Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James (23) drives to the basket past Chicago Bulls' Lauri Markkanen (24), from Finland, durign the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James (23) drives to the basket past Chicago Bulls' Lauri Markkanen (24), from Finland, durign the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Dec. 21, 2017, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak) Credit: Tony Dejak

New York — Michael Beasley scored 28 of his season-high 32 points in the second half, helping the New York Knicks shake off a dismal return by Kristaps Porzingis to beat the Boston Celtics, 102-93, on Thursday night.

Beasley went back to the bench with Porzingis back from a knee injury, but he was on the floor in the fourth quarter while Porzingis watched from the sideline as the former No. 2 overall pick punished the Celtics inside and out to help the Knicks pull away.

Porzingis was 0-for-11 from the field and finished with one point after missing two games with a sore left knee. The “MVP! MVP!” chants he has heard this season instead went to Beasley, who also had 12 rebounds.

He surpassed the 30 points he scored last Saturday against Carmelo Anthony and Oklahoma City with a jumper with 1:06 remaining that stopped a little run by Boston and gave New York an eight-point lead. The Knicks held on for their fifth victory in six games.

Kyrie Irving scored 32 points for the Celtics, who lost for the second night. They played without starter Jaylen Brown because of left Achilles tendon soreness.

Jayson Tatum added 17 points.

The Knicks were blown out in Boston to cap their 0-3 start but have since turned things around behind a home-heavy schedule. They have 15 of their 17 victories at Madison Square Garden, where a sellout crowd of 19,812 grew louder with every Beasley basket against the Eastern Conference leaders.

Hayward’s Health: Gordon Hayward, out since breaking his left ankle in the season opener, wrote a blog post titled “Improving Every Day” to provide an update on his recovery and thoughts about the team. Hayward recently had his walking boot removed and is now wearing a brace while he does his rehab.

“The mental side of it is 100% the most difficult,” he wrote.

Tip-Ins: Brown had appeared in 32 of Boston’s 34 games, all starts. Coach Brad Stevens said Brown told the team recently he had been feeling soreness for a little bit and the decision to rest him was the team “told been bothering him for a little bit couple days ago, just getting out ahead of it. … G Shane Larkin was out with a sore left knee. Stevens said Larkin felt pain during Wednesday’s game and felt worse Thursday so they would send him for testing today after they return to Boston.

Cavaliers 115, Bulls 112

Cleveland — LeBron James scored 34 points, Kevin Love added 27 and the Cavaliers won their 12th straight home game as injured point guard Isaiah Thomas moved even closer to his return.

James had 11 points in the fourth quarter and dropped a pair of free throws with 11.1 seconds left as the Cavs won for the 19th time in 21 games and ended Chicago’s seven-game winning streak.

With Cleveland’s Jae Crowder guarding him closely, Chicago’s Denzel Valentine was short with a tying 3-pointer in the final second. Rookie Lauri Markkanen scored 25 points for the Bulls.

Raptors 114, Sixers 109

Philadelphia — DeMar DeRozan scored a career-high 45 points and Toronto overcame a 22-point deficit to beat Joel Embiid-less Philadelphia.

DeRozan also set a career high with six 3-pointers. His jumper with 4:13 left put the Raptors ahead to stay after they trailed 76-54 early in the third quarter. Kyle Lowry added 23 points to help the Raptors win their fifth straight and 11th in 12 games.

Ben Simmons scored 20 points for Philadelphia.

Embiid missed two games with back tightness after logging a career-high 49 minutes in a triple-overtime loss to Oklahoma City last Friday.