BOSTON (AP) — Jayson Tatum scored 25 of his 36 points in the second half, including seven of his team’s final eight to help the Boston Celtics hold off the New York Knicks 107-103 on Friday night.
Paul George and Neemias Queta added 15 points apiece to fend off a late rally by the defending NBA champion Knicks.
New York fell to 0-2 after losing its season opener to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Karl-Anthony Towns had 22 points to lead five Knicks in double figures. OG Anunoby had 20 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Deuce McBride finished with 20 points and Jalen Brunson added 19.
In a game that featured 12 lead changes and four ties, Boston outscored New York 33-24 in the third quarter to increase a one-point halftime lead to 10 entering the final period.
The Celtics’ edge grew as high as 91-79 before a 12-3 Knicks run cut it 94-91 on Towns’ putback dunk.
New York got it back to 99-96 on Josh Hart’s 3-pointer before Queta turned it over, leading to Brunson’s floater. But Tatum responded with a 19-footer on Boston’s next possession that made it 101-98 with 1:11 remaining.
It was 103-98 when Anunoby hit a pair of free throws with less than a minute left. But Tatum drained a 3 from the wing.
Mitchell Robinson finished with four points, four rebounds and a block after struggling with early foul trouble throughout his first matchup against the Knicks team that he helped win last season’s title. Robinson was the only member of New York’s regular rotation that didn’t return.
BULLS 132, BUCKS 125
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Norman Powell had 25 points, rookie Caleb Wilson added 21 and Chicago beat Milwaukee.
The game was played four hours earlier than originally scheduled because of the Milwaukee Brewers hosting Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night.
Leonard Miller scored 19 points to help the Bulls rebound from a season-opening 135-92 loss at Toronto on Wednesday night. Jalen Smith had 14 points and 13 rebounds, and Buddy Hield scored 13 points.
Tyler Herro, a Milwaukee-area native who was one of four players shipped to the Bucks in a blockbuster off-season trade that sent franchise cornerstone Giannis Antetokounmpo to the Miami Heat, had 34 points.
Fellow former Heat player Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 19 points and 11 rebounds, Kyle Kuzma had 14 points and Myles Turner 12. The Bucks opened Wednesday night with a loss in Washington.
The teams exchanged leads before the Bulls sealed the victory by hitting multiple free throws down the stretch.
A moment of silence prior to the game and a video tribute at halftime for Don Nelson, the winningest coach in the history of the Bucks. He died Aug. 9 at age 86.
HAWKS 128, HORNETS 81
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Jalen Johnson had 19 points, eight assists and seven rebounds and Atlanta hammered Charlotte in the Hawks’ largest blowout in franchise history.
The 47-point victory topped the previous franchise mark of 46 set in a 126-80 win over Sacramento on Nov, 15, 2017.
Aaron Wiggins added 19 points off the bench on 7-of-9 shooting and all five Atlanta starters finished in double figures in scoring, including Nickell Alexander-Walker with 14 and C.J. McCollum with 13.
Naz Reid led the Hornets with 17 points.
The Hornets did little to win fans over in their first home game since trading away star point guard LaMelo Ball, a widely unpopular decision in Charlotte.
The Hawks forced 14 turnovers in the first half alone, leading to 15 points on runouts and built a 25-point first-half lead.
The Hornets were booed loudly as they walked off the floor at halftime by the sellout crowd of 19,524 that was expecting better from a team that won 44 games last season.
The boos grew louder as the Hawks put the pedal down in the third quarter and pulled away, pushing the lead to 49 in the fourth quarter.
RAPTORS 112, WIZARDS 102
WASHINGTON (AP) — Scottie Barnes had 28 points and 14 rebounds, and Toronto continued its stellar defensive start to the season with a victory over Washington.
RJ Barrett added 23 points and Kawhi Leonard scored 16 for Toronto, which forced 23 Washington turnovers after Chicago committed 27 in the Raptors’ season-opening victory on Wednesday.
Trae Young had 22 points and 12 assists for the Wizards, who trailed throughout and were down by 17 in the second quarter before closing within a point in the third.
Tre Johnson added 20 points, but Anthony Davis finished with only nine on 3-for-12 shooting in his second career game for Washington. He had 34 points Wednesday in their season-opening victory.
Toronto led 18-6 on the offensive glass and 52-32 in points in the paint.
The Wizards closed within a possession for the first time since the first quarter on Bilal Coulibaly’s layup to make it 64-61 early in the third, and got it to one with a 9-0 run.
Jamison Battle’s 3-pointer made it 81-77 at the end of the third, and Toronto maintained a multiple-possession lead throughout the fourth.
MAVERICKS 121, PACERS 105
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Kyrie Irving scored 24 points and Dallas overcame the loss of Cooper Flagg to spoil Tyrese Haliburton ’s home return for Indiana.
Flagg, last season’s NBA Rookie of the Year, did not play in the second half after he injured his left shoulder when he was fouled by Aaron Nesmith on what looked like it would be a breakaway dunk.
Nesmith was called for a flagrant foul, and a double technical was assessed after a brief shoving match ensued. Flagg finished with 15 points, five rebounds and six assists.
Haliburton played in his first home game since the 2025 NBA Finals.
Irving made 5 of 10 from 3-point range. P.J. Washington had 20 points and 13 rebounds for the Mavericks in their first win under new coach Dusty May, who grew up in Indiana.
While Haliburton received a rousing ovation during player introductions, Indiana’s play soon turned those cheers into boos.
TIMBERWOLVES 115, MAGIC 93
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels each scored 15 points to help Minnesota beat Orlando.
Rudy Gobert added 14 points and nine rebounds for the Timberwolves (2-0), off to their best start since winning their first two games five years ago.
Wendell Carter Jr. had 20 points and nine boards for the Magic (0-2), who held Edwards largely in check throughout the game.
Fresh off a 45-point effort at Miami Wednesday, Edwards nailed a 3 for his first points but then missed his next 10 field goals. He finished just 5 of 23 from the floor, including 2 for 9 from 3-point range.
But the Timberwolves didn’t need him. They hammered the Magic on the glass, outrebounding Orlando 60-43. Minnesota posted a 21-8 advantage on the offensive boards, which led to 17 second-chance points, and held the Magic without an offensive rebound over the game’s first 19 minutes.
Minnesota, which never trailed, put the game away in the third quarter, outscoring the Magic 29-15 to build a 26-point lead. As a result, head coach Chris Finch was able to rest most of his starters, including guard LaMelo Ball, over the bulk of the fourth quarter.
PISTONS 128, HEAT 111
MIAMI (AP) — John Collins scored 23 points, Paul Reed added 19 off the bench and Detroit added to Miami’s season-opening defensive misery by beating the Heat.
Former Heat guard Duncan Robinson scored 17 and Cade Cunningham finished with 16 for the Pistons, who led wire-to-wire and are 2-0 for the first time since 2018-19.
The Pistons lost Ausar Thompson in the third quarter after taking an awkward fall, and Jalen Duren played only 10 first-half minutes before leaving with a right thigh issue. Both will be further evaluated Saturday, and there was no update on their conditions after the game.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 36 points and 12 rebounds for Miami, while Davion Mitchell scored 18 points. Bobby Portis Jr. added 11 off the bench for Miami, which has allowed a franchise-worst 259 points through the season’s first two games and been outscored by a combined 42 points in those contests.
The Heat are 0-2 for only the eighth time in their 39-year history. It’s also the first time Antetokounmpo played in the season’s first two games and his team went 0-2; Milwaukee started 0-2 in 2015-16, but Antetokounmpo was suspended for the opener that season.