BOSTON -- Al Horford had 21 points in his return from a two-game absence because of a concussion and the Boston Celtics hung on to beat the Toronto Raptors 95-94 on Sunday for their 12th straight victory.
Boston (12-2) was playing without Kyrie Irving after he took an inadvertent elbow to the face from teammate Aron Baynes on Friday night against Charlotte. Irving has a minor facial fracture but has not been diagnosed with a concussion as initially feared.
Jaylen Brown added 18 points, and Terry Rozier helped fill in for Irving with 16 points off the bench. Boston shot just 40.2 percent from the field.
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DeMar DeRozan scored 24 points, and Kyle Lowry had 19 points and seven rebounds for Toronto. The Raptors dropped to 7-5 after winning two straight.
Jayson Tatum's acrobatic layup with 1:26 remaining in the fourth quarter put the Celtics up 95-90 (see full recap).
Thunder beat Mavericks on Westbrook's birthday
OKLAHOMA CITY -- Paul George scored 37 points, Russell Westbrook added 27 and the Oklahoma City Thunder overcame the absence of two regular starters to beat the Dallas Mavericks 112-99 on Sunday night.
Carmelo Anthony was ruled out about an hour before tipoff because of a sore lower back, and starting center Steven Adams sat out with a right calf contusion.
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Without Anthony, the Thunder's other two superstars carried the offensive load, fueling a 26-10 run in the third quarter that broke open what had been a tight game. Oklahoma City improved to 6-7, missing its second straight after four consecutive losses.
Harrison Barnes had 22 points and 13 rebounds, and Yogi Ferrell had 18 points for the Mavericks. They have dropped nine of their last 10 games to fall to 2-12. Dallas is in a particularly tough portion of its schedule, having lost both ends of a back-to-back against Cleveland and Oklahoma City, and with games against San Antonio and Minnesota looming (see full recap).
Rookie Kennard sparks Pistons' win over Heat
DETROIT -- Tobias Harris scored 25 points and Avery Bradley added 24 points in the Detroit Pistons' 112-103 victory over the Miami Heat on Sunday.
Reggie Jackson scored 17 points, rookie Luke Kennard had 14 and Andre Drummond added eight points and 17 rebounds for the Pistons. At 10-3, they are second behind Boston in the Eastern Conference and off to their best start since going 10-2 in 2005-06.
The Pistons used a 10-0 run midway through the fourth quarter to pull away.
Hassan Whiteside had 20 points and 12 rebounds, and Dion Waiters added 16 points and five assists for Miami.
The Pistons led 58-55 at halftime and 83-81 entering the final quarter. They opened a 91-86 edge after Kennard's jumper. Later, after a 6-0 run got Miami to 93-92, Kennard hit consecutive shots -- a runner and a 3-pointer -- to make it 98-92 with 7 minutes left.
Kennard's layup made it 107-97 with 2:24 left (see full recap).