CLEVELAND (AP) — The Boston Celtics will try to extend the NBA's current longest winning streak without two of their starters.
Jaylen Brown and Derrick White will both miss Sunday's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, who are looking for redemption after the defending champions handed them their first loss of the season Nov. 19.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said Brown is out with a non-COVID illness while White is dealing with a foot sprain suffered in the third quarter of Friday's win over Chicago.
Brown averages 24.7 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists while White is the team's best on-the-ball defender.
Boston has won seven straight heading into its matchup against Cleveland (17-3), which has lost two in a row — both to Atlanta. The Cavs opened the season 15-0 before losing 120-117 on the road to the Celtics two weeks ago.
On a positive note, the Celtics will have starters Kristaps Porzingis (injury management), Al Horford (toe sprain) and Jrue Holiday (adductor tightness) after all three were listed as questionable coming in.
Porzingis missed the first matchup between the Eastern Conference's top two teams.
His return makes the Celtics even more dangerous as his shooting ability allows Boston to spread the floor and pulls rim-protecting big men like Cleveland's Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen away from the basket.
While the Celtics haven't been at full strength, Mazzulla has been pleased with the way his team has played lately.
“I like where we're at,” he said. “We're playing some good basketball, but we know we can be better, and that's a healthy place to be. We're content on how it's going so far. ... I like the fact that we're not peaking because of the amount of time we'll have to work through those things."
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Boston Celtics guard Derrick White celebrates after his team scored a 3-point basket in the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Sunday, Nov. 24, 2024, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)
Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) scores a basket over Washington Wizards guard Carlton Carrington (8) during the second half of an Emirates NBA Cup basketball game tonight Friday, Nov. 22, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)
Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine drives to the basket past Boston Celtics guard Derrick White during the first half of an Emirates NBA Cup basketball game, Friday Nov. 29, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Melissa Tamez)
Chicago Bulls forward Torrey Craig defends against Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown during the first half of an Emirates NBA Cup basketball game, Friday Nov. 29, 2024, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Melissa Tamez)
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Zach Charbonnet ran for a go-ahead 8-yard touchdown with 5:31 remaining, Leonard Williams returned an interception 92 yards for a momentum-turning score and the Seattle Seahawks held on to beat the New York Jets 26-21 on a chilly, windy Sunday for their third straight victory.
Geno Smith threw a touchdown pass to AJ Barner for the Seahawks (7-5), who were sloppy early but took over sole possession of first place in the NFC West with Arizona losing to Minnesota.
Aaron Rodgers and the Jets (3-9) led most of the way and appeared energized early in their first game coming out of their bye-week break. But they were held scoreless in the second half.
Charbonnet’s score came on a drive helped by four penalties on the Jets, who finished with 12 of them.
All that came after a wacky first half that featured a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by New York’s Kene Nwangwu, Williams’ interception return and three fumbled kickoffs by the Seahawks, with two recovered by the Jets.
VIKINGS 23, CARDINALS 22
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Sam Darnold’s second touchdown pass of the second half went to Aaron Jones for Minnesota’s first lead with 1:13 left, and the Vikings rallied from 13 points down to beat the Cardinals for their fifth straight victory.
Darnold went 21 for 31 for 235 yards while being sacked five times by the blitz-heavy Cardinals, who kept the Vikings (10-2) out of the end zone until Darnold hit Johnny Mundt with 1:17 remaining in the third quarter.
Kyler Murray threw two interceptions in the fourth quarter to spoil what had been a stellar performance by the Cardinals (6-6), who fell into second place in the NFC West behind Seattle.
Jonathan Greenard poked the ball out of Murray’s hand on second down for Minnesota’s first sack of the game with 48 seconds to go, and Greenard chased down Murray on the next play for a 3-yard gain in bounds to force Arizona to use its second timeout.
The Vikings then swarmed Murray in the pocket on fourth down, forcing a desperation heave that Shaquill Griffin picked off. Earlier, Murray’s risky fling on third down under pressure was intercepted by Byron Murphy at the Minnesota 32, setting up the Vikings for a third field goal by Parker Romo.
Justin Jefferson had seven receptions for 99 yards for the Vikings, including an underneath catch on fourth-and-6 from the Arizona 34 that kept the winning drive alive.
STEELERS 44, BENGALS 38
CINCINNATI (AP) — Russell Wilson threw for a season-high 414 yards and three touchdowns, and Pittsburgh outlasted Joe Burrow and Cincinnati.
Wilson logged the second-most passing yards and the third 400-yard game of his career. He threw for 452 yards for Seattle against Houston on Oct. 29, 2017.
Wilson finished 29 for 38 as the Steelers (9-3) rebounded from losing to the Browns 24-19 in a Nov. 21 game in the snow in Cleveland. He also threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown in the first quarter.
The Bengals (4-8) lost for the fourth time in five games. They also dropped to 1-5 at home, increasing the likelihood that they will miss the playoffs for the second straight year.
Najee Harris had a 10-yard touchdown run and Chris Boswell kicked two field goals to help Pittsburgh to a 27-21 halftime lead. It was the highest scoring first half in the 110 meetings between the longtime rivals. Wilson had 257 yards passing for his best total in a first half in his career.
Harris finished with 75 yards rushing and 54 yards receiving. George Pickens, Calvin Austin III and Pat Freiermuth caught TD passes for the Steelers.
CHARGERS 17, FALCONS 13
ATLANTA (AP) — Rookie Tarheeb Still returned an interception 61 yards for a touchdown, his second pick of the game and one of four thrown by Atlanta quarterback Kirk Cousins as the Chargers handed the first-place Falcons their third straight loss.
In a game that neither team seemed eager to win, the Chargers (8-4) overcame five sacks, a fumble deep in their own territory, a fake punt that didn’t work and a largely listless offense.
The 36-year-old Cousins looked like a rookie for the Falcons (6-6) on a fourth-and-5 pass at the Los Angeles 40 late in the third quarter.
Still read the play all the way, stepping in front of Darnell Mooney and sprinting untouched down the sideline in front of the Falcons bench for the touchdown that put the Chargers ahead to stay.
COLTS 25, PATRIOTS 24
FOXBOROUGH, Mass.(AP) — Anthony Richardson threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Alec Pierce with 12 seconds left and ran for the go-ahead 2-point conversion, and Indianapolis beat New England when the Patriots’ Joey Slye missed a 68-yard field goal attempt as time expired.
Richardson finished 12 of 24 for 109 yards, two touchdowns and an interception to help the Colts (6-7) keep their playoff hopes alive. Three of Indianapolis’ final four opponents have losing records.
The Patriots (3-10) have lost four of five. Drake Maye finished 24 of 30 for 238 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Indianapolis capitalized on a pass-interference penalty to get into the red zone with just over a minute left. Then, facing fourth-and-goal on the 3, Richardson rolled out and hit Pierce to get Indy within a point.
After the successful conversion, Maye connected with tight end Hunter Henry on two passes for 20 yards to advance the ball to midfield. The Patriots lined up from there for what would have been an NFL record-long field goal. Slye’s kick was on line but fell short of the crossbar.
TEXANS 23, JAGUARS 20
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Joe Mixon ran for 101 yards and a touchdown, Nico Collins caught eight passes for 119 yards and Houston beat Jacksonville after knocking quarterback Trevor Lawrence out of the game with a concussion.
The AFC South-leading Texans (8-5) won for just the second time in five weeks and staggered into their bye week with a little momentum.
Mixon became the third player in NFL history with at least 100 yards rushing and a rushing touchdown in six road games in the same season. He joined Tiki Barber of the New York Giants (2004) and Derrick Henry of Tennessee (2020) in accomplishing the feat. Mixon is the first to reach the marks in his first six road games of a season.
He carried 20 times, none bigger than his 8-yard gain on third-and-5 in the waning minutes that moved the chains and sealed the victory.
C.J. Stroud completed 22 of 34 passes for 242 yards, with a 22-yard TD pass to Dalton Schultz early in the fourth quarter that essentially iced the game. It was Houston’s 12th win in its past 14 meetings with the Jaguars (2-10) and sixth in a row in Jacksonville.
COMMANDERS 42, TITANS 19
LANDOVER, Md. (AP) — Jayden Daniels threw two of his three touchdown passes to Terry McLaurin and also scored one rushing, and Washington got their groove back by beating Tennessee to end their losing streak at three.
Daniels completed 25 of 30 passes for 206 yards and the TD passes to McLaurin and Zach Ertz, offsetting his interception and bolstering his status as favorite for AP Offensive Rookie of the Year. Brian Robinson Jr. returned from a sprained ankle to run for 103 yards and a TD, and the defense and special teams each forced a fumble in a game the Commanders (8-5) had well in hand before halftime.
The bounce back from defeats to Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Dallas keeps Washington solidly in a playoff spot at its long-awaited bye week. It was made possible by the offense returning to elite, early season form following a series of questions about Daniels and coordinator Kliff Kingsbury that mounted during the skid.
The Commanders went nine of 14 on third down and went up 28-0 just over 19 minutes into the game — the fastest lead by that margin since Baltimore did it in 16:11 against Miami in 2019. Washington scored 21 points in the first quarter for the first time since 2015.
Tennessee (3-9) didn’t score until Will Levis’ 27-yard TD pass to Nick Westbrook-Ikhine late in the second quarter, and the two connected on another with seven minutes remaining in the fourth.
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith (7) reacts after a touchdown by running back Zach Charbonnet during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game against the New York Jets, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
