MILWAUKEE — Payton Pritchard scored 25 points, rookie Hugo González had career highs of 18 points and 16 rebounds, and the Boston Celtics beat Milwaukee 108-81 on Monday night to spoil Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo’s return from a right calf strain.
Derrick White also scored 18 points for the Celtics, who have won three straight and seven of eight. White and Pritchard each had nine assists.
Antetokounmpo had 19 points and 11 rebounds in 25 minutes in his first action since getting injured on Jan. 23. The Bucks went 8-7 during his absence.
Overall this season, the Bucks are 15-16 with Antetokounmpo and 11-18 without him.
ROCKETS 123, WIZARDS 118
WASHINGTON — Alperen Sengun had 32 points and 13 rebounds, Kevin Durant scored 30 and Houston beat Washington.
Trae Young was ejected from the game after leaving the bench to come on the court to complain to a referee, days before he is expected to make his Wizards debut.
Durant made all 11 free throws and added seven assists and six rebounds in his only game close to his Maryland home this season. Amen Thompson had 22 points and 12 rebounds, while Reed Sheppard finished with 19 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds and six steals in his first career double-double.
Bilal Coulibaly scored 23 points and Sharife Cooper had 21 for the Wizards.
NUGGETS 128, JAZZ 125
SALT LAKE CITY — Jamal Murray scored 45 points and made the go-ahead free throws with 31.8 seconds remaining to help Denver hold off the depleted Utah.
Utah’s Keyonte George scored 36 points, but was denied two free throws that could have given the Jazz the lead on what would have been Nikola Jokic’s sixth foul with 16.3 seconds remaining — a shooting foul that was reversed to a blocked shot after a lengthy review.
Jokic, who had 22 points and 12 rebounds, made two free throws with 6.1 seconds left and George missed a last-second 3-pointer as the Nuggets escaped with the win.
Cam Johnson was a late scratch with a hurt ankle, but Julian Strawther scored 15 points and Jonas Valanciunas added 13 for Denver.
CLIPPERS 114, WARRIORS 101
SAN FRANCISCO — Kawhi Leonard had 23 points, eight rebounds and four assists, and Los Angeles erased a 17-point deficit to beat the short-handed Golden State.
Darius Garland scored 12 points in his Clippers debut, coming off the bench to play nearly 23 minutes in his first game since being acquired from Cleveland at the trade deadline last month in a deal that sent James Harden to the Cavaliers.
Garland had been nursing a toe injury, then he went down with 1:26 left in the second quarter after a collision with Moses Moody when they both went for a loose ball and Moody’s right shoulder appeared to get Garland in the face. Both players were shaken but stayed in the game.
Garland’s 3-pointer with 3:09 left in the third pulled the Clippers within 75-68, then Kris Dunn had a steal and layup to make it a five-point game. Los Angeles was within 79-77 going into the final 12 minutes.
Dunn finished with 16 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Clippers, who shot just 9 for 31 from 3-point range. Los Angeles used a 9-4 spurt to start the fourth quarter and go ahead 88-81.
Brandin Podziemski scored 22 points for the Warriors with Stephen Curry sidelined for an 11th straight game with a right knee injury, big man Kristaps Porzingis out for his fifth consecutive contest because of an illness coach Steve Kerr called “mysterious.” Rookie Will Richard was in a walking boot for his sprained right ankle he hurt in Saturday’s blowout home loss to the Lakers.
