RJ Barrett banked a 3-pointer at the buzzer Thursday night to cap a historic comeback by the host New York Knicks, who overcame a 25-point deficit to stun the Boston Celtics 108-105.
Evan Fournier fueled the comeback — the biggest for the Knicks since they overcame a 26-point deficit to beat the Milwaukee Bucks on March 14, 2004. He scored a career-high 41 points, including the 21-footer that tied the game for the first time at 96-96 with 4:04 left and the 3-pointer that gave New York its first lead, 99-98 with 2:07 left.
Julius Randle finished with 22 points while Immanuel Quickley had 16 points off the bench for the Knicks, who snapped a tie with the Celtics for 10th place — and the final play-in berth — in the Eastern Conference. Barrett’s game-winner gave him 13 points.
Jayson Tatum scored 13 of the Celtics’ final 15 points and finished with 36 points for the visitors, who lost a heartbreaker for the second time in as many nights. Jaylen Brown missed a layup at the buzzer of a 99-97 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday.
Suns 106, Clippers 89
Cameron Johnson scored a career-best 24 points and grabbed seven rebounds and Jalen Smith matched his career highs of 19 points and 14 rebounds to help Phoenix beat visiting Los Angeles and become the first NBA team to reach 30 wins this season.
Chris Paul contributed 14 points, a career-best 13 rebounds and 10 assists to register his first triple-double of the season for the Suns, whose 30-8 start is the second-best in franchise history (they were 31-7 in 2004-05).
Marcus Morris Sr. scored a season-high 26 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Clippers, who lost for the eighth time in their past 11 games. Reggie Jackson had 16 points and Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Boston Jr. each had 10 for Los Angeles.
Pelicans 101, Warriors 96
Brandon Ingram scored a game-high 32 points as host New Orleans defeated short-handed Golden State.
Josh Hart added 14 points, Herb Jones scored 13 and Gary Clark had 10 off the bench as the Pelicans ended a three-game losing streak during which they had allowed an average of 124.7 points.
Andrew Wiggins scored 21 points for the Warriors, who played without Steph Curry (quad contusion) and Draymond Green (sore hip).
Grizzlies 118, Pistons 88
Ja Morant had 22 points, nine rebounds and six assists and host Memphis extended its winning streak to seven games by rolling past Detroit, which has lost 20 of its last 23 games.
Dillon Brooks contributed 18 points, five assists and three steals for the Grizzlies. Tyus Jones and Ziaire Williams supplied 14 points apiece, while Jaren Jackson Jr. and Brandon Clarke each added 11.
Saben Lee led the Pistons with 14 points off the bench. Cade Cunningham had 12 points but shot 5-for-19 from the field. Hamidou Diallo also scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds, while Trey Lyles tossed in 10 points and made six rebounds.
—Field Level Media
