Tatum and Celtics come away with the victory in their visit to some tough Hornets

Charlotte, North Carolina.- Jayson Tatum scored 32 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, Jaylen Brown added 25 points and Boston Celtics They took off towards the end to beat Charlotte 124-109 in a heated Friday night game in which two players from the Hornets They were expelled.

Derrick White scored 17 points and Jrue Holiday contributed 14 for Boston.

LaMelo Ball He had 31 points before fouling out to lead the Hornets, who continue to play without injured starters Brandon Miller y Mark Williams.

Unnecessary rudeness

The game became tense in the fourth quarter when Grant Williams He was ejected for a second-degree flagrant foul after running over Tatum near midfield.

Moments later, Ball flagrantly fouled Tatum on a 3-point attempt and was called for a dangerous foul. Then, in the final seconds, Miles Bridges was ejected.

The game featured new Hornets head coach Charles Lee facing the team with which he won an AL championship. NBA last season as an assistant coach.

The Hornets counted on a great game from rookie Tidjane Salaun, who scored nine points on three triples.

Boston showed its championship toughness down the stretch, keeping its cool as the Hornets imploded. The Celtics benefited from 26 fouls against the Hornets, while committing only 13.

Riders, unstoppable

A Cleveland, Darius Garland scored 25 points, Donovan Mitchell added 22 and Cleveland Cavaliers They improved to 6-0 with a 120-109 victory over the Orlando Magic, who played their first game without the injured All-Star Paolo Banchero.

The Cavs are the only undefeated team in the Eastern Conference. The last time Cleveland started with a 6-0 record was in 2016 under LeBron James. The club’s best start was 8-0 in 1976.

The first meeting between Orlando and Cleveland was a rematch of last season’s tense first-round playoff series, won by the Cavs in seven games.

Hard low

Banchero is expected to miss at least a month, and maybe more, with a right oblique tear. The No. 1 overall pick in the 2022 draft was off to a spectacular start, averaging 29 points with 8.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists before getting injured on Wednesday.

Orlando’s Jalen Suggs scored a career-high 28 points to go along with eight rebounds and seven assists. Franz Wagner scored 17 points.

Cleveland rookie Luke Travers made his NBA debut. The Australian scored four points in timeout.

Source: Tribune