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Celtics: Kings for a Day

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SACRAMENTO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s Jaylen Brown and Derrick White scored 28 apiece and the Celtics bounced back from an overtime loss 24 hours earlier in San Francisco to thump the host Sacramento Kings 144-119 on Wednesday.

Playing without Jayson Tatum, who sprained his left ankle Tuesday at Golden State, and Al Horford, who got a night off in the second game of a back-to-back set, the Celtics overcame a 41-point Kings first quarter with improved defense over the final three periods.

Kristaps Porzingis returned to the Celtics’ lineup and scored 24 points. He was rested on Tuesday. Boston snapped a four-game road losing streak and won for the sixth time in seven games overall.

De’Aaron Fox produced a game-high 29 points for the Kings, whose three-game winning ended.

Getting three 3-pointers from Fox and two from Keegan Murray, the Kings sprinted out to a 23-11 lead in the game’s first 5:09.

The Celtics got within 41-38 by period’s end, then held Sacramento to 25 and 24 points, respectively, in the middle two periods while running out to a 113-90 lead by the end of the third quarter.

Despite shooting 47.3 percent overall and 47.7 percent on 3-point attempts, the Kings never posed a threat over the final 12 minutes, adding just 29 points to their total.

In accumulating its second-biggest point total of the season, Boston did the hosts better in both shooting categories, making 55.4 percent overall and 52.4 percent of its 3-point tries. The 22-for-42 night from beyond the arc came one night after the Celtics went just 17-for-58 (29.3 percent) from long distance against the Warriors.

White’s 28 points consisted mostly of 3-pointers, as he went 6-for-9. Payton Pritchard buried six of 11 3-point shots off the bench en route to 20 points, while Jrue Holiday went 4-for-6 from long range as part of a 21-point, 10-assist performance.

Porzingis was Boston’s leading rebounder with nine. He made seven of his 11 shots.

While the Celtics had five players score 20 or more points, the Kings had just Fox with his 29. He made six of his eight 3-point attempts, while his teammates were just 15-for-36 (41.7 percent).

Domantas Sabonis pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds to go with 13 points and eight assists for Sacramento. Murray (13), Keon Ellis (12), Trey Lyles (11), Harrison Barnes (10) and Malik Monk (10) also scored in double figures.

–Field Level Media

Celtics Fit to Beat Kings

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SACRAMENTO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Boston Celtics have the unenviable task of visiting the high-energy Sacramento Kings less than 24 hours after an overtime loss in San Francisco as they seek to end a road losing skid Wednesday night. Riding the momentum of a five-game winning streak, all at home, the Celtics appeared on their way to a rather comfortable road win over the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night, running up a 17-point lead.

But Jayson Tatum, who had to leave the floor for almost an entire quarter after turning his left ankle, misfired on a potential winning shot at the end of regulation, leading to five more minutes of Celtics sweat that went for naught in a 132-126 defeat.

In the end, the Celtics wasted a 30-point night by Derrick White, who hit seven 3-pointers.

The loss was the fourth in a row on the road for Boston, which flew west for a four-game trip tied with the Minnesota Timberwolves for the best record in the NBA.

Fourteen of the Celtics’ 20 wins, however, have come at home; and, when they take the floor in Sacramento, the Celtics will do so with just a 6-6 road record.

Even before watching all five of his starters go 36 or more minutes against the Warriors, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla indicated Al Horford was a “load management” candidate on the second night of the back-to-back.

At the same time, Mazzulla noted that Kristaps Porzingis, who was held out of Tuesday’s trip opener, was likely to return against the Kings.

“Just calf management, back-to-back, a little slow after (Sunday’s home win over Orlando),” Mazzulla said of Porzingis. “Just really trying to manage that and make sure both those guys stay healthy.”

As they attempt to sidestep what would be just their second set of back-to-back losses this season, the Celtics will be running into a Kings team that likewise has taken advantage of its home dates of late. Sacramento has opened a six-game homestand with wins over the Oklahoma City Thunder, Utah Jazz and Washington Wizards, producing a 12-point average margin of victory in those wins.

The Kings were firing on all cylinders Monday in a 143-131 win over the Wizards, rolling to a season-high point total on the strength of balanced scoring, 53 percent shooting and 17 3-pointers.

De’Aaron Fox (30 points), Domantas Sabonis (28) and Keegan Murray (25) led the way with a total of 83 points on 30-for-52 shooting.

Kings coach Mike Brown is happy to see his team build up a little momentum at home with three tough opponents – the Celtics, Phoenix Suns and Timberwolves – completing the six-game homestand.

“We’re doing good,” Brown said. “I think we have the best fans in the NBA and guys should be excited to play in this building. They should get energy from the fans. We have to take advantage of it when we are here.”

The Celtics have prevailed in each of their last two visits to Sacramento, including 132-109 last March behind 36 points from Tatum and 27 from Jaylen Brown.

–Field Level Media

Boston Wins 14th Straight at TD Garden

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Celtics Handle Orlando for Second Win of Weekend

BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Jaylen Brown heated up late to polish off a 31-point performance as the Boston Celtics continued to inch toward history with a 114-97 victory over the visiting Orlando Magic on Sunday. Boston has won its first 14 home games of the season, becoming just the second team in franchise history to accomplish the feat. The 1957-58 Celtics got off to the best start in front of a home crowd, going 18-0.

Brown scored 17 of his points in the fourth quarter and went 12-for-20 from the field for the game.

Jayson Tatum added 23 points and eight rebounds for Boston, which also got 15 points and 10 boards from Kristaps Porzingis.

Paolo Banchero poured in a game-high 36 points to go along with 10 rebounds as Orlando fell to the Celtics for the second time in three days. Boston beat the Magic 128-111 on Friday.

Jalen Suggs (13 points) was the only other player to score in double figures for the visitors, who made just 38.2 percent of their shots.

Orlando managed to cut an 11-point halftime deficit to 69-65 when Banchero split a pair of free throws with 5:18 remaining in the third quarter.

Porzingis helped Boston maintain control, though, throwing home a putback dunk and converting the ensuing foul shot for a three-point play. Tatum was later fouled while attempting a trey, and he too cashed in at the charity stripe, making all three free throws for a 75-65 Celtics lead with 3:11 to go.

Boston took an 83-74 advantage into the fourth.

Brown then took over, scoring 15 points in the first 5:45 of the final period to make it 103-86. The Magic never threatened the rest of the way, with Boston leading by as many as 23.

After being held to 14 points on 5-of-17 shooting during Friday’s loss, Banchero came roaring out of the gate on Sunday, scoring 19 points to lift the Magic to a 31-27 edge after 12 minutes of action.

But Boston came to life just past the midway point of the second quarter, and after Brown scored nine points during a 20-5 run, the hosts found themselves up 61-46 with 51.8 seconds left in the frame.

The Celtics settled for a 61-50 lead at the break.

–Field Level Media

NBA: Celtics Dominate vs Magic

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The short-handed Boston Celtics overcame a slow start en route to dominating the visiting Orlando Magic 128-111 on Friday. Jayson Tatum had 30 points, six rebounds and four assists to lead six double-figure scorers for Boston, which has won four straight and is 13-0 at home this season.

Payton Pritchard added 21 on a season-high six 3-pointers, while Derrick White stuffed the stat sheet with 19 points, eight assists, four rebounds and four steals.

Jaylen Brown had 18 points, and Oshae Brissett and Sam Hauser 11 each to help the Celtics, who played without centers Kristaps Porzingis (calf), Al Horford (rest) and Luke Kornet (thigh) as well as guard Dalano Banton (non-COVID illness).

Orlando also had six players in double figures, including Jalen Suggs with 19 after suffering a wrist injury in the first half. Cole Anthony and Franz Wagner had 17 apiece.

Goga Bitadze posted a 15-point, 11-rebound double-double. Paolo Banchero added 14 points, and Anthony Black 13.

Orlando posted an opening 7-0 run and led 11-4 after Banchero’s driving finish at the 7:46 mark, but Brown’s 10 first-quarter points helped the hosts take back momentum.

Pritchard hit back-to-back 3-pointers off the bench, bringing Boston back within a basket with 4:32 left. Pritchard drained another after Tatum broke a tie in the final minute for a 30-24 advantage after one period.

After Tatum’s 3-point play got Boston off to a strong second-quarter start, Anthony sank a pair of threes and had eight points as Orlando responded with a 10-2 run.

Brissett had two of the Celtics’ next three baskets to help kick off a 13-3 spurt, extending their lead to double-digits. White fed Tatum for his second of three first-half dunks with 3:30 left before halftime.

The Celtics’ lead grew as high as 21 in the third, thanks to a 7-for-12 3-point shooting effort. Brown opened Boston’s scoring in the quarter with a turnaround shot, about two and a half minutes before White began the barrage from distance.

Pritchard also hit consecutive treys in the quarter, which Tatum finished with a driving 3-point play to get Boston over 100 points.

Moritz Wagner’s layup helped Orlando start the fourth on a 5-0 run, but Tatum and White responded with threes made 23 seconds apart. A Brissett dunk forced a Magic timeout with 7:52 left, matching Boston’s largest lead at 25.

Neemias Queta’s personal 5-0 run helped the Celtics late, responding to five straight Magic points.

–Field Level Media

Home Style: Celtics Defeat Cavs

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Boston Celtics look to beat a second straight opponent that has given them recent trouble as the Orlando Magic come in Friday night for the first of two games in three days between the teams. It may be only mid-December, but the series could have a big impact on the final Eastern Conference playoff picture as first-place Boston’s lead on Orlando — which is tied for third with Philadelphia — is just two games.

The Celtics are coming off sweeping Cleveland in another two-games-in-three-days set, beating the Cavaliers 120-113 on Tuesday and 116-107 on Thursday after Boston went 1-3 against Cleveland last season.

The wins moved Boston to 12-0 at home this season, but coach Joe Mazzulla knows his team’s mindset should not change regardless of where the games are played.

“We have to be able to play, regardless of circumstances,” he said, “and I think we’re starting to learn and not be defined by that.”

Jayson Tatum had double-doubles in the back-to-back wins against Cleveland, including 27 points and 11 rebounds on Thursday. Jaylen Brown, who was originally questionable due to a left ankle injury, added 18 of his 22 points in a hot first half.

Teammate Derrick White feels it’s about more than just stats for the star duo, who paced Boston’s 50.6 percent shooting.

“They do so much night in and night out that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet,” White said. “We’re thankful to have them.”

Similar to Cleveland, Orlando recently has had the upper hand in its series against Boston, winning four consecutive matchups dating to last December.

“I get it because we’re the Celtics and we’re supposed to win it every single year that there’s expectations of, ‘Yeah, two or three teams will give you (a hard time) but everyone else will be easy,’ and that’s just not the case,” Mazzulla said. “That’s not the NBA.”

Orlando’s streak of head-to-head success against Boston continued into this season with a 113-96 win on Nov. 24.

Moritz Wagner had a game-high 27 points while Tatum posted 26 to lead the Celtics, who shot just 40.8 percent.

The Magic have not allowed 100 points to Boston in three straight meetings, while their two most recent opponents — Detroit last Friday and Cleveland on Monday — were each held under 95.

“I think you continue to preach exactly what you know travels, which is defense,” Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley said. “That’s who we are, and that’s what we’ll continue to be about.”

Orlando, which has not made the playoffs since 2020, is 11-2 since Nov. 15. A 104-94 win Monday at home against Cleveland was its second straight after back-to-back losses that ended a nine-game winning streak, the longest in the NBA this season.

Paolo Banchero, who has been Orlando’s leading scorer in two of the past three games, had 20 points and 10 rebounds Monday. He netted 11 as Orlando turned around a halftime deficit in a 30-15 third quarter.

“We don’t want to be the doormat anymore and a team that people talk about as, ‘It’s just the Orlando Magic,'” guard Jalen Suggs said. “We want to be that tough team, and you’ve got to scout and bring full mental energy and physicality when you come play us.”

The Celtics played Thursday without center Luke Kornet, who was a late scratch due to an adductor injury. As a result, Lamar Stevens contributed four points in nine minutes in his first action since Nov. 28.

–Field Level Media

Celtics Remain Unbeaten at Home

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Boston Celtics went 26-for-26 from the free-throw line and improved their home record to 11-0 this season by beating the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers 120-113 on Tuesday night at TD Garden.

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown each scored a team-high 25 points for the Celtics, and Kristaps Porzingis finished with 21. Tatum and Porzingis each had a game-high 10 rebounds. Celtics guard Derrick White made 5 of 8 3-point attempts and added 17 points.

The game was tied 106-106 with 6:05 to play, but Boston scored the next nine points, and the Cavaliers were never closer than seven the rest of the way. The Celtics have won 18 consecutive regular-season home games dating back to March.

Cleveland received a game-high 29 points from Donovan Mitchell, and 26 from Darius Garland.

Caris LeVert returned to Cleveland’s lineup after missing the past four games with a knee injury and tossed in 11 points in 23 minutes, but the Cavaliers were without forward Evan Mobley (knee) for the third straight game. Mobley is averaging 16.0 points and 10.5 rebounds per game this season. He is shooting 57.3 percent from the field.

An 11-0 run gave Cleveland an 18-4 advantage with 7:34 remaining in the first quarter. A Mitchell 3-pointer extended the lead to 25-10 with 5:15 left in the first, and the Cavaliers led 31-21 after 12 minutes.

The Celtics tied the game at 52-52 on two Brown free throws with 3:52 left in the first half before taking their first lead on a Brown layup with 1:39 remaining. A Garland 3-pointer capped the first-half scoring and handed the Cavaliers a 60-59 halftime lead.

The Celtics had a 17-2 advantage in makes at the free-throw line in the first half.

A 13-2 run gave Cleveland a 74-68 edge with 7:30 left in the third quarter, but Boston regained the lead when a Jrue Holiday trey capped a 9-0 spurt that put the Celtics in front 83-82 with 3:53 left in the quarter. Boston had a 94-92 lead entering the fourth.

The Cavaliers lost despite making 19 of their 45 3-point attempts (42.2 percent).

The teams will meet again on Thursday in Boston.

–Field Level Media

LA Lakers Outplay Pacers for NBA Cup

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LAS VEGAS – Anthony Davis recorded 41 points, 20 rebounds, five assists and four blocked shots as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Indiana Pacers 123-109 on Saturday night in the NBA in-season tournament championship game.

Austin Reaves scored 28 points off the bench and LeBron James added 24 points and 11 rebounds for Los Angeles. D’Angelo Russell had 13 points and seven assists for the Lakers, who outrebounded the Pacers 55-32.

Tyrese Haliburton registered 20 points and 11 assists and Bennedict Mathurin also had 20 points for Indiana.

Aaron Nesmith added 15 points, Obi Toppin scored 13 and Myles Turner and Isaiah Jackson had 10 points apiece for the Pacers.

The stats in this contest don’t count, but Davis would have posted his fifth career 40-point, 20-rebound effort. The game also doesn’t count in the regular-season standings.

James was named the in-season tournament MVP.

“Records will be broken but one thing that will never be broken is being the first to do something. We’re the first champions of the in-season tournament and nobody can ever top that,” James said. “It’s great to be able to do it with such a historical franchise and even better to do it with a great, great cast of funny, engaged, competitive men over here.”

The Lakers went 7-0 in the inaugural in-season tournament and the Pacers finished 6-1. Each team went 4-0 in group play and posted two knockout-round wins to reach the title game.

“I will remember the togetherness, the pride that they took in what they were accomplishing along the way and the excitement,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said of his team and its journey to the title game.

Each player on Los Angeles earns $500,000, while the players on Indiana will each receive $200,000.

“First to do it, first team to win it,” Davis said. “We know it’s not the real thing but we keep taking steps in the right direction. … Our energy and focus were off the charts (Saturday). First to do it, we’ll take it.”

Los Angeles shot 53.4 percent from the field while hitting just 2 of 13 shots from 3-point range.

Indiana connected on 36.8 percent of its shots and was 10 of 41 from 3-point range.

Mathurin made two baskets early in the fourth quarter as the Pacers crept within 92-89. Indiana again was within three after a trey by Turner with 6:11 left before Los Angeles delivered the knockout punch with a 13-0 burst.

Cam Reddish knocked down a 3-pointer to make it 105-99 and Davis followed with 10 straight points to make it 115-99 with 3:11 left. The Pacers were unable to move closer than 12 down the stretch.

Reaves scored 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting and Davis had 17 points and 11 rebounds as Los Angeles led 65-60 at the break. Nesmith had 11 points in the first half for Indiana.

Davis tallied 13 points in the first quarter as the Lakers led 34-29. Reaves scored 15 in the second quarter for Los Angeles.

Los Angeles started the third quarter with a 7-1 run to take a 72-61 lead.

Mathurin made a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to leave Indiana trailing 90-82 entering the final stanza.

“We’re sick. We got outplayed (Saturday) from the start of the game to the end of the game,” Haliburton said. “They just outplayed us.”

–Field Level Media

Celtics Back at Home for Knicks

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Boston Celtics will try to remain unbeaten at home this season and defeat the New York Knicks for the third time in as many meetings when the teams tip-off tonight.

Jayson Tatum scored 34 points in Boston’s 108-104 season-opening win in New York on Oct. 25. He added 35 in the Celtics’ 114-98 victory over the visiting Knicks on Nov. 13.

Tatum contributed 32 points and 12 rebounds on Monday as Boston dropped a 122-112 decision to the Indiana Pacers in an NBA in-season tournament quarterfinal clash. The setback meant that the Celtics would be staying home for their next game, as opposed to traveling west to Las Vegas for the semifinals of the tournament.

“I wanted to (expletive) go to Vegas,” Tatum said. “I didn’t want to go home. I wanted to go to Vegas. Next year, I guess.”

Jaylen Brown collected 30 points and nine rebounds for the Celtics, who saw their three-game winning streak come to a halt.

Kristaps Porzingis expects to be in the lineup on Friday after sitting out the past four games due to a low-grade strain in his left calf. The Celtics said he is “available” to play on Friday morning.

“Of course, everybody was a little bit upset and mad at ourselves for not getting it done (against the Pacers),” Porzingis said. “But me especially, not being able to help out there, it hurts, especially knowing the vision that we had. But this is how it goes and that’s it. As I said, we’ll be back.”

Like the Celtics, the Knicks were bounced from the NBA in-season tournament with a 146-122 setback to the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday.

Eastern Conference Player of the Week Julius Randle erupted for a season-high 41 points for New York, which had won three in a row and 10 of 13 prior to that loss.

Randle made 14 of 19 shots from the floor and 11 of 12 attempts from the free-throw line versus Milwaukee.

“Just getting to my kill zones,” Randle told Newsday of his improved play. “The spots that I’m comfortable getting to on the floor and creating a shot for myself, my teammates.”

New York coach Tom Thibodeau wasn’t interested in handing Randle a verbal bouquet, however. He had bigger fish to fry.

“I’m more concerned with taking a good, hard look at what we have to improve defensively,” Thibodeau said. “Obviously, we fell very short in that area.”

Jalen Brunson agreed after the Knicks allowed the Bucks to shoot a robust 60.4 percent from the floor and 60.5 percent from 3-point range.

“Defensively we didn’t really do anything all game. That’s the story. That’s it,” Brunson said. “I mean, offensively we were playing fine. Defensively, on that side of the ball, we just didn’t do anything. That’s it.”

Brunson, who averages a team-best 24.9 points per game, scored 24 on Tuesday. He had a team-high 26 points in the most recent meeting against Boston.

RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley each had 24 points in the season-opening loss to the Celtics.

–Field Level Media

Lakers Cruise to “In-Season” Cup Final

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LAS VEGAS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – LeBron James recorded 30 points and eight assists to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 133-89 semifinal victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday night in Las Vegas to reach the championship game of the NBA’s in-season tournament.

The Lakers will face the Indiana Pacers in Saturday’s title game. The Pacers defeated theMilwaukee Bucks 128-119 in Thursday’s other semifinal.

Austin Reaves had 17 points and seven assists, and Anthony Davis added 16 points and 15 rebounds for the Lakers, who won for the 11th time in their past 15 games.

James made all four of his attempts from beyond the arc while finishing 9 of 12 overall. He played just 23 minutes and sat out the final quarter.

Trey Murphy III scored 14 points and Zion Williamson added 13 for the Pelicans. Herbert Jones added 10 points and seven rebounds as New Orleans lost for the fourth time in its past seven games.

Brandon Ingram had just nine points on 4-of-13 shooting for the Pelicans. New Orleans hit 35.8 percent of its shots and was 7-of-31 from behind the arc.

Taurean Prince scored 15 points, D’Angelo Russell had 14 and Rui Hachimura added 12 for the Lakers, who made 54.7 percent of their shots and 17 of 35 from 3-point range.

James scored 21 points in the first half as Los Angeles led 67-54 at the break.

James scored only three points in the first quarter before scoring 18 in the second.

Lakers Advance Over Suns

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LOS ANGELES – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – LeBron James scored 31 points with 11 assists, Anthony Davis scored 27 points with 15 rebounds and the Los Angeles Lakers advanced to the semifinals of the NBA in-season tournament with a 106-103 victory Tuesday over the visiting Phoenix.

Austin Reaves scored 20 points for the Lakers, who will face the New Orleans Pelicans in one semifinal game Thursday at Las Vegas. The Milwaukee Bucks will face the Indiana Pacers in the other semifinal, also on Thursday at Las Vegas, with the final set for Saturday there.

Los Angeles improved to 5-0 during in-season tournament games.

Kevin Durant scored 31 points for the Suns, who lost for the third time in their past four games after a seven-game winning streak. Phoenix lost two of its five games in the in-season tournament, both against Los Angeles.

Devin Booker and Grayson Allen each scored 21 points for the Suns, with Booker grabbing 11 rebounds. Phoenix head coach Frank Vogel, who was the Lakers’ coach when they won the 2020 NBA title, is 0-3 this season against his former team.

The Suns took a 95-94 lead on a 3-pointer from Durant with 5:45 remaining, but then they went more than four minutes without a field goal as the Lakers took a 102-97 lead with 2:20 remaining after six consecutive points from James.

Durant ended the field-goal drought with a short jumper to bring Phoenix within 102-99 with 1:02 remaining, and Booker brought the Suns within a point at 102-101 on a layup with 30 seconds left.

After missing his first five shots of the fourth quarter, Reaves buried a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left for a 105-101 lead. Durant made a quick layup to get the Suns within 105-103, with Davis making a free throw with 6.6 seconds remaining. Durant missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer.

The Lakers stormed out to a 33-23 lead after one quarter, assisted by nine Suns turnovers. Los Angeles led 59-47 at halftime after Davis scored 20 points with six rebounds.

After the Suns opened the second half on a 14-0 run, the Lakers’ lead was trimmed to 83-82 through three quarters.

–Field Level Media