Isaiah Thomas scored 31 points, including a pair of go-ahead free throws, as the Boston Celtics outlasted LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers 103-99 in the NBA.
"We just played to win," Thomas said.
"They're the No. 1 team in the East. One of the best teams in the NBA and we just wanted to protect home court and get a win.
"We did that tonight."
Boston's win overshadowed the seventh triple-double of the season for James, who finished with 28 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists. Kyrie Irving added 28 points for the Cavaliers while Deron Williams scored four points in 24 minutes in his Cleveland debut.
"It was a good game - went down to the wire, shot for shot," Cavs coach Tyronn Lue said.
"We competed, we fought. That's all you can ask for."
Australian Dante Exum led the Utah Jazz with a career-high tying 15 points in their 107-80 defeat at the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Despite the loss Utah remained fifth in the west.
Karl-Anthony Towns top scored for the Timberwolves with 21 and Andrew Wiggins added 20.
Bojan Bogdanovic had 27 points off the bench and Bradley Beal added 23 as Washington snapped an eight-game losing streak against Toronto with a 105-96 win.
Kawhi Leonard had 31 points and 10 rebounds in San Antonio's 100-99 win over the Indiana Pacers.
Leonard hit a turnaround, fade-away jumper from 16 feet against Paul George with 2.4 seconds left to win it for the home side.
Pau Gasol and David Lee had 18 points each off the bench for the Spurs with George's 22 points leading the Pacers.
James Harden scored 26 points and the Houston Rockets shot 20 three-pointers in a 122-103 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers.
Ryan Anderson added 23 points, including a team-high six from beyond the arc, as the Rockets extended their NBA record to nine games with 20 or more three-pointers this season.
John Wall had 12 points and 13 assists for his 39th double-double of the season for the Eastern Conference's third-place Wizards.
DeMar DeRozan had 24 points and Serge Ibaka added 22 more for the Raptors, who were again without All-Star guard Kyle Lowry after wrist surgery that will keep him out the remainder of the regular season.
Paul Millsap scored with 30.5 seconds remaining and Atlanta held off Dallas 100-95.
Millsap had 18 points and just missed a triple-double, dishing out 10 assists to go with eight rebounds while Harrison Barnes led the Mavericks with 25 points.
Tyler Johnson scored 24 points off the bench, and Miami never trailed in a 125-98 win over Philadelphia.
Robert Covington scored 19 for the 76ers, who learned earlier that centre Joel Embiid will miss the remainder of the season with a left knee injury.
Anthony Davis had 33 points and 14 rebounds as New Orleans snapped a three-game skid with a 109-86 victory over Detroit.
Pistons centre Andre Drummond was ejected for swatting at the back of Tim Frazier's head after the Pelicans guard had ripped away a rebound late in the third quarter. Drummond had 13 points and 17 rebounds to that point but also missed nine of 10 free throws.
The Pelicans were without newly acquired All-Star DeMarcus Cousins because of Cousins' one-game suspension that was triggered when he received his 18th technical foul of this season on Sunday night.
Nikola Jokic had his second triple-double in two nights to lead Denver over Milwaukee 110-98.
Jokic finished with 13 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists for his fourth career triple-double - all in his last 13 games.
Danilo Gallinari scored 22 points for Denver while Australian guard Matthew Dellavedova had 15 points for the sliding Bucks.
Kristaps Porzingis had 20 points and nine rebounds, and Derrick Rose scored 19 to help New York cruise past Orlando 101-90.
Carmelo Anthony had 17 points and Justin Holiday added 14 off the bench for the Knicks with Evan Fournier leading Orlando with 22 points.
The Brooklyn Nets never trailed in snapping a 16-game losing streak by defeating the Sacramento Kings 109-100.
Brook Lopez had 24 points and eight rebounds with Jeremy Lin adding 17 points for the NBA-worst Nets (10-49).
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