Isaiah Thomas scores 42 as Celtics climb back into first-round series with 111-103 win over Hawks

Isaiah Thomas scored a career-high 42 points, and the Boston Celtics held on to defeat the Atlanta Hawks, 111-103, Friday night at Boston in Game 3 of an Eastern Conference first-round series.

Evan Turner, inserted into the starting lineup, had 17 points and seven assists and Amir Johnson added 15 points and seven rebounds for the Celtics, who closed to within 2-1 in the best-of-seven series after losing the first two games in Atlanta.

Playing by far their best first half of the series, Boston led by as many as 20 points before seeing that mostly erased by a 12-0 run by the Hawks in the third quarter.

The Celtics then survived a frenetic fourth quarter that featured three ties and two lead changes, finally getting separation with five straight points for a 104-98 lead.

Jeff Teague had 23 points for Atlanta. Kent Bazemore and Dennis Schroder each finished with 20. Game 4 is Sunday in Boston.

San Antonio 96, at Memphis 87: Kawhi Leonard scored 32 points, and the Spurs surged in the fourth quarter to beat the Grizzlies and take a 3-0 lead in their Western Conference first-round series.

The Spurs are a win away from their ninth postseason series sweep and third against Memphis. They finished the game on a 13-6 run in the final 3:41, and Leonard, the two-time NBA defensive player of the year, scored 13 points in the quarter. He shot 11 for 22 for the game and six for nine from three-point range.

LaMarcus Aldridge added 16 points and 10 rebounds. Danny Green and Manu Ginobili each scored 11 points for San Antonio.

Zach Randolph led Memphis with 20 points and 11 rebounds, but he missed 15 of 21 field-goal attempts. Matt Barnes had 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Vince Carter scored 11 and JaMychal Green had 10, shooting five for five from the field.

Game 4 is Sunday.

Cleveland 101, at Detroit 91: LeBron James had 20 points and 13 rebounds, and Kyrie Irving made a pair of big three-pointers down the stretch to help the Cavaliers move to within a game of a first-round sweep of the Pistons.

Irving scored 26 points for Cleveland, which overcame a gritty effort by Detroit in its first home playoff game since 2009.

Andre Drummond scored 17 points for the Pistons, but Detroit fell behind toward the end of the third quarter, and a late rally came up short.

The Cavaliers lead the series 3-0, with Game 4 scheduled Sunday night at Auburn Hills, Mich.

The Pistons have lost 11 consecutive playoff games against Cleveland, and they’ve lost nine in a row overall in the postseason.