BOSTON — Jared Sullinger caught fire at the right time on Wednesday night.
The forward, who had four points in regulation, scored 10 in overtime as his Boston Celtics ended a pair of their own losing streaks and handed the Detroit Pistons their 10th loss in a row — a 109-102 victory.
The Celtics, as they have done so many times already this season, blew a 12-point lead in the final 4:22 of regulation but then opened the overtime with an 8-0 burst and hung on — ending Boston’s four-game overall losing streak its six-game slide at home.
Boston (5-11) led by nine in the OT, but the Pistons, reaching 100 points for the second time this season, whittled it down to three with 19.2 seconds remaining.
Guard Rajon Rondo, who had a tough night, set up Sullinger for a 3-pointer, then stripped forward Greg Monroe at the other end and fed forward Jeff Green for a 3-pointer to start the OT.
Monroe went on a personal 11-2 run to bring the Pistons (3-16) back and forward Caron Butler hit a 3-pointer with 14.1 seconds left in regulation to force extra time.
The Celtics, who didn’t have a field goal for the final 4:54 of regulation, then struck quickly.
Boston went on a 14-6 run to start the fourth quarter, breaking open the stumbling battle of two of the NBA’s worst. They led by 12 when Green hit a 3-pointer with 4:54 left, but couldn’t hold it.
Green, 6 of 10 from 3-point range, finished with 32 points, 14 in the final 10 minutes of play. Forward Kelly Olynyk came off the bench with 20 points and seven rebounds, Sullinger had 14 points and eight rebounds and center Tyler Zeller eight points and 10 boards. Rondo had just two points, dishing out eight assists. Backup Phil Pressey contributed, with seven points, four assists and three rebounds in 18 minutes.
Monroe, coming off the bench, had 29 points and seven rebounds, while center Andre Drummond posted 27 points and 14 rebounds. Forward Josh Smith had 12 points and 11 rebounds, but fouled out with 6:47 left and was 4 of 15 from the floor. Guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had 15 points.
As they so often do, the Celtics jumped out to an early lead, this time going up 18-8 6:48 into the game. But the Pistons then reeled off 13 straight points, the first six by Monroe, who had just come off the bench.
The Celtics, down by four, went on an 11-0 run in the second quarter to grab a seven-point lead. But Detroit scored eight points in 50 seconds to grab the halftime lead.
The third quarter went back and forth and Pressey came off the bench midway through the period and led his team to a three-point lead after three.
76ers 85, Timberwolves 77
Michael Carter-Williams produced 20 points, nine rebounds and nine assists as visiting Philadelphia beat Minnesota to avoid matching the worst start in NBA history.
Robert Covington added a season-best 17 points — including three fourth-quarter 3-pointers — and Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and K.J. McDaniels each had 12 points and nine rebounds for the 76ers, who are coached by South Portland native Brett Brown. The win by Philadelphia (1-17) keeps the 2009-10 New Jersey Nets (0-18) as owners of the poorest start.
Thaddeus Young scored 16 points and Gorgui Dieng contributed season highs of 15 points and 16 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who shot just 35.7 percent from the field. Mo Williams had 14 points and seven assists for Minnesota, which has lost 11 of its last 13 games.
The 76ers had a one-point edge entering the fourth quarter and two 3-pointers by Covington and two free throws by McDaniels helped make it a seven-point margin with 5:57 remaining. The Timberwolves answered with an 11-2 push to move ahead 75-73 before Philadelphia responded with a 10-2 surge to take an 83-77 on Nerlens Noel’s dunk with 46.7 seconds to play and Mbah a Moute later sealed it with two free throws.
Philadelphia used an 11-1 run to close the first quarter and take a 23-13 lead. Things went downhill in the second as the 76ers went 3-of-15 from the field and Minnesota used a 13-1 quarter-ending run to take a 34-32 halftime lead.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The 76ers were 5-of-24 from 3-point range with four coming in the fourth quarter. … Young, who used to play for Philadelphia, was 6-of-16 from the field and committed four turnovers. … Philadelphia was without SG Tony Wroten (knee) while Minnesota’s list of injured players included C Nikola Pekovic (wrist), F Ronny Turiaf (hip), SG Kevin Martin (wrist) and PG Ricky Rubio (ankle).
Bulls 102, Hornets 95
Pau Gasol collected 19 points and 15 rebounds and Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler added 15 points apiece as visiting Chicago held on to send Charlotte to its 10th straight loss.
Joakim Noah played through an ankle injury suffered early in the game to finish with 14 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists for the Bulls, who bounced back a night after a 132-129 double-overtime loss to Dallas. Kirk Hinrich scored 12 points off the bench and rookie Nikola Mirotic added 11 points and 12 rebounds.
Kemba Walker scored 23 points and Lance Stephenson added a season-high 20 to pace the Hornets, who haven’t won since Nov. 14. Al Jefferson scored 13 points, Cody Zeller added 12 points and eight rebounds, and Gerald Henderson chipped in 10 points for Charlotte.
Gasol scored the final six points of the second quarter as the Bulls closed the half with an 8-0 burst to pull out to a 45-40 lead. Rose and Butler hit back-to-back 3-pointers to open the third period, and Rose’s three-point play capped an 11-3 run the pushed the margin to 13.
Walker heated up to get the Hornets back in it, scoring 17 points during the third quarter as Charlotte closed the gap to 72-71 entering the final period. The Hornets briefly took the lead before Mirotic converted a three-point play and Aaron Brooks hit a 3 during an 8-0 spurt, and Chicago didn’t trail again.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Chicago improved to 9-1 when holding opponents under 100 points. … Charlotte dropped to 0-12 when being outrebounded. … Chicago PF Taj Gibson missed his sixth straight game with a sprained left ankle while Charlotte F Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (foot) and G Gary Neal (shoulder) remained sidelined.