Jayson Tatum scored 25 points and the Celtics picked up their fifth consecutive win by downing the Cavaliers, 103-96 in Cleveland. Gordon Hayward added 18 points for Boston, which played its third straight game without All-Star guard Kyrie Irving because of a strained left hip.
The Knicks ran their losing skid to 14 games as Blake Griffin provided 29 points and Andre Drummond had a double-double in the Pistons' 105-92 win at New York. Drummond finished with 17 points and 16 rebounds for Detroit, while Reggie Bullock and Reggie Jackson each added 19 points.
The Raptors posted a 119-107 victory at Philadelphia despite Joel Embiid's 37 points and 13 rebounds. Forward Kawhi Leonard finished with 24 points and Kyle Lowry had 20 amid reports that Toronto had offered the guard in a trade.
Checking out the rest of Tuesday's NBA schedule, the Indiana Pacers have handed LeBron James the most lopsided loss of his career. Bojan Bogdanovic scored 24 points and the Pacers tied their NBA franchise record by making 19 3-pointers in a 136-94 thrashing of the Lakers. Myles Turner had 22 points and Thaddeus Young finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists in Indiana's third consecutive victory since a four-game losing streak. James had 18 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in his second game back since injuring his groin on Christmas Day. He didn't play in the fourth quarter. JaVale McGee had 16 points for the Lakers, who have lost two straight and six of their last eight.
Russell Westbrook posted his seventh straight triple-double by contributing 16 points, 16 assists and 15 boards in the Thunder's 132-122 win against the Magic. Paul George scored 39 points in Oklahoma City's eighth victory in nine games.
Hassan Whiteside had 28 points and 11 rebounds to send the Heat to their first win in four games, 118-108 at Portland. Dwyane Wade added 22 points and nine rebounds for the Heat in the first of a five-game road trip.
Tobias Harris furnished 34 points, including a running jumper in the lane with 4.3 seconds remaining in the Clippers' 117-115 comeback win at Charlotte. Lou Williams scored 31 points for Los Angeles, which shot 18-for-24 from 3-point range and rallied from 20 down.
The Grizzlies beat the Timberwolves, 108-106 behind Mike Conley, who delivered 25 points and nine assists in possibly his last game for Memphis. Jaren Jackson Jr. added 23 points for the Grizzlies, who won it on Justin Holiday's two free throws with 0.1 seconds left.
In NBA news, John Wall has suffered yet another injury as he recovers from left knee surgery. The Washington Wizards guard will need surgery after suffering a partial rupture of his left Achilles tendon in a fall at home. A team doctor says Wall was wearing a walking boot when he slipped and tumbled on Jan. 29. Surgery is expected to be performed next week, and Wall will need about 11 to 15 months to recover. Wall was already lost for this season due to the knee injury.
Grizzlies center Marc Gasol was a late scratch for Tuesday's home game against the Timberwolves as trade chatter for the veteran accelerated. Gasol was not listed on Memphis' injured list earlier in the day, but coach J.B. Bickerstaff announced he would not play and declined to elaborate for the decision.
Magic backup center Mo Bamba will be out indefinitely with a stress fracture in his left leg. The injury was caught early and will be treated without surgery, but his return will depend on how he responds to rest, treatment and rehabilitation. The rookie from Texas is averaging 6.2 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.36 blocks per game.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Second-ranked Duke picked up its sixth straight win with the help of its outstanding freshmen. Cameron Reddish dropped in 24 points and Zion Williamson added 16 with a season-high 17 rebounds as the Blue Devils ripped Boston College, 80-55. Reddish scored 10 points in less than four minutes, hitting two 3s three possessions apart while starting the 23-8 run that put the Blue Devils in control. RJ Barrett finished with 19 points for Duke, which improved to 20-2 overall and 8-1 in the ACC.
No. 22 Florida State roughed up Syracuse, 80-62 as Terance Mann scored 22 points and Mfiondu Kabengele added 18. M.J. Walker and Phil Cofer each scored 11 points in the Seminoles's fourth win in a row since opening ACC play with four losses in five games.
In other top-25 finals, Admiral Schofield and Grant Williams scored 13 points each as No. 1 Tennessee defeated Missouri 72-60 to extend its school-record winning streak to 17 games. Jordan Bowden had 12 points and Jordan Bone added 11 to help the Volunteers moved to 21-1 overall and 9-0 in the SEC.
PJ Washington scored 20 points and No. 5 Kentucky cruised to its ninth straight victory by routing South Carolina, 76-48. The 19-3 Wildcats shot just 41 percent but held the Gamecocks to 28 percent in the second half and 36 percent overall.
Freshman Ignas Brazdeikis dropped in 23 points and No. 7 Michigan hit nine of its first 11 shots in building a 27-10 lead in a 77-65 win at Rutgers. Jordan Poole added 15 points and Charles Matthews had 11 as the Wolverines bounced back from their poor performance against Iowa to move to 21-2.
Luke Maye scored a season-high 31 points to go with 12 rebounds in eighth-ranked North Carolina's 113-96 rout of N.C. State. Freshman Coby White added 21 points for the 18-4 Tar Heels, who swept their rival for the 12th time in 16 seasons under Roy Williams.
Illinois is the latest team to beat Michigan State as Ayo Dosunmu scored 24 points in a 79-74 triumph over the ninth-ranked Spartans. Giorgi Bezhanishvili scored 16 and Trent Frazier added 15 for the Illini, who handed the Spartans their third straight loss.
St. John's also pulled off an upset as Shamorie Ponds scored 28 points, including a go-ahead layup with 16 seconds left in the Red Storm's 70-69 stunner at 10th-ranked Marquette. The Golden Eagles erased a 15-point deficit in the second half but ended an eight-game winning streak.
Kansas State beat Kansas for the first time in their last nine meetings as Barry Brown scored 18 points to lead the Wildcats past the 13th-ranked Wildcats, 74-67. Xavier Sneed added 14 points, including a crucial 3-pointer with a minute to go to help Kansas State drop the Jayhawks to 1-6 in true road games this season.
NHL
The Islanders absorbed a 3-1 loss at Boston as Peter Cehlarik and Patrice Bergeron tallied in the third period. Bergeron scored twice in his 1,000th NHL game to support Tuukka Rask, who turned back 28 shots and was perfect after Jordan Eberle tied it with a power-play goal late in the second period.
Sam Reinhart provided a tiebreaking goal in the third period before netting the lone shootout tally in the Sabres' 5-4 victory over the Wild. Peter Ullmark stopped 41 shots, but Minnesota managed to earn a point on Zach Parise's goal with 1:37 left in regulation.
Tyler Toffoli scored twice in the first 67 seconds of the third period to give the Kings a 3-1 advantage in a 5-1 win at New Jersey. Dion Phaneuf and Ilya Kovalchuk also hit the net during the Kings' four-goal third, while Anze Kopitar had three assists.
Alex Ovechkin has set an NHL record while helping the Washington Capitals win for just the second time in 10 games. Ovechkin became the league's leading scorer among Russian-born players when he assisted on TJ Oshie's opening goal in the Caps' 3-2 victory over the Canucks. It was the 1,180th career point for the Capitals' left wing, passing Sergei Fedorov. Braden Holtby made 30 saves and stopped a penalty shot by Bo Horvat to help Washington pull within two points of the first-place Islanders in the Metropolitan Division.
The Penguins remain four points off the Metropolitan Division lead after Curtis McElhinney stopped 23 shots in the Hurricanes' 4-0 shutout of Pittsburgh. Brett Pesce and Jordan Martinook scored from way out as the Hurricanes dealt the Pens their third loss in four games since the All-Star break.
Elsewhere on NHL ice, Alex Tuch scored the only goal in a shootout to give the Golden Knights a 3-2 win over the Lightning. Cody Eakin and Valentin Zykov tallied in regulation and Marc-Andre Fleury made 24 saves as Vegas ended a four-game losing streak.
The Sharks earned a 3-2 win over the Jets on Joe Pavelski's short-handed goal 2:49 into overtime. Logan Couture and Marcus Sorensen also scored, Kevin Labanc had a pair of assists and Martin Jones stopped 25 shots as San Jose halted Winnipeg's three-game winning streak.
Nashville's three-game home losing skid is over after Craig Smith, Filip Forsberg and Ryan Ellis scored in the second period of the Predators' 5-2 decision over the Coyotes. Forsberg snapped Nashville's 0-for-34 power-play drought with his goal, the Predators' first with the man advantage since Jan. 9.
Brendan Gallagher scored twice in the first period and Jonathan Drouin had three assists as the Canadiens dumped the Ducks, 4-1. Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Phillip Danault also scored, and Carey Price stopped 24 shots in Montreal's seventh win in nine games.
Josh Anderson scored the tiebreaking goal with 9:31 remaining and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 27 shots as the Blue Jackets doubled up the Avalanche, 6-3 to end a five-game losing streak. Pierre-Luc Dubois scored twice against Colorado, which is 3-12-2 since Dec. 21.
The Blackhawks scored four times in a 2:48 span of the third period en route to their fifth consecutive win, 6-2 over the Oilers. Edmonton led 2-1 until John Hayden and Dylan Strome tallied 93 seconds apart.
Vince Dunn scored with 3:53 left to cap the Blues' rally from a two-goal deficit in a 3-2 win at Florida. Colton Parayko and Ryan O'Reilly also scored after Aleksander Barkov gave the Panthers a 2-0 lead 30 seconds into the final period.
In NHL news, the Toronto Maple Leafs have taken care of another one of their young stars. Center Auston Matthews has signed a five-year extension worth over $11.6 million per season. The No. 1 pick in the 2016 NHL draft has 97 goals and 178 points in 182 regular-season games, including 23 goals and 46 points in 38 contests this season. The 21-year-old Matthews signed his deal after 22-year-old teammate and forward William Nylander accepted a six-year pact worth $10.2 million this season and $6.9 million the following years.
NFL
The Jets have released offensive lineman Spencer Long, saving the team almost $6.5 million on next season's salary cap. Long signed a four-year, $27.5 million contract with the Jets last March and was also due a base salary of about $3.46 million next year.
The New England Patriots were the guests of honor once again after the team won its sixth Super Bowl and the city's 12th championship among the four major sports leagues since the 2001 NFL season. The city's World War II-era amphibious "duck boats" carried players, coaches and their families through central Boston. Hundreds of thousands of cheering fans packed the streets to watch the Patriots roll through downtown. Security was tight, leading to the arrest of a dozen people, according to authorities. Police say it was one of the largest crowds Boston has seen for a championship parade, although no official number was released.
In other NFL news, Cornerback Robert Alford has been released by the Falcons after losing playing time to rookie Isaiah Oliver. Alford had 10 career interceptions but none last season.
Lions linebacker Trevor Bates has been arraigned from a psychiatric ward on charges accusing him of punching a New York City police officer after he was taken to a precinct house for failing to pay a taxi fare. Bates has pleaded not guilty to charges of assault, resisting arrest, theft of services and obstruction of governmental administration.
MLB
Shortstop Didi Gregiorius says he has no idea when he will return to the field for the New York Yankees. The shortstop is recovering from surgery last October to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right elbow. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman says he expected Gregorius back sometime in the summer but has not been more specific.
In other MLB news, Astros shortstop Carlos Correa and Rays outfielder Tommy Pham have won their salary arbitration cases, giving players a 3-1 lead over teams in cases this winter. Correa was awarded a $5 million salary, rather than the $4.25 million offered by the Astros. He made $1 million last year while leading with a bad back, batting .239 with 15 home runs and 65 RBIs. Pham will get $4.1 million instead of the $3.5 million offered by the Rays. He hit .275 with 21 homers and 63 RBIs last year for St. Louis and Tampa Bay.
Curtis Granderson has accepted a minor league contract with the Miami Marlins and an invitation to spring training. The 37-year-old outfielder batted .242 with 13 homers and 38 RBIs for Toronto and Milwaukee last season.
The Phillies have signed catcher Drew Butera to a minor league contract with an invitation to attend major league spring training.
The Giants have acquired right-hander Jake Barrett from the Diamondbacks for cash.
PENN STATE
A Pennsylvania appeals court is denying Jerry Sandusky's request for a new trial but is ordering him to be resentenced for a 45-count child sexual abuse conviction. Superior Court on Tuesday said Sandusky was improperly sentenced using mandatory minimums. The 75-year-old former Penn State assistant football coach was sentenced in 2012 to 30 to 60 years in state prison for sexual abuse of 10 boys.
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