Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum each scored 29 points as the Boston Celtics beat the visiting Los Angeles Clippers 116-110 to cap their seven-game homestand on Thursday night.

Brown scored 12 in the fourth quarter to help the Celtics close out their fourth straight win, while Tatum grabbed 11 rebounds for his 14th double-double of the season.

Marcus Smart had 17 points, nine assists and two steals, while Derrick White added 15 points and Robert Williams III 12 for Boston.

Kawhi Leonard led the Clippers with 26 points to go with eight rebounds, and Paul George had 24 points and six assists for the Clippers, who had five players score in double figures.

The Clippers answered a 6-0 Celtics run out of a timeout, but six of the following eight points went Boston’s way. Brown’s drive and layup brought the Celtics to 100 points with 7:58 left.

Boston won with 7-2 and 5-0 runs that were separated by Reggie Jackson’s triple with 4:39 left.

Derrick White’s layup and three-point play capped the first spurt, while Grant Williams hit a 3-pointer and Marcus Smart followed with a steal and layup to up Boston’s lead to 10.

In the final minute, White and Al Horford came up with key blocks that led to changes of possession and Brown and Tatum free throws to seal the win.

The Celtics had a 13-2 run in the first quarter, with a layup by Brown and Horford’s corner trey making it 24-15.

A few minutes later, Norman Powell banked in a last-second running 3-pointer as Los Angeles finished the opening quarter on an 11-3 run and got within 27-26.

Boston put together a late 9-0 run in the second quarter, with Brown’s pull-up jumper expanding the lead to 50-37 with 3:16 left before halftime.

Robert Williams tipped in a miss by Tatum at the buzzer to give the Celtics an 11-point lead.

The Clippers hit four of their first six 3-pointers in the third quarter. Marcus Morris Sr. hit the last trey during that run to make it 67-65, then George’s runner from downtown gave Los Angeles a 74-72 lead midway through the period.

Boston regained the lead after back-to-back treys by Smart and Sam Hauser, the latter off a tough offensive rebound by Grant Williams. John Wall’s 3-pointer in the final minute of the third put the Clippers ahead 85-84.

Boston interim coach Joe Mazzulla (corneal abrasions) was absent for a second straight game. Assistant coach Damon Stoudamire led the team.

–Field Level Media

Tyrese Haliburton collected 29 points and nine assists and Buddy Hield added 25 points to fuel the host Indiana Pacers to a 135-126 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday in Indianapolis.

Haliburton made six 3-pointers and Hield had five for the Pacers, who converted 61.3 percent of their shots from beyond the arc (19 of 31).

Rookie Bennedict Mathurin scored 23 points off the bench, Aaron Nesmith added 22 and Myles Turner recorded 14 points and 12 rebounds to send Indiana to its fourth win in five games. The Pacers also avenged a 118-112 loss to the Cavaliers on Dec. 16.

Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell scored 41 points in that December contest and had a team-high 28 on Thursday. Jarrett Allen collected 19 points and 14 rebounds and Caris LeVert scored 19 points for the Cavaliers, who have lost three in a row.

Cleveland was nursing a 117-113 lead before Turner sank a 3-pointer to ignite a 12-2 run by Indiana. Hield also hit a jumper, Haliburton converted a three-point play and Nesmith added a pair of buckets on the interior.

The Cavaliers trimmed the deficit to three points at 127-124 with 1:24 to play, but Nesmith answered with a driving layup. Mitchell misfired on a 3-point attempt before the Pacers sealed the win at the free-throw line.

LeVert converted a three-point play and Kevin Love drained a 3-pointer as Cleveland scored the first 10 points of the fourth quarter to secure a 106-99 lead. Mathurin, however, scored eight points during a stretch that allowed Indiana to forge a tie at 113-113.

Pacers coach Rick Carlisle recorded consecutive technical fouls while protesting a perceived traveling infraction by Mitchell and was ejected with 1:29 remaining in the third quarter. Carlisle was angry after Mitchell had picked up his dribble and threw the ball off the backboard to himself.

Hield drained a trio of 3-pointers in 69 seconds to stake Indiana to a 76-73 lead before Cleveland erupted on a 9-0 run. Mitchell fueled that surge with a 3-pointer, but Nesmith converted from beyond the arc and Haliburton sank a pair of 3-pointers to give the Pacers an 89-86 advantage.

–Field Level Media

LaMelo Ball poured in 27 points and came one assist shy of a triple-double as the Charlotte Hornets returned home for a 121-113 victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night.

Ball added 10 rebounds to an inspiring all-around performance to provide a boost to the struggling team.

P.J. Washington added 25 points and Mark Williams, who has spent a large chunk of the season in the G League, came off the bench for 17 points and 13 rebounds.

Mason Plumlee racked up 14 points to go with nine rebounds, while Jalen McDaniels had 12 points and Gordon Hayward and Terry Rozier both added 10 points for the Hornets, who held a 52-41 rebounding edge.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 28 points led the Thunder, as he was the team’s top scorer for the 12th time in the last 13 games. Luguentz Dort added 22 points and Josh Giddey 21 points for Oklahoma City. Tre Mann put up 17 points, and Jalen Williams added 15.

The Hornets shot 54.8 percent from the field but had to overcome 19-for-29 shooting on free throws.

With the game tied at 103, Ball and Washington made back-to-back shots, with Washington’s 3-pointer sending the Hornets to a 108-103 edge with 3:39 to play.

Charlotte kept the momentum, using Plumlee’s tip-in for a nine-point advantage. Later, Ball’s 3-pointer stretched the lead again after the Thunder had pulled within 112-108.

The Hornets were just two nights removed from the end of a 2-4 West Coast road trip.

It was the first win in the last six home games for Charlotte, which hadn’t played at home since Dec. 16.

The Thunder recovered from a rough start to claim a 60-57 halftime edge despite Charlotte’s 52.4 percent shooting from the field. Oklahoma City offset that with seven 3-point baskets and benefited from nine turnovers by the Hornets.

Oklahoma City outscored the Hornets 23-12 across the last 7:40 of the first half.

–Field Level Media

The Philadelphia 76ers upgraded guard Tyrese Maxey to probable for Friday’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Maxey has missed 18 games with a foot fracture that did not require surgery. He’s been sidelined since Nov. 18, when he sustained a small fracture in his left foot after landing awkwardly during a game against Milwaukee.

Maxey returned to practice with the team on Thursday, although he’ll likely be on a minutes restriction.

Maxey, 22, was averaging 22.9 points to go with 4.4 assists and 3.5 rebounds in 15 starts prior to the injury.

–Field Level Media

The Sacramento Kings needed just three players to score in double figures to beat the top team in the Western Conference in their most recent outing, but they cannot expect to keep up that kind of distribution and keep winning.

The Kings host the Utah Jazz on Friday night, two nights after three Sacramento players scored at least 31 points against the Nuggets. Malik Monk led the way with 33 points as his free throw with 0.7 seconds remaining proved to be the difference in the 127-126 victory.

De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis each scored 31 and recorded double-doubles, as Fox dished out 13 assists and Sabonis hauled in 10 rebounds.

Their outings helped Sacramento overcome a 19-point deficit late in the third quarter and a 40-point showing by Nikola Jokic. The reigning MVP missed a 3-point shot at the buzzer.

“Sacramento played really well,” Jokic said. “It was not just one guy. We couldn’t stop a couple of them.”

The rest of the Kings combined for only 32 points, as Harrison Barnes, Keegan Murray and Kevin Huerter – all of whom average double-figure scoring – made just six of 20 shots and combined for 19 points. Still, Sacramento managed to win for the first time in three games, beating a Denver team that had defeated them 113-106 the previous night.

“I felt like we were bigger and when you play big it’s harder for them to share the basketball,” said Kings acting head coach Jordi Fernandez. “Our activity, our communication, our willingness to fly around, I feel like that really changed the game.”

Friday’s game will be the first of four this season between the Kings and Jazz, who play again on Tuesday in Utah.

While the Kings were pulling off their nice win, the Jazz were blowing a double-digit lead and suffering a disappointing 112-107 defeat at Golden State. The Warriors didn’t have Steph Curry, Klay Thompson or Andrew Wiggins.

Jordan Poole led Golden State over Utah with 26 points.

Utah managed just 13 points in the fourth quarter on a night when Lauri Markkanen amassed a 29-point, 16-rebound double-double but went scoreless in the fourth quarter. Jordan Clarkson added 22 points, but Utah shot just 40.7 percent from the field for the game – including 16 percent (4-for-25) in the fourth quarter as Golden State reversed a 94-88 deficit.

It was the second ugly loss in a row for Utah, which fell at San Antonio on Monday night in another winnable game.

“We’re all competitive and we want to win every single night,” Jazz coach Will Hardy said. “But there’s nights that you can play poorly and win, and there’s nights that you can execute what you want to, play the way you want to play, and things just don’t go your way.”

The game in Sacramento wraps up a three-game road trip for the Jazz, who return home to play immediately on New Year’s Eve against Miami.

“I think it’s really important for our guys to understand that the result (Wednesday night) does not necessarily reflect how they approached the game as a team,” Hardy said. “We have a big game at Sacramento to close out this road trip, and you know it’s on us as a staff and a team to maintain some perspective and try to approach this next game the right way.”

–Field Level Media

The NBA’s best home team will encounter one of its winningest road clubs Friday night when the Golden State Warriors host the Portland Trail Blazers in San Francisco.

This edition of the twice-a-year Damian Lillard homecoming occurs as his Trail Blazers have lost some of their road magic. Portland has lost three in a row on the road, but at 10-10 remains one of only three teams in the NBA with double-digit road wins through Thursday.

This will be the first of four meetings this season between these Western Conference playoff hopefuls. The Warriors have won three straight at home over the Trail Blazers over the past two seasons, each victory coming by at least 10 points.

“We’ve got a tough opponent in Golden State … (they) are unbelievable at home,” Blazers guard Josh Hart said. “So we need to make sure we execute and go there feeling good.”

A product of Oakland High, Lillard has just three wins in 15 regular-season return visits to the San Francisco Bay Area in his career. He has topped 30 points six times in those 15 games.

Lillard scored 34 when Portland lost 120-107 at Denver in its most recent road game last Friday, then made just 1 of 10 3-point shots — but had nine assists — Monday in a 124-113 home triumph over the Charlotte Hornets.

Jerami Grant (32 points, 10 rebounds) and Jusuf Nurkic (28 points, 15 rebounds) led the way against the Hornets in Portland’s last outing four days ago.

Even in the presence of Lillard, the most popular Trail Blazer in San Francisco on Friday figures to be Gary Payton II, even though he will not play. The son of another Oakland prep legend, Payton was a key defensive force in Golden State’s championship run last season before becoming a free agent and signing with the Trail Blazers.

He has yet to make his Portland debut following offseason core-muscle surgery, but he’s returned to practice and could see game action soon. Portland ruled him out for Friday’s game.

Also missing this game is Stephen Curry, who has missed the last seven games with a slightly separated left shoulder.

But Golden State could be getting Andrew Wiggins back from a 12-game absence that began with a strained adductor and has more recently been the result of an illness.

Like Payton, Wiggins has returned to the practice floor this week, yet Warriors coach Steve Kerr declared Wiggins doubtful.

“He needs a couple days of practice. He just got back in the gym (Wednesday),” Kerr said. “We’ll see how he’s feeling. I suppose there’s a chance he could play against Portland, but I would say doubtful.”

Without Curry and Wiggins, the Warriors have opened an eight-game homestand with wins over the Memphis Grizzlies, Charlotte Hornets and Utah Jazz, getting surprise contributions while improving to 15-2 in San Francisco.

Ty Jerome chipped in with 14 points in the Christmas Day victory over Memphis. Jonathan Kuminga made key plays at both ends of the floor Tuesday in a narrow victory over Charlotte. Patrick Baldwin Jr., a rookie who had totaled just 37 points previously, mostly in blowout losses, provided a spark with 11 in Wednesday’s 112-107 triumph over Utah.

–Field Level Media