BOSTON — Mike Conley made six 3-pointers and scored 25 points, Jordan Clarkson added 17 and the Utah Jazz beat the Boston Celtics 99-94 on Friday night for their fourth straight victory.
Donovan Mitchell added 11 points, and Rudy Gobert had nine points, seven rebounds and three blocks. The Jazz won their third straight at Boston, capitalizing on the short-handed Celtics’ shooting woes. Boston has lost three of four and three straight at home.
The Celtics were without injured forwards Jaylen Brown and Gordon Hayward.
Marcus Smart led Boston with 29 points. Jayson Tatum added 18 points, Kemba Walker had 13 points and seven assists, and Daniel Theis finished with 12 points and nine rebounds.
Boston couldn’t overcome Utah’s torrid shooting that the Jazz rode to a 16-point lead in the second quarter. Utah made 17 of 45 3-pointers.
The Jazz led 62-49 at halftime after shooting 60.5 percent (23 for 38) in the first two quarters. Utah hit 13 of 21 3-pointers in the half, going 8 for 11 from long distance in the second quarter.
The Celtics opened the third quarter on an 11-3 run that got Boston right back in it, but only briefly. Tatum’s free throw after a technical foul on Mitchell pulled Boston to 66-61, but Royce O’Neale answered with a 3-pointer – the first of the second half for the Jazz – and Utah quickly pushed the lead back up to double-figures, taking a 79-66 lead into the final period.
A three-point play by Brad Wanamaker pulled Boston within 87-78 with 6:54 remaining, but Boston never threatened and a 3-pointer by Smart just before the final buzzer made the outcome seem closer than it was.
WIZARDS 118, HAWKS 112: Bradley Beal scored 35 points and Washington held off visiting Atlanta.
Beal was 13 of 21 from the field, going 7 of 10 from 3-point range. The Wizards were 15 of 31 on 3s. Davis Bertans added 17 points, and Jerome Robinson had 14 for Washington. The Wizards began the night 4 1/2 games behind Orlando for eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
Rookie Cam Reddish scored a career-high 28 points on 11-of-17 shooting for Atlanta. The Hawks scoring leader Trae Young sat out because of flu-like symptoms.
John Collins had 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Hawks, and Maryland product Kevin Huerter added 14 points and 11 assists.
A 3-pointer by Reddish followed by Collins’ four straight points cut the Wizards lead to 107-102 with 2:46 left. Reddish added another 3 to make it 109-105.
With Washington ahead 114-110, Rui Hachimura grabbed an offensive rebound, was fouled and made both free throws with 52 seconds remaining.
Collins’ free throws got the Hawks within four with 16 seconds left.
THUNDER 126, KNICKS 103: Danilo Gallinari scored 22 points in 27 minutes and was one of six Oklahoma City players to finish in double figures as Oklahoma City routed New York.
Chris Paul added 21 points and 12 assists for Oklahoma City, which has won two straight an seven of 10. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 18 points.
Dennis Schroder and Hamidou Diallo had 16 and 12, respectively, off the bench, and Steven Adams contributed 12 points and 11 rebounds.
PACERS 108, BULLS 102: Domantas Sabonis dominated with 24 points and 12 rebounds and Indiana won in Chicago .
The Pacers led by as much as 23 in the third quarter and withstood a big push in the fourth to win for the fifth time in six games. They also moved back into a tie with Philadelphia for fifth place in the Eastern Conference, even though they were missing two of their top three scorers with T.J. Warren (sore left leg) and Malcolm Brogdon (sore left hip) sidelined.
NOTES
TIMBERWOLVES: Two weeks ago, Minnesota said it would re-evaluate Karl-Anthony Towns’ left wrist fracture that has kept him out since Feb. 10 — in two weeks. That time came Friday, and the news on Towns from the Wolves – wait another two weeks.
The team said Towns’ injury continues to heal on its own and the team won’t pursue surgery. They will re-evaluate his injury in two weeks and “work towards an optimal return to play strategy.”
Towns has played in just one game with D’Angelo Russell since the team acquire Russell before the trade deadline. He suffered the injury on Jan. 25 after a hard fall in a game against Oklahoma City. Towns initially tried to play through the injury before the Wolves shut him down just before the All-Star break.
MAVERICKS: The NBA fined Dallas owner Mark Cuban $500,000 on Friday for “public criticism and detrimental conduct” regarding officiating. Separately, the league sent a memo to teams reminding them of rules that govern conduct of owners, coaches and other team personnel during games.
The memo, obtained by The Associated Press, laid out parameters for proper conduct by team personnel toward game officials, how team personnel other than coaches are not allowed on the court during games and how they cannot use “profane or objectionable language that might be heard by spectators” during the game.
Further, it said the league’s “enforcement of these rules with enhanced penalties will be a point of emphasis for the league office” during the rest of the season and beyond.
THE NATIONAL Basketball Players Association said Friday it has begun looking for a successor to executive director Michele Roberts, the first woman to lead a union for any of the major U.S. pro sports leagues.
She is midway through her second and what will be her final four-year term and is set to hold office until 2022 No timetable for finding a replacement was announced.
“When I agreed to a second contract as executive director, I made clear that I would not be seeking a third,” Roberts said in a statement distributed by the union. She added that the goal is make sure her successor is “thoroughly prepared to assume the position.”
LAKERS: Los Angeles signed guard Dion Waiters for their postseason push.
Waiters is an eight-year NBA veteran who had been a free agent since Memphis waived him last month, three days after acquiring him from Miami in the three-team trade that landed Andre Iguodala with the Heat.
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