Aron Baynes and his Boston Celtics have tuned up for a showdown with the Cleveland Cavaliers in a 108-105 NBA home win over the Brooklyn Nets on New Years Eve.

Australian centre Baynes started and hauled down 10 rebounds to go with his five points and four assists as Kyrie Irving led the way with 28 points while Al Horford had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Eastern conference leaders Boston (30-10) closed 2017 with a third straight win and now face a Wednesday home clash with LeBron James and his third-placed Cavaliers, a rematch of last season's conference finalists.

Boston didn't have the game in hand against the lowly-ranked Nets until Irving made a pair of free throws with 7.7 seconds remaining.

In Phoenix, Ben Simmons turned in another big allround game as his Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Suns 123-110.

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The Australian star grabbed 21 points, nine rebounds, six assists, three steals and three blocks.

Centre Joel Embiid scored 22 points in his return but forward Dario Saric led the way with his season-high 27 points for the 76ers who are 10th in the eastern conference.

In Washington, Bradley Beal scored 17 of his 39 points in the fourth quarter, leading the Washington Wizards to a 114-110 come-from-behind win over the Chicago Bulls.

Beal scored 15 straight points for Washington in the fourth as the Wizards rallied from an eight-point deficit early in the period. He also had nine rebounds and tied a career high with nine assists.

Nikola Mirotic scored 21 points to lead Chicago, who had won 10 of their previous 12. Kris Dunn had 19 points and 11 assists.

In Indianapolis, Jimmy Butler had 26 points, six rebounds and five assists, and his Minnesota team never trailed against Indiana.

Karl-Anthony Towns had 18 points, 14 rebounds and six blocks, and Taj Gibson added 17 points and nine rebounds for the Timberwolves (23-14), who have won nine of the last 12 games.

In Oklahoma City, Harrison Barnes scored 24 points and Dennis Smith Jr. 19 as the Dallas Mavericks closed 2017 with their season-best fourth straight win, beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 116-113.

Dirk Nowitzki added 13 points for Dallas, who won despite Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook recording his 12th triple-double of the season with 38 points, 15 rebounds and 11 assists.

In Los Angeles, Lou Williams scored 40 points, Blake Griffin added 25 as Los Angeles held off Charlotte for a 106-98 win.

The Clippers outshot the Hornets 47 per cent to 39 per cent to win for the fifth time in six games, with DeAndre Jordan grabbing 15 rebounds and going 6 for 6 from the foul line.

Kemba Walker scored 30 points and Frank Kaminsky added 16 for Charlotte.