Veteran Al Horford turned back the clock to help the NBA champion Boston Celtics notch a ninth straight victory and nab a franchise first with a 117-103 win over the Grizzlies in Memphis on Monday.
Horford, 38, led the Celtics’ scoring with 26 points off the bench.
Jayson Tatum added 25 points and 14 rebounds, and the Celtics defense stymied the Grizzlies in the second half to complete a perfect 6-0 road trip — the longest unbeaten road swing in the club’s history.
Boston, second in the Eastern Conference behind the Cleveland Cavaliers, won all six games by double digits.
Horford scored his season-high, draining six of Boston’s 21 three-pointers.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Horford said. “It’s pretty amazing for me to be in this position, and I’m just trying to have fun with it and enjoy (playing) with my team.”
Ja Morant scored 26 points for the Grizzlies, who led by as many as 11 in the first half and regained the lead early in the third.
Ultimately, however, they couldn’t keep pace, and lost ground in their fight with the Los Angeles Lakers for fourth place in the West.
The Oklahoma City Thunder, already assured of the Western Conference top seed, racked up their 10th straight victory with a 145-117 pounding of the Chicago Bulls.
Isaiah Joe came off the bench to score 31 points — leading seven Thunder players to score in double figures as Oklahoma City improved to 28-1 against Eastern Conference opponents — the NBA record for most wins by a team against an opposing conference.
“We all have the same goal in mind,” said Joe, who made eight of the Thunder’s 23 three-pointers. “We know what we want to do, at the end of the day, and we know how to get there. We’ve just got to keep stacking days, stacking games.
Luka Doncic had 20 points and nine assists, and Gabe Vincent added 20 points on six 3-pointers in the Lakers’ 104-98 victory over the Houston Rockets on Monday night.
LeBron James finished with 16 points and eight rebounds for the Lakers, as they solidified their hold on fourth place in the Western Conference.
Dorian Finney-Smith also scored a season-high 20 points and hit six 3-pointers, as Los Angeles sent second-place Houston to only its second loss in 14 games.
After James hit two free throws with 11.1 seconds left to put the Lakers up 102-98, he soared across the key to block Alperen Sengun’s layup attempt. Dillon Brooks then missed a 3-point attempt to seal the Lakers’ 29th home victory.
Amen Thompson scored 20 points and Brooks had 16 for the Rockets, which had won three straight.
The Lakers’ two superstars both looked weary, and much of LA’s offense consisted of Doncic and James drawing defenders before kicking to Finney-Smith and Vincent for 3-point attempts.
Neither team led by more than eight points all night, but Los Angeles nursed a small lead throughout the final 17 minutes of play.
The Indiana Pacers rallied from 16 points down in the third quarter to beat the Sacramento Kings 111-109 and maintain their grip on fourth place in the East.
Tyrese Haliburton scored 18 points and handed out 11 assists, drilling a three-pointer with 1:17 remaining that gave Indiana a definitive lead.
The Los Angeles Clippers, eighth in West but locked in a battle with Golden State and Minnesota for sixth place and direct entry to the playoffs, clawed out a gritty 96-87 victory over the Magic in Orlando.
Kawhi Leonard and Norman Powell scored 21 points each, and Ivica Zubac added 18 points and 20 rebounds — including nine on the offensive end — to help the Clippers finally seize control of a game that featured 15 lead changes in the first three quarters.
Paolo Banchero scored 26 points and Franz Wagner added 21 for the Magic, who remained in eighth place in the East.
The top six teams in each conference advance to the playoffs, while teams ranked from seventh to 10th play a mini-tournament to determine the final two playoff slots.
The Miami Heat climbed to ninth — ahead of the Bulls — with a fifth straight victory, beating the Wizards 120-94 in Washington.
