Derrick Favors on Sunday night scored 23 points and Rodney Hood added 20 points as the Utah Jazz beat the Atlanta Hawks 97-96 to end a three-game skid.
Paul Millsap had a season-high 28 points for the Hawks, but failed to hit the rim on a three-point attempt in the final minute and missed a 12-footer at the buzzer.
Atlanta have lost three of four. Point guard Jeff Teague sat out with a sore ankle, leaving the Hawks without their second-leading scorer. Dennis Schroder finished with 11 points, nine assists and no turnovers in his absence.
Photo: USA Today
Utah took a seven-point lead on Alec Burks’ runner with 2 minutes, 20 seconds remaining.
Al Horford and Kent Bazemore each had 16 points for the Hawks. Horford’s three-pointer with 33 seconds left made it 97-96. Favors missed a jumper on the next possession, but grabbed the rebound from Millsap’s miss to seal it.
CELTICS 100, THUNDER 85
Photo: EPA
In Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Marcus Smart scored a career-high 26 points to help Boston beat Oklahoma City.
Isaiah Thomas scored 20 points, Avery Bradley had 14 and Jared Sullinger added eight points and 15 rebounds to help the Celtics win their third in four games. Boston shot 48 percent and outrebounded the Thunder 47-34.
Smart, who played college ball at nearby Oklahoma State, also guarded Russell Westbrook effectively. He was part of a collective effort that held the reigning scoring champion to five-for-20 shooting. Westbrook still scored 27 points and carried a larger load with Kevin Durant out with a hamstring injury.
Westbrook had posted triple-doubles in his previous two games, but finished this one with just five assists and four rebounds.
KINGS 107, RAPTORS 101
In Sacramento, California, DeMarcus Cousins scored 10 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Sacramento to their third straight win.
Rudy Gay had 26 points and Omri Casspi added 14 for Sacramento, who won despite committing 20 turnovers that led to 20 points. Rajon Rondo had seven points, 14 assists and seven rebounds, but also had seven turnovers.
DeMar ReRozan scored 24 points, and Kyle Lowry made six three-pointers while adding 22 points and seven assists for the Raptors. DeMarre Carroll made four three-pointers and had 17 points and reserve Kyle Cory Joseph also scored 17.
The Kings outscored the Raptors 14-2 over the final 3 minutes, 22 seconds — including the final 11 points of the game.
HORNETS 106, TRAIL BLAZERS 94
In Charlotte, North Carolina, Nicolas Batum scored 33 points and Al Jefferson added 29 as Charlotte held off a fourth-quarter rally to beat Portland.
Kemba Walker added 14 points and Jeremy Lamb had 13 for the Hornets, who led 71-45 at halftime and by as many as 29 points midway through the third quarter.
However, the Trail Blazers began cutting into Charlotte’s lead in the fourth quarter, pulling within 98-92 on Ed Davis’ layup with 2 minutes, 58 seconds remaining.
Charlotte responded with an 8-0 run, getting two free throws each by Walker and Batum and two baskets by Jefferson to push the lead back to double digits in winning their third straight home game.
Damian Lilliard had 23 points, Allen Crabbe 17 and CJ McCollum 16 for Portland, who lost their fifth straight.
KNICKS 95, PELICANS 87
In New York, Carmelo Anthony had 29 points and 13 rebounds to help New York beat New Orleans.
Langston Galloway scored 15 points and fellow reserve Kevin Seraphin had 12 for New York, who were coming off consecutive losses to Charlotte and Cleveland. Rookie Kristaps Porzingis had 10 points on four-of-15 shooting.
Anthony Davis had 36 points and 11 rebounds for New Orleans, and Ryan Anderson scored 16 points.
In other results, it was:
‧ Grizzlies 114, Timberwolves 106
‧ Lakers 97, Pistons 85
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