Jalen Brunson has scored 39 points in three quarters and New York upped their quest to finish with the No.2 seed in the Eastern Conference by beating the NBA-leading Celtics 118-109 in Boston.

One day after clinching a playoff spot, the Knicks (48-32) pulled within a game of the Milwaukee Bucks for second, with each team having two games remaining.

Brunson shot 15 of 23 from the field and six of 11 from three-point range on Friday (AEST). Donte DiVincenzo had 17 points and Josh Hart finished with 16 points and 16 rebounds.

"We made shots and made the right plays," Brunson said.

"Obviously, we know they're the top dog in the East ... it's always a good measuring stick to see where you're at. We played pretty well, but we know what they're capable of doing. We just had their number tonight."

Jayson Tatum scored 18 points for Boston (62-18), while Payton Pritchard had 16 off the bench and Jaylen Brown and Sam Hauser both 15.

New York were ahead 47-45 in the second term before ripping off 17 straight points as part of a half-closing 22-3 run over the final six-and-a-half minutes that made it 69-48 at the break.

Brunson helped the Knicks extend their lead to as high as 31 points as the All-Star guard turned it up several notches in the third quarter, piling up 21 points on 8-of-10 shooting.

In Sacramento, CJ McCollum and Zion Williamson each scored 31 points and New Orleans won 135-123 to complete a five-game season sweep of the Kings.

McCollum tied a season high with nine triples and added seven assists to help the Pelicans (48-32) improve their chances of avoiding the play-in tournament. They are sixth in the Western Conference, the final guaranteed playoff spot.

Australia's Dyson Daniels chipped in with 10 points, four rebounds and one assist for the Pels.

De'Aaron Fox had 33 points, but Sacramento lost for the fourth time in five games and their chance to avoid the play-in tournament. The Kings (45-35) are tied with the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State for eighth.

The Warriors, meantime, enjoyed a 100-92 victory over the Trail Blazers in Portland thanks to a game-high 22 points from Stephen Curry.

Golden State have won nine of their last 10 and already clinched a play-in spot.

Elsewhere, Luka Samanic scored a season-high 22 points to help the Utah Jazz snap a 13-game losing streak with a 124-121 victory over the visiting Houston Rockets and DeMar DeRozan had 39 points as Chicago sent Detroit to their franchise-record 67th loss of the season, 127-105.

The Pistons (13-67) broke the mark set by the 1979-80 team, while the Bulls (38-42) moved closer to wrapping up home-court advantage in the East's play-in game against the Atlanta Hawks.