Los Angeles (AFP) – In a confrontation between the two teams with the most titles in the NBA, the Boston Celtics emerged victorious from the Christmas match by defeating their host and historic rival, the Los Angeles Lakers, 126-115 on Monday.
Published on: 12/26/2023 – 08:05
6 minutes
The Celtics won their twenty-third victory at the top of the Eastern Conference and the overall standings, thanks to the collective performance, as all five starters scored 18 points or more, led by Latvia’s Kristpas Porzingis, who scored 28 points with 11 rebounds, while Jayson Tatum contributed 25 points, Jaylen Brown with 19, and Derrick White with 18. With 11 assists.
The confrontation between the two teams, which share the record number of titles (17 each), was among five matches held on Christmas Day.
In Los Angeles, the Celtics emerged victorious for the first time in the third confrontation between the two teams on Christmas Day (the first in 1951, when the Minneapolis Lakers won in Boston, and the second in 2008, when the Lakers won at home), despite the efforts of Anthony Davis, who excelled by scoring 40 points for the hosts, who found They trailed 0-12 after the opening whistle.
The difference between the two sides reached 18 points in the first quarter, but the Lakers, thanks to 20 points from Davis, reduced the gap to one point late in the second quarter, which witnessed a collision between Jaylen Brown and LeBron James, which led to the first being injured in his lower back and the second in his left knee, but they completed. Meeting.
After the start of the third quarter, the Lakers took the lead over their host for the first and last time, before the Green Team responded with seven consecutive points to regain the lead they maintained until the final whistle, achieving their third consecutive victory and the twelfth in the last 14 games, while James and his teammates suffered their sixth defeat in eight games. Since winning the first edition of the In-Season Cup.
Tatum said that what he liked most about his team was the way it responded after the Lakers succeeded in reducing the gap and then taking a two-point lead early in the third quarter with a spectacular basket from Jared Vanderbilt, adding, “It is a big victory, isn’t it? It is Christmas Day and it is difficult to win away from home.” He expressed his satisfaction with “the way we responded (after the Lakers’ return) and how we executed (the attacks) late in the match.”
Kerr criticizes arbitration
In Denver, Jamal Murray scored 28 points, and Serbian Nikola Jokic compensated for his modest shooting success rate (4 out of 12) by scoring 18 out of 18 free throws (26 points in total with 14 rebounds and 8 assists), leading the defending champion Denver Nuggets to their fifth victory in a row. At the expense of its guest, the Golden State Warriors, 120-114, in a confrontation between the champions of the last two seasons.
The Warriors entered the match on the back of 5 consecutive victories, but were affected by the suffering of their star Stephen Curry, who finished the first half with only four points and the game with 18 after scoring only 7 of his 21 attempts.
Canadian Andrew Wiggins kept the guests in the atmosphere of the match by scoring 22 points, but 14 free throws from Jokic in the second half played a role in the Warriors’ fifteenth defeat and the Nuggets’ twenty-second victory.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr was not satisfied with the fouls awarded to Jokic, considering that the league had “legalized putting the defense out of the game,” adding, “If I were a fan, I would not want to watch the second half of this match. It was disgusting.”
He continued, “It was just luring the referees into calling fouls, but the referees are forced to call fouls because this is what they learned.”
50 points for Doncic
Slovenian Luka Doncic excelled by scoring 50 points with 14 assists, leading the Dallas Mavericks to victory over the host Phoenix Suns 128-114 after he made 8 three-pointers out of 16 attempts and with all 12 of his free throws.
Jalen Brunson shines for his team, the New York Knicks, in their match against the Milwaukee Bucks, which ended with the first victory in the NBA on Monday, December 25, 2023 © Rick Grasley/Aity/Getty via AFP
The evening was special for the Slovenian star not only because he led the Mavericks to their 18th victory, but also because he reached ten thousand points during his 358 league matches, making him the seventh fastest player in history to reach this number.
After being 15 points behind, Grayson Allen succeeded in bringing the Suns back into the atmosphere by scoring 19 of his 32 points in the third quarter, but the Mavericks settled matters dramatically in the middle of the final quarter by scoring 17 points compared to only 4 for their host, who ultimately suffered their ninth defeat in the last 12. match.
Erik Spoelstra strengthened his record in terms of the number of victories on Christmas Day after raising it to 9 out of 9, with his team’s Miami Heat victory over its guest Philadelphia 76ers 119-113, taking advantage of the latter’s lack of the services of his Cameroonian star Joel Embiid due to a sprained ankle in order to join. It suffered its ninth defeat this season and achieved its eighteenth victory.
With his 38 points, Jaylen Bronson led his New York Knicks team to take revenge on the Milwaukee Bucks and beat them 129-122 in the second match between the two teams within three days, ending a series of seven consecutive victories for the visitors.
The Knicks lost their last nine matches with the Bucks, the last of which was on Saturday by a score of 111-130.
Bronson said after the match, “I’m happy with the way we played today. We kept fighting… You have to give them (the Bucks) their due. They are a very strong team, so I’m happy that we came out with the win.”
Also, Julius Randle scored 24 points with 9 rebounds, Canadian RJ Barrett added 21 points, and Immanuel Quickley 20 for the winning team.
On the other hand, Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard each scored 32 points, with 13 rebounds for the former and 8 assists for the latter.
© 2023 AFP
2023-12-26 07:05:14
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