BOSTON — Isaiah Thomas took charge in the fourth quarter to power the Boston Celtics to a 103-99 victory over the defending NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers despite a triple-double from LeBron James.
James posted the 49th triple-double of his career but Thomas did him one better down the stretch in a battle between the Eastern Conference’s top two seeds.
Thomas, who finished with 31 points, scored five points in the final 49 seconds as the Celtics beat the Cavaliers for the first time this season after dropping the first two games.
Thomas came into the contest on a four-game shooting slump. He also had five assists, while Crowder had 17 points and 10 rebounds.
James finished with 28 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, while Irving scored 28 points and Thompson pulled down 13 rebounds.
Nets 109, Kings 100
Brook Lopez scored 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and the Brooklyn Nets ended their 16-game losing streak Wednesday with a 109-100 victory over the Sacramento Kings at the Golden 1 Center.
Lopez made 9 of 17 shots from the field and went over the 10,000-point mark for his career as Brooklyn prevailed for the first since Jan. 20.
Jeremy Lin scored 17 points and Isaiah Whitehead added 14 points off the bench for Brooklyn.
Pelicans 109, Pistons 86
Anthony Davis scored 24 of his game-high 33 points in the first half and point guard Jrue Holiday broke out of a shooting slump with 22 points to power New Orleans to a victory over Detroit at the Smoothie King Center. Davis became the seventh-youngest player in NBA history to score 7,000 career points.
Spurs 100, Pacers 99
Kawhi Leonard hit a heavily contested, game-winning turnaround jumper with 2.4 seconds to play for the last of his 31 points as San Antonio defeated Indiana.
Leonard then hit the game winner despite great defense from Paul George. George had a good look at a 3-pointer at the buzzer but it bounced off the rim.
Heat 125, 76ers 98
Tyler Johnson scored 24 points off the bench to lead Miami to a victory over Philadelphia.
Hassan Whiteside scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and Goran Dragic, Dion Waiters, and Wayne Ellington scored 15 points apiece for Miami, which won 17 of its last 20.
Wizards 105, Raptors 96
Bojan Bogdanovic scored 27 off the bench, and Washington defeated Toronto.
The Raptors led by two points after the first quarter, but the Wizards used a surge early in the second quarter and were control for the rest of the way. They led by as many as 24 points late in the first half.
Knicks 101, Magic 90
Kristaps Porzingis scored 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds in leading New York to a victory over Orlando at the Amway Center.
Derrick Rose scored 19 points and added seven rebounds for the Knicks, who kept their slim playoff hopes alive. Carmelo Anthony had 17 points and nine rebounds.
Hawks 100, Mavericks 95
Atlanta got its season-long six-game homestand off to a winning start by running its unbeaten streak against Dallas to nearly four full seasons.
Paul Millsap had 18 points to go with 10 assists and eight rebounds as the Hawks earned their seventh straight victory over the Mavericks.
Other results: Timberwolves 107, Jazz 80; Nuggets 110, Bucks 98; Rockets 122, Clippers 103. — Agecnies
