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Magic beat NBA-leading Celtics 117-109 for 5th win a row

BOSTON (AP) — Moritz Wagner scored 25 points and Paolo Banchero added 20 and the Orlando Magic beat the NBA-leading Boston Celtics 117-109 on Friday night. Franz Wagner scored 19 points to help Orlando win its fifth straight game.
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Golden State Warriors' Klay Thompson (11) goes up for a shot against Philadelphia 76ers' Joel Embiid (21) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Dec. 16, 2022, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

BOSTON (AP) — Moritz Wagner scored 25 points and Paolo Banchero added 20 and the Orlando Magic beat the NBA-leading Boston Celtics 117-109 on Friday night.

Franz Wagner scored 19 points to help Orlando win its fifth straight game. The Magic outrebounded the Celtics 53-38 and held the lead for the final 37 minutes.

Jayson Tatum scored 31 points and Jaylen Brown had 26 for Boston. The Celtics dropped to 22-8 with their third loss in four games.

Boston’s Robert Williams played in his first game since the NBA Finals after undergoing surgery on his left knee during the preseason. He had nine points and five rebounds in 18 minutes.

LAKERS 126, NUGGETS 108

LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James scored 30 points, Russell Westbrook had 15 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds and Los Angeles smoothly overcame Anthony Davis’ latest injury in a victory over Denver.

Davis missed the second half with a right foot injury, but the Lakers still produced some of their prettiest team basketball of the season down the stretch of their second win in six games. Westbrook had his second triple-double off the bench this season, while Thomas Bryant scored 21 points.

Nikola Jokic had 25 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists for the Nuggets, whose three-game winning streak ended. Jamal Murray scored 23 points and Aaron Gordon had 17, but Denver couldn’t keep up with the Lakers’ second-half surge.

Davis apparently got hurt when the star big man landed awkwardly after a layup attempt under the basket in the first quarter, although he kept playing until halftime.

76ERS 118, WARRIORS 106

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joel Embiid had 34 points and 13 rebounds, James Harden added 27 points and nine assists and Philadelphia beat short-handed Golden State.

Stephen Curry sat out for Golden State two nights after injuring his left shoulder in a loss at Indiana. Draymond Green (right quadriceps contusion) and Andrew Wiggins (strained right adductor) also missed the game, while Klay Thompson played through soreness in his left knee to score 12 points. He was 4 of 17 from the field, missing 10 in a row at one point.

De’Anthony Melton had 17 points and seven assists for Philadelphia. The 76ers improved to 16-12, opening a seven-game homestand with four straight victories.

Jordan Poole led the defending champion Warriors with 29 points. Donte DiVincenzo scored 17 points in his return to the arena where he played in college at Villanova, and Kevon Looney had 14 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists. Golden State dropped to 2-14 on the road and 14-15 overall.

Embiid has scored 30 or more points in six straight games and 11 of 12.

CAVALIERS 118, PACERS 112

CLEVELAND (AP) — Donovan Mitchell scored 18 of his 41 points in the fourth quarter and Cleveland overcame a 13-point deficit to beat Indiana.

Mitchell made his eighth 3-pointer of the game with 3:41 remaining, putting Cleveland ahead for good at 112-110.

The Cavaliers outscored the Pacers 35-18 in the final period, holding Indiana without a field goal in the final 5:42. Cleveland improved to 13-2 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, tying Memphis for the best home record in the NBA.

Darius Garland had 20 points and 10 assists, and Evan Mobley finished with 16 points and nine assists for the Cavaliers. Rookie Bennedict Mathurin scored 22 points off the bench to lead Indiana.

KNICKS 114, BULLS 91

CHICAGO (AP) — RJ Barrett scored 27 points and New York again used 3-point shooting to beat Chicago, sweeping the two-game set to run their winning streak to six.

Jalen Brunson and Quentin Grimes each added 22 points to help the Knicks follow their 128-120 overtime victory over the Bulls on Wednesday night. New York, which entered 26th in the NBA in 3-point shooting, was 17 for 44 on 3s after going 18 of 34 two nights earlier.

Brunson made a career-high six shots on nine attempts from beyond the arc, Grimes was 5 of 9 from long-range and Barrett went 3 of 5.

Julius Randle had 19 points and 12 rebounds for New York.

Zach LaVine had 17 points for Chicago. The Bulls have lost three straight.

NETS 119, RAPTORS 116

TORONTO (AP) — Kyrie Irving hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to lift Brooklyn past Toronto for its season-high fifth straight victory.

Irving scored 15 of his 32 points in the fourth quarter, eluding Toronto’s Fred VanVleet to connect on the winning basket.

Kevin Durant scored 26 points and Nic Claxton had 15 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high six blocks as the Nets overcame an 18-point deficit to sweep the season series from Toronto for the first time since 2002-03.

VanVleet matched his season high with 39 points.

MAVERICKS 130, TRAIL BLAZERS 110

DALLAS (AP) — Luka Doncic scored 33 points, Christian Wood had a season-high 32 points along with 12 rebounds and Dallas beat Portland,

Two of Dallas’ top three scorers each had 20 before halftime — the NBA scoring leader Doncic with 23 to 20 for Wood — and combined to make 22 of 35 from the field as Dallas shot 56%.

Damian Lillard also had 20 before the break with 21, but finished with 24 to end a four-game streak of at least 35 points that was tied for the longest in the NBA this season with Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid.

The Mavericks ended the Blazers’ three-game winning streak while beating Portland for the sixth consecutive time.

KINGS 122, PISTONS 113

DETROIT (AP) — Domantas Sabonis had 23 points and 13 rebounds and Sacramento used a dominant performance from its starters to beat Detroit.

Sacramento’s starting five outscored Detroit’s 99-66. De’Aaron Fox had 24 points and nine assists for the Kings, and Keegan Murray added 20 points.

Bojan Bogdanovic led Detroit with 22 points and rookie Jalen Duran added 15 points and 13 rebounds.

HAWKS 125, HORNETS 106

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Trae Young scored 31 points, Bogdan Bogdanovic had 28 points on 7-of-10 shooting from 3-point range and depleted Atlanta handed Charlotte its seventh straight loss.

AJ Griffin had 13 points and Frank Kaminsky added 12 for the Hawks. They shot 63% in the first half and built a 24-point lead.

LaMelo Ball had 27 points on seven 3-pointers in his second game back from an ankle injury for the Hornets. They are an NBA-worst 7-22.

TIMBERWOLVES 112, THUNDER 110

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Naz Reid scored a season-high 28 points and short-handed Minnesota beat Oklahoma City to snap a three-game losing streak.

Austin Rivers scored 20 points and Anthony Edwards added 19 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists for the Timberwolves. Minnesota was without injured starters Rudy Gobert (sprained left ankle), Karl-Anthony Towns (right calf strain) and D’Angelo Russell (bruised left knee).

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points for Oklahoma City. The Thunder have lost five in a row.

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More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

The Associated Press

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