SportyTV | NBA: Knicks beat Celtics in Tatum's return to MSG

Josh Hart scored 15 of his 26 points in the fourth quarter, Jalen Brunson had 25 points and 10 assists, and the New York Knicks stayed alive in the race for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference with a 112-106 victory over Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics on Thursday night.

Tatum finished with 24 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists in his first game back on the Madison Square Garden court where he ruptured his Achilles tendon in last season's playoffs.

The Knicks (52-28) pulled within two games of the Celtics (54-26) for second place with two games to play for both teams. New York owns the tiebreaker after winning the season series 3-1 and would take the No. 2 seed with two wins and two Boston losses.

Hart made two 3-pointers in the final 42 seconds to give New York more wins this season under Mike Brown than in its 51-31 finish last season in Tom Thibodeau's final season.

The Knicks then knocked off the Celtics in the second round of those playoffs, helped by Tatum's season-ending injury in Game 4 of the series. He acknowledged some nervousness and anxiousness Thursday before playing again in the arena before finishing just shy of his second triple-double since returning to play last month.

The Celtics had their four-game winning streak snapped while playing without leading scorer Jaylen Brown, averaging 28.8 points, because of left Achilles tendinitis.

4th quarter hart brought the heat pic.twitter.com/xbrOtPe3Rk
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) April 10, 2026

Durant leads Rockets to eighth straight win

Kevin Durant scored 29 points and the Houston Rockets extended their winning streak to eight games with a 113-102 win over the Philadelphia 76ers, who were missing Joel Embiid after he had an appendectomy.

The 76ers, who are fighting for a playoff spot, will be without Embiid indefinitely. He had surgery in Houston on Thursday after being stricken with appendicitis overnight.

Jabari Smith Jr. and Amen Thompson added 19 points each for the Rockets, who have clinched a postseason berth but are contending with Denver and the Lakers for playoff seeding in the West.

Tyrese Maxey scored 23 points for Philadelphia and VJ Edgecombe added 21. The Sixers lost their third straight and dropped into a tie with Charlotte for eighth place in the Eastern Conference.

KEPT THE STREAK ALIVE

8 in a row! pic.twitter.com/DXiCvb2EaI
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) April 10, 2026

LeBron leads Lakers as Curry sits

LeBron James had 26 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds but didn't get to compete against rival and pal Stephen Curry as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Golden State Warriors 119-103.

James shot 11 for 17 and made three 3-pointers. He exited briefly after appearing to jam his hand blocking a shot by Pat Spencer with 6:05 remaining in the third quarter.

After 23 years in the league and at age 41, James' future is uncertain. He is three years older than Curry, who sat out the front end of a home-road back-to-back in what is always a highly anticipated matchup - it was Golden State's final scheduled game at Chase Center, given the team is headed on the road for the play-in tournament as the No. 10 seed in the Western Conference.

Curry had played the previous two contests in his return from a 27-game absence spanning two-plus months because of a right knee injury. The Warriors weren't ready to risk him playing consecutive nights.