Jaylen Brown scored a season-high 44 points, including six 3-pointers, and the Boston Celtics snapped a two-game skid with a 142-105 rout over the visiting Indiana Pacers on Friday night.
Jayson Tatum added 22 points and 13 rebounds for Boston, which connected on 23 3s and never trailed. Brown also had four steals to join Larry Bird (five times) and Antoine Walker as the only Celtics with at least 44 points and four steals in a game.
Payton Pritchard finished with 18 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds.
The Pacers have lost two straight since posting a season-best five-game win streak.
Tyrese Haliburton had 19 points and nine assists, Bennedict Mathurin finished with 18 points and Pascal Siakam added 14 points and nine rebounds.
KNICKS 108, MAGIC 85 >> Jalen Brunson had 26 points and nine assists, Josh Hart added 23 points and 13 rebounds and visiting New York extended its winning streak to six games with a win over Orlando.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 16 points and eight rebounds for the Knicks, who pulled away in the second half. Mikal Bridges, coming off a season-best 41-point game in a win over San Antonio on Christmas Day, added 17 points.
Jalen Suggs, limited to 26 minutes due to foul trouble, scored 27 points. Goga Bitadze had 14 points and 10 rebounds for Orlando, which dropped its second straight and lost for the fifth time in seven games.
SPURS 96, NETS 87 >> Victor Wembanyama had 19 points, seven rebounds and six blocks, Jeremy Sochan had 12 points and 14 rebounds and San Antonio defeated host Brooklyn.
Julian Champagnie scored 18 points, and Keldon Johnson had 15 points and six rebounds to help the Spurs end a two-game skid.
Keon Johnson scored a game-high 25 points and Shake Milton chipped in with 16 points and 12 assists for Brooklyn, which fell for the ninth time in its past 12 games.
BUTLER STILL SITTING OUT >> Jimmy Butler will not play in the final two games of Miami’s ongoing road trip while recovering from illness, the team said Friday.
That means Butler will not play tonight at Atlanta or Sunday at Houston. The earliest he could play again is Wednesday at home against New Orleans.
Butler hasn’t played since the first quarter of Miami’s Dec. 20 game against Oklahoma City, when he twisted an ankle, left the game and then was ruled out because of illness. Miami has played three games since without Butler, two because of the illness and then Thursday’s win in Orlando with him back in Miami conditioning for a return.
He is not with the team on the road trip.
The Heat said Thursday that they are not going to trade Butler, that announcement coming after ESPN, citing sources, said the six-time All-Star would prefer to be moved before the trade deadline on Feb. 6.
EMBIID FINED >> Philadelphia center Joel Embiid was fined $75,000 by the NBA on Friday for making obscene gestures during the first half of the the 76ers’ 118-114 road victory over the Boston Celtics on Wednesday.
The fine comes nearly two months after Embiid was suspended for three games without pay for shoving Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Marcus Hayes.
Embiid, the 2022-23 MVP, has played only nine games this season. He’s averaging 21.3 points and seven rebounds.
Embiid and the 76ers are at Utah tonight.