Celtics beat Hornets to sweep back-to-back in Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Jayson Tatum scored 29 points, Payton Pritchard had 22 points on six 3-pointers and the Boston Celtics beat the Charlotte Hornets 113-103 for the second straight night at the Spectrum Center on Saturday.

Derrick White added 18 points and eight rebounds for the Celtics, who beat the Hornets 124-109 on Friday night. Boston improved to 6-1.

Charlotte’s LaMelo Ball eclipsed the 30-point barrier for the fourth time this season, finishing with 36 points on 15-of-26 shooting before fouling out for the second straight game. Brandon Miller had 16 points in his return from a strained glute,

Tatum was just 1 of 9 from beyond the arc, but converted 14 of 17 free throws.

GRIZZLIES 124, 76ERS 107

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 27 points and Memphis rolled to a 124-107 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night.

Jay Huff added 20 points, and Ja Morant had 18. The Grizzlies have won two straight road games to improve to 4-3.

Tyrese Maxey scored 23 points for Philadelphia. The 76ers lost for the fourth time in five games and fell to 0-3 at home.

The Grizzlies outrebounded the 76ers 52-33. They had a 70-34 margin in the paint, taking advantage of Philadelphia star Joel Embiid’s absence.

RAPTORS 131, KINGS 128, OT

TORONTO (AP) — RJ Barrett scored 31 points, Chris Boucher had a season-high 24, and Toronto snapped a four-game losing streak by beating Sacramento.

Toronto’s Ochai Agbaji scored a season-high 22 points, and Gradey Dick also had 22.

Domantas Sabonis had 17 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists for his 60th career triple-double, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Kings’ three-game win streak alive.

Former Raptor DeMar DeRozan scored 33 points for Sacramento but also missed two 3-pointers to tie in the final minute of overtime.

After DeRozan’s first miss, Barrett missed a pair of free throws with nine seconds to go. Both DeRozan and De’Aaron Fox missed 3-pointers on Sacramento’s final possession.

WARRIORS 127, ROCKETS 121, OT

HOUSTON (AP) — Buddy Hield scored 27 points and Golden State squandered a huge lead before outlasting Houston in overtime.

It’s Golden State’s 14th straight-regular season win over the Rockets and the eighth in a row in Houston.

The Warriors led by 31 points in the first half. The Rockets tied it with an 18-2 run to open the fourth quarter.

Golden State scored the first six points in overtime to make it 125-119 and went on to a third straight win without Steph Curry, who is out with a sprained left ankle.

The Warriors led by five before a 3-pointer by Jabari Smith Jr. cut the lead to 119-117 with 15.5 seconds to go in regulation. Aaron Holiday stole the ball from Draymond Green and he fouled out a few seconds later. Tari Eason made two free throws after that to send it to overtime.

CAVALIERS 114, BUCKS 113

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points including a jumper with three-tenths of a second left and Cleveland remained unbeaten with a victory over Milwaukee.

The 7-0 Cavaliers are one win away from matching their best start in franchise history. They won their first eight games in 1976-77.

Milwaukee has lost five straight since winning its opener. The Bucks wasted a brilliant performance from Damian Lillard, who had 41 points with nine assists and shot 10 of 15 from 3-point range.

Lillard had put Milwaukee ahead by hitting a step-back jumper with 9.8 seconds remaining.

SPURS 113, TIMBERWOLVES 103

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Keldon Johnson had 25 points, Chris Paul added 15 points and 13 assists, and San Antonio beat Minnesota without coach Gregg Popovich, who missed the game due to illness.

Jeremy Sochan added 19 points and 10 rebounds for San Antonio, and Victor Wembanyama had 17 points and six rebounds.

The 39-year-old Paul became the second-oldest player in NBA history with 10 assists in consecutive games. Hall of Fame point guard John Stockton of the Utah Jazz accomplished the feat at age 41.

Julius Randle scored 21 points and Anthony Edwards had 18 for Minnesota, playing on the second night of a back-to-back. The Timberwolves arrived at their hotel in San Antonio about 4:15 a.m. after rallying in the final minutes to defeat Denver 119-116 at home Friday night.

HEAT 118, WIZARDS 98

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Bam Adebayo scored 20 of his 32 points in the first half and Miami beat Washington in the 14th NBA regular-season game in Mexico.

Adebayo had 14 rebounds and shot 12 of 24 from the field. Jimmy Butler added 18 points, Tyler Herro had 15 and Terry Rozier 12 to help Miami improve to 3-2.

Kel’El Ware added 15 points coming of the bench. Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored eight points in his first game playing in his father’s country.

Bilal Coulibaly led Washington (2-3) with 22 points. Jordan Poole added 21 points and Alexandre Sarr had 17.

Before the game, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said the league had reached an agreement with local organizers to play more games in Mexico.

NUGGETS 129, JAZZ 103

DENVER (AP) — Nikola Jokic scored 27 points and Michael Porter Jr. had 20 as Denver used a third-quarter offensive surge to beat Utah for their first win of the season at home.

Julian Strawther added 19 points and Christian Braun 17 for the Nuggets, who sent the Jazz to their sixth consecutive loss to start the season. Jokic also had 16 rebounds and nine assists, finishing one assist shy of another triple double.

Utah, the only winless team in the league, was led by Walker Kessler’s 18 points and 14 rebounds. Johnny Juzang added 17 points.

SUNS 103, TRAIL BLAZERS 97

PHOENIX (AP) — Devin Booker had 28 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, and Phoenix used a dominant third quarter to beat Portland.

Kevin Durant scored 21 points for Phoenix, which won its fourth in a row.

The Suns led by as many as 26 points, but the Trail Blazers cut the deficit to 99-97 in the final minute. Booker and Tyus Jones each made two free throws in the final 21 seconds to seal the win.

Grayson Allen scored 18 off the bench, making a team-high four 3-pointers. Jones and Bradley Beal each finished with 15 points, while Jusuf Nurkic had a game-high 15 rebounds.

Trailing 47-43 at halftime, Phoenix scored 44 in the third quarter to take a 22-point lead by the end of the period. The Suns had zero turnovers in the third quarter after committing nine in the first half.

THUNDER 105, CLIPPERS 92

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 25 points and Oklahoma City extended their undefeated start to the season by beating Los Angeles.

All five Thunder starters scored in double figures, and the six straight wins to begin the season marked the team’s best start since moving to Oklahoma City from Seattle in 2008.

Norman Powell scored 24 points and James Harden added 12 points and 13 rebounds, but the Clippers dropped to 0-4 in their new arena despite holding double-digit leads in each of those defeats.

The Associated Press