Paris (AFP) – The NBA champion Boston Celtics dominated the Dallas Mavericks in a Finals rematch on Saturday as the Houston Rockets took the Cleveland Cavaliers down a peg and Victor Wembanyama ended a “priceless” week in Paris with a defeat. Jayson Tatum scored 24 points, Derrick White added 23, and Jaylen Brown chipped in 22 for the Celtics, who bounced back from an embarrassing 21-point loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. All five starters scored in double figures for the Celtics, who trailed by 10 in the first quarter but inexorably imposed their will against a Mavericks team still playing without injured star Luka Doncic.
The Mavs have struggled since Doncic suffered a calf injury on Christmas Day and lost center Dereck Lively II to a broken ankle this week. Kyrie Irving led the Mavs with 22 points, but sharpshooter Klay Thompson scored just six points on four attempts from the floor. Kristaps Porzingis said it’s the kind of performance the Celtics need as they try to find consistency in their title repeat bid. “We were a lion last season and some games this year, we’ve looked like a house cat,” said Porzingis, who scored 18 points.
Related news
In Cleveland, the Rockets let a 19-point second-half lead evaporate but held on to beat the Cavaliers 135-131. Houston’s second win in four days over the Eastern Conference leaders dropped the Cavs behind Western Conference pacesetters Oklahoma City for the best record in the league. Alperen Sengun and Jalen Green scored 26 points apiece, and Amen Thompson posted a triple-double of 23 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists for the Rockets, who took a 17-point lead into the fourth quarter, only for the Cavaliers to tie it up with 1:51 left to play. A free throw by Sengun restored the Rockets’ lead, and Thompson threw down a dunk off a rebound of a Sengun miss. Up by just one with less than a minute remaining, Houston found a way to hold on.
Darius Garland scored 39 points, and Donovan Mitchell added 33 for Cleveland, but for the first time this season, the Cavs dropped a third straight and fell to 36-9.
In San Francisco, Anthony Davis scored 36 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, and LeBron James added 15 points and 12 assists to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 118-108 victory over the Golden State Warriors. Andrew Wiggins led the Warriors with 20 points, while Stephen Curry, like James a four-time NBA champion, was held to 13 points and went scoreless on 0-for-8 shooting in the second half.
At Minnesota, Anthony Edwards scored 34 points and handed out nine assists to lead the Timberwolves to a 133-104 victory over the Denver Nuggets — the team Minnesota beat in last season’s Western Conference semi-finals. Edwards made three three-pointers — including one from the center court logo — to take his tally to 976 and surpass former teammate Karl-Anthony Towns for most in Timberwolves history. Jamal Murray led the Nuggets with 25 points, while NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic added 20 and 11 assists, but with just three rebounds, his streak of consecutive triple-doubles ended at five.
The jam-packed Saturday slate started in Paris, where Tyrese Haliburton’s hot shooting fired the Indiana Pacers to a 136-98 victory over the San Antonio Spurs and their French star Victor Wembanyama. In the Bercy Arena, where he won the Olympic gold medal with the USA last year, Haliburton poured in 16 points in the third quarter on the way to a 28-point haul. Harrison Barnes led the Spurs with 25 points, and Wembanyama added 20, but San Antonio couldn’t back up their 140-110 victory over Indiana in the French capital on Thursday.
Nevertheless, Wembanyama’s return to Paris confirmed his star status at the age of 21 as he squeezed in a Champions League soccer match and an LVMH fashion show, and opened basketball courts for delighted schoolchildren. “I did my best to make this week special for my team, for my family, my friends, but people still found ways to surprise me, to make things feel like it mattered for them and I mattered for them,” Wembanyama said. “It’s priceless.”
© 2024 AFP
