The Boston Celtics, NBA champions, thanks to 32 points from Jayson Tatum, achieved a tight 124-109 victory over the Hornets in Charlotte. Cavs and Kings do well.
Jayson Tatum added 11 points for his third double-double of the season and Jaylen Brown scored 25 points with six rebounds and five assists in a physical game, which saw tension in the fourth quarter when former Celtic Grant Williams sent Tatum to ground after shoulder-to-shoulder contact. Williams was ejected, but Brown and others were clearly angry.
Less than a minute later, LaMelo was given a flagrant foul for crowding under Tatum as the Celtics star attempted a three-pointer, and Charlotte’s Miles Bridges was ejected in the final minutes.
All of this could create new friction when the teams face each other again on Saturday, but Charlotte’s nervousness cost them dearly.
The Hornets, trailing by 11 points midway through the third quarter, pulled within one on Ball’s three-pointer with 8:09 left.
When Williams was ejected, the gap was nine points, and the Celtics scored the next eight points to go on to win.
“I really liked it,” said Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, who received a technical foul like his Hornets counterpart Charles Lee. “It was fantastic.”
“Physical match, the boys handled it well, great balance, great execution”added Mazzulla, who was particularly pleased with Tatum’s response to Williams’ foul.
“I’m glad he’s well.” Mazzulla said. “The thing I liked the most was that he immediately jumped up, didn’t sit down… he went to the free throw line and did his duty.”
The Lakers return to success
In Toronto, the Los Angeles Lakers let a 26-point lead shrink to single digits, but held on to snap a two-game losing streak with a 131-125 victory over the Raptors.
LeBron James got the ball rolling, scoring 14 of his 27 points in the first quarter. Anthony Davis scored 38 points and 12 rebounds in another great offensive performance. More concerning, however, was the fact that the Lakers, leading 76-51 at halftime, allowed the Raptors to get back into the game.
Toronto cut the deficit to six points early in the fourth quarter and the Lakers’ lead was eight points, 106-98, when Rui Hachimura hit a pair of three-pointers to extend Los Angeles’ lead to 12 points. The lead was cut in half with 1:02 left before the Lakers put the game away.
“Unacceptable,” Davis said. “We won and we will take the victory because it is difficult to win in this championship, especially away.”
“But we are very far from where we want to be,” he added. “If we want to have goals and aspirations for this season, we can’t allow that on defense.”
Cavs still undefeated
The Cleveland Cavaliers moved to 6-0, winning 120-109 against the Orlando Magic, stunned by the injury to Paolo Banchero.
Darius Garland scored 25 points and Donovan Mitchell added 22 for the Cavs. Jalen Suggs scored 28 to lead Orlando, who learned Thursday that their star player would be out indefinitely with a torn right oblique muscle.
The others
The New York Knicks, led by Jalen Brunson’s 36 points, defeated the Pistons 128-98 in Detroit. Karl-Anthony Towns, who was doubtful to start because of a sprained wrist, had a double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds.
De’Aaron Fox scored 31 points and DeMar DeRozan added 27 in his fifth straight 20-point game to help the Sacramento Kings beat the Atlanta Hawks 123-115.
