Boston Celtics 114-103 Utah Jazz

The Celtics claimed a back-to-back victory at the Vivint Smart Home Arena, one of the league's toughest home courts, on Wednesday. With a 41-17 record, the Celtics currently trail the No. 2 Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference by only one game.

Jayson Tatum dropped team-high 33 points and 11 rebounds for Boston. This is his fifth straight 30+point game and he also became the first Celtic who claimed at 30 points at a field goal rate that is no lower than 60 percent in three consecutive games since Kevin McHale in 1987.

By contrast, the Jazz suffered their fourth loss in a row and had to watch the Oklahoma City Thunder surpass them as No. 5 in the Western Conference. In the past 18 games, the Jazz lost 10.

As Utah's franchise player, Donovan Mitchell tried to stand out and save the team. He scored game-high 37 points and put down 20 in the second quarter alone. Thanks to his efforts, Utah managed to keep a close game in the first half (53-51).

Tatum and Mitchell were 50-50 in the game but the Celtics were the winning team because they had more options. Tatum became a little quiet in the third quarter but Jaylen Brown took his position and got 10 points. The game remained white-hot in the fourth quarter but the explosive Marcus Smart broke the balance. Having gone 0-5 in the previous game, Smart drained three triples in a row and delivered one assist to launch a 11-4 run in the fourth quarter, establishing a 13-point lead (100-87) which never went down to single digit again.

Philadelphia 76ers 94-108 Cleveland Cavaliers

The 76ers lost another road game at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Wednesday. The have been terrible (9-21) on the road this season but Wednesday's loss must have felt more painful because their star center Joel Embiid had to quit the game after playing for only eight minutes.

Embiid never returned and it turned out he suffered a shoulder sprain. He told the Philadelphia Inquirer that he will have an MRI on Thursday.

Without their best player on court, Philadelphia simply collapsed in front of Cleveland which saw six of their players reach double-digit points. Both Tristan Thompson and Larry Nance Jr. put down double-doubles. Collin Sexton scored game-high 28 points.

By contrast, Tobias Harris and Al-Horford, who together cost the 76ers some 289 million U.S. dollars to sign last summer, were again disappointments as they did not even get team-high points. Shake Milton who only has a minimum contract but he scored 20 points. By contrast, Harris and Horford only had 11 and 10 points respectively.

The bad news was not over for Philadelphia. They will return home to meet the New York Knicks on Thursday but it remains unclear whether Embiid will return. The team already lost their orchestrater Ben Simmons to back injury. Can they really rely on Horford and Harris in Thursday's game?

Minnesota Timberwolves 129-126 Miami Heat

The Timberwolves claimed a surprising win over the Heat at the American Airlines Arena on Wednesday and they did it by overcoming a 12-point trail in the fourth quarter. Thanks to this victory, the Timberwolves put an end to their five-straight-loss-streak.

D'Angelo Russell made great contributions for Minnesota with 27 points, five rebounds and six assists. He buried seven 3-pointers in offense and blocked the possible game-winning shot by Jimmy Butler.

Having his last shot denied was not the only mistake made by Butler made in this game. In fact, he should be held responsible for this loss. Miami still led by nine points when there were less than three minutes left. However, Butler first lost the ball to Malik Beasley who assisted Jordan McLaughlin to make a 3-pointer. Then Russell stole the ball from Butler and helped Beasley finished a 3-point play. Soon Butler lost the ball again to Russell before Beasley earned and made two free throws.

In simply 52 seconds, Butler allowed three turnovers, which Minnesota took advantage of to narrow the score difference down to one point. Neither did he make it up in offense because missed two attempts in the last 30 seconds and only scored two points via free throws.

NBA stats writer John Schuhmann posted on twitter after the game, revealing that Butler this season went 1-15 on field goal attempts to tie or take the lead in the last minute of the fourth quarter of overtime.

Having lost seven of their recent nine games, the Heat managed to maintain top 4 in the East only because the following two teams, the 76ers and the Indiana Pacers did worse. How long will that last?

Other results on Wednesday (home teams in bold):

New York Knicks 101-107 Charlotte Hornets

Brooklyn Nets 106-110 Washington Wizards

Orlando Magic 130-120 Atlanta Hawks

Dallas Mavericks 109-103 San Antonio Spurs

Los Angeles Clippers 102-92 Phoenix Suns

Memphis Grizzlies 112-140 Houston Rockets