In a re-run of last year’s final, The Boston Celtics won in overtime against the Golden State Warriors pushed by Jayson Tatum, on an NBA day in which The Brooklyn Nets, without Kevin Durant, extended their slump with the loss Some casualties occurred on the Phoenix Suns’ territory.
Celtics 121 – Warriors 118
The Celtics came back and won against the Warriors at the TD Garden with 34 points, 19 points and six assists from Jayson Tatum and a double-double of twenty points and ten rebounds from Dominican Al Horford.
Joe Majulla’s team handed San Francisco their eighteenth loss in 23 games to the Warriors, with Steph Curry scoring 29 points, including six three-pointers, one of them from center court.
The Celtics have won eight in a row and are atop the East (34-12) ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks (29-16).
The Warriors melted away in overtime and finished with a 22–23 record, seventh in the West.
SUN 117 – NET 112
The Nets can’t run without Durant. Despite a spectacular fourth-period comeback, with their star sidelined by knee ligament problems, a Brooklyn team without Chris Paul or Devin Booker lost to the Suns.
A 20–4 run led by Kyrie Irving allowed the Nets to reach -2 after touching a 24-point deficit, but the Suns managed to defend their win.
It was the fourth straight loss for the Nets, who had vertical inversions since an injury to Durant, who would not return for the next two weeks.
Irving’s 30 points were not enough for them, 21 of them in the fourth period, in a game in which Ben Simmons was ejected in the third period for repeatedly protesting the referees.
The Suns, in which Cam Johnson returned after nearly three months out, were led by 28 points from Mikal Bridges and a double-double of 24 points and fourteen rebounds from DeAndre Ayton.
Pistons 108 – Bulls 126
In the NBA’s return to Paris and a classic among franchises that lived through their moments of glory in the late 80s and early 90s, the Bulls, led by Zack LaVine’s 30 points and DeMar DeRozan’s 26, won Of.
The match was played at the Accor Arena in Bercy, with tickets selling for between 80 and 1,870 euros, and boasted stars such as Richard Hamilton and Ben Wallace, champions with the Pistons in 2004, Frenchman Tony Parker and Magic Johnson.
Trail Blazers 95 – 76ERS 105
The 76ers celebrated their fourth consecutive win, dominated by the Blazers’ 32 points and nine rebounds from Joel Embiid and a triple-double of 16 points, ten rebounds and fourteen assists from James Harden.
Doc Rivers’ team finished with a 50% shooting accuracy rate, while the Blazers did not exceed 37.6%, with Damian Lillard being the top scorer with 25 points and eleven assists.
Timberwolves 128 – Raptors 126
The final run of 23–7 allowed the Wolves to overcome the Toronto Raptors, who had a fourteen-point lead going into the fourth period.
D’Angelo Russell, with 25 points and five triples, Anthony Edwards, with 23, and Kyle Anderson, with 20, led some Wolves comebacks that couldn’t rely on Karl Anthony Towns or Frenchman Rudy Gobert.
