UNDATED (AP) — Jaylen Brown scored a career-high 50 points, rallying the Boston Celtics from 14 points down late in the fourth quarter to a 116-111 overtime victory over the Orlando Magic.
Brown scored 21 in the fourth quarter, then opened OT with his fifth 3-pointer of the game. Brown, whose previous career high was 46 against the Knicks on Oct. 20, also finished with 11 rebounds as the Celtics avoided losing for the fourth time in five games.
Marcus Smart added 17 points, seven assists and seven rebounds for the Celtics, who needed an 11-2 run down the stretch to force overtime.
In other NBA action:
— LeBron James scored 26 points, and the Los Angeles Lakers hung on to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 108-103. A couple of streaks came to an end in the Lakers’ first game of the new year. They were James’ run of seven straight games with at least 30 points and Russell Westbrook’s stretch of four straight triple-doubles.
— Luka Doncic had 14 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds in his return from a 10-game absence, and Dallas beat Oklahoma City 95-86. Doncic played with a long brace on his left knee and saw just over 31 minutes in his first game in 23 days. Josh Giddey had 17 points, 14 assists and 13 rebounds for the Thunder, becoming the youngest NBA player to have a triple-double at 19 years, 2 months, 23 days.
— The short-handed Phoenix Suns hammered the Charlotte Hornets 133-99. Devin Booker scored 24 points, Jalen Smith tied a career high with 19 points and 12 rebounds and Chris Paul had 16 assists to help the Suns improve to 28-8 — a half-game behind Golden State for the NBA lead. They had lost three of their previous four.
— Fred VanVleet scored 19 of his season-high 35 points in the third quarter, and the Toronto Raptors beat a depleted New York Knicks team 120-105.
Pascal Siakam had 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Raptors, who won back-to-back games for the first time in three weeks.
— The Sacramento Kings ended the Miami Heat’s five-game winning streak with a 115-113 victory. De’Aaron Fox scored 11 of his 24 points over the final six minutes, including two free throws with 6.2 seconds left for Sacramento. Damian Jones had 18 points and 10 rebounds.
— The Cleveland Cavaliers snapped a three-game losing streak with a 108-104 win over the Indiana Pacers. Rookie Evan Mobley had 24 points and nine rebounds, while Kevin Love scored 20 points for Cleveland.
