Celtics storm past mavs

Jaylen Brown scored a game-high 21 points to lead the Boston Celtics to a 114-93 wire-to-wire victory over the visiting Dallas Mavericks on Friday night.

Jayson Tatum added 18 points and Marcus Smart had 17, including five 3-pointers, to pick up the scoring slack for Boston with leading scorer Kyrie Irving missing a second consecutive game with eye irritation. Gordon Hayward added 16 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.

The Celtics also played without forward Marcus Morris, who hurt his neck after a scary fall during a Wednesday game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Harrison Barnes led Dallas with 20 points.

Boston was challenged only once, when its 53-36 second-quarter lead got whittled down to 58-57 early in the third. But after Mavs rookie sensation Luka Doncic drained a 3-pointer to make it a one-point game, his 3-point attempt to grab the lead missed everything. The Celtics answered with a 21-6 run.

In Los Angeles, Kevin Knox gave New York the lead for good by sinking two free throws with 3:45 remaining, and the Knicks held host Los Angeles without a field goal for the next 2 1/2 minutes en route to a 119-112 victory that snapped an eight-game losing streak.

New York’s Tim Hardaway Jr. led all scorers with 22 points, and he made three 3-pointers in a 22-5 game-opening flurry.

Brandon Ingram had 21 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers, who lost for the fourth time in five games since LeBron James sustained a groin injury on Christmas Day. The Lakers announced before the game that James also will not travel with the team for games at Minnesota on Sunday and at Dallas and Monday.

Paul George and Russell Westbrook combined for 68 points to lift Oklahoma City to a 111-109 victory at Portland.

George scored 37 points.