CELTICS 97, KNICKS 89
NEW YORK -- The Celtics toughened up their defense and were simply too tough for the Knicks.
Isaiah Thomas had 20 points and eight assists, and Boston wore down New York in a 97-89 victory on Tuesday night.
Jae Crowder and Tyler Zeller each added 16 points, while reserves Evan Turner and Kelly Olynyk were also in double figures as the Celtics were fresher and sharper in dominating the final 15 minutes.
"Eventually we started wearing them down playing great defense, and we got stops and turned them into buckets," Turner said.
Turner had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Olynyk scored 13 points in the Celtics' sixth victory in seven games.
"In the second half we did a better job in a lot of ways from a physicality standpoint and I thought we got them off the glass," Celtics Coach Brad Stevens said.
Carmelo Anthony had 16 points and 14 rebounds but shot just 4 for 16 in the Knicks' sixth loss in seven games. Robin Lopez added 17 points and 13 rebounds, while Arron Afflalo ended a shooting slump with 18 points but had some careless turnovers.
"We just couldn't find a combination of guys that could sustain on both ends," Knicks Coach Derek Fisher said.
The Celtics had scored at least 110 points in six consecutive games but the offense wasn't there in this one -- they missed all 13 three-point attempts in the first half -- so they turned to their defense after losing 119-114 to Orlando on Sunday. They held the Knicks to 37.8 percent shooting and forced 17 turnovers, some of which didn't look forced at all.
The Knicks raced to a 9-0 lead but threw away any chance of seizing control of the game by turning it over six times in the third quarter, including a hideous stretch of three turnovers in 24 seconds by Afflalo.
The Celtics broke away from a 64-all tie to lead 70-65 heading to the fourth, then opened the quarter with six consecutive points, sparked by Olynyk.
"The group really played poised at the end and countered any time they scored with a score, and then we got enough stops to salt it away," Stevens said.
The Knicks got it down to four, but consecutive jumpers by Turner midway through the period steadied the Celtics, who soon pushed it back into double digits again.
"We just couldn't get over the hump," Anthony said. "We made a push kind of in that third quarter and then we just couldn't kind of get over the hump."
Anthony fouled out in the final minute, with one of his fouls a rare flagrant on an offensive foul when he swung his arms to get into shooting position and caught Crowder in the face.
ROCKETS 115, HEAT 102
HOUSTON -- James Harden scored 26 points and tied a career-high with 14 assists as the Houston Rockets snapped a three-game skid with a victory over the Miami Heat.
Houston had a double-digit lead for most of the second half and was up by 10 when Josh Smith scored all of the team's points in a 7-2 run that pushed the advantage to 104-89 with about five minutes remaining.
The Rockets started Smith, a 6-foot-9 forward, at center with Dwight Howard serving a one-game suspension for making contact with an official this weekend and Clint Capela out with a thigh injury.
Smith scored a season-high 19 points in his second start this season and first since returning to Houston in a trade from the Clippers on Jan. 22.
Luol Deng had 17 points for the Heat, whose season-high four-game winning streak ended.
RAPTORS 104, SUNS 97
PHOENIX -- Kyle Lowry scored 26 points, including five three-pointers, DeMar DeRozan added 22 points and the Toronto Raptors held off Phoenix, spoiling the debut of Suns interim coach Earl Watson.
The Raptors, whose franchise-record 11-game losing streak ended Monday night in Denver, led the entire second half but had to hold on at the finish.
Markieff Morris had 30 points and 11 rebounds, both season highs, for the Suns, who fired coach Jeff Hornacek on Monday and promoted the 36-year-old Watson to the interim job.
Phoenix rookie Devin Booker added 27 points, matching his career best with six threes. Archie Goodwin had 18 points and a career-best 12 assists for the Suns, who have lost five in a row and 20 of their last 22.
Sports on 02/03/2016