Jayson Tatum lost his personal duel with Stephen Curry, but the Boston Celtics won their battle with the Golden State Warriors this Saturday night, outscoring the visitors with a 119-114 victory in a nationally televised team duel in streak.
Tatum scored to break a tie with 48.8 seconds left, and Kemba Walker delivered the dagger with a triple 24 seconds later, allowing the Celtics to record their sixth straight victory.
Tatum finished with 44 points, three less than Curry, who continued his weeklong round at the 3-point line with 11 more.
Curry, who sprained his left ankle in the fourth quarter but never left the game, surpassed 32 points for a league-best 10th straight game and surpassed 40 for the third time in four games in the past six days.
Grizzlies 128, Bucks 115
Meanwhile, Grayson Allen hit seven 3s and scored 26 points to lead Memphis to a win over Milwaukee.
Dillon Brooks scored 21 points and Jonas Valanciunas added 17 points and eight rebounds for the Grizzlies to win for the seventh time in the last 10 games.
Desmond Bane scored 16 points and his backup teammate Xavier Tillman added 15 on 7 of 9 shots 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
For his part, Rudy Gay scored 19 points and rookie Devin Vassell added 18 off the bench, his personal best, when San Antonio, with few players, flooded Phoenix in the Valley of the Sun to emphatically break a streak of two consecutive losses. .
The Spurs played without starters DeMar DeRozan and Jakob Poeltl and key backup Patty Mills, all held for the break in the second game of a back-to-back at home. But the players San Antonio employed dominated the Suns, leading by 19 points in the half and up to 31 in the fourth quarter as they advanced to victory.
Keldon Johnson added 17 points for San Antonio with Dejounte Murray scoring 14, Drew Eubanks batting for 13 points and grabbing a game-high 13 rebounds, and Derrick White adding 12 for the Spurs.
Bulls 106, Cavaliers 96
Meanwhile, Nikola Vucevic scored 25 points and added seven rebounds with five assists when Chicago defeated Cleveland.
Lauri Markkanen added 16 points off the bench and Denzel Valentine chipped in 13 as the Bulls’ losing streak ended in 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
Likewise, Bradley Beal, the NBA’s leading scorer, had 37 points and Washington extended its winning streak to four games by beating Detroit.
Ish Smith had 16 points and five assists off the bench, while Russell Westbrook provided 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 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 made 4 of 14 shots from the field.
–
