Celtics smash Clippers to snap LA's winning streak

Jayson Tatum has scored 20 points and Boston made 22 three-pointers in a 126-94 win over the Los Angeles Clippers.

Payton Pritchard added 20 points for the Celtics (15-3), who extended their season-high winning streak to six games.

Kristaps Porzingis finished with 16 points on six-of-12 shooting for the defending NBA champions, to go along with six rebounds and two blocks in his season debut following off-season ankle surgery.

"It was a good beginning, good first game back," the giant Latvian said.

"We got here maybe a month early ... Honestly, I felt better than I expected."

Ivica Zubac led the Clippers (11-8) with 23 points and 10 rebounds. James Harden added 19 points, nine assists and eight rebounds.

The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for LA.

In Atlanta, Kyrie Irving had 32 points, six assists and seven rebounds as Dallas beat the Hawks 129-119 without star Luka Doncic (wrist).

Irving had 10 points at halftime after being stifled by Atlanta's Australian guard Dyson Daniels, but got hot in the second half, including a stretch where he hit five consecutive field goals.

Jalen Johnson compiled 28 points and 10 rebounds, Trae Young had 18 points and 16 assists, while Daniels registered 17 points, one rebound and two assists.

Fellow Boomer Josh Green had two points and three boards in Charlotte's 95-84 loss to Orlando.

Franz Wagner scored 13 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter as the Magic withstood a 44-point performance by the Hornets' LaMelo Ball.

Ball, coming off a career-high 50-point performance against Milwaukee on Saturday, also had nine rebounds and seven assists.

Elsewhere, Ben Simmons sat out Brooklyn's 128-120 win at Golden State and Oklahoma City recorded a 130-109 road win over Sacramento.

In Denver, OG Anunoby scored a career-high 40 points, Karl-Anthony Towns had 30 points and 15 rebounds, and New York routed the Nuggets 145-118.

Jalen Brunson had 23 points and a career-high 17 assists for New York, who had a season-high in points and tied a franchise record with 45 assists.

Memphis mauled Portland 123-98, the Pistons pipped Toronto 102-100 in Detroit thanks to a Jaden Ivey buzzer-beating jumper, and Tyrese Haliburton finished with 34 points and 13 assists to lead Indiana past New Orleans, 114-100.

With AAP.