NBA Roundup; Morris Leads Short-Handed Celtics

Boston — Marcus Morris Sr. had a season-high 31 points, making three quick 3-pointers to start the second half, and Jayson Tatum scored 21 on Monday night to lead a depleted Boston lineup to its sixth straight win, a 113-100 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.

With Kyrie Irving, Al Horford, Gordon Hayward and Aaron Baynes all ill or injured, Jaylen Brown scored 19 points and first-round draft choice Robert Williams III had career highs of seven points and 11 rebounds in 25 minutes.

Anthony Davis scored 41 points and Julius Randle had 20 points and 11 rebounds for New Orleans, which was playing back-to-back games after beating the Pistons in Detroit on Sunday.

The Celtics scored nine straight points in the last four minutes of the first quarter to take a lead they would never relinquish. They led 59-53 at the half before Morris hit three 3s — one from the left corner, one from the right wing and one from the top of the key — to make it 68-55.

New Orleans never got closer than nine points after that.

Williams had appeared in just nine box scores this season, never playing more than 8 minutes, 37 seconds. His previous highs were four points and three rebounds; he also matched his best with three blocked shots.

Brad Wanamaker, who spent six seasons in Europe and one in the developmental league, matched his career high with four points. He had played in only eight games before Monday and topped his career highs with 18 minutes (old high 9:06), three rebounds (1), and matched his best of four assists.

Sixers 116, Pistons 102

Philadelphia — Joel Embiid scored 24 points in his return to the lineup after a one-game absence, Ben Simmons and Furkan Korkmaz added 18 points apiece, and Philadelphia beat Detroit for the second time in four days.

Pacers 109, Wizards 101

Indianapolis — Myles Turner had a season-high 26 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks and Bojan Bogdanovic added 22 points to help Indiana stave off Washington’s frenetic second-half charge.

Bucks 108, Cavaliers 92

Milwaukee — Eric Bledsoe had 20 points and 12 rebounds, and Milwaukee shot 52 percent from 3-point range in the first half.

Thunder 122, Jazz 113

Oklahoma City — Paul George went 5 of 6 from 3-point range and scored 31 points, Dennis Schroder added 23 and Oklahoma City won.

Kings 108, Bulls 89

Chicago — De’Aaron Fox scored 23 of his 25 points in the second half, and Sacramento rallied to beat Chicago.

Warriors Earn ‘SI’ Top Honor

The three-time NBA champion Golden State Warriors are the fourth team to be honored as Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year.

The Warriors join the 1980 U.S. hockey team, the 1999 U.S. Women’s World Cup soccer squad and the 2004 Boston Red Sox as the other team honorees.

Sports Illustrated announced the winner on Monday, and editor-in-chief Chris Stone said they have been thinking of some way to honor the Warriors during their run of three titles in four years. He also acknowledged that there were a couple years when Steph Curry has been in the conversation.

Stone also said that the Warriors’ honor is more about the celebration of the organization doing something unique over an extended period while the other teams were honored for what they did in a certain year.

Alexander Ovechkin, who led the Washington Capitals to their first Stanley Cup title, Tiger Woods and LeBron James also received consideration, but Stone said the Warriors felt like the favorite when they repeated as NBA champions.