry, who continued his week-long assault on the 3-point line with 11 more.
Curry, who turned his left ankle in the fourth quarter but never left the game, topped 32 points for a league-best 10th consecutive game and surpassed 40 for the third time in four games in the last six days.
Grizzlies 128, Bucks 115
Grayson Allen made a career-high seven 3-pointers and scored 26 points to lead Memphis to a victory over host Milwaukee.
Dillon Brooks scored 21 points and Jonas Valanciunas added 17 points and eight rebounds as the Grizzlies won for the seventh time in the past 10 games.
Desmond Bane tallied 16 points and fellow reserve Xavier Tillman added 15 on 7 of 9 shooting for Memphis. Ja Morant had 13 points, six rebounds and six assists as the Grizzlies improved to 2-0 on a seven-game road trip.
Spurs 111, Suns 85
Rudy Gay scored 19 points and rookie Devin Vassell poured in a career-high 18 off the bench as short-handed San Antonio swamped Phoenix in the Valley of the Sun to emphatically snap a two-game losing streak.
The Spurs played without starters DeMar DeRozan and Jakob Poeltl and key reserve Patty Mills, all held out for rest in the second game of a home-road back-to-back. But the players San Antonio employed dominated the Suns, leading by 19 points at the half and by as many as 31 in the fourth quarter while rolling to the win.
Keldon Johnson added 17 points for San Antonio with Dejounte Murray scoring 14, Drew Eubanks hitting for 13 points and taking a game-high 13 rebounds, and Derrick White tallying 12 for the Spurs.
Bulls 106, Cavaliers 96
Nikola Vucevic scored 25 points and added seven rebounds with five assists as Chicago defeated visiting Cleveland.
Lauri Markkanen added 16 points off the bench and Denzel Valentine chipped in 13 as the Bulls’ losing streak ended at five games.
Darius Garland had 22 points and 12 assists for the Cavaliers. Collin Sexton also had 22 points, Kevin Love added 14, Isaac Okoro had 13 and Jarrett Allen had 10 points and 11 rebounds.
Wizards 121, Pistons 100
Bradley Beal, the NBA’s leading scorer, pumped in 37 points and Washington extended its winning streak to four games by pounding visiting Detroit.
Ish Smith had 16 points and five assists off the bench, while Russell Westbrook supplied yet another triple-double with 15 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists for the Wizards, who have won six of their last seven games.
Isaiah Stewart scored a career-high 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Pistons. Frank Jackson also scored 19 points and Josh Jackson contributed 17. Jerami Grant added 14 points but shot 4-for-14 from the field.
Lakers 127, Jazz 115 (OT)
Los Angeles got back in the win column with a gutsy overtime victory over visiting Utah.
With the win, the Lakers improved to 4-1 in overtime games this season. The Jazz dropped to 0-3 in overtime games this year.
Andre Drummond, who returned to the starting lineup after sitting out with a lingering right big toe contusion, topped the Lakers with 27 points and eight rebounds.
–Field Level Media