BOSTON — Atlanta’s big men took over at the right time, leading the Hawks to a 109-101 victory over the Boston Celtics on Friday night.
Forward Paul Millsap and center Al Horford combined for 24 points in the fourth quarter and the Hawks came from six points down to pull out the win.
Atlanta (16-12) won its second straight — its second two-game winning streak since an 8-2 start to the season. The Celtics (14-13) dropped their third in a row despite 29 points by guard Isaiah Thomas and a career-high 24 points and 10 rebounds by forward Jae Crowder before he fouled out with 49.1 seconds left.
Horford, who finished with nine of his 21 points in the fourth quarter grabbed 10 rebounds, had two straight baskets and Millsap also scored in an 8-0 run that brought the Hawks back from six down.
Millsap, quiet for the first three quarters despite coming in with 18.1-point scoring average, went on a to 15-point quarter and finished with 20 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
Guard Dennis Schroder came off the bench to deliver 22 points and five assists. Forward Kent Bazemore had 15 points, guard Kyle Korver added 11 points and five rebounds and forward Theo Sefolosha came off the bench to contribute 11 points and eight boards.
Thomas had six assists but was also guilty of five of Boston’s 21 turnovers. The Celtics, who matched their longest losing streak of the season, have turned the ball over 39 times in the last two games after having just 15 turnovers in the previous two.
Crowder, acquired in the Rajon Rondo deal a year ago Friday, was 8 of 13 from the floor.
The Celtics led by three when a 7-0 run gave them a 39-29 lead with 3:49 left in the first half. But Atlanta outscored Boston 13-4 the rest of the half and trailed by one at the break.
The Hawks came out and scored the first five points of the second half to take the lead, but Thomas took over the offense and shot and passed the Celtics back into the lead.
Boston got the lead up to seven with Crowder scoring eight straight points, but a Sefolosha tap on a fast break at the buzzer made it a two-point game.
Magic 102, Trail Blazers 94
ORLANDO, Fla. — Center Nikola Vucevic and forward Tobias Harris each scored 25 points to lead the Orlando Magic to a 102-94 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night at the Amway Center.
The Magic (15-11) won their third consecutive game and ninth in the last 12. The Trail Blazers (11-17), who play Sunday in Miami, lost their second consecutive game.
Harris and Vucevic had 12 and 11 rebounds, respectively. Point guard Elfrid Payton had 19 points and six rebounds. Reserve Victor Oladipo scored 15 points, including nine in the fourth quarter.
Guard C.J. McCollum led the Trail Blazers with 29 points. Point guard Damian Lillard had 17 points and 10 assists but made only 4 of 15 shots from the field and committed five turnovers. Forward Al-Farouq Aminu had 16 points and reserve forward Allen Crabbe added 14 points.
The Magic scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter — five by Oladipo — to build a 13-point lead and kept control throughout the fourth quarter. The Trail Blazers never got closer than six points in the fourth.
The Trail Blazers rallied late with four 3-point baskets in the final 3:20 — including two by Aminu — but it was too little too late.
The Magic led 74-68 going into the fourth quarter.
McCollum hit the first basket of the third quarter, but that was the only time the Trail Blazers led in the second half. They trailed by as many as 11 points in the third quarter.
The Magic led 49-48 at halftime despite missing all eight of their 3-point shots. They outscored the Blazers 11-0 in fast-break points, capitalizing on 10 Portland turnovers.
Harris had 16 points and Vucevic 15 at intermission. McCollum scored 13 points in the first two quarters and hit three of his first four 3-point shots.
Vucevic had 10 points in the first quarter when the Magic jumped to a 29-26 lead.
The Trail Blazers led 45-38 late in the second quarter, but the Magic scored the next seven points. Lillard struggled early with five turnovers before halftime.
Starting Magic guard Evan Fournier dislocated the smallest finger on his left hand less than four minutes into the game when he was slapped by McCollum. He jogged to the locker room and returned to the game before the end of the quarter with his finger taped. Fournier played 12 minutes in the first half but failed to score.