Orlando Magic beat Boston Celtics to end losing streak
Towns' 27 points and 27 rebounds leads Timberwolves past Pelicans; Heat beat Grizzlies to move above .500
Sunday 13 January 2019 08:12, UK
Orlando Magic held on for a 105-103 win over the visiting Boston Celtics on Saturday, snapping a four-game losing streak.
Boston Celtics 103-105 Orlando Magic
The Magic were coming off a disappointing road trip in which they went 1-5 but they were able to return to winning ways and with it record a third successive victory on their own court.
Aaron Gordon had 11 points in the fourth quarter and led all scorers with 28 points, along with 12 rebounds while Terrence Ross added 25 points off the bench, and Nikola Vucevic doubled up with 16 points and 13 rebounds.
For the Celtics, for whom Kyrie Irving had 25 points, six assists and five rebounds, it's a third successive defeat on the road and back-to-back defeats in Florida having lost to Miami on Thursday following a four-game winning streak at The Garden.
Irving made four free throws in the final minute to cut Orlando's lead to one with 10.2 seconds to play before Vucevic left the door open for the Celtics when he missed his second free throw at the other end.
The Celtics had a chance to tie the score with 2.9 seconds left, but Jayson Tatum's baseline jumper missed off the back of the rim.
New Orleans Pelicans 106-110 Minnesota Timberwolves
Karl-Anthony Towns had 27 points and 27 rebounds to get the better of Anthony Davis as the host Minnesota Timberwolves held off the New Orleans Pelicans 110-106 on Saturday night.
The Timberwolves bounced back from their first loss under interim head coach Ryan Saunders a night earlier to improve to 2-1 since he replaced the fired Tom Thibodeau on January 6.
Andrew Wiggins added 18 points, Josh Okogie scored 17, Dario Saric and Tyus Jones had 14 each and Taj Gibson 10.
Davis top scored for the Pelicans with 30 points and 14 rebounds but it was not enough for New Orleans who saw a three-game winning streak end in the first of a five-game road trip.
Memphis Grizzlies 108-112 Miami Heat
Justise Winslow produced a game-high 26 points to go with seven rebounds and four assists as Miami defeated visiting Memphis to move above .500
Winslow made 10 of 16 shots, including four of four three-pointers, as Miami improved to 10-4 in its past 14 games. The score was tied at 108 with 56 seconds left when Miami's Bam Adebayo made one of two free throws. The Heat led the rest of the way.
Memphis was led by reserve JaMychal Green, who had a double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds in just 22 minutes. The Grizzlies lost for the seventh time in eight games.
Chicago Bulls 102-110 Utah Jazz
Chicago slumped to a seventh successive defeat as Donovan Mitchell scored a game-high 34 points to lead Utah to a rallying 110-102 victory over the Bulls.
Rudy Gobert flirted with a triple-double for the Jazz, firing 15 points, 16 rebounds and eight assists with Kyle Korver (16) and Joe Ingles (16) also playing their part.
A fourth-quarter run for the Jazz proved decisive, Utah outscoring their visitors 29-20 in the final period to seal the victory.
Zach LaVine led the Bulls with 21 points, while Lauri Markkanen had 16 and three others had 11.
