By ASSOCIATED PRESS
BOSTON (AP) — Payton Pritchard scored 23 points, hitting buzzer-beaters to end each of the first two quarters, and Jaylen Brown added 20 on Monday night, Jan. 26, to lead the Boston Celtics to a 102-94 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers.
Derrick White scored 18 points, making a 3-pointer after Portland cut what had been a 23-point deficit to five in the final minute. White also stole the ball on the Blazers’ next possession.
Jerami Grant scored 19 and former UConn star Donovan Clingan had 15 rebounds for the Blazers, who had won four of their previous five games to briefly climb above .500 for the first time since November.
Pritchard hit a long 3-pointer at the first-quarter buzzer to give Boston a 32-11 lead. Portland cut the deficit to 10 before ex-Blazer Anfernee Simons made a 3 and Pritchard hit a fadeaway shot from the lane as time ran out in the half to make it 52-37.
Portland made it 99-94 in the final minute after Grant drove for a basket, got fouled, missed the free throw and then made another layup off Toumani Camara’s offensive rebound. But White’s 3-pointer effectively ended the threat.
Jrue Holiday, who was a starter on Boston’s 2024 NBA championship team, got a big hand when he was introduced before the game and a standing ovation following a tribute video after the first quarter. Holiday, who scored 14 points, was traded away last summer as the Celtics tried to avoid the penalties for going over the second apron of the NBA’s luxury tax.
Also getting a big cheer from the crowd that braved a snowstorm that dumped as much as two feet of snow on the Boston area over the previous 36 hours was New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, whose team beat Denver on Sunday to advance to the Super Bowl. New Celtics owner Bill Chisholm was in his courtside seat in a sweatshirt honoring Patriots quarterback Drake Maye.
Meanwhile, Luka Doncic had 46 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers cooled off the Chicago Bulls with a 129-118 victory.
LeBron James scored 20 of his 24 points in the first half as Los Angeles improved to 3-1 on an eight-game trip. Rui Hachimura added 23 points on 9-for-11 shooting.
The Lakers were swept by Chicago in their two-game series last season, including a wild 119-117 loss at the United Center on Josh Giddey’s half-court shot at the buzzer.
Coby White scored 23 points for Chicago, and Ayo Dosunmu had 20. The Bulls had won four in a row and five of six overall.
In Minneapolis, Rudy Gobert had 15 points and 17 rebounds as the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Golden State Warriors, 108-83, in a game missing much of its usual star power.
The Warriors were playing without starters Stephen Curry (knee) and Draymond Green (back), while Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards was a late scratch to rest an recurring right foot injury.
Julius Randle led Minnesota with 18 points and Bones Hyland chipped in 17. Naz Reid and Donte DiVincenzo each scored 15 for the Timberwolves, who snapped a five-game losing streak, their longest skid since they lost five straight in December 2022.
Quinten Post led Golden State with 13 points. Brandin Podziemski scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while Gui Santos had 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Warriors, who shot a season-low 23.1% (9 for 39) on 3-pointers.
