The NBA-leading Boston Celtics start with Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.

It takes a whole lot more to rise to the top with a 15-4 record and 11 wins in a 12-game span.

Who will step up Sunday night as the Celtics look to continue their run of play against the Washington Wizards? There are plenty of options.

With Brown and Marcus Smart in foul trouble, Boston turned to Payton Pritchard and Luke Kornet in Friday’s 122-104 win. The duo combined to score 14 second-half points as the Celtics overcame a third-quarter deficit.

“We talked about it from Day 1. We have a lot of different ways we can do things,” Celtics interim coach Joe Mazzulla said. “Credit to Payton and Luke, what they do on a daily basis to stay ready. That says a lot about where we can go with our team.”

Tatum (30 points on 10-of-17 shooting, including seven during a late 19-0 run) and Brown (25) still led the Boston scorers, but the comeback win would not have been possible without the important contributions from the bench.

“We’re going to be down six in the third quarter sometimes. And that’s OK, it’s supposed to happen,” Mazzulla said. “Right now, everything is going really well for us.”

Brown has scored 25 or more points in four straight games.

The Celtics are playing the third of a six-game homestand that continues with a Monday visit from Charlotte and two games in three nights with Miami.

They won’t have back-to-back off days until the halfway mark of an upcoming six-game road trip, concluding in California.

“We always have to find ways to get guys rest and steal minutes here and there,” Mazzulla said. “I think guys are in a great spot physically and mentally.”

The Wizards finished a rare set of back-to-back games in Miami, losing both by a single possession. Friday was a 110-107 loss, despite Bradley Beal and Kyle Kuzma each scoring 28 points.

“We did enough throughout the course of the game to put ourselves in position to win,” Beal said. “Just a matter of us getting stops on the defensive end.”

Beal, who has seven consecutive 20-point games and averages 21.5 in his career against Boston, had missed the Wednesday matchup with a thigh contusion.

Rookie guard Johnny Davis (groin), Monte Morris (ankle) and Rui Hachimura (ankle) missed Friday’s game. The latter two have been out for the last three games.

“(Morris has) had some issues in the past. It’s just been more managing,” Wizards coach Wes Unseld Jr. said. “It flared up a bit, so we’re trying to get that to calm down, get the strength and mobility back.”

The Celtics have won the last three head-to-head meetings, and this will be the second of the season in Boston.

On Oct. 30, Brown logged a double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds in a 112-94 win.

Kristaps Porzingis had 17 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Wizards. It was one of his team-leading six double-doubles.

–Field Level Media

O.G. Anunoby and Fred VanVleet each scored 26 points and the injury-depleted Toronto Raptors defeated the visiting Dallas Mavericks 105-100 on Saturday.

Chris Boucher added 22 points and 13 rebounds for the Raptors, who had lost their two previous games.

Juancho Hernangomez added 10 points as Toronto gained a split in two games with Dallas this season.

Luka Doncic scored 24 points for the Mavericks, who have lost three straight. Dorian Finney-Smith added 16 points, Spencer Dinwiddie had 15 and Christian Wood scored 10 points.

Toronto took an eight-point lead into the fourth quarter. Dallas used an 11-2 run to open the fourth. Toronto scored the next five points.

Finney-Smith’s layup with 4:28 remaining in the fourth quarter trimmed the lead to three points and he came back to hit a 3-pointer that tied the game at 90.

Hernangomez made a hook shot to give Toronto a one-point lead with 2:46 left. Anunoby added two free throws, but Dinwiddie cut the lead to one on a layup. Anunoby’s hook shot restored the three-point lead.

Reggie Bullock made two free throws with 1:40 to play.

The teams exchanged baskets before Boucher hit a 10-footer but missed the free throw with 31.4 seconds to play. Doncic’s jumper cut the lead to one. Thaddeus Young made two free throws with 16.6 seconds left. Young then made a steal to clinch the game and Anunoby finished the scoring with two free throws.

Dallas led 29-24 after the first quarter despite once being ahead by 15 points.

Toronto scored the first six points of the second quarter and bumped the lead to six on Gary Trent Jr.’s 3-pointer with 3:26 left. Toronto’s lead reached seven before Doncic finished the first-half scoring with a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 54-52.

Toronto used an 8-0 run to take an eight-point lead with 9:19 remaining in the third quarter. VanVleet’s layup gave Toronto an 11-point lead with 4:08 left in the third. Toronto led 81-73 after three quarters.

Toronto was without Scottie Barnes (sprained knee), Dalano Banton (sprained ankle), Pascal Siakam (adductor strain), Precious Achiuwa (sprained ankle) and Otto Porter Jr. (dislocated toe).

–Field Level Media

The Miami Heat look to extend their winning streak to three games when they begin a four-game road trip on Sunday in Atlanta against the Hawks.

Miami is coming off back-to-back home wins over Washington, most recently 110-107 on Friday. Atlanta blew a 16-point, second-half lead to the four-win Houston Rockets in a 128-122 loss on Friday.

This marks the first of four regular-season meetings between the two clubs. Last season the Heat won three of the four games.

Miami’s Bam Adebayo is coming off a monster game, scoring a season-high 38 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. It was his second time scoring 30-plus, his ninth time with 10-plus rebounds and his ninth double-double of the season. He has been playing with a left knee contusion.

“It was one of those things where my teammates gave me the ball and I was taking advantage of the mismatch,” Adebayo said. “There were shots that Washington let me have.”

Caleb Martin scored 20 points against Washington and played a sound defensive game against star Bradley Beal.

“I took pride in trying to make stops,” Martin said. “Those of the types of situations you dream about, game on the line against a guy like Bradley Beal with the ball late shot clock. I just tried to make it as tough as possible.”

He’ll get another chance on Sunday when he and his teammates face Atlanta’s prolific backcourt of Trae Young and Dejounte Murray.

Atlanta wasted a combed 83 points Friday from Young (44) and Murray (39), who both had season highs. Murray bettered his own career high of 36 set earlier this season against the New York Knicks. It was the 28th time Young has topped the 40-point mark in his career.

“Defensively, we never established that we could stop this team and when we did force them to miss and they beat us to the glass with 22 offensive boards,” Atlanta coach Nate McMillan said. “No defense at all in this game … 122 points is enough points to win a game.”

Atlanta played without center Clint Capela (11.1 points, 11.9 rebounds, 1.6 blocks). He sat out the game with a toothache but is expected to return on Sunday. Onyeka Okongwu struggled to replace him and produced only four points — all of them free throws, as he did not attempt a shot — although he had 11 rebounds and two blocks in 33 minutes.

“I know we didn’t have Clint tonight for our rebounds,” Young said. “But we still should have been able to rebound and do a better job that way. That really hurt us.”

The Hawks have scored at least 100 points in each of their first 19 games, the best mark for the franchise since it moved to Atlanta and only two away from matching the record of 21 set by the 1960-61 St. Louis Hawks. Atlanta has scored 100-plus points in 40 straight, the longest active streak in the NBA.

The Heat continue to deal with injuries. Dewayne Dedmon is playing with plantar fasciitis in his left foot, Tyler Herro has a left ankle sprain and Haywood Highsmith is battling an inflamed right hip. The Heat are also without star Jimmy Butler, who has missed five games with right knee soreness.

–Field Level Media

The streaking Indiana Pacers begin a seven-game road tour of the Western Conference on Sunday when they visit a Los Angeles Clippers team down its two superstars.

The Clippers were without five-time All-Star Kawhi Leonard for the 15th time on the 2022-23 campaign in Los Angeles’ 114-104 loss to Denver on Friday.

Leonard — who missed last season due to a torn ACL sustained in the 2021 playoffs — returned to the lineup Nov. 17 for three straight games after missing 13 of the Clippers’ first 15 contests.

He is again sidelined after spraining his ankle Nov. 21 against the Utah Jazz. Los Angeles coach Tyronn Lue told reporters there was no immediate timetable for Leonard’s return.

The situation is the same for seven-time All-Star Paul George, who has missed the last three games due to a hamstring tendon strain. George leads the Clippers in scoring at 23.6 points per game, is second in rebounding at six per game and third in assists at 4.3 per game.

Clippers’ reserves kept Los Angeles competitive in Friday’s loss, with John Wall leading three players scoring in double figures off the bench at 23 points. Robert Covington added 12 points and six rebounds, while Norman Powell scored 11 points in reserve duty.

Lue praised the available players for stepping up but lamented the challenges of being without two standouts the caliber of Leonard and George.

“(There is) leadership in the locker room, and our coaching staff has great leaders as well,” Lue said in his postgame press conference. “But sometimes it’s just tough to win games when you build your offense (around) two keys guys and they’re out.”

Indiana comes into Sunday’s matchup rolling, winning 8 of 10 after Friday’s 128-117 defeat of Brooklyn.

Four Pacers scored at least 20 points, led by 26 from Buddy Hield. Myles Turner added 23 points and a team-high eight rebounds, Tyrese Haliburton went for 21 points with 15 assists for his eighth scoring-and-assisting double-double in Indiana’s last nine contests.

Bennedict Mathurin also continued his hot scoring off the bench with 20 points.

“We’ve got a lot of young guys who compete hard, every single night,” Turner said in Friday’s postgame press conference. “One thing that really sticks out to me as somebody who’s been (in Indiana) a long time is we don’t really skimp on the little stuff. Guys are in here getting their extra shots, guys in here are taking care of their bodies, we’re eating together on the road, hanging out. Doing that chemistry (building) is important.”

Indiana’s off-court efforts have translated through the early going. The Pacers’ 11 wins heading into Sunday are just 14 shy of the club’s win total a season ago.

The upcoming Western road swing provides a significant test to Indiana’s surprising start. The Pacers open with a Los Angeles back-to-back, taking on the Clippers and Lakers, before facing Sacramento, Utah, Portland, Golden State and Minnesota.

Of those latter five, all but one entered Saturday above .500 — and the lone exception is reigning NBA champion Golden State.

–Field Level Media