Josh Hart scores 26 as Knicks beat Celtics 112-106 to stay in No. 2 seed race
NEW YORK (AP) — Josh Hart scored 15 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, Jalen Brunson had 25 points and 10 assists, and the New York Knicks stayed alive in the race for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 112-106 victory over Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics on Thursday night. Tatum finished with 24 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists in his first game back on the Madison Square Garden court where he ruptured his Achilles tendon in last season’s playoffs .
The Knicks (52-28) pulled within two games of the Celtics (54-26) for second place with two games to play for both teams. New York owns the tiebreaker after winning the season series 3-1 and would take the No. 2 seed with two wins and two Boston losses.
Hart made two 3-pointers in the final 42 seconds to give New York more wins this season under Mike Brown than in its 51-31 finish last season in Tom Thibodeau’s final season. RAPTORS 128, HEAT 114 TORONTO (AP) — Brandon Ingram scored a season-high 38 points, RJ Barrett had 22 and the Toronto Raptors moved closer to clinching their first playoff berth since 2022 by beating the slumping Miami Heat 128-114 on Thursday night. Collin Murray-Boyles scored 17 points, Scottie Barnes had 13 and Immanuel Quickley 11 as Toronto moved past Atlanta into fifth place in the Eastern Conference.
The Raptors and Hawks are both 45-35, but Toronto swept the season series. Bam Adebayo had 24 points and 11 rebounds as the Heat lost for the 10th time in 13 games. Already destined for the play-in tournament, Miami’s hopes of improving its seeding took another hit.
Miami’s Davion Mitchell finished with 15 points and 11 assists. Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr. each scored 15 points.
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