NBA Roundup: Celtics Beat the Freak

Boston — Kyrie Irving had 19 of his 32 points in the second half, helping offset a 40-point night by Giannis Antetokounmpo as the Boston Celtics held off the Milwaukee Bucks, 111-100, on Monday night.

Al Horford added 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Jayson Tatum chipped in 17 points to help Boston improve to an NBA-best 21-4. The Celtics have won five of their last six.

It was the third 40-point game this season for Antetokounmpo. Khris Middleton added 19 points while Eric Bledsoe had 18 points.

Boston led by as many as 20 in the third quarter, before the Bucks stormed back, thanks in large part to Antetokounmpo. He almost singlehandedly kept the Bucks in it, scoring 16 points in the period and trimming Boston’s lead to 88-81 entering the fourth.

It was 104-97 following a free-throw by Bledsoe, but the Celtics got five straight points from Irving to get the lead back up to 12 with less than a minute to play.

Antetokounmpo and Middleton entered Monday as the most productive scoring duo in the Eastern Conference, averaging a combined 49 points per game.

They combined for 59 Wednesday. It offset some early inconsistency from the rest of their teammates, which went just 6 of 24 from the field in the first half.

Cavaliers 113, Bulls 91

Chicago — Dwyane Wade and Kevin Love each scored 24 points, LeBron James had 23 and Cleveland beat Chicago for its 12th straight win.

Backed by a trio of stars, the Cavaliers matched their longest winning streak since the 2014-15 season.

Wade made nine of 13 shots in his first game in Chicago since agreeing to a buyout with his hometown team in late September. L

Warriors 125, Pelicans 115

New Orleans — Stephen Curry had 31 points and 11 assists but sprained his ankle late in the game, and Golden State came back from 21 points down late in the first half to defeat New Orleans.

Klay Thompson scored 22 points and Kevin Durant and Draymond Green each had 19 for the Warriors, who won their fourth straight. After it was over, Curry went for X-rays on his right ankle.

Spurs 96, Pistons 93

San Antonio — LaMarcus Aldridge had 17 points and 10 rebounds and San Antonio rallied to beat Detroit.

Reggie Jackson had 27 points for Detroit, which led by as many as nine points before dropping its third straight.

Jazz 116, Wizards 69

Salt Lake City — Alec Burks scored 27 points for his third straight game with 20 or more, and Utah blew out Washington for its sixth straight win.

Burks is on his best string since three straight 20-point games in February 2014.

Hornets 104, Magic 94

Charlotte, n.c. — Kemba Walker had 29 points and seven assists in his return from a shoulder injury, Dwight Howard reached a rebounding milestone and Charlotte beat Orlando to snap a four-game losing streak.

Walker, who missed the previous two games, was the spark plug all night for the Hornets and became the first player in franchise history with 200 career 20-point games.

Knicks 115, Pacers 97

Indianapolis — Thaddeus Young scored 20 points to lead seven Indiana players in double figures as the Pacers routed shorthanded New York.

Bojan Bogdanovic scored 19 points and Victor Oladipo added 16 for the Pacers, who led by 26 at half and 95-65 after three quarters

Suns 115, Sixers 101

Philadelphia — Devin Booker scored 46 points and TJ Warren added 25 to lead Phoenix over Philadelphia.

Grizzlies 95Timberwolves 92

Memphis, Tenn. — Marc Gasol scored 21 points, Tyreke Evans added 16 — including two key free throws with 12.7 seconds left — and Memphis snapped an 11-game skid with a victory over Minnesota.

Mavericks 122, Nuggets 105

Dallas — Harrison Barnes scored 22 points, Dennis Smith Jr. added 20 and Dallas beat shorthanded Denver.

Nets 110, Hawks 90

Atlanta — Caris LeVert scored a season-high 17 points, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson had 16 points and Brooklyn used a strong third quarter to grab momentum and beat Atlanta.

Brooklyn, avenging Saturday’s home loss to Atlanta, had everything working in its favor in the second half. It began the third trailing by one but went on a 17-0 run to go ahead 70-54 on DeMarre Carroll’s 3-pointer. The lead swelled to 29 in the fourth as the Nets earned their largest win of the season.

Dennis Schroder finished with 19 points and Kent Bazemore and DeAndre’ Bembry each had 13 for Atlanta, which dropped to 5-18, second-worst in the NBA.