Celtics withstand return of Zion Williamson and beat Pelicans 120-119

BOSTON — Jayson Tatum scored 38 points with 11 rebounds and Kristaps Porzingis had 19 points and 11 boards on Sunday as the Boston Celtics overcame the return of Zion Williamson to the New Orleans lineup and beat the Pelicans 120-119.

Trey Murphy III scored 30 points and Williamson scored 16 in his return from a one-game suspension for being late to team activities. The 2019 draft lottery prize also had seven rebounds in 28 minutes.

New Orleans led by as many as 11 points in the first quarter, taking advantage when the Celtics made just one of their first 11 3-point attempts. Boston finished 13 for 44 from long distance and shot just 43.6% overall from the floor.

The Takeaways

Pelicans: The Pelicans can be competitive with Williamson on the floor, but injuries and a one-game suspension have limited him to just eight of the team's first 40 games.

Celtics: The defending NBA champions avoided a loss to one of the NBA's worst teams and improved to 7-6 in their last 13 games.

Key moment

With seven seconds left, Boston had the ball with a one-point lead. Derrick White wasn't able to inbound the ball; he tried to call a timeout but was whistled for a 5 second violation. The Pelicans got the ball to McCollum, who drove to the basket but missed the contested layup and the rebound was swatted away as time expired.

Key stat

Dejounte Murray scored 17 points in the first two quarters minutes and finished with 26 points to go with nine rebounds and eight assists.

Up next

The Pelicans visit the Bulls on Tuesday and the Celtics are at Toronto on Wednesday.

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba