Jaylen Brown scored 40 points and grabbed nine rebounds as the Boston Celtics closed Friday’s perfect road trip with a 121-113 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Brown finished 17 of 20 from the floor, making 11 straight shots at one point. The Celtics, who finished the trek 3-0, winning their fifth straight victory overall, never trailed. Marcus Smart and Pritchard scored 15 points each.
Starting instead of Andre Drummond (bruised right big toe), Marc Gasol’s Los Angeles centre had a hot shooting night, finishing 4 of 6 from the 3-point arc with 18 points. Talen Horton-Tucker scored 19 points for the Lakers, who first welcomed fans into Staples Center this season.
Though the Lakers have lost five of their past nine games, the team got good news. Anthony Davis, who missed 28 games with a right calf strain, was evaluated by club doctors and cleared for full-contact workouts, which suggests the versatile big man is close to returning to play.
Bucks 120, 109
Jrue Holiday scored 23 points, Brook Lopez had 19 points and 12 rebounds, and visiting Milwaukee delayed Atlanta’s third straight victory.
A balanced scoring effort, with seven Bucks finishing in double figures, allowed Milwaukee to lead almost the whole night. Giannis Antetokounmpo returned 15 points from a six-game absence induced by a knee injury, nearly 14 less than his season average.
Returning from a calf injury that sidelined him for two weeks, Trae Young scored 15 points with nine assists, but committed six of the Hawks’ 11 turnovers and shot 3-for-17. Bogdan Bogdanovic led all scorers with 28 assists, adding 16 points and a game-high 16 rebounds.
122 Suns, 114 Kings
On 10-of-11 shooting, Deandre Ayton scored 26 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead red-hot Phoenix to victory over visiting Sacramento.
Devin Booker added 23 points, winning his fourth straight contest and 14th in his past 16 games. Chris Paul registered 13 points, 11 assists and 3 steals.
De’Aaron Fox scored 27 points and eight assists, but the Kings fell to equal their season-worst losing nine-game skid. Buddy Hield added 24 points and Wright had 16.
Warriors 119, 101 Cavaliers
Stephen Curry led Golden State again, scoring 33 points to help the Warriors defeat Cleveland for their fourth straight victory.
Despite struggling early from 3-point range (4-for-13 for the game), Curry posted his ninth consecutive 30-plus points game. In addition, he had five assists, four rebounds, and two blocks.
Collin Sexton returned after missing the previous two games with a left groyne strain, leading the Cavaliers with 30 points, but Cleveland lost four games for the third time in a row.
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