BOSTON (AP) — Payton Pritchard scored 27 points, and the Boston Celtics used a big second half to post their 20th victory and roll past the Detroit Pistons 123-99 on Thursday night.
Pritchard finished with seven 3-pointers to continue to build his early case for Sixth Man of the Year honors. Derrick White added 23 points and also had seven 3s help the Celtics win for the fourth time in five games. Pritchard made his 500th career 3-pointer, becoming the 10th Celtic to reach that mark.
Boston connected on 20 3s for the night and led by as many as 32 points in the fourth quarter. Six Celtics reached double figures.
Cade Cunningham had 18 points, eight rebounds and eight assists for the Pistons.
Boston played without All-Star Jayson Tatum, who rested with a sore right knee. Sam Hauser also sat out with a strained abdominal muscle. Coach Joe Mazzulla said Tatum’s knee issue isn’t serious.
HEAT 114, RAPTORS 104
MIAMI (AP) — Bam Adebayo had 21 points and 16 rebounds and five assists and Miami beat Toronto for their fourth straight victory.
Tyler Herro led Miami with 23 points, Nikola Jovic added 14 and Jimmy Butler and Dru Smith each had 11.
Gradey Dick scored 22 points, and Jake Poetl added 16 for the Raptors. Team scoring leader RJ Barrett had a triple-double with 13 points — on 5-of-18 shooting — and 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Toronto is 1-12 on the road.
KINGS 111, PELICANS 109
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Domantas Sabonas scored a season-high 32 points and matched a season best with 20 rebounds, and Sacramento beat New Orleans.
DeMar DeRozan scored 29 points, while De’Aaron Fox and Keegan Murray each added 18 points for the Kings, who have won three straight and four of five.
CJ McCollum hit a season-high six 3-pointers and scored 36 points for New Orleans. His three-point play on a floater off the glass as he was falling down after being fouled by Fox made it 111-109 with 1:20 left.
The Pelicans then got two straight defensive stops, giving them a chance to shoot for a tie or victory in the final seconds. But Malik Monk took the ball from Dejounte Murray in what was technically scored as a block and Sabonis grabbed the loose ball for his final rebound to seal the result.
Trey Murphy III scored 21 points for New Orleans, but just five after the first quarter. Murray finished with 20 points for the Pelicans, who’ve lost 21 of their last 24 games.
The Associated Press
