NEW YORK, United States — Boston seized a share of the
Eastern Conference lead, Phoenix dumped Philadelphia in a possible NBA Finals
preview and Kyrie Irving's home season debut was spoiled Sunday by the
Charlotte Hornets.
اضافة اعلان
Jayson Tatum scored 34 points and Jaylen Brown contributed
31 points and 10 rebounds to ignite the Boston Celtics to their sixth
consecutive victory, a 134–112 home triumph over Minnesota.
The Celtics scored their most points in a half all season to
grab a 72–49 half-time lead and improved to 47–28, matching
Miami for the best
record in the East.
"Seeding matters. We definitely want to take advantage
of that," Brown said. "But at the same time, we're going to have to
play who we're going to have to play”.
"The East is going to be a dogfight so we're not
running from nobody."
Defending champion
Milwaukee and the
Philadelphia 76ers are
third on 46–28 while Chicago, Toronto, and Cleveland are within five games.
Brown cited Boston's roster healing from a season of injury
setbacks for the late-season charge.
"We done got healthy," he said. "I missed
about 15 games. My hamstring was bothering me a lot. I feel a little bit
healthier. Our guys feel a little bit healthier. We've just got our feet under
us a little more and now we're here."
The medical report got some bad news with Celtics center
Robert Williams suffering a sprained left knee. he played only 24 minutes with
13 points and 10 rebounds.
Philadelphia had moved atop the East but lost 114–104 at
Western Conference leader Phoenix, which improved the league's best record to
61–14 with an eighth straight victory.
Both teams'
NBA Most Valuable Player candidates delivered
virtuoso efforts with Phoenix's Devin Booker scoring 35 points while Chris Paul
added 19 points and 14 assists and Deandre Ayton added 14 points and 12
rebounds.
Philadelphia's
Joel Embiid scored 37 points and grabbed 15
rebounds while Tyrese Maxey had 18 points and Tobias Harris had 17.
But James Harden scored only 14 points on 2-of-11 shooting,
hitting only 2-of-5 from 3-point range.
At Brooklyn, unvaccinated Kyrie Irving played his first home
game of the season thanks to a change in New York City COVID-19 safety rules
that had previously banned him from the court.
But Charlotte dampened the debut with a 119–110 victory.
Charlotte's LaMelo Ball sparked the Hornets with 33 points,
nine assists, and seven rebounds.
Kevin Durant led the
Nets with 27 points, eight rebounds, and
seven assists while Andre Drummond added 20 points and 17 rebounds for
Brooklyn.
Irving had 16 points on 6-of-22 shooting and contributed 11
assists.
With the victory, the Hornets seized a tie-breaker edge over
Brooklyn and matched them at 39–36 on the season, dropping the Nets to ninth in
the East.
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