Irving leads Celtics scoring spree vs Knicks

BOSTON  – Kyrie Irving scored 22 points before leaving the game in the final minutes nursing his right shoulder, Al Horford had 19 points and 12 rebounds, and Boston coasted past New York 128-108.

Jaylen Brown returned after missing three games with a bruised lower back and scored a season-high 21 points. Jayson Tatum added 17 for Boston, which won its fourth straight game and exacted a bit of revenge for a Nov. 21 loss to the Knicks.

Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 22 for New York, which has lost four of its last five games. Enes Kanter had 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Noah Vonleh had 12 and 10.

In Salt Lake City, Derrick Favors had 24 points and 10 rebounds off the bench to help the Utah Jazz overcome Rudy Gobert’s quick ejection and coast to a 118-91 victory over the Houston Rockets on Thursday night.

Joe Ingles added 18 points and six rebounds for the Jazz. Utah (13-13) won for the fourth time in five games to climb back to .500.

James Harden scored 15 points while Chris Paul and Clint Capela added 12 apiece for the Rockets. Houston (11-13) allowed an opponent to pull away in the second half for a second straight game after committing a season-high 22 turnovers and giving up a season-high 33 points off those turnovers.

The Jazz played the bulk of the game without their starting center after Gobert was ejected less than three minutes into the first half. He picked up his first foul on the opening tip. After picking up his second foul at the 9:13 mark of the first quarter, Gobert got tossed when he swatted a paper cup off the scorer’s table in frustration.

In Portland, Damian Lillard had 25 points and eight assists before sitting for the final quarter and Portland snapped a three-game losing streak with a 108-86 rout of Phoenix.

Jake Layman came off the bench to score a career-high 24 points for the Blazers, who had lost six of their last seven games. Portland led by as many as 31 points.