Santi Aldama came off the bench to score 22 points and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Jaylen Wells added 16 apiece to lead the Memphis Grizzlies to a 119-96 victory Sunday over the visiting Portland Trail Blazers.

The Grizzlies won for the fifth time in six games and recorded back-to-back home wins for the first time this season.

Portland was held to fewer than 100 points for only the second time this season. The Trail Blazers, who lost for the fifth time in six games, were led by Jerami Grant with 21 points and seven rebounds. Deni Avdija added 17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists and Shaedon Sharpe had 17 points. Toumani Camara contributed 13 points and six rebounds.

Aldama and Caldwell-Pope were part of the Memphis bench that produced 69 points, along with Jock Landale (15 points, eight rebounds) and Cam Spencer (12 points, five assists). Starter Zach Edey had 12 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out in the fourth quarter.

Memphis, which had a season-high 18 steals, withstood a second-half challenge by Portland, which trailed by 25 at one point in the first half.

Trailing by 20 at the half, Portland made a strong comeback try to open the third quarter. The Trail Blazers put together a 16-1 run that included 3-pointers from Grant and Avdija. A free throw by Grant with 7:32 to go in the third cut the deficit to four points before Memphis recovered to take a 92-78 advantage into the final quarter.

The Grizzlies threatened to turn this into a lopsided game from the outset. Memphis built a 22-point lead late in the first quarter and extended it to 25 early in the second quarter following a three-point play from Caldwell-Pope. The Grizzlies led by 20 (66-46) at halftime behind 37 bench points.

Warriors’ 22
3-pointers send Bulls to 7th straight loss

The visiting Golden State Warriors sank 22 threes — their second most of the season — and never trailed in slamming the Chicago Bulls 123-91 on Sunday night.

The Warriors played without Steph Curry (quad), Draymond Green (foot) and Al Horford (sciatica), but looked smooth from the start in winning their second game in as many nights.

Posting its lowest point total this season, Chicago has lost seven in a row, its longest losing streak since an eight-game slide in the 2019-2020 season.

Seven Warriors made threes as the visitors finished 22-of-47 (46.8%) from behind the arc. Brandin Podziemski came off the bench, sank five threes and finished with a game-high 21 points. Quinten Post had five threes and 19 points. Jimmy Butler had two 3-pointers and also had 19. Josh Giddey led the Bulls with 18 points.

Steve Kerr is 19-4 against the Bulls in his coaching career.

Golden State opened hot as Post had a pair of threes in the first 90 seconds. The Warriors jumped out to an 11-2 lead, forcing Bulls coach Billy Donovan to call a timeout.

The Warriors only scored 12 points in the first quarter Saturday night against Cleveland, but had 38 on Sunday in the first. They made their first four threes and led 23-10 after a steal and a dunk by Butler.

The lead grew to 49-34 in the second quarter after a layup by Gui Santos, but Chicago scored the next six points for its first sustained push. After a three by Moses Moody for Golden State and two free throws by Julian Phillips for the Bulls, Mataz Buzelis (16 points) got the home crowd buzzing with a ferocious dunk right at Post.

The Buzelis slam pulled the Bulls to 52-44, but Golden State closed the half on an 8-2 run, highlighted by a three by Podziemski falling into the Bulls bench.

Celtics outpace
Raptors to win
fifth in a row

Jaylen Brown scored 30 points, Derrick White added 27 on Sunday and the visiting Boston Celtics held off the Toronto Raptors 121-113 for their fifth straight win.

Payton Pritchard scored 15 points for the Celtics, who have won 10 of 12. Neemias Queta had 11 points and 11 rebounds while Anfernee Simons scored 12.

Brandon Ingram scored 30 for the Raptors, who have dropped three straight. Scottie Barnes added 18 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. Sandro Mamukelashvili contributed 14 points, Immanuel Quickley and Ochai Agbaji each scored 11 and Jakob Poeltl and A.J. Lawson each added 10.

The Celtics watched their 23-point lead shrink to six entering the fourth quarter. Lawson’s 3-pointer cut the lead to one and Toronto took a one-point lead when Alijah Martin nabbed a steal to set up Jamal Shead’s layup with 10:39 to go.

Barnes scored four straight points for Toronto before White hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at 102 with 7:51 remaining. Pritchard’s corner 3-pointer put Boston ahead for good.

Brown added a mid-range jumper for a five-point margin. Another three from Pritchard gave Boston 110-104 lead with 4:17 left. After a series of misses by Toronto, White nailed a 3-pointer with 3:29 to play.

Ingram’s 3-pointer trimmed the lead to six with 59 seconds left, but they could get no closer.

The Celtics led 34-26 after the first quarter and stretched the lead to 13 on Sam Hauser’s 3-pointer with 6:00 remaining in the second quarter.