Jayson Tatum nails game-winning buzzer-beat for Boston Celtics; Joel Embiid leads Philadelphia 76ers over Washington Wizards; Buddy Hield scores overtime winner for Sacramento Kings against Denver Nuggets; New Orleans Pelicans beat Toronto Raptors
Friday 25 December 2020 23:23, UK
Jayson Tatum drilled a go-ahead three-pointer with 1.5 seconds left as the Boston Celtics recovered from blowing a 17-point fourth-quarter lead to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 122-121 on Wednesday night.
Tatum's shot brought up 30 points on the night, before Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo missed the second of two free throws to tie the game after being fouled with 0.4 seconds remaining.
Jaylen Brown top scored for Boston with 33 points along with five rebounds and four assists, Tatum added seven rebounds and two assists to his 30 points, Jeff Teague had 19 off the bench and new arrival Tristan Thompson chipped in with 12.
Antetokounmpo, who also had 13 rebounds, came up with 18 of his game-high 35 points in the fourth quarter to help his team back from a 101-84 deficit, while Khris Middleton offered a 27-point, 14-rebound double-double and offseason addition Jrue Holiday recorded 25 points.
The Bucks opened the fourth with a 13-4 run to close within 105-97, with Antetokounmpo accounting for Milwaukee's next 10 points to cut the lead to two before Brook Lopez's tip-in with 4.22 left tied the score at 113-113.
Antetokounmpo put the Bucks ahead 115-113 with 3:26 left, but Tatum had the Celtics back up 119-117 on a fadeaway with 1:24 to go. Holiday's three-pointer at 1:10 made it 120-119 Milwaukee, and the game remained scoreless until Tatum's game-winning bucket.
A 20-8 run helped the Celtics outscore the Bucks 37-25 in the third quarter, to which Teague responded with back-to-back three points as Tatum proceeded to score the team's final eight points to build a 17-point lead.
Joel Embiid scored 29 points alongside 14 rebounds to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a 113-107 win over the Washington Wizards' in Doc Rivers' debut as head coach of the team.
Shake Milton contributed 19 points, Ben Simmons had 16 points, including a dunk in the final 30 seconds to ice the game, along with nine rebounds and seven assists, and new addition Seth Curry finished with 13 points.
Russell Westbrook produced a 21-point, 15-assist and 11-rebound triple-double, the 147th of his career, to lead the Wizards, becoming the first player in franchise history to record a triple-double on debut. Bradley Beal top-scored for Washington with 31 points followed by Davis Bertans' 14.
Successive three-pointers from Curry and Embiid earned the Sixers a 50-37 lead with just over five minutes remaining in the first half, before the Wizards hit back through Beal and Bertans treys to move within 51-47.
Washington led 59-58 by the end of the half before the Sixers missed their first 10 shots of the third quarter and, despite cutting the deficit on more than one occasion, entered the fourth trailing 83-73.
Embiid's four free throws early in the final period made it a three-point game at 83-80 in favour of the Wizards, before his 15-foot jumper tied the game at 88.
Beal's three-pointer gave the Wizards a 99-95 lead with 4.02 left with, only for the Sixers to real off six unanswered points capped by Simmons' layup for a 101-99 lead with 2.27 to play.
Buddy Hield put back a Harrison Barnes miss at the buzzer to hand the Sacramento Kings a dramatic 124-122 overtime victory over the Denver Nuggets.
Hield finished with a team-high 22 points, Barnes and De'Aron Fox had 21 apiece and Cory Joseph 15, while Nikola Jokic led Denver with 29 points, 15 rebounds and 14 assists.
Michael Porter Jr meanwhile had 24 points for the Nuggets, along with 16 apiece for Paul Millsap and Will Barton.
Brandon Ingram registered 24 points, nine rebounds and 11 assists as the New Orleans Pelicans beat the Toronto Raptors 113-90. JJ Redick had 23 points for the Pelicans, Eric Bledsoe 18, Lonzo Ball 16 and Zion Williamson 15 to go alongside his 10 rebounds and three assists.
Pascal Siakam top-scored for Toronto with 20 points and also had six rebounds and six assists, while Kyle Lowery provided 18 points and 10 assists.
The Orlando Magic saw off the Miami Heat 113-107 following a tied-game-high 25 points from Evan Fournier. Aaron Gordon finished with 20 points and seven rebounds, Terrence Ross 19 points, Nikola Vucevic 15 points and 11 rebounds and Markelle Fultz 15 points.
Fresh off signing his new deal in the offseason, Bam Adebayo led Miami with 25 points and 11 rebounds, with support from Goran Dragic's 20 points and Jimmy Butler's 19.
Malik Beasley's 23 points and Karl-Anthony Towns' 22 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists helped the Minnesota Timberwolves towards a 111-101 victory over the Detroit Pistons. D'Angelo Russell had 18 points, five rebounds and four assists in support, Jarrett Culver had 10 points and 10 rebounds and No 1 overall Draft pick Anthony Edward supplied 15 points, four rebounds and four assists in 25 minutes of action.
Following a busy offseason of recruitment, the Pistons were led by Josh Jackson's 19 points and 15 apiece from Blake Griffin and Derrick Rose. New man Mason Plumlee had 14 points, eight rebounds and six assists, while Jerami Grant managed just nine points, one rebound and three assists.
Trae Young went off for 37 points, six rebounds and seven assists to inspire the Atlanta Hawks to a 124-104 win over the Chicago Bulls, receiving support from 15 points apiece for Bogdan Bogdanovic and Cam Reddish. Zach LaVine's 22 points led the Bulls, followed by 21 points, seven rebounds and four assists for Lauri Markkanen. No 4 overall pick Patrick Williams meanwhile had 16 points, four rebounds and one assist.
The Charlotte Hornets suffered a 121-114 defeat to the Cleveland Cavaliers after 27 points from Collin Sexton. Darius Garland had 22 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Cavs, Larry Nance Jr 13 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists, and Andre Drummond 14 points, 14 rebounds and four assists.
Terry Rozier put up a game-high 42 points for the Hornets, followed by 28 from former Celtic Gordon Hayward, who arrived on a big-money deal during the offseason. LaMelo Ball's regular-season debut, however, ended pointless after he was Drafted at No 3 overall in November.
Rudy Gobert finished with 20 points and 17 rebounds, while Donovan Mitchell also had 20 points as the Utah Jazz began their season with a 120-100 win over the Portland Trail Blazers, for whom CJ McCollum top-scored with 23 points followed by 15 from Carmelo Anthony.
The San Antonio Spurs beat the Memphis Grizzlies 131-119 after a 28-point, nine-rebound, nine-assist game from DeMar DeRozan. Dejounte Murray also came away with 21 points, six rebounds and nine assists, while LeMarcus Aldridge chipped in with another 20 points of his own.
Last season's Rookie of the Year Ja Morant opened his account for the season with 44 points in the defeat for Memphis.
Domantas Sabonis had 32 points, 13 rebounds and five assists, Victor Oladipo had 22 points and Malcolm Brogdon 21 points, seven rebounds and eight assists as the Indiana Pacers claimed a 121-107 win over the New York Knicks, who were led by RJ Barrett's 26 points.
