By ASSOCIATED PRESS
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Jaylen Brown had 23 points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists for his third triple-double of the season, and the Boston Celtics rolled over a Golden State Warriors team playing without Stephen Curry, 121-110, on Thursday night, Feb. 19.
Payton Pritchard added 26 points and Sam Hauser scored 16 to help Boston win for the seventh time in eight games and spoil the Golden State debut of former Celtic Kristaps Porzingis.
Brown, the leading scorer in the Eastern Conference before the All-Star break, matched his career-high in rebounds, all on the defensive end. His 13 assists are a career-best. It was the All-Star’s fifth career triple-double.
Porzingis played in 99 games over two seasons in Boston and winning a championship before getting traded to Atlanta over the summer. The Warriors acquired him from the Hawks at the trade deadline but the oft-injured 7-foot-2 center had been nursing a left Achilles injury.S
The Warriors played without two-time NBA MVP Curry, who is sidelined with a knee injury. Golden State is 6-11 this season when Curry doesn’t play. Golden State struggled to get much going without their star.
De’Anthony Melton had 18 points and Will Richard and Gui Santos had 17 each for the Warriors. Porzingis had 12 points.
Boston led by 30 then had to hold on when Golden State made a run in the fourth quarter. Gary Payton II’s dunk got the Warriors within 111-99 with six minutes left before Pritchard made back-to-back 3-pointers. Brown had eight points and was one of eight Celtics to score in the first quarter.
Meanwhile, Stephon Castle scored 20 points, Victor Wembanyama added 17 and the San Antonio Spurs beat the short-handed Phoenix Suns 121-94 on Thursday night for their seventh straight victory.
San Antontio also will face Sacramento on Saturday in Austin, a city the Spurs covet as part of a mega-region that they’ve cultivated for years.
Castle converted 8 of 11 shots from the field and had four assists and three steals in 21 minutes. Wembanyama had 11 rebounds and five blocks while playing 25 minutes. De’Aaron Fox added 15 points and eight assists in 22 minutes.
The Spurs received big contributions from backups Dylan Harper (17 points) and Luke Kornet (10 points, nine rebounds).
Jalen Green, playing in just his eighth game of an injury-plagued season, led Phoenix with 26 points. Mark Williams had 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Suns star Devin Booker played only nine minutes, all early in the game, before leaving with right hip soreness.
In New York, Cade Cunningham had 42 points and 13 assists to lead the Detroit Pistons to a 126-111 win over the Knicks.
The Pistons have defeated the Knicks in the teams’ three meetings this season.
Paul Reed scored 18 points, Tobias Harris had 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Ausar Thompson added 10 points for Eastern Conference-leading Detroit.
Jalen Brunson led New York with 30 points, and Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Landry Shamet scored 15 points and Josh Hart had 11 as the Knicks shot a miserable 23% (8 of 35) from 3-point range.
