The Boston Celtics started their turn against the Brooklyn Nets in the best possible way, taking a 2-0 lead after the 114-107 victory.
Jalen Brown led by 22 points, but all the key players of the team contributed to the collective effort. Jason Tatum scored 19 points and shared 10 assists, while effective under the opponent’s basket were Al Horford (16 points) and Daniel Thais (15 points).
With a $ 50,000 fine in Game 1 for his middle fingers facing the crowd, Kyrie Irving had a tough time in front of his former fans and was limited to just 10 points. The guard succeeded in only 4 of his 13 attempts for a shot.
Kevin Durant was also hampered by the Celtics’ defense, the league’s best in the regular season. Despite his 27 points, Durand was reduced to 4 in 17 attempts from the periphery. His 18 points came from free throws.
Durand and Irving made just one of 17 shots in the second half. Bruce Brown finished with 23 points and Seth Curry added 16 points.
Celtics coach Ime Udoka said the approach to defending Durant was to get into his airspace as much as possible.
“I think that’s what we did,” Udoka said. We want to make him work defensively and offensively, have a body on him all the time and try to wear him out. »
TD Garden fans booked Irving throughout the game, starting with pre-game introductions. The volume increased after the start with the addition of the songs “Kyrie s ** ks!” Kyrie s ** ks! in each of the first two occupations of Brooklyn. The disapproval returned every time he caught the ball in his hands.
Boston was behind throughout the first half. The Nets managed to calm down and led 90-85 in the last period.
The Celtics, however, dominated a 4 seriesand fourth at 23-4 to take a 108-96 lead. The Nets were left without a basket for almost three minutes during this time.
“I think our tension dropped a bit in the second half. We did not convert either, said Nets coach Steve Nas. We had opportunities, we did not convert. »
Bruce Brown said the Celtics overwhelmed them defensively.
“We just couldn’t score on the other end,” he said. I think our physique fell by a degree in the second half. »
Irving, who is watching Ramadan, left the game at 3:23 remaining in the first quarter. He went to the locker room and came back with food, while the sun had just set in Boston.
Before the game, Ben Simmons did some contact exercises with his teammates on Wednesday, which Nash called “the next step” in the point guard recovery efforts. A possible return is being considered for race # 4.
Before the match, the Celtics honored Marcus Smart, who was named the NBA’s best defensive player the day before.
The series moves to Brooklyn for games 3 and 4, which will be played Saturday and next Monday at the Barclays Center.
Sophia Jhon is a sports journalist and author. He has worked as a news editor for Sportish and is now a sport columnist for the same publication. Alberta’s professional interests lie largely in sports news, with an emphasis on English football. He has also written articles on other sporting topics.
Denver Nuggets announced Nikola Jokic He will miss at least four weeks due to a left knee injury.
Star center was diagnosed with left knee hyperextension. At the same time, tests confirmed that the three-time NBA MVP’s knee ligaments remained intact.
Jokic was injured in the final seconds of the first half of the 123-147 loss to the Miami Heat and limped heavily on his way to the locker room. He did not return to the site after a long time.
Before his injury, Nikola managed to produce 21 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds in just 19 minutes on the field.
Losing Jokic could be a big blow for Denver, as starters Christian Braun (ankle injury), Aaron Gordon (hip issue) and Cam Johnson (knee injury) remain sidelined.
Jokic averaged 29.9 points, 12.4 rebounds and 11.1 assists per game this season.
Injury Update: Nikola Jokić suffered a Hyperextension injury in his Left Knee in last night’s match against Miami Heat. Nikola will be re-evaluated in four weeks. pic.twitter.com/NIDmlKAN81
I am a sports journalist who has written for various websites and magazines. I currently work as an author at Sportish, a news website that covers sports news. My main focus is writing about soccer, rugby and other sports in the world.
11 games were played in the NBA regular season on the night of December 29-30.
Miami hosted Denver and earned a landslide victory.
The home team was ahead by 12 points with 41:29 to play in the first quarter, but the Nuggets were able to slowly win back in the second quarter. The teams entered a long break with the score tied at 63:63. The decisive factor in the match was the third quarter, when the Heat made an 11:0 move and led by 15 points at 84:69. After that the home team completely controlled the course of the game and only increased their advantage, achieving a crushing victory – 147:123.
The most productive player of the match was Powell, who brought 25 points to Miami, while Jaques (20 points + 11 assists) and Adebayo had double-doubles with 13 points + 10 rebounds.
San Antonio hosted Cleveland and suffered a sensational defeat.
Three-quarters of the meeting was fought evenly, with the teams responding to each other’s pushes with their own pushes and often staying within a shot or two of each other. That changed in the fourth quarter, as the Cavaliers went on a 15-2 run to take a 10-point lead, 94-84. They then maintained their advantage and won with a score of 113:101.
Cleveland’s main hero in this game was Allen, who had a double-double with 27 points and 10 rebounds. Garland can achieve the same success with 15 points and 11 assists.
Toronto beat Orlando at home.
Magic started the match better and made a 14:2 move at the start. Afterwards, they took control of the course of the game and increased the advantage completely to +21 – 51:30 in the second 12 minutes. After that, the home team slowly started to close the gap and entered the long break with a score of 11-11 at 54:65. The third quarter was tied, so Orlando still had a double-digit advantage ahead of the final: 94:84. At the beginning of the match the play followed the same scenario but in the middle Toronto made a move with 15:0 and not only won it back but also took the lead with 105:102. The fate of the game was decided by Barnes’ free throws, which set the score at 107:106 with 1 minute and 27 seconds left in the quarter.
Barnes could not make a triple-double this time, but he did a double-double and got 13 points and 11 rebounds, while the most productive name in the victory was Shead with 19 points.
I am a sports journalist who has written for various websites and magazines. I currently work as an author at Sportish, a news website that covers sports news. My main focus is writing about soccer, rugby and other sports in the world.
Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo He gave a harsh response to the question about a possible trade to another NBA club:
“I’m here. Don’t ask me that question. It’s disrespectful to me and my teammates. I wear this jersey every day.
To say I don’t want to be here is disrespectful to the organization, the coaching staff, myself and everyone who worked hard to get me on the field. Don’t ask me this question. I am her. I’m going out in this uniform. And as long as I’m here, I’ll give it my all until the last second of the match.”
On the night of December 27-28, Antetokounmpo returned to the field after his calf muscle injury and became the most productive player of the game with the Chicago Bulls – 112:103.
I am a sports journalist who has written for various websites and magazines. I currently work as an author at Sportish, a news website that covers sports news. My main focus is writing about soccer, rugby and other sports in the world.
