Thomas comes up clutch for Celtics

• With 2.4 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Isaiah Thomas calmly sank a fallaway jumper to give the Celtics their margin of victory in their 103–101 victory over the Hawks. That was just the second time in his career that Thomas made a go-ahead field goal in the final 10 seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime. He also hit a late game-winner of that kind for the Kings on Jan. 28, 2013 at Washington. Prior to Friday, Thomas had failed to connect on his last eight potential game-winning field-goal attempts in the final 10 seconds of the fourth quarter or overtime.

An eerie sight on Friday the 13th

• In a spooky coincidence on Friday the 13th, both the Celtics and Hawks made 36 of 83 field-goal attempts on Friday night. Each squad also finished with exactly 43 rebounds as well as 22 assists. In no other game since the 1950–51 season, when rebounds were first tracked on NBA boxscores, did two opposing teams finish with the exact same totals in field goals made, field goals attempted, rebounds, and assists.

LeBron and Love post 15/15 lines in Sacramento

• LeBron James and Kevin Love put up big numbers in the Cavaliers’ 120–108 triumph over the Kings in Sacramento. James scored 16 points and tied his season-high with 15 assists, while Love compiled 15 points and a season-high 18 rebounds. This was the third game in Cavaliers history in which one of their players totaled at least 15 points and 15 rebounds while another registered 15 or more points and 15 or more assists. Tyrone Hill (16 points, 15 rebounds) and Andre Miller (18 points, 15 assists) did that for Cleveland in 2002 at Chicago, as did Zydrunas Ilgauskas (28 points, 18 rebounds) and Jeff McInnis (16 points, 15 assists) in 2005 against the Bucks.

Embiid em-pressive for 76ers

• Including their victory over the Hornets on Friday night, the 76ers have won five of their last six games, marking their most successful six-game stretch over the previous four seasons. Joel Embiid led Philadelphia in scoring (or tied for the team-lead) in each of those six contests. Embiid’s 24 points on Friday marked his eighth consecutive game with 20 or more points, a feat all the more impressive considering he hasn’t played more than 30 minutes in a game this season. Embiid is the second player since the 1951–52 season, when minutes were first recorded on NBA boxscores, to score 20 or more points while playing no more than 30 minutes in at least eight consecutive games. Walter Davis had a nine-game streak of that kind for the Nuggets in December 1989.

Ten turnovers and a loss mar Westbrook’s latest triple-double

• Russell Westbrook’s 19th triple-double of the season was not enough for the Thunder, who lost 96–86 to the Timberwolves in Minneapolis. This may have been Westbrook’s worst triple-double to date, considering he turned the ball over 10 times and missed 16 of his 23 field-goal attempts. Westbrook also committed 10 turnovers in a triple-double earlier this season against the Pelicans, making him the first player since 1977–78, when turnovers were first tracked for NBA players, to reach double-digits in points, rebounds, assists, and turnovers in a game more than once in his career. Six other players have compiled exactly one game of that kind, including James Harden earlier this week against the Raptors.

Jazz trio make quick work of Pistons after rough start

• Rodney Hood was one of three Jazz players to reach 20 points in Utah’s blowout victory over the Pistons. Hood led the way with 27 points while George Hill contributed 22 points and Gordon Hayward scored 20. All three players logged fewer than 30 minutes of action; Hood had the most time on the court of the trio at 28:40. Friday marked the first time in franchise history that as many as three Jazz players scored 20 or more points while playing fewer than 30 minutes in a game. Two other threesomes have had games of that kind this season. Jordan Clarkson, D’Angelo Russell, and Lou Williams achieved that feat for the Lakers at New Orleans on November 12. Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Ian Clark also did that on November 23 against the Lakers.

The Jazz finished with a 33-point margin of victory over the Pistons on Friday despite being outscored 19–14 in the first quarter. Utah had never before won a game by at least 30 points after beginning the second quarter with a deficit of five or more points. The only other team with a win of that kind this season is the Raptors, who won by 30 points in Orlando on December 18 after being outscored 30–23 in the first 12 minutes.

Raptors run away in the fourth

• The Raptors finished with a flourish in the fourth quarter to put away the Nets at the Air Canada Centre. Toronto led 90–89 to begin the final period and quickly extended its lead to double-digits with 11 unanswered points. After the Nets made their first bucket of the quarter, the Raptors responded with a 10–0 run to put the game away. Friday’s game marked the second time in the last 15 seasons that Toronto scored at least 10 unanswered points multiple times in the fourth quarter of a game. The Raptors celebrated Boxing Day (December 26) in 2015 with a comeback victory at Milwaukee, capped by a 10–0 run early in the fourth quarter and 15 unanswered points to close the game.

Antetokounmpo feeling better

• Giannis Antetokounmpo scored nine of his 19 points in the fourth quarter to help the Bucks defeat the Heat in Milwaukee. Antetokounmpo filled the boxscore as he usually does, compiling eight rebounds and six assists along with a steal and a blocked shot. That is no surprise considering that he has compiled the most points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks for the Bucks this season. Friday’s game was unusual for the “Greek Freak” in one respect, however, in that it was the first time time this season that he played at least 10 minutes in a game and did not lead the Bucks (or tie for the team-lead) in points, rebounds, assists, steals, or blocks. (Antetokounmpo did not lead the Bucks in any of those categories in Milwaukee’s matchup with the Spurs on January 10, but he only played nine minutes due to illness.)

Big night for Vucevic against his favorite opponent

• Nikola Vucevic poured in a season-high 30 points to lead the Magic to victory over the Trail Blazers and snap Orlando’s four-game losing streak. Vucevic has averaged 23.9 points in his career against Portland. That’s his highest scoring average versus any opponent; Vucevic has averaged fewer than 20 points per game against every other NBA team. Vucevic’s 12.4 rebounds-per-game average is his second-highest against any opponent – he has averaged 13.1 boards in 14 games against the 76ers.

Allen scorches the nets in Houston

• Tony Allen made nine of 10 shots from the floor to register a season-high 22 points in the Grizzlies’ 110–105 victory over the Rockets in Houston. Friday’s game marked the third time that Allen shot 90 percent or better from the floor in a game for Memphis while attempting at least 10 shots. He went 9-for-10 from the field against the Spurs in 2011 and finished a perfect 12-for-12 versus the Lakers in 2016. The only other player to shoot 90 percent or better with 10 or more field-goal attempts in at least three games for the Grizzlies was Pau Gasol, who also had three games of that kind for Memphis.

Tavares reaches point milestone with a hat trick

• John Tavares notched the sixth hat trick of his NHL career by scoring three goals in the Islanders’ 5–2 win over the Panthers in Sunrise, Florida. Tavares’ three goals were the 499th, 500th and 501st career points for the player selected first overall by the Islanders in the 2009 Entry Draft. He’s the first player from that draft class to reach the 500-point plateau in the NHL. The only other 2009 draftees with 300 or more points are Matt Duchene (401) and Ryan O’Reilly (331). Tavares is the 10th player to score 500 or more points for the Islanders, but he’s only the second player who didn’t win a Stanley Cup with the Islanders to do that. Pat LaFontaine, who scored 566 points for the Islanders, debuted with them late in the 1983–84 season, when the “Drive for Five” was stopped as the Isles were beaten in five games by the Oilers in the Stanley Cup Final. The Islanders haven’t been back to the Finals since then.

Consecutive three-pointers for Skinner

• Jeff Skinner notched his second straight three-point game when he scored two goals and set up one in the Hurricanes’ 5–2 win over the Sabres. Skinner, who tallied a goal and two assists in Carolina’s victory against Columbus on Tuesday, also accounted for the only two other instances of a Hurricanes player producing back-to-back games with at least three points over the last seven seasons (both in 2013–14). The last Carolina players other than Skinner with consecutive three-point games were Eric Staal and Chad LaRose, who did it in the same two games in April 2010.

Pair of goals by Beagle bookends win over Blackhawks

• Jay Beagle scored the first and last goals in the Capitals’ 6–0 win over the Blackhawks in Washington. Beagle has scored only 39 goals in his nine-season NHL career (all with the Capitals) and he’s recorded only four multiple-goal games, but three of those four multi-goal games have been against Chicago! Beagle ranks second in Capitals history in multiple-goal games versus the Blackhawks, one behind Mike Gartner with four. Beagle’s teammate, Alex Ovechkin, has scored two goals in a game against Chicago only once.

Three assists apiece for Ekman-Larsson and Vrbata

• Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Radim Vrbata each assisted on three goals for the Coyotes in their 4–3 victory against the Jets. (Before Friday, no Arizona player had produced more than two assists in one game this season.) This is only the third time in the last seven seasons that the Coyotes have had two “assist hat tricks” in one game, and either Ekman-Larsson or Vrbata was involved in the previous two instances. Vrbata and Martin Hanzal each recorded three assists for the Coyotes in a win versus the Lightning on Nov. 16, 2013, and Ekman-Larsson and Tobias Rieder did the same in an Arizona loss to Chicago on Dec. 29, 2015.

Marner’s pair of helpers assists Toronto’s win

• Rookie Mitch Marner assisted on two goals for the Maple Leafs in their 4–2 win against the Rangers on Friday, after racking up three assists in Toronto’s last game, a loss to the Canadiens last Saturday. Marner has recorded seven multiple-assists games this season. The only other rookie with even half as many multi-assist games this season as Marner is Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski with four.

Hall is the hero in Calgary

• Taylor Hall, playing his first game against the Flames with a team other than Edmonton, scored the winning goal for the Devils in their 2–1 victory at Calgary on Friday. Hall has tallied 16 points in the 12 games he’s played at the Saddledome (4 goals, 12 assists). That’s his highest point total as a visiting player at any NHL arena. His next-highest total is 13 points (against the Coyotes in Glendale and the Sharks in San Jose).

Korpisalo wins in season debut

• Joonas Korpisalo, playing in his first NHL game this season, made 31 saves as he posted a 3–1 win for the Blue Jackets in Tampa on Friday. Korpisalo made his NHL debut last season and posted a 16–11–4 record in 31 games with Columbus. Korpisalo was the Blue Jackets’ team leader in wins last season (one ahead of an injury-plagued Sergei Bobrovsky with 15 wins), and he finished third in the NHL in wins by a rookie goaltender, behind co-leaders Mike Condon and John Gibson (21 each).