Derrick White scored a game-high 28 points and Payton Pritchard added 27 points off the bench as the short-handed Boston Celtics throttled the Houston Rockets 114-93 on Wednesday.

The Celtics earned their fourth consecutive victory and claimed both ends of a road back-to-back, including a win in Dallas on Tuesday. The Celtics did so without Jaylen Brown, the Eastern Conference Player of the Month, who paired 33 points with 11 rebounds against the Mavericks, in the second game by unleashing a flurry of 3-pointers early in the third quarter.

White was the linchpin of the decisive surge. The Celtics opened the second half 5 for 7 from behind the arc with White and Baylor Scheierman (15 points, 10 rebounds) nailing two threes apiece before Ron Harper Jr. extended a seven-point halftime lead to 67-48 at the 7:02 mark. When White converted from deep again roughly two minutes later, the Celtics led 72-50.

With 1.1 seconds left in the third, Rockets coach Ime Udoka was assessed a technical foul. The Celtics closed that frame with four free throws, two each from Pritchard and Neemias Queta, and carried an 85-63 lead into the final frame.

Queta posted a double-double of 10 points and 19 rebounds, while Luka Garza added 19 points for the Celtics. Harper paired 11 points with nine rebounds, including a trio of 3-pointers. Boston finished 19 for 51 from behind the arc, with White and Pritchard finishing 11 for 24 from deep.

Kevin Durant led the Rockets with 15 points but missed 7 of 11 shots. Alperen Sengun, who grabbed a team-high nine rebounds, and Jabari Smith Jr. scored 13 points apiece. Amen Thompson (11 points) and Tari Eason (10) also scored in double figures for the Rockets, who shot 41.5%.

The teams combined to shoot 32.6% and missed 17 of 20 3-pointers in the first quarter. The Celtics emerged from that slog with an 8-2 spurt to open the second quarter, only for Smith to drill back-to-back threes that pulled the Rockets to within 26-25.

However, Boston eventually gained some separation later in the quarter to take a 49-42 halftime lead.

–Field Level Media

Ryan Rollins scored 27 points, and six teammates scored in double figures as the host Milwaukee Bucks defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 141-137 in overtime Wednesday night.

AJ Green scored 20, Kevin Porter Jr. had 18, Amir Coffey, Pete Nance and Myles Turner added 16 each and Gary Trent Jr. had 13 for the Bucks.

Trey Murphy III scored a career-high 44 points, making a franchise-record 12 3-pointers on 18 attempts, Saddiq Bey had 22 points, Zion Williamson had 20 and Jeremiah Fears added 13 for the Pelicans.

Rollins scored on a drive and Turner made a 3-pointer to start the scoring in overtime and the Pelicans got as close as one point, but Milwaukee held on.

New Orleans led by as many as nine points before holding a 34-30 edge at the end of the first quarter.

The Pelicans’ Yves Missi made two free throws to start the second-quarter scoring and the lead grew to 58-49 after Bey scored seven consecutive New Orleans points. Porter had six points and an assist, but Murphy countered with three 3-pointers and the Pelicans had a 70-63 halftime lead.

The Pelicans had a nine-point lead early in the third quarter, but Rollins and Green each made a 3-pointer and Turner made two jumpers to pull the Bucks even at 73.

Murphy made three 3-pointers and Williamson had five points to help New Orleans build an 89-82 lead. Milwaukee got as close as two points before Fears made consecutive 3-pointers to help the Pelicans grab a 101-96 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Rollins scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter, giving the Bucks their first lead of the game, and Trent added a 3-pointer, giving Milwaukee a 110-104 edge.

Herb Jones made two free throws for New Orleans’ first points of the quarter after nearly four minutes but the Bucks opened a 13-point edge. Karlo Matkovic made a 3-pointer for the first field goal the Pelicans pulled even at 121. The score was tied again at 126 and 128 before the game went to overtime.

-Field Level Media

Dai Dai Ames overcame foul trouble to pour in a season-best 29 points, and Cal overcame a lull early in the second half to outfinish visiting Georgia Tech 90-85 in an Atlantic Coast Conference men’s basketball game in Berkeley, Calif., on Wednesday night.

Milos Ilic capped an 11-point performance with four clutch free throws. John Camden chipped in with 15 points, Chris Bell 14 and Justin Pippen 13 to complement seven rebounds and a team-high six assists for the Golden Bears (17-6, 5-5 ACC), who won for the fourth time in their last five games.

Baye Ndongo flirted with a triple-double for Georgia Tech (11-12, 2-8) before fouling out with 10 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists.

Fresh off a road win at Miami (Fla.), Cal led 43-29 at halftime on the strength of eight 3-pointers and went up 46-31 in the first minute of the second period after a deep hoop by Ames before the Yellow Jackets rallied.

Kam Craft dropped in a layup and went outside for a pair of 3-pointers, setting the stage for a Davi Remagen 11-footer that produced a 49-all tie at the 15:12 mark. Georgia Tech was just 2-for-17 from deep in the first half.

Another 3-pointer by Craft had the visitors even at 59-all before Cal held the upper hand over the final 10 minutes.

After back-to-back 3-pointers and a layup by Akai Fleming had pulled Georgia Tech within 80-77 with still 1:10 remaining, the Golden Bears pulled away at the free-throw line, featuring a 4-for-4 run by Ilic.

The Golden Bears finished 28-for-39 at the line, outscoring the visitors by 21 points from the stripe.

Ilic was Cal’s leading rebounder with nine, just missing what would have been his first double-double of the season.

Fleming came off the bench to pace the Yellow Jackets with 19 points, shooting 3-for-6 from deep. Chas Kelley III aided the visitors’ cause with 15 points, while Craft and Jaeden Mustaf had 14 apiece for Georgia Tech, which lost for the seventh time in its last eight outings.

–Field Level Media