Kyrie Irving capped an eventful day by totaling 23 points, 10 rebounds and six assists Friday night as the Boston Celtics recorded a 113-99 victory over the New York Knicks, whose home losing streak reached 13 games.
After addressing his impending free agency during the morning shootaround by saying “ask me July 1,” Irving returned from missing the previous two games with a strained left hip and helped the Celtics win for the eighth time in nine games.
Irving heard cheers in pregame introductions, and some fans chanted “We Want Kyrie” as the New Jersey native shot 9 of 20, recorded his 13th double-double and reached double digits in rebounds for the second time.
The Knicks broke the team record for the longest home losing streak set during their 17-65 2014-15 campaign under coach Derek Fisher and former president Phil Jackson. New York also dropped its season-high 12th straight game since beating the Lakers on Jan. 4 and dropped to 2-25 in its last 27 games.
Nuggets 136, Rockets 122
Malik Beasley scored a career-high 35 points, Nikola Jokic had 31 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists, and Denver nearly held James Harden below 30 points in a blowout of visiting Houston.
Harden finished with exactly 30 points and now has scored at least that many in 25 straight games. Nine came in the fourth quarter, the final on a 3-pointer with just over a minute left to reach 30.
Torrey Craig scored a career-high 22 points off the bench for Denver, which ended a nine-game losing streak against the Rockets. The Nuggets last beat Houston on Dec. 14, 2015.
Thunder 118, Heat 102
Paul George scored a game-high 43 points, Russell Westbrook posted his 18th triple-double, and visiting Oklahoma City continued its offensive surge in a rout of Miami.
George connected on a career-high 10 3-pointers, and Schroder scored 28 in 29 minutes off the bench for the Thunder, who won their seventh consecutive overall and sixth straight against Miami. Westbrook notched 14 points, 14 assists and 12 rebounds in his fifth triple-double in a row.
Miami’s Kelly Olynyk tallied 21 points, and Josh Richardson had 18. Hassan Whiteside had 12 points and 16 rebounds for the Heat, who lost their second straight overall and have dropped four of the last six.
Jazz 128, Hawks 112
Rudy Gobert responded to his All-Star snub with 25 points and 13 rebounds as Utah cruised over Atlanta in Salt Lake City.
Gobert made all seven field-goal attempts while posting his 42nd double-double of the campaign one night after being passed over on the list of Western Conference reserves for the All-Star Game on Feb. 17.
Ricky Rubio registered 22 points and 11 assists, and Joe Ingles scored 19 points as the Jazz won for the 10th time in the past 12 games. Trae Young had 28 points and nine assists for the Hawks, who dropped to 2-3 on a seven-game road trip.
Hornets 100, Grizzlies 92
Marvin Williams hit two 3-pointers in an 11-0 run, and Charlotte rallied in the final five minutes for a win over visiting Memphis.
The Hornets wound up outscoring the Grizzlies 15-2 in the final five minutes, after trailing 90-85 with 4:38 remaining. Memphis has now lost 11 of its last 12 and 17 of its last 19.
Kemba Walker led the Hornets with 23 points, and Malik Monk scored 20, including 10 straight Hornets points at one stretch in the fourth quarter. The Grizzlies were without two starters, Mike Conley (knee) and Jaren Jackson Jr. (quad).
—Field Level Media
