Jayson Tatum scored 22 points, Derrick White added 20 and the Boston Celtics showed their championship makeup down the stretch with a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night in a matchup of the Eastern Conference's top teams. The defending NBA champions executed in the final minutes and held off the Cavs, who lost for just the fourth time in 28 home games.
Kristaps Porzingis added 19 points and Jaylen Brown 16 with nine rebounds as Boston won their fourth straight and improved to against Cleveland this season.
Donovan Mitchell scored 31 points and Darius Garland 25 for the Cavs, who cut a point deficit to four in the fourth quarter. Cavaliers All-Star Evan Mobley had a rough night. He finished with just 7 points on 3-of shooting and failed to make a significant impact at either end. Mobley recently returned from a calf injury and doesn't seem to have his explosiveness back. After the Cavs pulled within four late in the fourth, White hit a short jumper followed by back-to-back 3-pointers to give Boston a lead with left.
Joel Embiid had 29 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in his first action in a month to lead the Philadelphia 76ers to a victory over the Dallas Mavericks, who fell to since trading star Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. Embiid recorded his first triple-double of an injury-plagued season in which he's appeared in just 14 games.
A left knee injury sidelined the seven-time All-Star for the previous 15 games, and he wore a large brace on the knee. But he looked like his usual self, especially down the stretch. Coach Nick Nurse said Embiid wasn't under any restrictions, and he played 36 minutes, going 12 of 23 from the field and 4 of 9 from the free-throw line.
