Boston Celtics 107, Los Angeles Clippers 102
BOSTON — The emotion and admiration belonged to Paul Pierce. But the game belonged to his old team, the Celtics, who fired up a club-record 52 3-point attempts in a 107-102 win over the Los Angeles Clippers at TD Garden.
Pierce, making one final appearance as a player in Boston, started and played the first 4:57. He knelt and kissed the leprechaun logo at midcourt and then took the first shot of the game. It rimmed in and out and he was gone after less than five minutes, all zeroes except for the missed shot.
He re-entered the game with 19.8 seconds left to another major ovation – and drained a 3-pointer with 11 seconds left, thus avoiding what would have been his first scoreless game ever in the building (630 games).
Thomas scored 28 points and added eight assists and his team hit 30.8 percent from behind the arc. Al Horford scored 13 points and grabbed a season-high 15 rebounds while dishing out six assists.
Toronto Raptors , 103, Brooklyn Nets 95
NEW YORK — Despite being ill and receiving four stitches after colliding with a camera attached to a stanchion near a basket, Kyle Lowry recorded his ninth career triple-double with 15 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds as Toronto defeated Brooklyn.
Many of Lowry’s assists went to Jonas Valanciunas, who led the Raptors with 22 points and played effective defense on Brook Lopez at times. Valanciunas made 9 of 17 shots, highlighting his fifth game with at least 20 points by getting four dunks.
Terrence Ross added 17 and DeMarre Carroll contributed 15 for the Raptors, who led for the final 28:07 and won for the third time in the last 11 games since Jan. 17.
Oklahoma City Thunder 105, Portland Trail Blazers 99
OKLAHOMA CITY — Russell Westbrook scored 42 points to lead Oklahoma City over Portland.
Westbrook hit 16 of 34 from the field to go along with eight assists and four rebounds. Victor Oladipo added 24 points and 13 boards.
Portland was led by Damian Lillard, who scored 29 points on 9 of 22 shooting. CJ McCollum posted 19 points and eight rebounds.
