BOSTON — Jaylen Brown scored a career-high 50 points, rallying the Boston Celtics from 14 points down late in the fourth quarter in a 116-111 overtime victory over the Orlando Magic on Sunday night.
Brown scored 21 points in the fourth quarter, then opened OT with his fifth 3-pointer. Brown, whose previous career high was 46 against the Knicks on Oct. 20, also had 11 rebounds as the Celtics avoided losing for the fourth time in five games. He was 19 of 29 from the field.
Marcus Smart added 17 points, seven assists and seven rebounds for the Celtics, who needed an 11-2 run down the stretch to force overtime. Dennis Schroder had 21 points and seven assists.
Terrence Ross scored 33 points for the Magic.
SUNS 133, HORNETS 99
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Devin Booker scored 24 points, Jalen Smith tied a career high with 19 points and 12 rebounds and short-handed Phoenix hammered Charlotte.
Chris Paul had 16 assists to help the Suns improve to 28-8 — a half-game behind Golden State for the NBA lead — after they lost three of their previous four.
The Suns got 11 points and six rebounds from Bismack Biyombo, who signed a 10-day contract Saturday with four Phoenix players in the NBA’s health and safety protocols, including starting center Deandre Ayton, starting forward Jae Crowder and backup center JaVale McGee. Coach Monty Williams also is out.
Landry Shamet added 17 points, Mikal Bridges had 15, and Cam Johnson and Cam Payne 14 each.
LaMelo Ball had 17 points for the Hornets.
LAKERS 108 TIMBERWOLVES 103
LOS ANGELES —LeBron James scored 26 points, Malik Monk added 22 and Los Angeles beat Minnesota for the first time in three meetings this season.
Russell Westbrook had 20 points, three rebounds and five assists to help the Lakers reach .500 at 19-19.
Naz Reid led the Timberwolves with season highs of 23 points, making 10 of 17 from the floor, and 11 rebounds. Jaylen Nowell added 17 points.
MAVERICKS 95 , THUNDER 86
OKLAHOMA CITY — Luka Doncic had 14 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds in his return from a 10-game absence, Marquese Criss scored a season-high 15 points and Dallas beat Oklahoma City.
Doncic played with a long brace on his left knee and saw just over 31 minutes in his first game in 23 days. He was content with setting up teammates for baskets after missing five games with ankle soreness and five more games due to virus health and safety protocols.
Criss, on his second 10-day contract after joining the Mavericks on Dec. 21, shot 6 of 9 from the field, including three 3-pointers, and had seven rebounds.
Oklahoma City’s Josh Giddey, back after three games in the health and safety protocols, had 17 points, 14 assists and 13 rebounds for his first triple-double. He’s the youngest NBA player to have a triple-double at 19 years, 2 months, 23 days.
RAPTORS 120, KNICKS 105
TORONTO — Fred VanVleet scored 19 of his season-high 35 points in the third quarter, Pascal Siakam had 20 points and 14 rebounds and Toronto extended its home winning streak against New York to 11 games.
Evan Fournier led the depleted Knicks with 20 points. RJ Barrett and Obi Toppin each had 19.
The Raptors played before a mostly empty arena for the second straight game after Ontario’s provincial government reduced capacity limits to a maximum of 1,000 people in an attempt to control the spread of COVID-19. No tickets were sold, and only friends and family were allowed entry.
CAVALIERS 108, PACERS 104
CLEVELAND — Rookie Evan Mobley had 24 points and nine rebounds, Kevin Love scored 20 points and Cleveland beat Indiana to snap a three-game losing streak.
Jarrett Allen scored 18 points and Lamar Stevens added a season-high 15 for Cleveland, which trailed 84-73 in the third quarter before going on a 17-0 run to take the lead for good.
Domantas Sabonis had 32 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists for the Pacers. Indiana has dropped four straight overall and hasn’t won on the road since Nov. 22 in Chicago.
KINGS 115, HEAT 113
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — De’Aaron Fox scored 11 of his 24 points over the final six minutes, including two free throws with 6.2 seconds left, and Sacramento ended Miami’s five-game winning streak.
Buddy Hield added 26 points, and Damian Jones had 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Tyler Herro and Omer Yurtseven had 22 points apiece for Miami. Kyle Lowry added 14 points and 12 assists.