Tatum snaps slump with 51-point night, Heat hold on to beat Lakers

LOS ANGELES — Jayson Tatum busted out of a shooting slump by nailing nine three pointers en route to a season-high 51 points to lead the Boston Celtics to a 116-87 blowout win over the Washington Wizards on Sunday.

Tatum drained nine-of-14 threes on Sunday at Capital One Arena after missing his previous 20 this season from beyond the arc.

He made his first four three-point attempts and finished six-of-seven in the first half on Sunday.

This marked his fifth career 50-point game and he also had 10 rebounds and seven assists in front of the crowd of 16,300 in Washington.

“To Tatum’s credit, he had a night,” said Wizards coach Wes Unseld. “Obviously, 51 points, it’s a real number. I think he was six-for-eight on pull-up threes, which are tough shots. No excuse. He’s been struggling, but he found his rhythm tonight.”

Teammate Jaylen Brown tallied four threes as the Celtics went 19-of-39 overall from three-point range and combined that with a stout defensive effort for the victory. 

Marcus Smart (11 points) and Grant Williams (10 points) each made two baskets from beyond the arc. Smart also had six assists and four steals.

It was the Celtics’ best defensive performance since holding the New York Knicks to just 75 points on January 8.

The Wizards shot just eight-of-34 from three-point range as Spencer Dinwiddie missed all seven of his three attempts.

Bradley Beal led Washington with 19 points and seven assists. Deni Avdija scored 13 points and Thomas Bryant came off the bench to score 11 for the Wizards. Kyle Kuzma finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.

Elsewhere, Jimmy Butler finished with a triple-double of 20 points, 12 assists and 10 rebounds as the Miami Heat held on to beat the Los Angeles Lakers 113-107.

Butler posted his 10th triple-double with Miami breaking the team record for triple doubles which was held by LeBron James, who led the Lakers with 33 points on Sunday.

Duncan Robinson scored 25 points, Caleb Martin tallied 15, Bam Adebayo scored 14 and Gabe Vincent chipped in 11 in the win.

“I think those are important experiences to go through together,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

James recorded his 17th consecutive game with at least 26 points. Russell Westbrook scored 24 for the Lakers, former Heat guard Avery Bradley added 15 and Carmelo Anthony scored 11.

James says he’s playing some of the best basketball of his career although the Lakers have lost five of their last seven games.

“I’m in one of the best zones offensively I’ve been in in my career,” James said.

In San Antonio, Joel Embiid scored 38 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and dished out six assists as the Philadelphia 76ers rolled over the San Antonio Spurs 115-109.

Embiid has scored at least 30 points in 12 straight road games.

Also, CJ McCollum, Anfernee Simons and Nassir Little each scored 19 points and the Portland Trail Blazers held on to defeat the Toronto Raptors 114-105. 

Pascal Siakam scored 28 points for Toronto and Fred VanVleet added 19 points in the loss.