ATLANTA – Paul Millsap had a season-high 31 points and 16 rebounds, Jeff Teague added 24 points and the Atlanta Hawks beat the Boston Celtics, 118-107, on Saturday night.
Kent Bazemore finished with 21 points for Atlanta, which moved one game ahead of Boston to take sole possession of third place in the Eastern Conference.
With two regular-season games left for both teams, the Hawks moved 1½ games ahead of Southeast Division rivals Miami and Charlotte while Boston has just a half-game lead over the Heat and Hornets.
Marcus Smart finished with 19 points and Jae Crowder and Isaiah Thomas each scored 16 for the Celtics, whose four-game winning streak ended.
After playing one of their best games of the season in Tuesday’s win over No. 2 seed Toronto, the Hawks essentially ended Boston’s hopes when Kyle Korver hit a 3 to push the lead to 10 with 1:50 remaining.
The point guard tandem of Teague and Dennis Schroder combined for 39 points and 14 assists to help the Hawks win their third straight and 12th in the last 15.
Boston took the game’s first 12-point lead on Crowder’s fastbreak layup midway through the third, but the Hawks closed the period on an 18-4 run. They took their first lead since midway through the second on Millsap’s fifth 3 of the game and a layup on the next possession in the third’s final minute.
Celtics: For the first time 19 games, Thomas didn’t score at least 20 points. His string of leading the team in scoring ended at 17 straight in Friday’s home win over Milwaukee.
Hawks: Have won four straight at home against Boston. . . . Millsap’s previous season high was 29 points in last week’s home loss to Cleveland. . . . Bazemore, who missed Thursday’s win over Toronto with a sore right knee, went 8 of 13 from the field. . . . The Celtics’ 71 first-half points were the second-most allowed this season. Minnesota scored 72 in a loss to Atlanta on Nov. 9.
There were five second-quarter lead changes and five ties. The Celtics shot 61 percent with Marcus Smart scoring eight points. Teague had nine points as the Hawks shot 55 percent.
Celtics: Host Charlotte on Monday.
Hawks: Visit Cleveland on Monday.
Warriors 100, Grizzlies 99
Draymond Green scored on a tip-in in with 1 minute left, and the Warriors rallied from 10 points down early in the fourth quarter and beat the Memphis Grizzlies 100-99 on Saturday night to tie at least one NBA record held by the 1995-96 Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls.
Golden State now has 33 road wins, tying those Bulls, who went 33-8 away from Chicago. The Warriors (71-9) visit the Spurs on Sunday night, and their next win will tie the Bulls’ NBA single-season record of 72 victories – but the Warriors have lost 33 straight in San Antonio.
Green finished with 23 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Klay Thompson had 20 points and Stephen Curry 17.
Memphis’ Lance Stephenson missed two shots in the final seconds on a drive and again on a flip toward the basket. Officials reviewed the play and gave the ball to the Warriors with 0.8 seconds to finish off the comeback. Matt Barnes scored 24 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for Memphis.
Bulls 105, Cavaliers 102
Jimmy Butler scored 21 points, rookie Cristiano Felicio added a career-high 16 and the Chicago Bulls kept their playoff hopes alive with a 105-102 victory over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday night.
Chicago took the lead with a 15-0 run early in the fourth quarter and hung for the win when JR Smith missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer, preventing Cleveland from clinching the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference even though James scored 33. The Bulls still need to win their final two games and hope Indiana drops its remaining three in order to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time since 2008.
James had a huge game for Cleveland, hitting 13 of 17 shots — 4 of 5 3-pointers. The four-time MVP also grabbed seven rebounds.
Smith hit seven 3s and scored 24 points, and Kevin Love added 20 points and 13 rebounds.
Suns 121, Pelicans 100
Archie Goodwin scored 24 points and Mizra Teletovic added 22 to lead the Phoenix Suns past New Orleans.
The victory was the second straight for Phoenix (22-58), which snapped a seven-game losing streak on Thursday with a 124-115 win at Houston.
Toney Douglas had 23 points to lead New Orleans (30-50), which suffered its largest margin of defeat at home this season.