NBA Roundup: Celtics Beat Detroit to Avenge Rare Loss

Detroit — The Boston Celtics prevented Andre Drummond from scoring in the paint and quieted Reggie Jackson on the perimeter.

That helped Boston get revenge from a rare loss in a 91-81 win over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday.

When Detroit beat the Celtics last month, Drummond scored 26 points and Jackson had 20. In the rematch, Drummond didn’t make a shot until late in the game and finished with just six points on 1-of-5 shooting while Jackson was 0-for-9 with two points.

“We were locked in,” said Boston center Aron Baynes said. “Our offense wasn’t as crisp as we wanted it to be, but defensively we had a game plan and we stuck with it. We were trying to pack the paint and make them make plays from the outside. Last time, they really had whatever they wanted inside the paint.”

The Eastern Conference-leading Celtics bounced back from a loss Friday night at San Antonio, extending their feat of losing consecutive games only once this season.

Al Horford had 18 points, Jaylen Brown scored 12, reserve Marcus Smart also had 12 points and smooth-shooting rookie Jayson Tatum scored 11 for the Celtics. Tatum made a 3-pointer late to help hold off a potential comeback by the Pistons, putting Boston ahead by eight points with 1:55 left.

Boston shut down the Pistons’ offense after giving up a season-high 118 points on 52 percent shooting in the loss to them. On Sunday, the Celtics held Detroit to a season low in points and forced it to miss two-thirds of its shots.

Pacers 126, Nuggets 116 (ot)

Indianapolis — Victor Oladipo had a career-high 47 points and added seven rebounds and six assists in Indiana’s overtime victory over Denver.

The Pacers used an 8-0 scoring run, capped by Thad Young’s putback with 5 seconds left in regulation, to tie it. Then, Indiana got the first nine points in overtime to secure its fourth straight victory, outscoring the Nuggets 12-2 in the extra period.

Raptors 102, Kings 87

Sacramento, Calif. — DeMar DeRozan scored 13 of his 25 points in the third quarter and Toronto held off Sacramento for its sixth straight victory.

Kyle Lowry added 15 points, 12 rebounds and six assists on an off-night shooting, Serge Ibaka scored 20 points, and C.J. Miles had 11 for the Raptors. They won for the first time in Sacramento since 2014.

Timberwolves 97, Mavericks 92

Minneapolis — Karl-Anthony Towns had 28 points, Jimmy Butler scored 10 of his 22 in the fourth quarter and Minnesota beat Dallas.

Towns added 12 rebounds, including four on the offensive end, for his NBA-leading 21st double-double of the season. Minnesota committed 18 turnovers but hit four free throws at the end to pull away in a game in which no team led by more than six points.

Pelicans 131, Sixers 124

New Orleans — Jrue Holiday scored 19 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter and New Orleans overcame an eight-point deficit in the final period to beat Philadelphia.

Anthony Davis added 29 points and DeMarcus Cousins 23 for New Orleans, which looked out-of-synch in the third quarter and in danger of dropping a second straight at home before Holiday took over.

Knicks 111, Hawks 107

New York — Faith in Frank Ntilikina and small ball ultimately paid off for New York, although a win over lowly Atlanta didn’t come easily.

With the rookie Frenchman in the lineup and Kristaps Porzingis at center for most of the fourth quarter, the Knicks squeaked by one of the worst teams in the league, getting big production from unexpected sources in Doug McDermott and Jarrett Jack.

Porzingis rediscovered a rhythm while dropping a game-high 30 points on 10-of-23 shooting with eight boards. Still, saving New York (13-13) from the embarrassment of losing back-to-back games against awful opponents (the Knicks fell to the Bulls on Saturday) required a little bit of good fortune.