BOSTON (AP) — Jayson Tatum scored 18 of his 23 points in Boston’s dominant third quarter, and the Celtics routed Toronto 125-71 on Tuesday, extending the Raptors’ losing streak to 11 games.
The Celtics outscored the Raptors 45-18 in the third, using an onslaught of 3-pointers to pull away and close out 2024 with a blowout. Boston made 10 of 12 shots from beyond the arc in the period. Tatum hit four 3s and Jrue Holiday and Sam Hauser each hit two as Boston shot 74% for the period.
Holiday returned after missing three games with a right shoulder injury, finishing with 14 points. Payton Pritchard scored 19, Derrick White had 16 and Hauser finished with 12 points. Jaylen Brown added 12 points and nine rebounds in the win.
Scottie Barnes led Toronto with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Jakob Poeltl grabbed 13 rebounds for the Raptors, who went 2-11 in the month of December.
BUCKS 120, PACERS 112
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo shook off a four-point first half and finished with 30 points and 12 rebounds as Milwaukee rallied from a 19-point deficit and beat Indiana.
Antetokounmpo, a two-time MVP who missed the previous three games with a non-COVID illness, stepped up in the second half after the Bucks fell behind 83-64 in the third quarter. The NBA scoring leader made 11 of 20 shots from the field and 8 of 13 from the line while adding five assists.
Brook Lopez scored 16 points and Bobby Portis Jr. had 14 points and 15 rebounds for the Bucks, who outscored the Pacers 67-48 after halftime.
Bennedict Mathurin led the Pacers with 25 points. Pascal Siakam had 20.
SPURS 122, CLIPPERS 86
SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Victor Wembanyama closed out a historic month with 27 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three blocks in 26 minutes, and San Antonio Spurs rolled to a victory over the Los Angeles.
Wembanyama is the first player in league history with 300 points, 100 rebounds, 50 blocks, 50 assists and 40 3-pointers in a single month.
Keldon Johnson added 17 points, and Stephon Castle had 15 for the Spurs.
Los Angeles had won three straight but were 11 for 41 on 3-pointers. James Harden led the Clippers with 17 points, and Norman Powell added 15.
Wembanyama had 17 points in the opening quarter, matching the Clippers total as a team. He only had four points in the second quarter, but two came on a dunk on a pass off the backboard from Chris Paul.
San Antonio captured a 25-point lead in the second quarter that swelled to 34 points in the fourth, enabling Wembanyama to exit from the contest with 8:39 remaining.
THUNDER 113, TIMBERWOLVES 105
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 40 points, and Oklahoma City rallied to win their seventh straight game, beating the Minnesota.
Isaiah Hartenstein added 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Lu Dort and Jalen Williams each had 14 points for the Thunder (27-5), which trailed 52-46 at halftime before outscoring Minnesota 43-23 in the third quarter to take a double-digit lead.
Anthony Edwards had 20 points and seven rebounds to lead Minnesota (17-15). His two free throws with 2:03 left cut the Thunder lead to 106-103, but Gilgeous-Alexander answered with a 3-pointer to reach the 40-point plateau for the third time in five games and extend the lead to 109-103.
Naz Reid scored 19 points, and Mike Conley added 16 for the Timberwolves, who had won three in a row.
CAVALIERS 122, LAKERS 110
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jarrett Allen scored a season-high 27 points, Donovan Mitchell added 26 and Cleveland won their eighth straight, defeating Los Angeles.
James, who celebrated his birthday on Monday, scored 23 points as he became the first player in NBA history to appear in a game in his teens and 40s. Coincidentally, the milestone game came against the team that drafted James first overall in 2020 and where he spent 12 seasons in two stints.
The Akron, Ohio, native helped lead the Cavaliers to their first NBA championship in 2016.
Evan Mobley added 20 points for Cleveland, which enters the new year with an NBA-best 29-4 record, including a 9-0 against the Western Conference.
Austin Reaves had a season-high 35 points with 10 assists and nine rebounds for the Lakers. Anthony Davis added 28 points and 13 rebounds.
Los Angeles goes into 2025 with an 18-14 mark, seventh in the Western Conference.
GRIZZLIES 117, SUNS 112
PHOENIX (AP) — Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 38 points to lead Memphis to a victory over Phoenix.
Desmond Bane scored 31 as the Grizzlies, playing without injured Ja Morant (right shoulder strain) and Zach Edey (concussion protocol), never trailed. Reserve Luke Kennard scored 17 points and John Konchar grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds as Memphis moved to 23-11, second in the Western Conference.
Devin Booker returned for Phoenix after missing five games with a left groin strain and had 16 points and nine assists. Kevin Durant led the Suns with 29 points and 10 rebounds.
The Suns, who lost for the sixth time in seven games, played without Jusuf Nurkic, serving the second of his three-game suspension for his involvement in a fight with the Dallas Mavericks on Friday. Bradley Beal left the game in the first half with a left hip contusion.
Though no one fouled out, there were 54 fouls called in the game and 58 free throws attempted. Jackson Jr. was 10 of 17 from the line and also finished with 10 rebounds.
Booker last played Dec. 19 in a loss to Indiana. The Suns lost four of the five games they played without Booker, who entered Tuesday’s game against Memphis averaging 25.1 points and 6.4 assists per game.
The Associated Press
