Despite losing Jayson Tatum to a sprained left ankle late in the third quarter, the Boston Celtics ran their winning streak to six games with Monday's 113-95 road victory over the Sacramento Kings.

Tatum led five Boston players in double figures with 25 points, but his night was cut short after he took a hard foul from Sacramento's Domantas Sabonis when making a 3-point shot with 3:35 remaining in the third quarter. The All-Star forward briefly stayed in the game to make 1 of 2 free throws after the play was deemed a Flagrant 1 violation, then went to the locker room and did not return.

Payton Pritchard helped the Celtics withstand the injury by delivering 22 points off the bench, while Kristaps Porziņģis provided another boost with 16 points and eight rebounds one night after being held out of Boston's win at Portland on Sunday.

Sabonis also made his return after missing three games with a sprained ankle and amassed 16 points and 17 rebounds, though the Kings were still dealt a third straight loss as Boston managed to pull away in the fourth quarter even after Tatum's departure.

DeMar DeRozan led Sacramento with 20 points and 10 assists.

Tatum topped all players with 17 first-half points to help stake Boston to a 56-51 lead at the break. His eventual four-point play late in the third quarter put the Celtics in front by double digits, and Porzingis followed with a 3-pointer after the Celtics maintained possession to extend their advantage to 82-68 with three minutes to go in the period.

WWWWWW pic.twitter.com/UFnzGwiS8y

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) March 25, 2025

The Kings were never able to get back in it thereafter, as they shot just 33.3 per cent while mustering only 17 fourth-quarter points.

Boston sealed the outcome with a 12-0 run that started with back-to-back 3-pointers by Pritchard and Baylor Scheierman, with the flurry pushing their lead to 109-87 with under four minutes left.

Booker's clutch shot puts streaking Suns over Bucks

Devin Booker hit a tie-breaking jumper with 2.4 seconds left to play to give the surging Phoenix Suns a crucial 108-106 win over the Milwaukee Bucks that may have felt extra sweet for head coach Mike Budenholzer.

After receiving the ball out of a timeout, Booker dribbled to the elbow before knocking down a 20-footer that snapped a 106-106 tie. Milwaukee's Brook Lopez then misfired on a jumper at the buzzer, sending the Suns to a fourth straight victory during their late push for a berth in the Western Conference's play-in tournament.

Phoenix remained tied with the Dallas Mavericks for the 10th and final spot in the West, but closed within a half-game of ninth-place Sacramento following the Kings' loss to Boston on Monday.

Booker finished with 19 points and 12 assists to complement Kevin Durant's 38-point effort that also helped Budenholzer defeat his former team. The veteran coach led the Bucks to an NBA title in 2020-21 but was dismissed following Milwaukee's first-round exit in the 2023 playoffs.

The Bucks had a two-game winning streak snapped despite Giannis Antetokounmpo's 31 points and 10 rebounds. Lopez recorded 23 points and 10 rebounds and Gary Trent Jr. had 19 points off the bench for Milwaukee.

Durant amassed 22 of his points in the second half, and his 3-pointer with just under five minutes left lifted the Suns to a 101-94 lead. The Bucks answered with seven straight points, however, to tie the game at 101-101 on Antetokounmpo's triple with 3:23 remaining. 

The game remained tight down the stretch, as Durant hit another 3-pointer with 26.2 seconds left to give Phoenix a 106-105 edge before Lopez made 1 of 2 free throws just prior to Booker's deciding basket.

FINDING A WAY TO WIN. pic.twitter.com/5zOruEMSPZ

— Phoenix Suns (@Suns) March 25, 2025

Antetokounmpo had 15 first-half points to help Milwaukee build a 55-46 lead late in the second quarter. The Suns closed out the first half on an 8-3 run, though, to close the gap to 58-54 at the intermission.

Wagner, Banchero power Magic past scuffling Lakers

Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero combined for 62 points as the Orlando Magic extended the Los Angeles Lakers' recent slump with a 118-106 win over the Pacific Division leaders.

Wagner tallied 32 points along with nine assists, while Banchero put up 30 points as the Magic dealt Los Angeles a third consecutive defeat and won back-to-back games for the first time since Feb. 12-20.

The Lakers got 32 points from Luka Dončić and 24 from LeBron James, but struggled to get stops during a third quarter in which Orlando outscored Los Angeles by a 34-18 margin to erase a 60-58 half-time deficit.

Orlando began separating by putting together an 8-2 run, capped by 3-pointers from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Wendell Carter Jr., to take a 77-70 lead midway through the third quarter. A 15-3 spurt later in the period put the Magic up comfortably at 92-75 as they shot 63.2 per cent from the field and went 5 of 10 from 3-point range for the frame.

The Lakers got as close as seven points down in the fourth quarter after Doncic made all three free throws when fouled on a long-distance attempt to get his team within 100-93 with 5:39 left to play.

Orlando put the game out of reach shortly afterward, however, as Wagner buried a 29-foot jumper to start a run of six straight points that gave the Magic a 112-98 advantage with under three minutes remaining.

13th straight game with 20+ points for P5pic.twitter.com/b5mLVYX7hE

— Orlando Magic (@OrlandoMagic) March 25, 2025

Doncic recorded 21 first-half points and the Lakers led by as many as nine late in the second quarter before the Magic closed out the period on a 7-0 run to get to within 60-58 at the break.