Hours after attending the funeral of his father in Illinois, coach Doc Rivers saw the new-look Celtics remain the NBA's only undefeated team and personally show the Nets they are the team to beat in the Atlantic Division with an impressive 112-101 win on Saturday.
The victory was the fifth straight for Boston, which is off to its best start since winning six in a row to start the 1987-1988 season. That was the last time the trio of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish got to the Eastern Conference finals.
Paul Pierce had 13 of his 28 in the third period when Boston turned a seven-point halftime lead into a 21-point margin. Ray Allen added 27 points and Kevin Garnett had 18 points and 14 rebounds.
Trail Blazers 91 Mavericks 82
At Portland, Oregon, Brandon Roy scored a career-high 32 points and added seven assists and the Portland ended a 13-game losing streak to Dallas.
LaMarcus Aldridge added 18 points and eight rebounds for the Blazers (3-3), who extended their modest winning streak to three games after dropping the first three of the season.
Josh Howard had 20 points for Dallas (4-2), which had won its last three.
Dallas had won the previous 13 games against the Trail Blazers, a streak dating to the 2003-2004 season, including a six-game winning streak at the Rose Garden.
Kings 100, Timberwolves 93
At Sacramento, California, Kevin Martin had 29 points and Brad Miller added 12 points and 16 rebounds to lead Sacramento over winless Minnesota.
John Salmons had 19 points and three steals for the Kings who were playing at home for the second night in a row.
Al Jefferson had 17 points and 12 rebounds and Rashad McCants came off the bench to score 16 points for Minnesota in a game that was tied 21 times.
Suns 106, Magic 96
At Orlando, Florida, Leandro Barbosa scored a career-high 39 points and Phoenix withstood a 33-point, 18-rebound effort by Dwight Howard to beat Orlando.
Grant Hill had 14 points and eight rebounds in his Orlando return, but couldn't quiet a hostile crowd soured on him since he signed with Phoenix. Hill was booed all night, an unusual experience for the popular All-Star who spent seven years in Orlando but missed two-thirds of the games with several ankle injuries.
Led by Barbosa, all five Suns starters scored in double figures. Steve Nash had 19 points and 11 assists and Shawn Marion added 11 points and eight rebounds. Amare Stoudemire had 13 points and six rebounds in his second outing after missing three games with a sore knee.
In other games, it was: Jazz 118, Grizzlies 94; Nuggets 113, Pacers 106; Raptors 101, Bulls 71.
BUMRAH WATCH: Captain Jasprit Bumrah left the SCG for scans for back spasms and although he returned to the ground, there was no word on if he would play Rishabh Pant’s blistering counterattack yesterday capped a chaotic second day of the fifth and final Test between Australia and India, with 15 wickets falling and the star bowler of the series leaving the Sydney Cricket Ground with an ambulance escort. Yet the Border-Gavaskar trophy still remains very much in the balance as India reached 141-6, holding a 145-run lead over Australia with three days remaining. “Low-scoring games like this, it just heightens the pressure within it, so long way still to go,” Australia coach Andrew McDonald said. “There’s gonna be plenty of cricket, so we’ll see what happens.” Australia were bowled out for
Five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek yesterday beat Elena Rybakina in straight sets to take Poland into the final of the mixed-teams United Cup with victory over Kazakhstan. Last year’s runners-up face the US today for the title in Sydney after they beat the Czech Republic in the other semi-final. “This win makes me really proud,” Swiatek said after seeing off Rybakina 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to give Poland an unassailable 2-0 lead in the tie. It was a statement of intent from the world number two with the first major of the year to start on Jan. 12. “It is perfect preparation for the
Taiwan’s Wu Fang-hsien and Jiang Xinyu of China yesterday won the women’s doubles title at the ASB Classic in Auckland, while Naomi Osaka retired from the women’s singles final with an abdominal injury. Second seeds Wu and Jiang defeated Serbia’s Aleksandra Krunic and Sabrina Santamaria of the US 6-3, 6-4 on ASB Tennis Centre’s Stadium Court in 1 hour, 5 minutes. The WTA 250 victory was 25-year-old Wu’s second WTA Tour title, after winning the 2023 Hua Hin Championships in Thailand with Taiwanese partner Chan Hao-ching. Later that year, Wu and Taiwan’s Hsu Yu-hsiou won the mixed doubles gold at the World
SHORT-HANDED: Reigning champions the Boston Celtics were without stars Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis, but they still downed the Timberwolves Oklahoma City on Thursday stretched the NBA’s best winning streak to 13 games with a home victory, while reigning champions the Boston Celtics held on for a last-shot triumph at Minnesota. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had game highs of 29 points and eight assists to spark the Thunder over the Los Angeles Clippers 116-98, improving the Western Conference leaders to 28-5. The Thunder’s winning streak is the longest since the team relocated from Seattle after the 2007-2008 season. “It’s just being present, going day by day, working on ourselves, and I think we’re doing a good job on that,” said Isaiah Hartenstein, who added 11
RSS