Celtics 89, Nets 81

There was no yelling from Brad Stevens during the first timeout. Nobody got benched.

It looked bad for Boston on the scoreboard, but its coach liked what he was seeing on the court.

"Even when we were down 10-2, I felt good about the way we were playing," Stevens said, adding that his message to his players was "we're playing a lot better than the score."

Eventually, they played a lot better than the Nets.

Avery Bradley scored 21 points, and the Celtics snapped a three-game losing streak with a victory over Brooklyn on Wednesday night.

Tyler Zeller added 18 points for the Celtics, who won for just the second time in nine games by outplaying and outworking the Nets over the final three quarters. They trailed by 11 in the first half but gradually pulled away after halftime despite shooting under 40 percent for the game.

"We knew what we had to do to come into the game tonight and get a win," reserve Jae Crowder said. "We just came out with a little more effort than they did and it showed late."

Nets center Mason Plumlee agreed that the Nets were outhustled.

"No question," he said. "It hurts to say that, but that's what happened."

The Celtics had just seven turnovers, leading to four points for the Nets. Brooklyn turned it over 18 times, which Boston turned into 16 points.

Joe Johnson scored 17 points for the Nets, who dropped their third in a row and fell to 16-19. Plumlee had 16 points and 12 rebounds but shot just 6 for 11 at the free-throw line.

"This is a game I think we definitely should've got," Johnson said.

Brooklyn point guard Deron Williams came on late in the first quarter after missing a game with a sore left side, but made it just 4 minutes before having to take himself out and didn't return.

Brooklyn took an early 10-point lead and was ahead 25-19 after one quarter, but managed just 14 points on 5-of-18 shooting in the second. The Celtics, who trailed by 11 early in the period, scored the final eight points of the half to grab a 40-39 edge.

The Celtics pushed it to 69-62 after three and opened a series of double-digit leads in the fourth quarter. Their lead peaked at 82-68 on a dunk by Crowder, who was all alone under the basket when the Nets appeared to be looking the other way.

Wizards 101, Knicks 91

New York deconstruction project hit a new low, setting a team record with a 13th straight loss.

The Knicks fell to Washington, giving them their longest in-season skid in the proud franchise's 69-year history.

With J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert traded away, and with Carmelo Anthony (sore left knee) and Amare Stoudemire (sore right knee) injured, the Knicks made dubious history by giving major minutes to the likes of Cole Aldrich, Langston Galloway and Cleanthony Early. Their 23rd loss in 24 games featured all the now-familiar follies and a few new ones: passes that went nowhere, shots that became bricks, and Tim Hardaway Jr.'s bizarre decision to pass the ball away from the basket when he had a two-on-one fast break right in front of him.

"We can't get caught up in the history and record and number of games," first-year coach Derek Fisher said, "and so we're coming out and trying to win one game, and we're supposed to celebrate because we broke a streak? No. That's not who we're going to be."

The idea of celebrating was pretty much moot after Washington made a 9-0 run late in the first quarter. The Wizards never really put the Knicks away, but there was also never a sense that they were in danger of losing, and Rasual Butler's back-to-back baskets midway through the fourth quarter quieted any and all concerns after New York had cut the deficit to five.

John Wall had 18 points and eight assists for the Wizards, who avoided slipping in an obvious trap game after a tough five-game road trip.

Jose Calderon scored 17 points for the Knicks, whose roster requires a flow chart these days just to keep up. Galloway, signed to a 10-day contract earlier in the day, played 18 minutes. Team president Phil Jackson is mostly concerned with clearing salary cap space for the future.

"It's not easy," Calderon said. "All the things going on, in a season like that, all the changes happening to us — our teammates, they are going and new guys are arriving — and we've got so many injuries as well."

Hawks 96, Grizzlies 86

Jeff Teague scored 25 points, and Atlanta beat Memphis for its sixth consecutive win.

Atlanta has won 20 of 22 overall. The Eastern Conference-leading Hawks also have a nine-game winning streak against teams from the West.

The Hawks grabbed control with a 10-0 run following an 84-all tie. Al Horford, who had 12 points, started the run with a jumper. Teague and Kyle Korver followed with 3-pointers and Teague added another basket for a 94-84 lead.

Mike Conley led Memphis with 17 points. Marc Gasol had 16.

Warriors 117, Pacers 102

Klay Thompson scored 40 points, and Golden State shook off a slow start on the way to its fifth straight win.

Thompson made 14 of 25 shots, including 6 of 11 from 3-point range, and Stephen Curry added 21 points and a season-high-tying 15 assists to help the NBA-leading Warriors (28-5) stretch their home winning streak to 13 games.

The Pacers pulled ahead by 11 points early and gave Golden State a rare fight despite center Roy Hibbert limping off with a sprained left ankle in the first quarter. The Warriors roared back to tie it at 50 at the half, opened the third quarter on a 14-1 run and made the game look easier than it really was with the final margin.

Solomon Hill scored 21 points and David West had 16 for the Pacers.

Rockets 105, Cavaliers 93

James Harden scored 21 points, Dwight Howard had 17 points and 19 rebounds, and Houston roared past Cleveland in the fourth quarter.

The Cavaliers played their sixth straight game without LeBron James. The four-time NBA MVP said he's on target to return in a week from a strained back and knee.

The Rockets handed the Cavs their seventh loss in nine games.

Kyrie Irving scored a season-high 38 points for the Cavs, who lost their fourth straight at home. J.R. Smith didn't score in 19 minutes in his Cleveland debut. The unpredictable guard was acquired earlier in the week from the Knicks along with guard Iman Shumpert.

During the game, the Cavs pulled off their second big trade in three days, acquiring 7-foot-1 center Timofey Mozgov from Denver in exchange for two first-round draft picks.

Hornets 98, Pelicans 94

Kemba Walker scored 31 points, including a tiebreaking three-point play with 1.4 seconds left, and Charlotte earned its third consecutive win.

Walker drove the right side of the lane and converted an 11-foot jumper after Jrue Holiday hit him on the arm. Walker then made the foul shot for a 97-94 lead.

The Pelicans had one last chance to tie, but Marvin Williams stole the inbounds pass at half court and was fouled. He went 1 for 2 at the line to seal the victory.

Anthony Davis had 32 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks for New Orleans.

Clippers 114, Lakers 89

Blake Griffin scored 27 points, Chris Paul had 24 and the Clippers routed the Lakers for their ninth win in 10 games against the 16-time NBA champions.

Griffin also had nine rebounds and eight assists. Paul added 11 assists.

The Clippers led by 10 after the opening quarter, stretched it to 22 points at halftime and were up by 36 going into the fourth in winning their fifth straight against the Lakers. They are enjoying their most successful stretch against the Lakers in franchise history.

Jordan Clarkson scored 14 points for the Lakers. Kobe Bryant finished with four points, eight rebounds and seven assists after going scoreless in the first half.

Kings 104, Thunder 83

Rudy Gay scored 28 points and Darren Collison added 24 to help Sacramento snap a 12-game losing streak to Oklahoma City.

DeMarcus Cousins had 23 points and 15 rebounds, and the Kings rolled to just their fourth win in 11 games under new coach Tyrone Corbin and first against Oklahoma City since Feb. 12, 2012.

Kevin Durant scored 24 points for the Thunder, who shot just 32.6 percent and lost both games of a brief Northern California road trip.

This marked the first time all season that Oklahoma City lost back-to-back games with Durant and Russell Westbrook in the lineup. The Thunder had won nine of 11 with their two stars healthy before the losses to Golden State and Sacramento.

Suns 113, Timberwolves 111

Gerald Green scored 15 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter, and Phoenix handed Minnesota its 13th straight loss.

Green hit three 3-pointers in the fourth, helping the Suns wipe away a seven-point deficit to start the period in the blink of an eye. Goran Dragic added 25 points and the Suns (22-16) survived a scare from the undermanned Timberwolves to win for the 10th time in 12 games.

Andrew Wiggins scored 25 points, but missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have won the game for the Timberwolves, who haven't won since Dec. 10. Mo Williams added 23 points and 11 assists and the Wolves led by as many as 13 points. But they turned the ball over 22 times to fall to 5-29 on the season.

Jazz 97, Bulls 77

Derrick Favors had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Utah used a strong defensive effort to get the win.

The Jazz held the Bulls to a season-low point total on just 28-of-84 (33.3 percent) shooting. The Bulls were averaging 103.1 points.

Gordon Hayward had 18 points for Utah (13-23), and Trey Burke scored 17. Seven of the Jazz's wins have come on the road.

Jimmy Butler led the Bulls (25-11) with 16 points and 11 rebounds, and reserve Taj Gibson added 15 points.

Chicago point guard Derrick Rose had just seven points on 3-for-15 shooting. The 2011 NBA MVP is shooting 25.5 percent (28 for 110) in his last six games.

Pistons 108, Mavericks 95

D.J. Augustin scored 17 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, and Detroit earned its seventh consecutive victory.

The Pistons (12-23) have the NBA's longest current winning streak.

Greg Monroe had 27 points and 18 rebounds for Detroit. Brandon Jennings added 14 points, and Jodie Meeks had 11.

Andre Drummond had a game-high 19 boards for the Pistons, who outrebounded the Mavericks 60-43.

Dallas (26-11) had won six in a row.

Dirk Nowitzki scored 19 points for the Mavericks, and Monta Ellis had 16.

Nuggets 93, Magic 90

Ty Lawson scored 23 points in Denver's third consecutive win, and Arron Afflalo had 17 against his former team.

The Nuggets also got a key contribution from Jusuf Nurkic, who had eight points in his first career start in place of Timofey Mozgov, who was traded to Cleveland earlier in the day in exchange for two first-round draft picks.

Nikola Vucevic scored 20 points for the Magic, who lost for the sixth straight time in Denver. Victor Oladipo had 17 points.

Bucks 97, 76ers 77

Brandon Knight and Khris Middleton scored 18 points apiece, leading Milwaukee to the victory.

The Bucks (19-18) shot 53.9 percent from the field in their fifth consecutive road win. Zaza Pachulia had 11 points and 12 rebounds, and reserve O.J. Mayo added 15 points.

K.J. McDaniels scored 14 points for the Sixers (5-29), who were trying to win consecutive home games for the first time since the start of the 2013-14 season.

The Sixers shot 30.1 percent from the field.