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Celtics Drill Blazers, Brown 27 Points

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PORTLAND – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Jaylen Brown recorded 27 points, six rebounds and five assists and the Boston Celtics became the first NBA team to reach the 50-win mark this season with a 121-99 victory over the host Portland Trail Blazers.

Jayson Tatum added 26 points and eight assists and Sam Hauser scored a season-best 22 points off the bench for Boston.

Payton Pritchard added 11 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, Al Horford had 11 points and three blocked shots and Derrick White contributed 11 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots for the Celtics.

Deandre Ayton had 22 points and 15 rebounds for the Trail Blazers, who lost for the 10th time in their past 11 home games.

Anfernee Simons scored 17 points, Jerami Grant added 14 and Scoot Henderson had 13 points, eight assists and six rebounds for Portland.

Boston won for the 13th time in its past 15 games despite playing without Kristaps Porzingis (hamstring) and Jrue Holiday (knee).

The Celtics shot 49 percent from the field, including 15 of 40 (37.5 percent) from 3-point range.

Portland connected on 44.8 percent of its shots and was 10 of 28 (35.7 percent) from behind the arc.

Boston led 79-60 with 7:44 left in the third quarter after a 7-0 run.

The Trail Blazers answered with a 15-5 charge, and Grant’s three-point play pulled Portland within 84-75 with 1:36 remaining in the third. The Celtics scored the final four points of the stanza for a 13-point lead.

Tatum and Hauser connected on back-to-back treys to boost Boston’s advantage to 101-83 with 8:40 left in the contest.

Hauser later buried a trey to push the lead to 115-95 with two minutes remaining as the Celtics closed out their seventh win in the past nine meetings with the Trail Blazers.

Brown scored 17 first-half points to help the Celtics hold a 66-52 lead at the break. Ayton scored 14 in the half for Portland.

Boston made six treys in the first quarter en route to a 37-28 lead. A dunk by Luke Kornet made it 50-33 with 7:47 left in the half.

Simons hit two 3-pointers during an 11-0 surge that allowed the Trail Blazers to move within 56-50 with 3:37 to play. The Celtics answered with a 10-2 run to make it a 14-point halftime margin.

–Field Level Media

Celtics Handle Suns; Tatum 29 Points

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PHOENIX – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s Jayson Tatum had 29 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, and his teammate Jaylen Brown finished with 27 points to help the visiting Celtics avoid their first three-game losing streak of the season by beating the Phoenix Suns 117-107 on Saturday night.

Tatum scored 22 points in the second half, 13 of them in the fourth quarter.

Phoenix received a season-high 45 points to go with 10 rebounds and six assists from Kevin Durant, who was 18 of 26 from the field. It was Durant’s fifth game with at least 40 points this season.

The Celtics were up by nine after three quarters and stretched the lead to 15 on a 3-pointer by Tatum with 9:19 to play. Phoenix trailed 107-102 following a three-point play by Durant with 3:55 left, but the Suns failed to get any closer.

Bradley Beal added 25 points for the Suns, who were seeking their third straight victory. Jusuf Nurkic finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Boston’s Al Horford had nine points and 12 rebounds, and Luke Kornet came off the bench to contribute 14 points and six rebounds.

Kristaps Porzingis, Boston’s starting center, was a late addition to the injury report and didn’t play because of hamstring tightness. Boston coach Joe Mazzulla termed Porzingis day-to-day.

Devin Booker (ankle) missed his fourth straight game for the Suns.

Boston ended the first quarter with a 9-2 run and led 31-26. The Celtics extended their lead to 15 points late in the second quarter and had a 62-50 advantage at halftime. Durant (20) and Brown (18) were the leading scorers in the half.

Phoenix trimmed Boston’s lead to 77-74 when Durant capped a 9-0 run by making a 3-pointer with 3:56 remaining in the third. The Celtics went on a 10-4 spurt after that, however, and led 87-78 entering the final quarter.

The teams will meet again Thursday in Boston.

–Field Level Media

Celtics to Get Back on Track vs Suns?

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PHOENIX – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Phoenix Suns will attempt to hand the visiting Boston Celtics their third consecutive loss when the teams meet Saturday night.

Boston’s 11-game winning streak came to an end when the Celtics squandered a 22-point fourth-quarter lead in a 105-104 loss at Cleveland on Tuesday. After that, the Celtics suffered a 115-109 loss at Denver on Thursday.

Jaylen Brown had 41 points and 14 rebounds against Denver, but was 7 of 14 from the free-throw line. Kristaps Porzingis added 24 points and 12 rebounds for Boston, but Jayson Tatum had a rare off night and finished with 15 points.

“It stings,” Porzingis said. “It stings real bad, but I like that there’s a big margin that we can improve from this game. It’s not always going to go your way of course. You’re not always going to have perfect games, but what I like is there’s a margin for us to get better, to play better.”

Tatum was 5 of 13 from the field in 39 minutes.

“We talk all the time about respecting each other’s space and understanding the flow of the game,” Tatum said. “It’s not for me to hijack the game because it’s a national TV game and make it about me. Other guys had it going.”

Tatum (ankle) is listed as probable for Saturday’s game. Brown (sacroiliac) is questionable.

The Suns are hoping to have guard Devin Booker in the lineup Saturday. Booker has missed three games since he sprained his right ankle during a 118-109 loss to Houston on March 2 but was listed as questionable on Friday’s injury report. Booker is averaging 27.5 points, 6.8 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game this season.

Before his team’s 120-113 victory over Toronto on Thursday, Phoenix coach Frank Vogel said Booker is making progress and is day to day.

“He definitely wants to be back as soon as possible,” Vogel said. “We understand the big picture, and we’re going to bring him back when he’s ready.”

Kevin Durant tossed in 35 points during Thursday’s win against Toronto. Grayson Allen set a franchise record by making seven 3-pointers in the first quarter and finished with 26 points (eight 3-pointers), all in the first half. He also made eight 3-pointers during Tuesday’s 117-107 overtime victory at Denver.

The Suns acquired Allen in a trade shortly before preseason training camp. After Thursday’s win, he was leading the NBA in 3-point percentage (47.5 percent).

“He knows his role in our system and he’s a great shooter,” Vogel said. “Everybody knew he was a good player when he was coming in, but he’s a great player. He’s playing phenomenally for us.”

Saturday’s contest will be the first of two meetings between Boston and Phoenix during the regular season. The teams will also play Thursday in Boston.

“They have had an incredible year thus far,” Durant said. “Best starting five in the league by far.

“They have a big lineup with versatile guys up and down the lineup. They’ve been around each other for a while, so they understand one another. Adding Jrue (Holiday) was huge. Adding Kristaps was huge. We have our work cut out for us. I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

“I like where we are right now,” Durant said. “I think we can keep growing. That’s the best thing about it — we’ve still got room to grow as a team. We’re getting more and more comfortable as the day goes on.”

–Field Level Media

Nuggets Beat Celtics, 115-109

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DENVER – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Denver’s Nikola Jokic had 32 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists for his 20th triple-double of the season, and the host Nuggets overcame a big night by Jaylen Brown to beat the Boston Celtics 115-109 on Thursday night.

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Denver swept the season series and has won seven of eight out of the All-Star break. Jamal Murray scored 19 points, Aaron Gordon contributed 16 points and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Peyton Watson had 11 points each for the Nuggets.

Brown had 41 points and 13 rebounds, both season-highs, but missed seven free throws. Kristaps Porzingis had 24 points and 12 rebounds, Jayson Tatum finished with 15 points and Jrue Holiday added 12 for Boston.

The Celtics have lost consecutive games for just the second time this season.

Denver led 62-54 at halftime but Boston scored the first eight points of the third. The teams traded buckets before Denver went on a 14-5 run to go ahead 82-73 and took a 90-80 lead into the fourth quarter.

Murray dunked for the first points of the final period. The Celtics scored the next five points but Denver answered with four straight to restore a double-digit lead.

Porzingis hit a jumper to make it 101-93 and had a chance to pull closer when Tatum stole the ball from Murray but the Nuggets stole it back and turned it into a dunk for Gordon with 5:13 remaining.

Brown’s three-point play and a technical on Jokic gave the Celtics a four-point trip to cut it to 105-98. Porzingis hit a 14-footer to trim the deficit to five and Gordon had a putback dunk to make it 109-102.

Holiday got Boston within two with a pair of 3-pointers, Tatum missed a 3-pointer that would have given the Celtics the lead with 45 seconds left and Jokic fed Gordon for another dunk to make it 113-109 with 19.8 seconds remaining.

Derrick White missed a 3-pointer and Denver held on.

Murray hit a 3-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer to put the Nuggets ahead 30-28, and they didn’t trail the rest of the night.

–Field Level Media

Up 23, Celtics Lose to Cavs

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CLEVELAND – (Staff and Wire Service Reports) – Dean Wade scored 23 points and Jarrett Allen finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds to help the short-handed Cleveland Cavaliers overcome a 22-point, fourth-quarter deficit and beat the visiting Boston Celtics 105-104 on Tuesday night.

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The Celtics trailed by one point when Cleveland’s Darius Garland was called for a foul on Jayson Tatum with 0.7 seconds to play, but the Cavaliers challenged the call and it was overturned. The loss ended Boston’s 11-game winning streak and its eight-game road winning streak.

Cleveland took a 105-104 lead on a Wade dunk with 19.1 seconds to play. The Cavaliers outscored the Celtics 34-17 in the fourth.

Tatum had 26 points and 13 rebounds. The Celtics received 24 points and nine rebounds from Kristaps Porzingis and 21 points from Jaylen Brown.

The Cavaliers were without leading scorer Donovan Mitchell, who sat out for the third straight game with a left knee bone bruise. Mitchell, who is expected to miss at least two more games, is averaging 28.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and a career-high 6.2 assists per game this season.

Cleveland’s Max Strus was also a late scratch because of a knee injury.

Garland and Isaac Okoro each scored 16 points. Garland also had 11 assists.

Cleveland led 9-6 early, but Boston surged ahead by scoring the next 14 points to take a 20-9 lead. The Celtics were up 33-25 after one quarter and led 55-45 at halftime.

Tatum led all scorers with 22 points in the first half, when he also grabbed eight rebounds. Tatum made 7 of 9 field-goal attempts in the half, including five of his six 3-point attempts. The Cavaliers shot 32.1 percent from the field in the first two quarters (17 of 53).

Cleveland was within four after Garland capped a 7-0 spurt with a 3-pointer that trimmed Boston’s lead to 69-65 with 5:02 left in the third quarter, but the Celtics outscored the Cavaliers 18-6 in the remainder of the frame and had an 87-71 advantage heading into the fourth.

–Field Level Media

Celtics Crush GS Warriors

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – A dominant first half allowed the Boston Celtics to extend their winning streak to 11 games by beating the visiting Golden State Warriors 140-88 Sunday.

Boston made 15 of 24 3-point attempts in the first two quarters and led 82-38 at halftime. Boston’s 44-point halftime lead is the largest in the franchise’s history.

The Celtics shot 60 percent from the field in the first half (30 of 50), when they committed one turnover. The Warriors trailed by as many as 45 points in the second quarter. Each team rested its starters for all or most of the second half.

Jaylen Brown led Boston with 29 points, and Jayson Tatum added 27 on his 26th birthday. Boston made 25 of 49 3-pointers (51 percent) in the win.

Lester Quinones tossed in a team-high 17 points for the Warriors, who trailed 115-62 after three quarters. Boston led by as many as 56 points in the fourth.

Steph Curry went 2-of-13 from the field (0-for-9 from 3-point territory) in the first half and finished the game with four points. He did not play in the second half. Klay Thompson (six points) sat out the second half because of a hamstring injury.

The loss ended Golden State’s eight-game road winning streak.

Center Kristaps Porzingis wasn’t available for the Celtics because of a left quad contusion. Porzingis is averaging 20.3 points and 6.9 rebounds in 44 games (all starts) for Boston this season.

The Celtics made 10 3-pointers in the first quarter for a 44-22 advantage. It was 21-21 with 6:05 left in the quarter, but the Celtics scored the next 14 points. Boston scored 23 of the final 24 points in the quarter.

Brown made five of Boston’s 10 3-pointers in the first and finished the quarter with 19 points.

The Celtics outscored the Warriors 38-16 in the second quarter to build their 44-point halftime lead. Tatum scored 20 points in the second quarter and had 22 points at the half.

It was the second meeting between the teams this season. Golden State earned a 132-126 victory in overtime when it played Boston at home on Dec. 19.

–Field Level Media

LeBron James: First to 40,000 Points

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LOS ANGELES – Veteran NBA star LeBron James became the first NBA player to reach 40,000 career points, scoring on a driving layup in Saturday’s home game against the Denver Nuggets.

James became the NBA’s all-time scoring leader over a year ago when he passed former Lakers star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in a home game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Feb. 7, 2022. Abdul-Jabbar had 38,387 points over 20 seasons.

James entered Saturday’s game with a career average of 27.1 points per game over 1,474 contests in 21 NBA seasons.

Needing nine points to reach his latest milestone, the Akron, Ohio, native had five points on 2 of 3 shooting in the first quarter.

James cut to the basket for a layup to open the second quarter then reached the 40,000 mark when he drove past the Nuggets’ Michael Porter Jr. with a spin then made a left-handed layup with 10:39 remaining in the second quarter.

The 39-year-old has been on a scoring surge of late with an average of 30.8 points over his previous four games. James entered the game averaging 25.3 points per game this season with 7.1 rebounds and 7.9 assists.

James scored the first points of his career as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers on Oct. 29, 2003, against the Sacramento Kings. He reached 10,000 points in February 2008, and hit 20,000 points in January 2013. James made his 30,000th point in January 2018.

–Field Level Media

Brown Leads Streaking Celtics Over NY

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NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report)  – Celtics F/G Jaylen Brown collected 30 points and eight rebounds to help the visiting Boston Celtics extend their winning streak to eight games by beating the New York Knicks 116-102 Saturday night.

Boston made 15 of its 35 3-point attempts and shot 56.8 percent from the field.

Knicks’ All-Star guard Jalen Brunson scored a game-high 34 points and had nine assists for the Knicks, who dropped to 0-4 against the Celtics this season. Josh Hart added 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists for New York, and Precious Achiuwa finished with eight points and a team-high nine rebounds.

The Celtics led by four points at halftime and outscored the Knicks 35-26 in the third. New York failed to cut its deficit below nine points in the final quarter.

The Celtics received 22 points from Kristaps Porzingis and 19 points, six rebounds and six assists from Jayson Tatum. Six Boston players scored at least 10 points, and the Celtics had a 58-38 edge in points in the paint.

Boston ended the opening quarter on a 9-2 run and had a 30-26 advantage after 12 minutes. The Celtics extended their lead to 56-46 on a traditional three-point play by Porzingis with 3:26 remaining in the second quarter, but the Knicks closed the gap to 62-58 at halftime.

Brown led all scorers with 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting in the first half. Brunson had 19 points in the half.

It was 64-64 following a Brunson free throw with 10:47 left in the third, but Boston went on a 33-13 run and had a 97-77 lead after a Tatum 3-pointer with 1:39 left in the quarter. Boston made 9 of its 13 3-point attempts in the third, but the Knicks scored the final seven points in the quarter to trim Boston’s lead to 97-84 after three.

Donte Divincenzo (12 points) and Miles McBride (11 points) were the only other players who scored in double figures for the Knicks, who turned the ball over 14 times.

–Field Level Media

Celtics Put Streak on Line at MSG

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NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Boston Celtics will attempt to stretch their season-high winning streak to eight games when they visit the New York Knicks tonight. The Celtics returned from the All-Star break and earned their seventh straight victory by beating the Chicago Bulls 129-112 on the road Thursday.

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Boston’s offensive depth was on display, as Derrick White scored 28 points, Jayson Tatum finished with 25 and Jaylen Brown added 21. Boston made 23 of its 47 3-point attempts. White and Tatum each made five shots from beyond the 3-point arc.

“That’s the fun thing about this team is most nights it’s JT (Tatum), JB (Brown) and KP (Kristaps Porzingis). They allow myself and everyone else the freedom to do what we need to do, too,” White said. “Having guys like that at the top is just allowing us to be aggressive and makes this a fun team to play with. That’s the fun thing, each quarter it might be somebody different and we’re all ready to go and having a lot of fun with it.”

Tatum, who is averaging a team-high 27.1 points per game, is among those being mentioned as a possible MVP candidate.

“There’s a lot of talented guys in this league right now,” Tatum said. “A lot of guys doing great things. I won’t have the points per game that the other three or four guys will, but I think the voters are smart enough to understand the dynamic of our team. Essentially having to do less scoring maybe on certain nights, but still impact the game in a lot of ways to kind of ensure that we win every single night.

“I know I can score 30 a night, but that’s not necessarily what this team needs on a nightly basis. Taking that step back, in a sense, for us to be better. I’ve done everything but win a championship.”

The Knicks ended a four-game losing streak by beating the Philadelphia 76ers 110-96 on Thursday. Jalen Brunson led the way with 21 points and 12 assists in the win.

The Knicks received a 22-point performance from Bojan Bogdanovic; 18 points and 12 rebounds from Josh Hart; and 18 points and 11 rebounds from Precious Achiuwa. New York connected on 15 of its 34 3-point attempts.

“The way we moved the ball, it was a great team effort,” said Bogdanovic, who shot 6-for-6 from the 3-point arc.

The Knicks continue to play without forward Julius Randle (shoulder), center Mitchell Robinson (ankle) and guard/forward OG Anunoby (elbow). It’s uncertain when any of the three will return.

“We’re undermanned right now,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “Our starting frontcourt is not there so we know we have to play hard as hell. We know if we do that, we’ll have a chance to win.”

Saturday’s game will be the fourth meeting between the Celtics and Knicks this season. Boston won the first three. The Knicks will be looking to improve on their 19-8 home record.

“Just find a way to win — that’s what we have to do,” Thibodeau said. “We have to scratch them out right now.”

–Field Level Media

Celtics Pick Up Pace After Break

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CHICAGO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Derrick White scored 28 points and Jayson Tatum followed with 25 to help the visiting Boston Celtics top the Chicago Bulls 129-112 on Thursday for their season-high seventh straight victory.

In their first game back from the All-Star break, the league-best Celtics shot 54.2 percent, including 48.9 percent from long range.

That compared to 46.8 percent overall and 35.7 percent from deep for the Bulls, who lost for the third time in four games.

Jaylen Brown (21 points) and Kristaps Porzingis (14) also scored in double figures for Boston.

Nikola Vucevic logged 22 points and 14 rebounds for the Bulls. After scoring 20 points in the first half to match Brown, Vucevic did not make his first (and only) basket of the second half until 6:34 remained in the game.

Chicago’s Coby White scored 20 points and DeMar DeRozan chipped in 18, while Ayo Dosunmu (14), Alex Caruso (12) and Andre Drummond (11) also finished in double figures.

Drummond added eight rebounds and Dosunmu dished a game-high eight assists.

Boston opened the third quarter on a 10-0 run to erase a three-point halftime deficit and never trailed after that. Chicago drew within five points midway through the quarter but was unable to keep pace. Tatum erupted for 15 points in the third quarter after scoring just five in the first half. He also led the team with seven rebounds.

The Celtics swished 23 3-pointers to the Bulls’ 10.

After trailing by as many as 16 points in the early going, the Bulls regained their composure in a breakout second quarter. Chicago’s 8-0 run to close the first period set the tone while helping offset a monster start for Derrick White, who had 12 points and three blocks in the first 12 minutes.

Chicago outscored Boston 39-28 in the second quarter to take a 62-59 advantage into halftime. The Bulls grabbed their first lead since 2-0 when Vucevic hit a pair of free throws with 1:58 remaining in the second quarter.

Torrey Craig (right knee) and Patrick Williams (left foot) missed the game for the Bulls.

–Field Level Media