(Basketball news) Rudy Gobert gets traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves as the Utah Jazz agreed to trade center in what was a blockbuster deal that will pair him with fellow All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns. According to  Adrian Wojnarowski, the Timberwolves sent Malik Beasley, Patrick Beverley, Jarred Vanderbilt, Leandro Bolmaro and their No. 22 pick Walker Kessler along with four first-round picks to the Jazz. Utah will now acquire the unprotected picks in 2023, 2025 and 2027 and a top-five-protected pick in 2029, in what was Danny Ainge's first franchise-altering move since taking over as the Jazz's CEO this midseason.The Jazz have now gathered a total of six first-round picks in a span of 24hrs as they plan to retool the roster around their 25-year-old All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell. .

Gobert at the age of 30 has spent his entire nine-year NBA career in Utah, developing from a lanky boy who was drafted with the No. 27 pick in 2013 into a perennial All-Star who has become a franchise cornerstone for a team that has made six consecutive playoff appearances. The 7-foot Frenchman is one of the most decorated players in Utah Jazz history, he went on to win three Defensive Player of the Year awards, along with three All-Star appearances, four All-NBA selections and six first-team All-Defensive selections.

Gobert is subsequently entering the second season of a massive five-year contract of $205 million. This free agency Karl Anthony Towns also agreed to a four-year, $224 million supermax extension on Friday. The moment he was eligible he had a total commitment of $295 million over six years. Now with Gobert by his side, especially someone who averaged 15.6 points, a league-leading 14.7 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game in 2021-22 will certainly form a towering line up. When a tumultuous Jazz season ended with a first-round exit at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks, Danny Ainge went into full rebuild mode.

Gobert wrote in a tweet, saying he "felt embraced and supported since day one. I've grown as a man and as a player before your very eyes and I'm thankful [for] every single moment. Utah and its community will always have a special place in my heart. Thank you! The journey continues..."

In another massive trade, San Antonio Spurs pushed their rebuild into full swing as they traded for All-Star guard Dejounte Murray to the Atlanta Hawks for forward Danilo Gallinari and a trio of first-round picks. The full deal was announced by the teams as Hawks received Dejounte Murray, Jock Landale whereas the Spurs received Danilo Gallinari, 2023 first-round pick (via Charlotte from New York, protected), 2025 first-round pick, 2026 pick swap, 2027 first-round pick. According to Wojnarowski, Spurs are expected to waive Gallinari who has since go onto sign with the Boston Celtics in free agency

For Atlanta, the goal of strengthening a backcourt already led by All-NBA guard Trae Young, who last season finished sixth in the league in scoring charts when he averaged 28.4 points per game, have now added a dynamic young point guard who is coming off his best season as a pro. The 29th pick of the 2016 NBA Draft, Murray, earned his first All-Star appearance in 2021-22, when went on to average a career-high 21.1 points to go with 9.2 assists, 8.3 rebounds and 2.0 steals. The six-year veteran instantly upgrades Atlanta’s backcourt on the defensive end as the rangy point guard earned a place in the NBA All-Defensive 2nd Team honors in just his second season (2017-18).

Also read: Nikola Jokic has signed the biggest contract in NBA history
 

(Basketball news) Kevin Durant has reportedly requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets, according to Shams Charania. It was reported the Phoenix Suns are among Durant's "preferred' landing spots, while the Miami Heat were also mentioned earlier in the week as a potential trade destination. Adrian Wojnarowski also added that despite those teams being mentioned on Durant's list, the Nets "plan to move Durant where they can get the best possible deal."

The decision comes after teammate Kyrie Irving announced he would opt into the final year of his contract with the Nets, which was worth $37 million. Shams Charania also noted Irving wanted to "fulfill his four-year commitment" before being a free agent next year. According to the reports, Durant and Irving had no contact with Sean Marks who is the General manager of the Nets, after the opt-in, and there was a "sense of inevitability" that Durant would eventually ask for a trade. The superstar reportedly requested the trade directly from team governor Joe Tsai. .

Durant's contract runs till 2025-26 season after agreeing to a four-year, $194 million extension last season. Although he signed a contract extension with the Nets, there was still uncertainty about his future this offseason because of the horrendous season they had where they got thumped by the Celtics in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Irving was also potentially looking for a new home after hardly featuring for the Nets last season. Wojnarowski has reported that Irving created a list of teams for a possible sign-and-trade, with the Los Angeles Lakers named as his top destination. Durant on the other hand was monitoring the situation and "considering options with his future,"

The 33-year-old is apparently now ready to move on, which could lead to one of the biggest blockbuster trades in NBA history. Durant has 12 All-Star appearances, four scoring titles, one MVP, two NBA titles and two Finals MVP awards. He is an elite offensive weapon 15 years into his career, averaging 29.9 points per game last season, which was tied for second in the NBA scoring charts. The forward also added 7.4 rebounds and a career-high 6.4 assists per game in 2021-22 NBA season

For any team it would require a significant return to land Kevin Durant, but a trade would legitimately shake up the dynamics of the NBA next season. The former Texas star initially joined the Nets in 2019 alongside Irving, but the duo hasn’t found any success with the Nets as  many anticipated the duo to win numerous Championships. In three years, the team had just one playoff series win, while this playoffs series they were swept out of the first round by the Boston Celtics. Durant and Irving played only 17 games together in 2021-22 and 27 games in 2020-21. Durant had missed all of 2019-20 while recovering from an Achilles injury.

Also read: Kyrie decides to exercise $37 million option to stay with the Nets
 

(Basketball news) Golden State Warriors clinched their 4th title in 8 years as they beat the Boston Celtics in game 6 103-90. For the Warriors, Stephen Curry scored 34 points and was named the NBA Finals MVP as they claimed their franchise's seventh championship overall. Andrew Wiggins supported Steph Curry by scoring 18 points as Draymond Green had 12 points and 16 rebounds in an outstanding defensive display carried the Warriors to this year's NBA crown. For the Celtics, Jaylen Brown led the scoring with 34 points but Jayson Tatum finished with just 13, shooting just 6 of 18 from the field as Al Horford scored 19 points. They also committed 22 turnovers, dropping to 1-8 this postseason when committing 16 or more. 

For the Boston Celtics it was only their fifth defeat in 22 title-series appearances, which turned their season around to have reached the NBA final. Boston was 25-25 after 50 games, then went on a rampage to get into the finals and nearly claim what would have been just the franchise's second championship since 1986. The Celtics came out firing as they were motivated by the energy from a deafening TD Garden crowd as they took an early 14-2 lead. The Warriors weren't rattled and responded with a 35-8 run that stretched into the second quarter on the way to taking a 22-point lead. The Warriors outscored the Celtics 27-17 for the second quarter and carried a 54-39 lead into the second half as some Celtics fans booed the home team as they left the court for the half-time break. Boston did not give up and fought back in the third quarter, but the Warriors found their range from beyond the arc, connecting on six 3 pointers to bury the game in the 4th quarter.

For Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala, it was their fourth NBA championship. Their first three championship rings came in 2015, 2017 and 2018 when Golden State made it to five consecutive trips to the finals. For Steve Kerr it was his ninth NBA championship overall after winning five as a player also. He also becomes the sixth coach to capture four titles, joining the likes of Phil Jackson, Red Auerbach, John Kundla, Gregg Popovich and Pat Riley. Steph Curry came into life this final and helped Warriors win a record 7th NBA Championship, at this rate Steph Curry is on to achieve GOAT status but funnily enough this was his first finals MVP in his career. 

''We found a way to just get it done,'' Curry said after the Warriors accepted the championship trophy and celebrated on the court.

''It's part of a championship pedigree, our experience,'' he said. ''We built this for 10-11 years. That means a lot when you get to this stage.''

''They're all unique, they're all special,'' coach Steve Kerr said of the multiple titles. ''This one might have been the most unlikely. ... It takes a group effort to get it done and we had a great group.''

''It all paid off,'' Thompson said. ''It was dog days, a lot of tears shed. ... You knew it was a possibility, but to see it in real time. . It's crazy.''

''This one hits differently for sure knowing what the last three years meant, what it's been like,'' Curry said. ''Injuries, the changing of the guard, rosters, the young guys. ... Now, we got four championships. Me, Dray, Klay and Andre.

''Finally got that bad boy,'' Curry added, referring to the MVP trophy. ''It's special. ... Everybody mattered in that process.''

''Just couldn't withstand their runs,'' Celtics center Robert Williams said. ''Messing up. They played harder and won tonight.''

Also read: Warriors take the series lead against the Celtics in the NBA Finals

(Basketball news) The Warriors took full advantage of their home support as they took a 3-2 lead against the Boston Celtics in game 5 which they won 104-94. For the Warriors, Wiggins had 26 points and 13 rebounds, Klay Thompson scored 21 points and Curry contributed 16 points and eight assists but was 0 for 9 from 3-point range. For the Celtics, Jayson Tatum had 27 points and 10 rebounds for them, who lost consecutive games for the first time in the postseason, Jaylen Brown was 2 for 11 to start the game and finished with 18 points on 5-of-18 shooting and missed all five of his 3-pointers. Now the Warriors have the chance to win the NBA Championship in the next match as they have the first championship point but they will have to travel to the TD Garden in Boston on the 16th of June.

Steph Curry scored 16 points as the career 3-point leader's NBA-record streak of 132 straight postseason games with at least one 3 pointer ended, along with his NBA-best run of 233 consecutive games with a 3 between regular season and playoffs combined all ended yesterday but the main thing is that they got the all important win and are now just a win away from their 4 title in 8 years. For the Boston Celtic,s the task becomes even more difficult as Warriors tend to thrive in situations like this. The Celtics need their big three of Tatum, Brown and Smart to play out of their skins to level the series. In today's match Steve Kerr celebrated his 25th anniversary of his game-winning shot in Game 6 of the NBA Finals as the Bulls beat the Jazz to clinch a record Chicago's fifth championship in a row.

''An incredible memory obviously. Something every young basketball player dreams of. So to be able to live that was pretty amazing,'' Kerr said, smiling. ''And then the fact that it's 25 years ago just makes me feel old, of course.''

''It's something I dreamt about for sure, being in the league, and this is the ultimate stage,'' Wiggins said. ''It doesn't get bigger than this.''

''Coming into this year, he was an All-Star starter for a reason,'' Draymond Green said. ''... The bigger the challenge has been that we've thrown in front of him, the bigger he's responded. You want a guy like that. When the stage gets big, they respond and play their best basketball, and that's what he's been doing.''

''Uh, keep shooting, very simple,'' Curry said, grinning. ''I'm not afraid to go 0-fer or whatever because I'm going to keep shooting.''

Green knows how Curry will respond: ''He's going to be livid going into Game 6. That's exactly what we need.''

''Bottom line is he's just having fun playing basketball,'' Curry said.

''Definitely we weren't as sharp as we needed to be during times there. Just tough,'' Horford said. ''Definitely now, our backs are against the wall, and we have to see what we're made of.''

''When we're at our best, it's simple ball movement. I think the third quarter showed that. The drive and kick was beautiful, was working, getting guys wide-open shots,'' coach Ime Udoka said.

''A night that he didn't have it going we found offense elsewhere,'' said Green

Also read: Steph Curry magic helps sink Celtics in game 4 of the NBA Finals
 

(Basketball news) Steph Curry helped the Warriors get a crucial victory over the Boston Celtics in game 4 of the NBA Finals as they beat them 107-97. Curry scored 43 points as Andrew Wiggins had 17 points and 16 boards, the Warriors have now won at least one away game in an NBA-record 27 consecutive playoff series since 2013 For the Celtics, Jayson Tatum had 23 points and 11 rebounds for them, but he managed just one basket while playing the entire fourth quarter. Jaylen Brown scored 21 points and Robert Williams III had 12 rebounds as Marcus Smart scored 18 points. The Warriors will host Game 5 on Monday night, with Game 6 in Boston on Thursday; Golden State would hold the home-court advantage in a seventh game, if necessary.

Steph Curry was in marvellous touch as he scored 43 points as the two-time league MVP stomped and shot his way to his third-highest scoring total in the postseason, adding 10 rebounds. It was the second-most points he has scored in the NBA Finals. For the Celtics it was a lost opportunity to take full home advantage by winning their home games but now face a daunting task of winning at least one match at the Chase centre. Curry got 19 points in the first half and 14 in the third quarter as they had to be strong in the fourth quarter considering how those have been troublesome for the Warriors as before the match he was uncertain to start because of a slight niggle he suffered in the last match. A few switches to get favourable matchups and jumpers followed, and the job was done, with 10 rebounds.

''The heart of that man is incredible,'' Warriors guard Klay Thompson said. ''The things he does, we kind of take for granted at times, to go out there and put us on his back. We've got to help him out on Monday.''

''We had to do it the difficult way,'' said Celtics coach Ime Udoka, whose team is 7-0 after losses in the 2022 postseason. ''We have to do it again. It could have been an easier road, obviously, if you get the win tonight. But we're 2-2 now. We know we can do it. We've done it before.''

''He wasn't letting us lose. That's all it boils down to,'' Warriors big man Draymond Green said. ''I could tell in his demeanour, last couple of days, even after Game 3 that he was going to come out with that kind of fire.''

''I felt like we just had to let everybody know that we were here tonight,'' Curry said. ''Whether that's their crowd, their team, our team, whoever wants to see that energy and that fire, we feed off of that.''

''He's the ultimate competitor. ... Made huge plays down the stretch,'' Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. ''This is a tough series for him to score because of Boston's size and athleticism, but he's still impacting the game at a huge level.''

Never even looked like it was a factor,'' Kerr said. ''The physicality out there is pretty dramatic. Boston's got the best defence in the league - huge and powerful at every position, and for Steph to take that kind of pressure all game long and still be able to defend ... I think this is the strongest physically he's ever been in his career.''

Also read: NBA: Celtics take the lead in the NBA finals against the Warriors

(Basketball news) Boston Celtics took the lead in the NBA Final after they won 116-100 against the Golden State Warriors in game 3. For the Celtics, Jaylen Brown scored 27 points, Jayson Tatum added 26 as Marcus Smart added 24 points and helped fuel a defensive effort that held the Warriors to 11 points in the fourth quarter which was subsequently the third-fewest in a finals game in the shot clock era. For the Warriors, Stephen Curry led Golden State with 31 points and six 3-pointers. He had 15 points in a 33-25 third quarter as Klay Thompson broke out of a finals slump and finished with 25 points and five 3s. With this game Celtics have an advantage to win one more home game and take a healthy lead in the NBA Finals this year.

The Warriors' shooting couldn't save them on a night the more athletic Celtics outmuscled them for a 47-31 rebounding advantage which ultimate helped them to win the game by 16 points.The previous 39 times teams have split the first two games of the finals, the winner of Game 3 went on to win the series 82% of the time. Steph and Klay need all their finals experience to guide this relatively young Warriors to another title, at this moment Celtics have been the better team over the three games, and with one more game at the TD garden it could be too late for them to revive the series. If Warriors stand a chance at their 4 titles in the last 7 years then they need to win their next away match against the resurgent Celtics.

''Game 2, they brought the heat to us,'' Smart said. ''For us, that left a bad taste in our mouth because what we hang our hat on is effort on the defensive end and being a physical team. It definitely woke us up a little bit.''

''I think that's when we are at our best when we respond to tough situations. We respond to teams going on runs and things like that,'' he said. ''I think we did that several times tonight.''

''I got caught -- obviously in some pain, but I'll be alright,'' Curry said. ''See how it feels tomorrow and get ready for Friday.''

''We talked about it quite a bit, our group being resilient and being able to fight through a lot of things and at times when it's most needed being able to lock down on defense,'' Celtics coach Ime Udoka said. ''We did in the fourth quarter,'

''The injury didn't force him out of the game, but I took him out down 14 with two minutes left because we weren't going to catch up,'' Kerr said.

Also read: Warriors bounce back in game 2 against the Celtics in the NBA Finals
 

(Basketball news) The Golden State Warriors bounced back in Game 2 of the finals as they beat the Boston Celtics 107-89 to level the series 1-1. For the Warriors, Stephen Curry scored 29 points while Poole finished with 17 points, they also got 12 from Kevon Looney on 6-for-6 shooting, and 11 apiece from Andrew Wiggins and Klay Thompson. For the Celtics, Jayson Tatum scored 21 of his 28 points in the first half for Boston. Jaylen Brown added 17 for them, but fought through a 5-for-17 shooting night, and Derrick White scored 12. With this result the 2 matches at San Francisco are done as both the teams will go to Boston to play the next two games.

The Celtics were bidding to join only the 1993 Chicago Bulls and 1995 Houston Rockets to the list of teams that swept two road games to open in the finals. Those Bulls and Rockets teams went on to win the championship, and 31 of the previous 36 teams to open with 2-0 leads in a NBA Final have ended up celebrating a title. But if you ask any Celtics fans if they would have taken a 1-1 series before they come to Boston, all the fans would have taken this scenario considering how strong the Warriors have been this season. The Celtics now technically need to only win their remaining home games to become champions, though that won't be easy against this Warriors team that has won at least one road game in an NBA-record 26 consecutive playoff series. 

''I thought everybody was more engaged,'' Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after his team improved to 5-0 after a loss in these playoffs. ''It's pretty obvious. Just our level of force and physicality was ramped up quite a bit, and it had to be.''

''We said we needed to play with desperation,'' Curry said. ''That's what we did.''

''Steph was breathtaking in that quarter,'' Kerr said.

''I just let them know how I felt throughout the game in a demonstrative way, on purpose, to get a technical,'' Udoka said.

''We have to take better care of the ball,'' Tatum said.

''It is what it is,'' said the Celtics' Al Horford, who had 26 points in Game 1 and was held to two points Sunday. ''On to Game 3.''

Also read: Celtics draw first blood against the Warriors in the NBA Final
 

(Basketball news) The Boston Celtics continued their midas touch as they won game 1 against the Golden State Warriors 120-108. For the Celtics, Jaylen Brown fueled the late charge and scored 24 points, Al Horford hit six 3-pointers as he scored  26 points and the Celtics rode the most lopsided fourth quarter in NBA Finals history. In his 15th-year , the big man, who turned 36 played in 141 previous postseason games, which was subsequently the most ever before playing in the NBA Finals. For the Warriors, Curry scored 34 points in his return to the NBA's big stage for the first time in three years as Andrew Wiggins scored 20 points in his finals debut, Draymond Green grabbed 11 rebounds and Klay Thompson contributed 15 points.

With this result the Celtics take a 1-0 lead in the NBA Finals as Game 2 is on Sunday night back at Chase Center. For the first time this postseason, Horford (26 points) led the Celtics in scoring, but it was the efficiency which caught everyone's eye (9-12 FGs, 6-8 3PM) as he trumped all else in his box score. The way Horford sank timely 3s in the fourth quarter, it helped the Celtics apply traps defensively, and it essentially came down to the leadership the Celtics have valued since his return to form this season, which has proved invaluable for the team. It made up for the off Jason Tatum had as he was the lone Celtics regular who struggled offensively, finishing 3 for 17, though he did have 13 assists. Marcus Smart contributed on both ends of the floor as he scored 18 points and put a defensive masterclass on Steph Curry in the fourth quarter.

''I felt like the guys kept finding me time after time. Also Derrick White hit some tough shots there, too,'' Horford said. ''I was just getting the looks, knocking them down. That's that.''

“It's not ideal but I believe in who we are and how we deal with adversity, how we responded all year, how we respond in the playoffs after a loss,'' Curry said. ''So I learned a lot from that fourth quarter, obviously they made a lot of shots. It seemed like they didn't miss 'til deep into the fourth. When you have a team that just finds a little bit of momentum like they did and they keep making shots, it's tough to kind of regain that momentum.''

''It's an unbelievable feeling just to be here and competing at this level against such a dynamic franchise the last couple years,'' Boston guard Payton Pritchard said. ''I think we're all just looking forward to the challenge to go through the series and try to get it done.''

''It's a different feeling. You obviously go into Game 2 with more of a sense of desperation. That's all part of this stuff. We've been in this position before,'' Kerr said. ''Boston played a brilliant quarter. They came in and earned the win.''

Also read: NBA: Boston Celtics reach their first NBA final since 2010
 

(Basketball news) The Boston Celtics made history by reaching their first final since 2010 as they beat the Miami Heat 100-96 in game number 7. For the Celtics, Eastern Conference finals MVP Jayson Tatum led the way with 26 points, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart each added 24. For the Heat, Jimmy Butler led the scoring with 35 points in what became their season finale. Bam Adebayo added 25 points as Kyle Lowry scored 15 points. With this result they will now face the Golden State Warriors in an historic  NBA Final 2022.

The Boston Celtics will have a tough task against Steph and co as they will be the clear favourites in the final. With Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown on song it will be an interesting watch to see. The Warriors are back for more and thirsty for more success and are thoroughly qualified to raise the trophy for a fourth time since 2015. Their veteran trio is championship-tested and along with that Steve Kerr has managed to infuse youth and quickness to make for a winning combination. Meanwhile, this Celtics team is also trying to add to the franchise trophy case, one that’s bigger than the Warriors and that of everyone else other than the Lakers. Jayson Tatum is on the verge of superstar status and Jaylen Brown has proven to be a very capable sidekick. Both are superb two-way players and, along with Marcus Smart, make Boston an elite defensive combination which has won them so many matches this season

''This is amazing,'' Smart said. ''We finally got over the hump.''

''To get over the hump with this group, it means everything,'' Tatum said.

''It's just one of those really tough moments,'' Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. ''You can't prepare for it. ... It's one of the worst feelings in the world to address your locker room after a game like this.''

''Our focus is getting four more,'' Udoka said.

''The road that we took to get here, not a lot of people believed in us,'' Tatum said. ''We took the toughest route. It looked out.''

'The Boston Celtics did what they came out here to do in this series,'' Butler said.

''Today was the biggest test,'' Brown said. ''Not just of the year, but of our careers.''

Also read: NBA: Miami Heat force game 7 in the Eastern Conference finals
 

(Basketball news) The Miami Heat played out their skin to force game 7 as they beat the Boston Celtics 111-103. For the Heat, Butler scored 47 points - a career playoff high and one of the best performances by a player facing elimination in NBA history as Lowry finished with 18 points and 10 assists. For the Celtics, Jayson Tatum had 30 points and nine rebounds for them, and White came off the bench to score 11 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter as Jaylen Brown scored 20 points. With this result Miami get home advantage in the crucial game 7 to decide the winners of the Eastern Conference and the finalist who will play the Warriors.

Jimmy Butler’s performance was reminiscent of LeBron James in 2010 where he scored 45 points in a Game 6 in Boston to the first of the Heat's back-to-back NBA titles, Butler was even more clutch as he scored 17 points in the fourth quarter to top him and send the series back to Miami. With a victory at home, the Heat would advance to the NBA Finals for the second time in three years. On the other hand, the Celtics are trying to reach the finals for the first time since 2010, two years after the Big Three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen won their record equaling 17th NBA title which was a record since then.

''It's incredible,'' Lowry said ''It's incredible to have a guy like him next to me. I've played with some great players, and he's one of the best.''

''This is the way it should be, with these two teams. It should have gone seven games,'' Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. ''I'm just really thrilled that our group gets an opportunity to compete in a Game 7 in front of our home crowd.''

''He came out from the jump and kind of put his imprint on the game,'' White said. ''That's just who he's been his whole career, constantly attacking and doing what he does to help his team win. We knew it was coming, and we've got to do a better job in Game 7.''

''It's no secret: It's Game 7, trip to the NBA Finals, a lot on the line,'' Tatum said. ''We know what's at stake. We know how much this means to everybody.''

''I get it, people can easily draw the comparisons between the two,'' Spoelstra said. ''That's a different era. That's a different team. I want our guys to embrace this moment.''

Also read: Warriors make it to 6 finals in 8 years, Celtics outclass Heat
 

(Basketball news) Golden State Warriors cruised past Luka Doncic’s Mavericks as they won game 5 by 120-110, after this win they won the Western Conference for the 6th time in 8 years. For the Warriors, Thompson shimmied his way to 32 points as Andrew Wiggins added 18 points and 10 rebounds, Green scored 17 points and Curry had 15 points and nine assists as he was named the MVP of the series. For the Mavericks, Luka Doncic overcame a slow start to score 28 points for them as Spencer Dinwiddie added 26 points. Ultimately it wasn’t enough as Steph and co were too strong for them. With this result they head to NBA finals as they look to avenge their disappointing loss in the final against the Toronto Raptors in 2019.

''It's hard to put into words really,'' Thompson said. ''This time last year, I was just starting to jog again and get up and down the court. Now to be feeling like myself, feeling explosive, feeling sure in my movements, I'm just grateful.''

''You could see how much was missing the last couple of years,'' Draymond Green said. ''We're lucky to have the Klay Thompson we know back because we know how good he is.''

''For our team, our guys, especially the core group, to be part of that six times in eight years, I don't even know what to say,'' coach Steve Kerr said. ''It just takes an enormous amount of skill and determination and work.''

''I'm satisfied with `Game 6 Klay.' I don't need another nickname,'' Thompson said with a smile. ''It's nice not having to bring him out yet.''

''I don't like losing, especially not like this,'' Doncic said. ''I played terribly. But if we're talking about our season, I'm really proud of this team. ... Nobody had us here. But I promise we fought until the end.''

''We need Luka to go big a lot of nights just to give us a chance, and unfortunately the ball just didn't go for him tonight,'' coach Jason Kidd said. ''I think he carries the load as well as anyone, and I think for us as an organization, we'll help lighten that load as we go forward.''

The Boston Celtics overcame the Miami Heat in game number 5 as they won 93-80 against them and subsequently took a 3-2 lead in the series. For the Celtics, Jaylen Brown scored 25 points, Jayson Tatum added 22 as Al Horford had 16 points and Derrick White added 14 for the Celtics. Tatum ultimately finished with 12 rebounds and nine assists. For the Heats, Bam Adebayo scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Heat, who shot 32% in the game - after shooting 33% in Boston's 20-point win in Game 4. Gabe Vincent went on to add 15 points, Jimmy Butler had 13 and Duncan Robinson scored 11 points in what was a disappointing loss for the 2020 finalist. With this result they head to Boston as they will have a chance to close out the series in front of their home crowd.

''I think the mental stress and strain we put on some teams with our defense has worked and carried us through the playoffs at times,'' Celtics coach Ime Udoka said.

''We are not going to make any kind of deflection or any kind of excuse,'' Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. ''Boston beat us tonight. And let's be clear about that. There's guys that are far from 100% on both sides.''

''We've got an opportunity to do something with this group that's special,'' Brown said. ''Let's not take that for granted.''

''In the first half it was tough because we weren't hitting shots and we were turning the ball over,'' Horford said. ''But the key for us was continuing to do what we do defending, and then on offense playing how we play. And eventually we were able to get it going.''

''We're still lining up,'' Adebayo said. ''We've still got to play these games. We still want to win.''

Also read: NBA: Mavericks force game 5 as Celtic drew the series level

(Basketball news) The Dallas Mavericks were on the brink of elimination in the Western Conference standings but somehow managed to force a game 5 against the Golden State Warriors as they beat them 119-109. For the Mavericks, Doncic had 30 points and 14 rebounds, it was the 10th double-double in his 14 games this postseason for Doncic, who also had nine assists. Dorian Finney-Smith had 23 points on 9-of-13 shooting and Bullock added 18 points on 6-of-10 - all 3-pointers. Jalen Brunson had 15 points and Maxi Kleber was 5-of-6 shooting overall for 13 points. For the Warriors, Curry had 20 points as Jonathan Kuminga had 17 points from the bench.

''Just got to finish the game. A win is a win,'' said Doncic, who was 10-of-26 shooting with only three made 3s but got plenty of help from his supporting cast.

'Everybody in that locker room felt like we had more basketball to play,'' Finney-Smith said. ''We just wanted to get the win anyway. ... Feel like we came out desperate in that first half.''

''It was almost like an ego win (for Dallas). You come out and really have nothing to lose. So that confidence started early,'' Stephen Curry said. ''And we really didn't do anything to slow it down, and then that's when the avalanche starts. You tip your hat to them.''

''Just made the decision to see if we could pull off a miracle, but it wasn't meant to be,'' coach Steve Kerr said. ''Dallas was great tonight. They deserved to win. This is the conference finals. This is how it's supposed to be.''

''I still believe we can win. Swept or not swept, if you lose, you lose,'' Doncic said. ''Got to go game by game.''

The Boston Celtics tied the series 2-2 in the Eastern Conference finals as they beat the Miami Heat 102-82. For the Celtics, Jayson Tatum scored 31 points as Payton Pritchard had 14 points for them, Derrick White added 13 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and Robert William finished with 12 points and nine rebounds. For the Heat, Victor Oladipo led the scoring with 23 points, their starting five of All-Star Jimmy Butler (six points), Kyle Lowry (three points), P.J. Tucker (no points), Max Strus (no points) and Bam Adebayo (nine points) were a combined 7 of 36 shooting. They go to Miami for game 5 tomorrow.

''Obviously, we knew how important this game was,'' Tatum said. ''Everybody just had to come up with a different sense of urgency.''

'Just got to muster that same energy when we came off a win as well as a loss,'' Udoka said. ''This is a three-game series now. Can't always just flip the mindset when we come off a loss and get a little desperate.''

''They came out and jumped us,'' Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. ''We're not making any excuses. They outplayed us tonight for sure. We never could get any kind of grip on the game.''

''It's a part of the playoffs. You learn to adapt,'' Adebayo said. ''Guys being out, guys playing half, guys playing 20 minutes in the game, just depends. You've just got to find a way to win.'

Also read: Celtics bounce back as Warriors take a 2-0 series lead in the finals 
 

(Basketball news) The Boston Celtics bounced back in game 2 when they beat the Miami Heat 127-102 as the series is now levelled at 1-1. For the Celtics, Jayson Tatum scored 27 points, Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown each had 24 as Grant Williams scored 19 points, Payton Pritchard and Al Horford each had 10 for them. For the Heat, Jimmy Butler had 29 points in 32 minutes as Gabe Vincent and Victor Oladipo each scored 14 points, and Tyler Herro added 11 points. The 25-point halftime lead was the biggest by the Celtics in any road playoff game, topping a 22-point edge at the break at Chicago in 2009. With this result the series is on a knife's edge as both teams head to Boston tomorrow to play game three, which could be a crucial match for both the teams. 

''Guys have pride and looked at a golden opportunity that we kind of lost (in Game 1) and thought we could do much better,'' Udoka said. ''And we did that tonight.''

''We were pretty confident,'' Pritchard said.

''This only counts as one,'' Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. ''That's what the experienced players in the locker room and staff understand. We don't like it. They played extremely well. You have two really good teams and we just have to figure some things out.''

''It's a loss, whether you lose by one or by 20,'' Vincent said. ''It's regroup, go back to the drawing board and get ready for Game 3.''

''They came out,'' Heat centre Bam Adebayo said, ''and hit us in the mouth.''

''I got to get my rest, got to get my health back, got to watch and see some things and come out and execute in this game,'' Smart said.

''It has to hurt,'' Butler said. ''They tried to embarrass us. They did embarrass us. ... Overall, we just have to be better.''

The Golden State Warriors have taken a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference final as they beat the Dallas Mavericks 126-117. For the Warriors, Curry scored 32 points with six 3-pointers and eight more rebounds, Looney had a career-high 21 points and 12 rebounds, Jordan Poole scored 23 points off the bench, Andrew Wiggins had 16 and Klay Thompson added 15 points for a second straight game. Golden State scored 62 points in the paint. For the Mavericks, Doncic scored 42 points and shot 12 for 23 and shined in a game of brilliant shotmaking. The Warriors finished 56.1% from the floor. In the first half alone, Dallas edged Golden State 52.3% to 51.2%, including a remarkable 55.6% to 53.3% from 3-point range. 

''I feel honoured just to be a part of the ride,'' Looney said.

''We have that attitude and spirit that we're never out of it,'' Curry said.

''We know how good they are as a third-quarter team,'' Dallas forward Reggie Bullock said. ''It's just something that slipped away from us as the game continued to go on.''

''Against someone that good you're just trying to limit the easy stuff,'' Warriors coach Steve Kerr said.

''It's the Warriors. They have a great team. They're a championship team. We've got to adjust our defence,'' Doncic said. ''... We were up 19, so it's a tough situation. But we can't look back. What happened, happened. So we've got to move on.''

''We're on the road against one of the best teams in the league. It happens. They held serve,'' Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. ''We've seen this in Phoenix so now we have to go back and just focus on Game 3.''

Kerr asked his team to settle down. ''I told them that if we developed some poise in the second half, that the game would come to us,'' he said. ''But I thought we were so scattered in the first half. Maybe emotionally more so than anything. Dallas came out and just punched us.''

Also read: Warriors win against Mavericks in the Western conference finals
 

(Basketball news) Miami Heat drew first blood against Boston Celtics in the first game as they beat 118-107. For the Heat, Butler scored 27 of his 41 points in the second half as Tyler Herro scored 18 and Gabe Vincent added 17 points while Max Strus scored 11 and Bam Adebayo added 10. For the Celtics, Jayson Tatum led the scoring with 29, they were without starters Marcus Smart (foot) and Al Horford (health and safety protocols). Jaylen Brown added 24 for Boston, which got 18 apiece from Robert Williams III and Payton Pritchard. They will play the next game on 19th May in the FTX Arena in Miami.

''Jimmy Butler is an elite competitor,'' Spoelstra said. ''There's a lot of guys in this league that are playing basketball. He's competing to win. That's a totally different thing and he does that as well as anybody in this league.''

''We won three quarters other than that, but obviously that one is going to stand out,'' Celtics coach Ime Udoka said. ''We semi-bounced back in the fourth and started to play well again and matched their physicality, but 39-14 on 2-for-15 is tough to overcome.''

''I continued to play basketball the right way: Shoot the ball when I'm open, attack, hit the open guy,'' Butler said. ''Honestly, it was a team effort.''

''It wasn't anything different that they did,'' Udoka said. ''They just came out and imposed their will.''

''Our energy shifted,'' Adebayo said. ''That was the biggest key.''

''Other than the third quarter, I think we won every other quarter,'' Pritchard said. ''Obviously, we try not to let that happen next time.''

Also read: Nikola Jokic wins the MVP while Monty Williams won Coach of the year
 

(Basketball news) The Serbian center becomes the 13th player selected as Kia MVP in consecutive seasons. Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokić was named the 2021-22 Kia NBA Most Valuable Player. This is his second Kia NBA MVP Award for Jokić, who also won it last season. He becomes the 13th player to win the award in consecutive seasons, and joining some legendary players like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Larry Bird, Wilt Chamberlain, Stephen Curry, Tim Duncan, LeBron James, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Moses Malone, Steve Nash and Bill Russell.

Jokić received a total of 875 points (65 first-place votes) from a global panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters. 76ers center Joel Embiid finished in second place with 706 points (26 first-place votes) and Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo came third with 595 points (nine first-place votes), followed by Suns guard Devin Booker in fourth place with 216 points Mavericks guard Luka Dončić in fifth place with 146 points. Players received 10 points for each first-place vote, seven points for a second-place vote, five points for third-place, three points for each fourth-place vote and one point for each fifth-place vote.

This was the first time in NBA history that the top four out of the top five finishers in MVP race were international players, with Jokić from Serbia, Embiid from Cameroon and Antetokounmpo  from Greece as they comprised the top three and Dončić from Slovenia joined them in the top five. Jokić is only the second European player to win the award twice, joining Giannis Antetokounmpo, who won the MVP in the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons.

In his seventh NBA season, Jokić this season averaged 27.1 points, 13.8 rebounds, 7.9 assists, 1.47 steals and 0.85 blocks per game, setting career highs in each category except assists .  Jokić had played 74 games and averaged 33.5 minutes, he ranked sixth in the NBA in points, second in rebounds, eighth in assists, 12th for steals and 33rd in blocks per game. He led the league in total rebounds (1,019) and total defensive rebounds (813) in this remarkable season.  He set a career-high in field goal percentage with 58.3. Jokić also became the first player in NBA history to record at least 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 500 assists in a season and the first player to average at least 25.0 points, 13.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists in a season.  He led the NBA this year in triple-doubles with 19 and double-doubles with 66, both were single-season records for a Nuggets player.

Phoenix Suns head coach Monty Williams won the Red Auerbach Trophy as the 2021-22 NBA Coach of the Year. Monty Williams wins his first NBA coach of the year as he joins Cotton Fitzsimmons (1988-89) and Mike D’Antoni (2004-05) as the head coaches of Suns to earn this award. Williams received 458 points (81 first-place votes) from a global panel as Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins finished in second place with 270 points (17 first-place votes) and Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra finished in third place with 72 points. Williams guided the Suns to the best NBA record this season with a 64-18 record, his team had the most victories and the highest winning percentage (.780) in a season in franchise history. The Suns had an identical at home as well on the road (32-9).  The Suns tied for the third-most wins on the road and fifth-best road winning percentage (.780) in a season in NBA history.

Also read: NBA: The Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks make the Conference finals

(Basketball news) The Boston Celtics knocked out the defending Champions as they beat the Milwaukee Bucks in the final game 7 decider 109-81. For the Celtics, Grant Williams scored a career-high 27 points and hit seven 3-pointers, Jayson Tatum added 23 and Boston set a Game 7 record with 22 3-pointers as Jaylen Brown scored 19 points and Marcus Smart added 11 crucial points. For the Bucks, Giannis Antetokounmpo had 25 points, 20 rebounds and nine assists but he was just 3 of 11 in the paint in the second half, including 1 for 6 the fourth quarter as Jrue Holiday added 21 points and eight assists while Brook Lopez finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds. With this result, the Celtics will face top-seeded Miami beginning Tuesday in a rematch of the 2020 East finals. The Heat beat the Celtics in six games in that series at Walt Disney World.

''As much as it hurt to lose Game 5, I was looking forward to that challenge,'' Tatum said. ''I believe in myself, I believe in this team. I expected to play the way I did and for us to respond the way we did.''

''For me it was like, they're encouraging it, I might as well take advantage,'' Williams said. ''Each one as time went on got more comfortable.''

''Shots that I usually make weren't going in. That's basketball. That's sports,'' Antetokounmpo said. ''Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. There's a winner. There's a loser. You've just got to live with it.'

''This is what we played for, why we played the season out, to have home-court advantage in a Game 7,'' Udoka said. ''If you believe in the basketball gods, those things matter.''

Brown said their coach has been the catalyst to put them in this position. ''We didn't want it to be over. We didn't overcome all the stuff we did during the regular season for that to be it. .. At the end of the day, we wanted to come out, leave it all out there. I think we did.''

The Dallas Mavericks produced the upset of the season when they beat the best team in the NBA in game 7 as they took the series 4-3 with a 123-90 blowout victory over the Phoenix Suns. For the Mavericks, Doncic scored 35 points, Spencer Dinwiddie added 30 as both of them were the first teammates to have at least 20 points in a half in Game 7 since Patrick Ewing and Allan Houston did it for the Knicks in 1997. Doncic finished 12 of 19 from the field, including 6 of 11 on 3s. He also got some help in Dinwiddie who had 21 points in the first half with 7-of-10 shooting, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range. For the Suns, Booker finished with 11 points and shot 3 of 14 while Paul had 10 points and four assists as they shot just 37.9% from the field. With this result the Dallas Mavericks are going to face the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference finals.

''A lot of people said it would be a blowout,'' Mavs coach Jason Kidd said with a grin. ''They were right.''

''We played all season to be in this situation,'' Suns guard Chris Paul said. ''It didn't work out for us.''

''I can't get this smile off my face,'' Doncic said. ''I'm just really happy. Honestly, I think we deserved this.''

''It's still kind of shocking,'' Dinwiddie said

''That group has a lot of character and integrity and I know how bad they wanted it,'' Suns coach Monty Williams said. ''We just could not execute tonight. Couldn't make a shot early, that messed with us a little bit and Dallas played their tails of from start to finish.''

''You could see some of the pressure was on them early,'' Kidd said. ''They missed some shots they normally make.''

Also read: NBA: Warriors reach the Western Conference final, Celtics force game 7

(Basketball news) The Golden State Warriors reached the Western Conference finals after they clinched a 110-96 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. For the Warriors, Stephen Curry scored 30 points, Klay Thompson had 21 and nine rebounds as Poole scored 27 points off the bench and Andrew Wiggins added 17 points. For the Grizzlies, Dillion Brooks scored 30 points while Desmond Bane had 25 points as they were without their star Ja Morant for this all important game. With this result the Warriors reach their first conference since 2019 and will either face Mavericks or the Suns in the final.

''When we doubled him, I hit the ball, l was going for the ball. Obviously, you don't want to see anybody get hurt, I'm not even that type of player,'' Poole said. ''I respect everybody. Obviously hopefully he gets better and we can see him out there next game. ''

''He's getting evaluated now. Nothing further. We just watched the replay,'' Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins said. ''He was going after a dribble and Jordan Poole actually grabbed his knee and yanked it, which kind of triggered whatever happened, so I'm actually going to be very curious to see what happens after that.''

''I've been through a tough knee injury, and I don't think there's any malicious intent from Jordan,'' Thompson said. ''I don't even think he's strong enough to affect somebody's knee. But we're not out there trying to hurt people or trying to club people in the back of the head on a fast break. We play the game the right way and I'm going to have his back.''

''The shot selection was much improved,'' Kerr said

''We were just too frenetic to start off the game,'' Kerr said.

The Boston Celtics produced an emphatic performance under pressure as they forced game number 7 against the Bucks when they won 108-95 in game 6. For the Celtics, Tatum scored 46, he scored 16 of Boston's 26 fourth-quarter points  as Jaylen Brown added 22 points, Marcus Smart had 21 points, seven assists and no turnovers.. For the Bucks, Giannis Antetokounmpo 44 points, 20 rebounds and six assists as Jrue Holiday scored 17 points and Pat Connaughton had 14 points as they combined for 75 of the Bucks' 95 points. The Bucks had won all eight of their potential series clinchers in Budenholzer's four-year tenure but this marked the first time the Bucks had lost a possible clincher since a Game 7 defeat subsequently against Boston in a 2018 first-round series. 

''I wasn't going to leave anything out there and have any regrets,'' Tatum said. ''Just trying to do what it took.''

''I don't think anybody's won two games in a row in this series,'' Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. ''Now, it's the final. You've got to go and find a way to get that fourth win and win the series. I think everybody in sport looks for that game. That college feel. That NCAA feel, where if you lose your season's done, if you win, you keep going. It's exciting.''

“Tonight will be the first night since that game that I'll get some sleep,'' said Marcus Smart

''They were tougher than us in that fourth quarter of Game 5,'' Tatum said. ''That was in the back of my mind. That was in the back of everybody's mind, that we couldn't get beat on those kind of plays. Our season was on the line.''

''He went into another mode right there,'' Smart said. ''We'd seen it in his eyes.''

''We had the right resolve,'' Celtics coach Ime Udoka said. ''We talked about it after that game. We let an opportunity slip away (Wednesday) but we still had a chance to make it a better story, I guess.''

Also read: NBA: Bucks take the lead in the series, Grizzlies thump the Warriors

(Basketball news) The Milwaukee Bucks bounced back in emphatic fashion to take the series lead as they beat the Boston Celtics 110-107. For the Bucks, Antetokounmpo had 40 points and 11 rebounds, making 16 of 27 shots as  Holiday finished with 24 points, eight rebounds and eight assists and Portis added 14 points and 15 rebounds. For the Celtics, Jayson Tatum scored 34 points and Jaylen Brown had 26. The Bucks trailed Boston by 14 points in a game that could send the defending NBA champions to the brink of elimination but they played some brilliant basketball to take the lead in the series, that's when Jrue Holiday why he was in the top 3 of the Defensive Player of the year. The defending champions are a game away from reaching their second consecutive Eastern Conference final.

''Obviously, in Boston you're down 14 in the fourth quarter, people would say everything's against us. But we came together,'' said Holiday, who also hit the tying 3-pointer with 43 seconds left. ''We live and die like that.''

''Just a great instinctive play by Jrue,'' Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. ''He's a winner. Jrue Holiday's a winner. You ask any player in this league or any coach in this league. He's a winner.''

'If we box out we win that game,'' Smart said. ''They're the defending champs. They made some championship plays. And now we've got to bounce back.''

''Of course, we're gonna be down. Guys are going to be (upset) about the outcome. We outplayed them for 3 1/2 quarters,'' Celtics coach Ime Udoka said. ''We talked about showing our resolve, and we made it tougher on ourselves now. It'll make it sweeter when we bounce back. But we gave up a golden opportunity tonight.''

The Memphis Grizzlies produced an emphatic win to stay alive in the series as they beat the Golden State Warriors 134-94. For the Grizzlies, Dillon Brooks added 12 points for Memphis. Ziaire Williams and Brandon Clarke had 11 apiece and De'Anthony Melton 10. Steven Adams had 13 rebounds, six offensive as Memphis outscored Golden State 24-5 on second-chance points. For the Warriors, Klay Thompson led the scoring with 19 points, Jonathan Kuminga added 17, Curry had 14 and Damion Lee and Moses Moody each had 10. Memphis created history when they scored 77 points in the first half, the most in franchise postseason history. blowouts in NBA history. With this win the Warriors still lead the series 3-2 and again will have the chance to wrap the series on 13th May.

''We've exceeded expectations ever since I've been here,'' Bane said. ''It almost seems like whenever someone thinks we can't do something, we end up doing it. So I never want to put a limit on this team on what we can do because anything's possible.''

'We knew what was at stake,'' Jackson said. ''We didn't change anything, though. We just calmed down, looked at the film, understand what we had to take away from the last game and just went out there and executed.''
''Obviously, this was a very impressive win for our group, great bounce-back for sure,'' Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins said.

''When you spew it out, you've got to be willing to take it and not hide from it and not duck from it and not hide from it. Embrace it,'' Green said. ''So, I appreciated the crowd tonight and the energy they brought to the game. If they want to whoop that trick, we're going to whoop it together.''

Also read: NBA: Celtics level the series and Warriors win against the Grizzlies
 

(Basketball news) The Boston Celtics leveled the series as they beat the Milwaukee Bucks 116-108. For the Celtics, Horford and Jayson Tatum scored 30 points. Horford had 16 points and Tatum 12 in the fourth quarter alone to help the Celtics outscore the defending NBA champions 43-28. Both Jaylen Brown and defensive player of the year Marcus Smart had 18 points each. For the Bucks, Antetokounmpo had 34 points, 18 rebounds and five assists as Jrue Holiday scored 16 points but shot 5 of 22. With this result, game 5 becomes very important as both the teams head to Milwaukee on 11th May.

''I usually just kind of go about my business,'' said Horford, who finished with a career playoff-high 30 points. ''I do get excited, but I guess you kind of pick your spots, your moments. This was an emotional game.''

“We love Al,'' said Boston's Marcus Smart. ''Best vet we've ever had. Best vet I've ever had. He comes in, never changes whether things are going bad or good. He's going to be him, and nine times out of 10, it's going to work out in our favor.''

''I played a terrible Game 3 and we almost had a chance to win,'' Tatum said. ''That was really the toughest part, was knowing that. I was really eager to get back and ready to play.''

''I don't really know what he said to me, but the way he was looking at me and the way he was going about it, really didn't sit well with me,'' Horford said. ''At that point, I think something switched with me in the game.''

''We all understood the importance of this game,'' Horford said. ''We felt at the end of Game 3 we were in position to win the game, and we didn't. I was just really locked in. I understood at that moment what we needed to do as a group. I really just did whatever it took tonight. It was one of those types of nights.''

''Down the stretch, they made shots,'' Antetokounmpo said. ''They executed well. They were disciplined.''

The Golden State Warriors are one game away from reaching the Western Conference finals as they beat the Memphis Grizzlies 101-98. For the Warriors, Curry converted eight free throws over the final 45.7 seconds on the way to 32 points as Poole scored 14 off the bench, Andrew Wiggins added 17 points in a well fought victory for them. For the Grizzlies, Tyus Jones had 19 points, six rebounds and five assists as they missed injured All-Star Ja Morant, Dillon Brooks returned from a one-game suspension and struggled mightily, missing a 3-point try with 53 seconds left and finishing 5 for 19 with 12 points, eight assists and five rebounds as Jaren Jackson top scored with 21 points. With this result, the Warriors take a 3-1 lead and have a chance to seal the series on 11th May.

''Obviously there's butterflies, because again you're going into the game with a certain mindset and it's a big game. Every game that we play at this point in the year, it's huge,'' said Brown, who agreed Sunday to become the Sacramento Kings' new coach after this postseason run.

''So to have that kind of thrown at you, you've got to switch gears because I know what my responsibilities are going in as Mike Brown the assistant coach, and it changes.'

''His head coaching record for a Warrior playoff game I think is undefeated,'' Klay Thompson said. ''We did miss Steve a lot, just his voice, his presence, but we've been here before, 2017 when Mike took over and we rolled off a lot of wins, so I reflected on that a lot.''

''Nothing we figured out, it was just don't let the first three quarters influence the fact that we still had a chance to win the game,'' Curry said. ''Shoot the shots you think you can make, play aggressively, and take care of the ball. We did all of those things.''

''It's a tough one. It's a tough pill to swallow. It felt like we were leading the whole game,'' Jones said. ''It felt like we were in a good position. It felt like we put ourselves in a good position to win a ballgame and things didn't go our way down the stretch.''

''He forced a couple. Trying to get his groove back,'' Jenkins said. ''Obviously he's been off for a couple of days. But when he was playing with force under control, I loved the playmaking that he had.''

Also read: NBA: Sixers and Mavericks draw their respective series level
 

(Basketball news) Tyler Herro won the 2021-22 Sixth Man of the Year award. Herro edged out fellow Suns player Cam Johnson and Kevin Love of the Cleveland Cavaliers. He is the first member of the Miami Heat ever to win the award, and the first Heat player to win any of the major awards since LeBron James won MVP in the 2012-13 season.

Herro has averaged 20.7 points per game for the Heat, with 44.7 percent shooting from the field and 39.9 percent shooting from the 3 point line. Among teammates, only Jimmy Butler has averaged more points for the season, and no other player has even averaged 18 points per game. Herro is the first sixth man to average more than 20 points per game since Lou Williams did so during the 2018-19 season. Herro may have come off the bench for the Heat this season, but he consistently has been the most clutch player in the squad and was one of their main fourth-quarter scoring options. He led the team in both fourth-quarter points per game (5.6) and clutch points per game (2.3)

Marcus Smart was up against some tough centres for the Defensive Player of the Year award this year but he received just 37% of votes, which was more than the Suns forward Mikal Bridges and Jazz centre Rudy Gobert. Smart became just the second point guard to ever win the title since Gary Payton won it in 1996 when he played for the Seattle SuperSonics. Other names on the list included Bam Adebayo (Heat), Jaren Jackson Jr. (Grizzlies), Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks), Robert Williams II (Celtics), Jrue Holiday (Bucks), Al Horford (Celtics), Draymond Green (Warriors), and Matisse Thybulle (76ers).

In the NBA it is very difficult for a guard to win the DPOY. Typically, it’s the centres and forwards who dominate this award because of their size. While Smart and Payton are the only two point guards to have won it, it tells us a story about how difficult it is for a point guard to win this award. It’s been even longer since a shooting guard won it as the last one was the great Michael Jordan in 1988. Smart finished the regular season tied for 10th in deflections (106) and charges drawn (16), seventh in steals per game (1.68), fifth among guards in the NBA (105.2 defensive rating), and first in the league in loose balls recovered per game (1.1).

Also read: NBA: Suns beat the Mavs as Heat take a 2-0 lead against the Sixers
 

(Basketball news) The Boston Celtics made a comeback in game 2 as they beat the Milwaukee Bucks 109-86. For the Celtics, Brown scored 25 of his 30 points in the first half as Jayson Tatum added 19 points and eight assists. Grant Williams finished with 21 points. Al Horford had 14 points and 11 rebounds. For the Bucks, Jrue Holiday added 19 points and seven assists. Bobby Portis chipped in 13 points and eight rebounds as Giannis Antetokounmpo top scored with 28 points. With this result the series is nicely poised at 1-1 as the next game will be on the 7th in Boston.

''It's the playoffs. That's it,'' Brown said. ''We can't let one game kind of dictate how this series goes. We wanted to be aggressive from the gate.''

''We wanted to come and play like our season was on the line and we did,'' Brown said

''We wanted to match their physicality and punch back tonight,'' Celtics coach Ime Udoka said. ''A big message was show them who we are.''

''The ship's got to keep going. Everybody got to do a little bit more,'' Tatum said.

''Strong bodies, being active, being physical -- that's pretty much it,'' he said. ''It's gotten tougher to find your teammates.''Antetokounmpo said

'It's not Wilt Chamberlain down there (in the paint),'' Udoka said. ''We can get downhill and attack.''

The Memphis Grizzlies also made a comeback in game 2 as they beat the Golden State Warriors 106-101. For the Grizzlies, Morant scored 47 points to match his postseason high as Ziaire William hit four 3s and finished with 14 points off the bench. Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 12 points and Brandon Clarke added 10 points. For the Warriors, Stephen Curry finished with 27 points on 3-of-11 shooting outside the arc. Jordan Poole added 20 off the bench but was 1 of 6 from 3. Andrew Wiggins had 16, going 1 of 7 from 3. Klay Thompson finished with 12 points and was 2 of 12 from 3. The Warriors shot just 7 of 38 from 3-point range.

''That loss was on my mind a lot, obviously missing that layup late,'' Morant said of his miss at the end of Game 1. ''But coming into today, I told myself we needed a win, and we were going to get a win. I just took it upon myself to go out there and do that for us.''

''It's not just the plays,'' Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins said. ''It's just the force that he plays with, the spirit that he plays with. It's infectious. I've said it since day one. Like, you know he's going to be built for moments like this, and this is super impressive''

''Ja is a very great player,'' Clarke said.

Also read: NBA: Heats overcome the Sixers as Mavs lose to the Suns
 

(Basketball news) The Golden State Warriors progressed to the next round after they won the series 4-1 when they defeated the Denver Nuggets 102-98 in game 5. For the Warriors, Curry scored 30 points in his return to the starting five as Draymond Green had 11 points and six assists. Klay Thompson and Gary Payton added 15 points. For the Nuggets, Jokic scored 12 of his 30 points in the final 3:46 and finished with 19 rebounds and eight assists as DeMarcus Cousins contributed 19 points off the bench against his former Golden State team, and Aaron Gordon added 15 points and nine rebounds. With this result the Warriors progressed to the semifinals where they will face the winners of Grizzlies vs Timberwolves.

''Tonight was just a weird feeling because we hadn't been there in a while,'' said Curry, last season's NBA scoring champion. ''We wanted it so bad, it kind of made it a lot more difficult on ourselves. But we still remember how to do it, which is a good feeling.''

''I was a witness, letting him cook and creating plays for him. Try to get him open looks and after that, you know what he does,'' Warriors guard Gary Payton II said.

''He was incredible, both ends of the floor, big shots, big plays,'' teammate Draymond Green said.

''That guy is a warrior. I just don't understand the people that find a way to criticize Nikola Jokic. Is he perfect? No, I'm not saying he is,'' Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. ''But the guy is the definition of a warrior - competitive, consistent. He impacts the game in so many ways. Hell of a season. Hopefully he'll win the MVP again. I think rightfully he deserves it.''He's our leader, our longest-tenured player, our MVP,'' Thompson said of his Splash Brother, ''and without him, life is difficult. Steph Curry is one of a kind, and will continue to do the spectacular and make it look effortless.''

''He's our leader, our longest-tenured player, our MVP,'' Thompson said of his Splash Brother, ''and without him, life is difficult. Steph Curry is one of a kind, and will continue to do the spectacular and make it look effortless.''

The Milwaukee Bucks progressed to the next round as they beat the Chicago Bulls 116-110 and took the series 4-1. For the Bucks, Giannis Antetokounmpo had 33 points and nine rebounds as Pat Connaughton went 6 of 9 on 3-point attempts and scored 20 points, Bobby Portis added 14 points and a career-high 17 rebounds. For the Bulls, DeRozan was held to 11 points while shooting 5 of 10 as Patrick Williams scored 23 points, Nikola Vucevic 19 and Coby White 17 for the Bulls. Vucevic also had 16 rebounds and six assists. With this result the Bucks now face the in-form Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference semifinal playoffs.

“After Game 2, we kind of talked about how we knew what the deal was,'' Antetokounmpo said. ''The team knew what the deal was. We knew what we had to do. We had to be desperate. We had to go out there and compete at a high level, pay attention to detail as much as possible, and help one another defensively. We've got to do it as a team.''

''We've been talking about the depth of the roster, the quality of the roster a lot this season,'' Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. ''Other guys have gotten opportunities and played well. Our defense has tightened up, and we've learned hard from these three games. We've got depth. We've got a good group.''

''This was a lot of our guys' first rodeo, just understanding what it's like to compete in a playoff series,'' Chicago's DeMar DeRozan said. ''There's so much you can learn from that experience, especially going against the defending champs.''

''It was pretty obvious they were going to load up on DeMar,'' Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. ''I thought he played a great game. I thought he generated good shots. He didn't have a high assist total because we really didn't shoot the ball particularly well, but he would have had an enormous amount of assists if we had shot the ball better.''

Also read: NBA: Miami clinch the series as Suns take the lead against NOLA

(Basketball news) The Boston Celtics produced a clinical performance to sweep the series 4-0 as they beat Brooklyn 116-112 in game number 4. For the Celtics, Tatum scored 29 points, Jaylen Brown had 22 and the Celtics completed a four-game sweep as Marcus Smart added 20 points and 11 assists. For the Nets, Durant had 39 points, nine assists and seven rebounds as Nic Claxton scored 13 points, Kyrie finished with 20 and Seth Curry 23 points. Now the Celtics will face the winners of the Bucks vs Bulls in the second round of the playoffs.

''Couldn't believe it at all, but I think that's what we're built for,'' Tatum said.

''It's funny to us, because we don't duck and dodge anybody,'' Smart said. ''We knew what we were going to come in here and do.''

''A lot of stuff that may factor into why we lost, but they were just a better team,'' Durant said.

The Toronto Raptors after going down 3-0 in the series have made a magnificent comeback to win game 5 against the Philadelphia 76ers 103-88. For the Raptors, Pascal Siakam had 23 points and 10 rebounds, Precious Achiuwa scored 17 as OG Anunoby and Gary Trent Jr. each scored 16 points. For the Sixers, Embiid had 20 points and 11 rebounds playing with a thumb injury. Harden scored 15 points on 4-of-11 shooting. With this result both teams head to Toronto to play the crucial game 6.

''I was terrible defensively,'' Embiid said. ''There's really no explanation. I've just got to play with more energy, move my feet better. I've just got to be better.''

''We always kind of figure it out,'' Siakam said

''We never brought the fight to them at the beginning of the game, really,'' 76ers forward Tobias Harris said.

''They were the tougher team all night, they were more physical all night,'' Rivers said. ''I don't think it was the second quarter. I thought it was throughout the game.''

''Not exactly the way we would draw it up, but we're happy to still be playing,'' Nurse said.

The Dallas Mavericks took the lead in the series against the Utah Jazz as Luka Doncic powered them to a 102-77 victory over them. For the Mavericks, Luka Doncic had 33 points and 13 rebounds as Jalen Brunson, who carried most of the offensive load for them when Doncic was sidelined, scored 24 points. Finney-Smith added 13, and Dwight Powell got the crowd going early with all eight of his points on 4-of-4 shooting in the first quarter. For the Jazz, Jordan Clarkson scored 20 points and Rudy Gobert added 17 points and 11 rebounds in the lowest-scoring game for the Jazz since they lost by 50 at Dallas (118-68) on Nov. 14, 2018.. With this result they head to Utah to play the 6th game of the series.

For his second game, it looks like he's been playing this whole series,'' coach Jason Kidd said. ''His conditioning, his effort on the defensive end. As we talk about rebounding, he's one of the best for us and he did that tonight.''

''They've scrambled extremely hard,'' said Mitchell, who is shooting 20% from 3-point range after being well over 40% the past two playoff years. ''It's a lot to continuously run teams off the line, and they've done a good job of it. They've made us uncomfortable.''

''It was nothing,'' Doncic said. ''It's playoffs, man. There's always going to be attention, but it was nothing. I tried to dunk it. Wasn't successful. These things happen in the playoffs.''

“I don't even remember that,'' Finney-Smith said before smiling. ''I don't even remember last year. Nah, but we put ourselves in a great spot. We've just got to handle our business in Utah.''

Also read: NBA: Nuggets make a comeback as Pelicans level the series

(Basketball news) The Boston Celtics took a 2-0 lead in the playoff series as they beat the Brooklyn Nets 114-107. For the Celtics, Jaylen Brown scored 22 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter as Jayson Tatum added 19 points for Boston, which held Durant without a basket in the second half. Al Horford had 16 points, Daniel Theis scored 15 and Payton Pritchard had eight of his 10 in the final period. For the Nets, Durant finished with 27 points but struggled from the field for the second straight game, shooting 4 of 17 as Irving had just 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting a day after being fined $50,000 for directing obscene gestures and profane language. Bruce Brown finished with 23 points and Seth Curry added 16. With this result the Celtics will travel to Brooklyn to face the Nets twice in the Barclays Arena.

''This was old-fashioned. old-school playoff game,'' Tatum said. ''You just have to grind it out. That's what we did... we just just stuck with it. Proud of the guys and how we kept responding all game.''

“They're doing a good job trying to cut off my scoring, limit my shot making,'' Durant said. ''It's on me to figure it out.''

''They took the lead and they never looked back in that fourth quarter,'' Irving said. ''We don't really have time to be disappointed, to hold our heads. This is part of playoff basketball.''

“I think we did that,'' Udoka said. ''We want to make him work defensively and offensively, have bodies on him the whole time and try to wear him down.''

''I think our intensity dropped a little bit in the second half. We also didn't convert,'' Nets coach Steve Nash said. ''We had opportunities, we didn't convert.''

The Chicago Bulls made a staggering comeback against the third seed Milwaukee Bucks as they beat them 114-110. For the Bulls, DeRozan scored a career playoff-high 41 points as Nikola Vucevic added 24 points and 13 rebounds, while Zach LaVine had 20 points as the sixth-seeded Bulls beat the third-seeded Bucks for just the second time in their last 19 meetings. For the Bucks, Giannis Antetokounmpo led the scoring with 33 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists. Antetokounmpo increased his career postseason point total to 1,715 to overtake Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1,692) for the most in Bucks history as Brook Lopez had 25 points for the Bucks. Middleton scored 18 and Holiday 15. With this result the Bucks travel to Chicago for two games as the series is finally poised at 1-1.

''No matter what you did in the regular season, this is a brand new start and new mindset,'' DeRozan said. ''You could see it in all the guys. It doesn't matter if we've lost 20 times to those guys. This is an opportunity for us to compete. We've got to take advantage of it.''

''He's always been positive and he knows the type of team that we are and how resilient we are,'' Bucks guard Jrue Holiday said. ''We just want him to get back as quickly as possible and be healthy so he can come out here and help us win games.''

''We expected those guys to make a run,'' Vucevic said. ''They're a championship team for a reason. They've been there before, so we expected them to make a run.''

''I do think that playing some of these higher-level teams at the end of the year has maybe kind of hardened us, helped us grow,'' Bulls coach Billy Donovan said. ''It's helped us get better. It's helped us be able to have that kind of mentality that we've got to move on to the next play. I think at times this year when we played against good teams, when it started to go a little bit the other direction, we didn't have enough in us to get it back going in our direction.''

The Philadelphia 76ers have one step in the second round of the playoffs after their overtime 104-101 victory over the Toronto Raptors. For the Sixers, Embiid made a 3-pointer with 0.8 seconds left in overtime to give the 76ers their third straight victory as he scored 33 points and 13 rebounds. James Harden had 19 points and 10 assists before fouling out in the closing seconds of regulation as Tyrese Maxey scored 19 points and Tobias Harris had 11 points and 12 rebounds. For the Raptors, Anunoby scored 26 points, Gary Trent Jr. had a playoff-high 24, and Precious Achiuwa had 20 as Pascal Siakam and VanVleet each had 12 points. VanVleet shot 3 for 13, going 2 for 10 from 3-point range. Now the Sixers have a chance to wrap the series on Saturday in Toronto after taking a 3-0 lead in the series.

“Great play call,'' Embiid said. ''Tobias set an amazing screen, Danny threw a great pass. All I had to do was finish, and I'm glad I did.

''For him, that's a high-percentage shot, especially on that wing,'' Harris said of Embiid's decisive basket. ''We got the ball to our best player, somebody who makes plays, makes shots.''

''We've been watching his skill set all year long and how great he's been,'' Harden said. ''Tonight was no different. He did all the right things, and when it was time for him to finish the game off, he did that.''

''There's no room to look around and feel sorry for ourselves,'' VanVleet said. ''We did a lot of good things tonight, we played a lot of minutes of great basketball and we're going to have to do it again.''

Also read: NBA: Pelicans make a comeback as Heat's win against the Hawks
 

(Basketball news) The Boston Celtics won their first match 115 - 114 against the Brooklyn Nets in the first round of the NBA playoffs. For the Celtics, Tatum scored 31 points, the last two on the first buzzer-beater of his career as it was Boston's first buzzer beater in the postseason since Paul Pierce in 2010 against the Heat. Brown added 23 points as Horford had 20 points and 15 rebounds, and Smart finished with 20 points, including four 3-pointers. For the Nets, Kyrie Irving finished with 39 points, including 18 in the fourth quarter as Durant added 23 points but shot just 9 of 24. With this result the Celtics take a 1-0 lead in the series as they play their next match on Wednesday.

''When he took that dribble we just kind of made eye contact. He made a great pass,'' Tatum said. ''It doesn't get any better than that. A buzzer-beater in a playoff game at home.''

I've always been told you have more time than you realise you have,'' Smart said. ''I was about to throw it to Al (Horford) off the dribble and I saw JT cut at the last minute.''

''I think that's kind of a microcosm for our season, guys moving the ball being unselfish,'' coach Ime Udoka said.

“They did a good job of forcing me away, then helping in the paint. I just got to be more fundamental in my moves,'' said Durant . ''I feel like some shots went in and out for me.''

The top seed in the Western Conference, the Phoenix Suns made easy work of the New Orleans Pelicans as they won 110-99. For the Suns, Paul scored 19 of his 30 points during a brilliant fourth-quarter scoring display as Deandre Ayton was particularly dominant on the defensive end with four blocks, and had 21 points and nine rebounds and Booker finished with 25 points. For the Pelicans, CJ McCollum led the scoring with 25 points, but struggled with his shooting much of the night as he finished 9 of 25 from the field. Valanciunas added 18 points and 25 rebounds as Brandon Ingram scored 18 points. With this result the Suns take the lead in the series as they play their second in Phoenix tomorrow.

''Classic Chris,'' Suns coach Monty Williams said.

''It's just reading the game,'' Paul said. ''We watch games all day, every day. We got to watch all the games yesterday. We watched the games today. We know in the playoffs, teams aren't going to lay down.''

''That man's a true competitor, a true winner,'' Suns guard Devin Booker said. ''He wants it that bad. You can see it in his demeanour, you can see it in his walk. It shouldn't surprise anybody. He's built for these moments.''

''We figured out a way to play,'' Pelicans forward Larry Nance Jr. said. ''This is the playoffs and there are going to be ebbs and flows, ups and downs. We are in a chess match now.''
The Milwaukee Bucks started their title defence in emphatic fashion as they won 93-86 against the Chicago Bulls. For the Bucks, Giannis Antetokounmpo had 27 points and 16 rebounds as Brook Lopez scored 18 points, Holiday had 15, Khris Middleton had 11 and Bobby Portis added 10. Portis also had 12 rebounds. For the Bulls, DeMar DeRozan scored 18 points but shot 6 of 25 as Vucevic had 24 points and 17 rebounds but shot 9 of 27. LaVine had 18 points and 10 rebounds while shooting 6 of 19. With this result the Bucks took a 1-0 lead in the series as they both will face each other on Wednesday in Milwaukee.

''We've got to win the ugly games,'' said Jrue Holiday, whose 3-pointer with 5:03 left put the Bucks ahead for good. ''I feel like today was ugly. It was a battle and it was tough, but it was an ugly one.''

''I thought it was a good shot,'' LaVine said. ''We were down three. I got a really clean look.''

''Every shot I took tonight felt good,'' said DeMar DeRozan, ''I guarantee you that me, Zach and Vooch (Nikola Vucevic) aren't going to miss that many shots again.''

''The whole team was kind of out of rhythm,'' said Antetokounmpo, who didn't score in the fourth quarter while dealing with foul trouble. ''We weren't able to find one another as easy as we usually find one another and make shots. We missed a bunch of open shots today. Usually we make those and we get energy.''

Also read: NBA: Hawks and Pelicans make the final playoff berth
 

(Basketball news) The Brooklyn Nets qualified for the playoffs after they beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in the play-in tournament 115-108. For the Nets, Kyrie Irving had 34 points and 12 assists, Kevin Durant added 25 points and 11 assists, and the Nets took the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference. For the Cavs, Darius Garland scored 34 points as Rookie Evan Mobley scored 19 points and Love had 14 points and 13 rebounds.The Cavaliers remained without All-Star center Jarrett Allen because of a broken finger. After this victory the Nets face a monumental task against in form Boston Celtics in the first round of the NBA playoffs. The Cavs get one more chance to secure a playoff position when they face the winners of Hawks vs Hornets on 15th April.

''I know that team very well and they know us very well and it'll be a back and forth,'' said Irving, a former Celtics guard, ''and once you throw that ball in the air, you're going to really see some spectacular basketball.''

“You can't give a team like Brooklyn that has championship aspirations and players who have won championships a 22-point lead,'' Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. ''Again, give our guys credit for getting back in it. But that's damn near impossible to overcome.''

''I always say about Kyrie in a March Madness, one-game type of situation, he's a tough guy to bet against,'' former Cavs teammate Kevin Love said. ''Again, seen this movie before but still - I think that there's just times where he comes out and plays out of his mind and that's why he's a future Hall of Famer. So you just kind of have to tip your hat to him. He hit some really tough, contested shots today.''

The Minnesota Timberwolves also secured the 7th spot in the Western conference and qualified for the playoffs after beating the La Clippers 109-104. For the Timberwolves, Edwards and Russell combined for 59 points as both came through with a steady stream of clutch plays. Edwards scored 30 points with five 3-pointers and Russell had 29 points and six assists to send the Wolves to the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference and a first-round matchup with Memphis. For the Clippers, Paul George finished with 34 points after shooting 2 for 10 in the first half as Reggie Jackson scored 17 points and Norman Powell finished with 16 points. The Clippers have a second chance to make the playoffs with a home game on Friday for the No. 8 seed against either New Orleans or San Antonio. 

''The game had to go in a different direction,'' coach Chris Finch said. ''That's why you have a team, because a lot of other people step up.''

''Just utilizing what we have,'' Russell said. ''We've got a lot of pieces that complement each other.''

''I took what the game gave me. That's what they gave me. They were scared to guard me, and I took advantage of that,'' Edwards said.
''I'm one of the best defensive guys on earth, and no one can guard him,'' said Beverley, who was in tears during the spirited celebration afterward as Edwards hopped up on the scorer's table.’’

''They played a lot better without KAT on the floor,'' Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. ''They got into us defensively. They switched on a lot more stuff. I just didn't think we made the right plays.''

Also read: The regular season is over as Bulls secured the last playoff berth

The other matches in the play-in tournament are:

• Hawks vs Hornets
• Spurs vs Pelicans
   

(Basketball news) Denver Nuggets sealed the last playoff place as they beat the Memphis Grizzlies 122-109. For the Nuggets, Jokic became the first player in NBA history with 2,000 points, 1,000 rebounds and 500 assists in a season as he finished the night with 35 points, 16 rebounds, six assists and five steals and Aaron Gordon added 22 points. For the Grizzlies, Desmond Bane had 14 points as both Dillon Brooks and Zaire Williams finished with 12 points each. With this result, the Denver Nuggets clinched a fourth consecutive playoff berth as their current record stands at 48-33 and clinched the last playoff berth in 6th in the Western Conference standings.

“Dude is really great at basketball,'' teammate Bones Hyland said

''The MVP isn't even a competition,'' Nuggets coach Michael Malone declared afterward. ''There's other great players. I'm not saying they're not great players. But what Nikola Jokic has done this year - with this team - everything we've had to go through, is just incredible.

''I think we've been playing good basketball, even the other night against Utah. Tonight, we just didn't have it,'' Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said.

''We threw a lot at him,'' Jenkins said. ''He's the MVP for a reason. He's nearly impossible to guard. He's going to beat you from inside, outside, playmaking. He played at a really high level tonight.''

''My first thought was Steve Nash in that playoff series and they couldn't stop the bleeding,'' Malone said. ''And I'm saying, `Of all games, Nikola gets a very non-malicious elbow, an inadvertent elbow to the head and he's bleeding.'

''Like, get a staple gun out here,'' Malone said. ''And it finally stopped and Nikola put on another MVP performance.''

The Milwaukee Bucks sealed second place in the Eastern Conference standings as they beat the in-form Boston Celtics 127-121. For the Bucks, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday each scored 29 points as Khris Middleton had 22 points, nine assists and eight rebounds and Bobby Portis scored 17 points and Brook Lopez had 15. For the Celtics, Jaylen Brown had a triple double with 22 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds as Marcus Smart shot 7 of 12 on 3-point attempts and scored 29 points, while Daniel Theis had 22 points and Derrick White added 19 points. With this result, The Bucks (50-30) moved a half-game ahead of the Celtics (50-31) and a full game ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers (49-31), who lost their recent match as Miami Heat sealed top spot in the Eastern Conference standings. 

''It would be a lot easier if we don't wait until the last quarter or last couple of minutes to get stops, but it happens,'' said Milwaukee's Khris Middleton ''No matter how the game's going, I just love the way we keep competing.''

''We've seen that growth from (Brown) this year,'' Celtics coach Ime Udoka said. ''With certain guys out, he had the ball more and had to make those plays.''

''I guess I just got lucky, really,'' Holiday said. ''I left it short and it came back to me

''Surgery can be season-ending, so you don't want to do that,'' Hill said after the Bucks' Thursday morning shootaround. ''You want to figure out how I can manage to get back out with the guys. It feels a lot better now. I'm just trying to give it everything I have.''

Also read: NBA: Mavericks secured a playoff berth as Clippers beat the Suns

The other results are:

• Hornets 128 - 101 Magic
• Raptors 119 - 114 76ers
• Pelicans 127 - 94 Trail Blazers
• Timberwolves 127 - 121 Spurs
• Warriors 128 - 112 Lakers

Tomorrow’s fixtures are:

• Wizards vs Knicks
• Pistons vs Bucks
• Nets vs Cavs
• Raptors vs Rockets
• Bulls vs Hornets
• Heat vs Hawks
• Mavericks vs Trail Blazers
• Jazz vs Suns
• Lakers vs Thunder
• 76ers vs Pacers
   

(Basketball news) The Phoenix Suns produced a clinical performance as they beat the Golden State Warriors 107-103. For the Suns, Chris Paul finished with 15 points and eight assists, Mikal Bridges and Devin Booker both scored 22 points as Deandre Ayton added 16 points and 16 rebounds, The Suns matched the franchise record with 62 wins for their 9th straight victory this season. For the Warriors, Jordan Poole scored a season-best 38 points to match his career high and also contributed nine rebounds and seven assists, Klay Thompson finished with 13 points as he shot just 5 for 21 and missed nine of his 10 3-point attempts in Golden State's fourth straight loss, seventh in eight and third in a row at Chase Center. With this result the Suns extended their record to 62-14 and sit at the top of the Western Conference standings.

''That's who we are. We are a work team. Even though the studies show that lifting after a game helps with recovery, I think they really enjoy being around each other and they enjoy the work,'' coach Monty Williams said. ''... As I've said before, our guys are chasing something. When you're chasing something, you don't want to get to whatever you're chasing and not be ready.''

''We felt like we've been there before,'' Paul said of the atmosphere. ''Obviously this is an exciting environment playing in here, the crowd going crazy and all that but we've been playing a ton of games like that.''

''The tough part about Jordan is he's learning how to play like Steph,'' Williams said before the game.

''Draymond took a step tonight,'' Kerr said of the improvements on both ends.

The Miami Heat reclaimed their top spot in Eastern Conference standings when they defeated the Boston Celtics 106-98. For the Heat, Jimmy Butler scored 24 points, Kyle Lowry added 23  as Bam Adebayo finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds. For the Celtics, Jaylen Brown led the team with 28 points and 10 rebounds. Jayson Tatum added 23 points and six assists. With this result the Miami Heat clinched a playoff place and also reclaimed the top spot with a record of 49-28 as the Celtics moved down to 4th in the standings with a record of 47-30, the Eastern Conference is very open at the moment as the Bucks, 76ers, Heat and Celtics are fighting it out for that elusive top spot.

''I think we did a good job of just communicating and being there for each other,'' Lowry said.

''It's a good thing for us to learn from,'' Tatum said. ''The season is not decided today. We've still got games to play, playoffs. So, we'll be good.''

''We've gotten a lot better at knowing where the ball has to go,'' Butler said. ''Putting everybody in the position that they need to be in to be successful.''

''That's why I like going through all these kind of games during the regular season,'' Spoelstra said. ''We had our share of challenges going down the stretch. But what I love about this group is we come in the next day, work at it and really try to get better. Those experiences make you stronger.''

Also read: NBA: Nets win while Mavericks inch closer to securing a playoff place

The other results were:

• Pacers 118 - 125 Nuggets
• Cavs 112 - 120 Mavericks
• Wizards 127 - 110 Magic
• Raptors 125 - 102 Timberwolves
• Knicks 114 - 125 Hornets
• Rockets 118 - 121 Kings
• Thunder 118 - 136 Hawks 
• Spurs 111 - 112 Grizzlies
• Trail Blazers 107 - 117 Pelicans

Tomorrow's matches are:

• Pistons vs 76ers
• Nets vs Bucks
• Hawks vs Cavs
• Bulls vs Clippers
• Jazz vs Lakers
   

(Basketball news) Brooklyn Nets went back to winning ways after they won 130-123 against the Detroit Pistons. For the Nets, Kevin Durant scored 41 points he connected on 14 of 23 shots, 4 of 6 from 3-point range and all nine of his foul shots while adding 11 rebounds, five assists and three blocks as Kyrie Irving added 24 points in his second home appearance since New York exempted the vaccine rule and Drummond added 14 points and 13 rebounds. For the Pistons, Cade Cunningham led the scoring with 34 points. Isaiah Stewart and Saddiq Bey each had 15. With this result the Nets improved their record to 40-36 and are currently 8th in the Eastern Conference standings.

''I want to get better shots sometimes, but like a couple of them are like, `I'm hot, let me risk it,''' Durant said. ''I was just trying to get the best shots that I could. Sometimes it might be over a guy in the lane, but I feel like that's open and I have to keep knocking them down.''

''We can't hang our hat on the second half, we have to play a complete game,'' Drummond said. ''It's never going to be easy to make that turn against great teams. Not that the Pistons aren't a great team. They played a great game, but we just turned it up in the second half.''

''We're going to have to make our staple as a team on the defensive end, because if we're going back and forth in a shooting contest, obviously we'll still be in the game but can lead to mistakes on our end,'' Irving said.

''I know their record isn't good, but they still have pros over there,'' Durant added. ''They still made shots early and gained confidence as a team. This was a good test for us.''

The Dallas Mavericks are close to securing a playoff place after a 128-110 victory over the struggling Lakers. For the Mavericks, Luka Doncic scored 34 points in a triple-double as he finished with 12 rebounds and 12 assists and Reggie Bullock scored 17 points as he was 5 of 8 from 3. For the Lakers, Malik Monk scored 28 points and Russell Westbrook had 25 which dropped to their third straight defeat for their fifth losing streak this season as they steadily slid away from .500. With this result the Mavericks have virtually secured a place in the NBA playoffs as their current record stands at 47-29 and are just one victory away from overtaking the Warriors in third place in the Western Conference standings.  

''With those guys out, we're at a talent deficit, so the focus and execution has to make up for it,'' Vogel said. ''This is just the latest dose of adversity that this year's team has faced. When you lose 'Bron, OK, you have to adjust yet again throughout a season of setbacks.''

''We respect who they are,'' Dallas coach Jason Kidd. ''They're dangerous. (Monk) played well. Russ played well. We took care of business from the start. I think those guys set the tone. Three great quarters of basketball.''

Also read: NBA: Boston Celtics and Memphis Grizzlies are emerging as dark horse

The other results were:

• Wizards 94 - 107 Bulls
• 76ers 116 - 118 Bucks
• Clippers 121 - 115 Jazz

Tomorrow’s matches are:

• Pacers vs Nuggets
• Cavs vs Mavericks
• Wizards vs Magic
• Raptors vs Timberwolves
• Celtics vs Heat
• Knicks vs Hornets
• Rockets vs Kings
• Thunder vs Hawks
• Spurs vs Grizzlies
• Warriors vs Suns
• Trail Blazers vs Pelicans
   

(Basketball news) When the season had started everyone believed that the either the Nets or Lakers were the favourites for the NBA title but 3/4 of the season is done with the Boston Celtics and the Memphis Grizzlies having put themselves as out right contenders to not only win their respective conference but also have a shot at the NBA title this season.

Heading into the playoffs, the Celtics are in terrific form as they have won nine of their last 10 games to shoot up themselves right at the top of the Eastern Conference standings (tied with the second place Miami Heat) and have suddenly emerged as a genuine title contender, particularly in a more open Eastern Conference, and a realistic pathway to the finals. Jayson Tatum has been playing at an MVP level over the span of three months and holds the key to Boston’s playoff fortunes. Ime Udoka’s team faces Utah, Miami, Chicago, Milwaukee and Memphis in one of the tougher runs and need to win all of their matches at home if they are to keep the top spot. Along with Jason Tatum Udoka has found the perfect role for Jaylen Brown who is also having a terrific season for the second most successful franchise in the NBA

Memphis is the real deal and has every reason to be confident about claiming second seed in the West and have hopes of actually clinching the Western Conference. Winning five of their last six games, the Grizzlies have secured a playoff spot and have most likely secured the second place also in the standings as they are about to face a tough run home including games against Brooklyn, Milwaukee, Golden State, Phoenix, Utah, Denver and Boston. It might see the Grizzlies drop to the third seed but a lot would have to go wrong. If they can knock off some of the big dogs, they will take that confidence and have every reason to be bullish about their playoff fortunes.

Jason Tatum has been quietly doing his business game in game out as he’s putting up magical numbers which has elevated him the MVP standings also, although he won’t be winning the MVP trophy this year but the last couple of months he has been playing like one. Since the All-Star break, Tatum has lifted his scoring average from 25.7 points to 32.1 on 50.7% from the field and 43.8% from long range to go with 7.1 rebounds and 4.6 assists on the way to becoming the league’s current total plus-minus leader.

“Hopefully next year, I can start off like that,” Tatum said, “Then, I can be in that conversation if we keep winning like this. But I don’t know. I guess I just had to get my legs under me. It’s just that time of the year. It’s time to get ready for the playoffs. We all just turn it up a notch.”

If it's Jason Tatum leading the Celtics from the front the same can be said about Ja Morant. The second year rookie has been playing a perennial all star, all year round and he also could have been in the MVP race but an unfortunate injury has dropped him out of the reckoning. His early season form set a bench mark of the others in the team as even without Ja the Grizzlies over the last 20 games have an unbelievable record of 18-2. Ja before his injury was averaging a staggering 27.6 points, 6.7 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game. He is set to be fit for the playoffs as Grizzlies will certainly be the dark horses in a packed Eastern Conference

Also read: Lakers and Warriors both lose as LeBron crossed the 37k points mark

(Football news) A group of investors or a consortium led by Boston Celtics co-owner Stephen Pagliuca has agreed to buy into Italian Serie A club Atalanta. The deal is the latest U.S led investment in Italy's top flight league following the takeover of clubs like Genoa, AC Milan, Fiorentina, Spezia, AS Roma and Venezia. Nine of the 20 top-flight Italian clubs are now controlled by foreign investors as they include China’s Suning Group at Inter Milan and Canadian Joey Saputo at Bologna also. 

Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio investor group would buy 55% of La Dea, the holding company owned by Italy's Percassi family, which owns around 86% of the club currently and will give away their 31% share. The Percassi's, whose group owns cosmetics chain Kiko Milano and manages Starbucks stores in Italy, will keep a stake of 45% in La Dea and remain the biggest single shareholder in an equal partnership  deal. Under the deal, Atalanta is valued at around 500 million euros including their debt as Antonio and Luca Percassi will remain chairman and CEO of Atalanta. Pagliuca, who is also co-chairman of investment firm Bain Capital and the co-owner of the historical basketball franchise Boston Celtics, will also be the co-chairman of Atalanta BC. 

Atalanta over the recent years has become the best of Italy's provincial clubs, but under Percassi ownership since 2010 it has punched above its weight and become a feature in the as one of the top teams in Italian football. The team has qualified for the Champions League in the past three seasons and has also achieved three consecutive third-place finishes in Serie A. The club estimation still stands at 52 million Euros of profit in 2020 despite the impact of Covid. The total club value according to the accountancy firm KPMG was 364 million euros. The Percassi family was advised by BofA Securities, Studio Gatti Pavesi Bianchi Ludovici and Deloitte to complete the takeover with Pagliuca. The investors were assisted by Legance and Kirkland & Ellis, Alvarez & Marsal and Pirola, Zei, Pennuto & Partners to complete the takeover.

Pagliuca said: “Atalanta and the Boston Celtics share the same sporting values: team spirit and a unique bond with their fans and communities. We believe that the Percassi family has built very solid foundations on which to work together for a global strengthening of the brand, with the aim of encouraging further diversification and revenue growth, allowing the club to become increasingly competitive on an Italian and international scale.”

“My family and I have taken this opportunity to partner with a group who shares our vision to continue the growth and success of our team, choosing to remain committed to the club that over the last ten years has delivered exceptional results, that perhaps no one would have expected from a so-called ‘provinciale. Atalanta, in whose ranks I played in the ’60s, is and will remain in my heart as it is in the heart of thousands of fans who support it. Great challenges await us and my conviction is that the partnership with such high-profile investors will speed up our path of growth.” said Antonio Percassi.

Also read: Inter suffered a shock defeat to Sassuolo as AC Milan couldn’t take advantage
 

(Basketball news) The Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Miluwakee Bucks 131-116 as Ginnias produced a world class performance. For the Bucks, Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 44 points on 17-for-20 shooting and Bobby Portis had 23 points with five 3-pointers as Khris Middleton scored all of his 21 points in the first half. For the Lakers, LeBron James scored 27 points and Anthony Davis had 22 points and nine rebounds, Malik Monk scored 20 points and Stanley Johnson added a season-high 16 for the Lakers in a reserve role. LA lost five of seven to fall back to three games below .500. With this result the Bucks moved up to second in the Eastern Conference table as they improved their record to 35-21.

''He made it look easy, honestly,'' Middleton said. ''That just shows the level of how he's playing. He was knocking down his jump shot. He's got guys going for his pump fake. Just the way he let the game come to him and stay patient, it was pretty fun to watch.''

''Obviously when you make shots, the game is a lot easier, looks a lot better,'' Antetokounmpo said. ''I know I'm going to try to get my teammates involved and look for the best way to help the team, but sometimes when you start making shots, you feel better about yourself, you defend better. Today was one of those games.''

''We played a terrible defensive half,'' Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. ''Disposition, competition, the level of competitive spirit we showed for a big game was very disappointing. Two straight games we started with a terrible defensive half. We've gotta get that right.''

The Nets suffered their ninth successive loss as they lost 126-91 against the Boston Celtics. For the Celtics, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart each scored 22 points, Jayson Tatum scored 19 and Robert Williams had 12 points and 11 rebounds as the Celtics continued their strong stretch and moved past the Nets into seventh place in the Eastern Conference. For the Nets, Jevon Carter scored 21 points on seven 3-pointers and Cam Thomas scored 17 points. The Nets are considered the favorites to win the East, but since Kevin Durant’s injury they have lost 10 of 12 in the middle of January. 

''I don't know how often or if we've ever been so good to start like that before but it felt good,'' Brown said. ''We knew some of those guys were out. We wanted to just take care of business early. We didn't want to play around and give them confidence and let them linger into the game.''

''Frankly, that's a really good starting five that's playing really good basketball playing against a reserve lineup, so we're asking them to match a high, high-quality NBA starting five,'' Nets coach Steve Nash said.

''Honestly, I think we'll be exactly the same. I think the chances of trades or deals happening before the deadline are so slim, especially for our group,'' Nash said. ''So my mind and attention is on this group and putting this thing together as guys become healthy again and trying to build it for the stretch run.''

Also read: Phoenix Suns in unbeatable form while Warriors win 9th straight game

The other results were:

• 76ers 109 - 114 Suns
• Hawks 133 - 112 Pacers
• Grizzlies 135 - 109 Clippers
• Pelicans 110 - 97 Rockets
• Mavericks 116 - 86 Pistons
• Nuggets 132 - 115 Knicks
• Kings 114 - 134 Timberwolves
• Trail Blazers 95 - 113 Magic

Tomorrow’s fixtures are:

• Cavs vs Spurs
• Hornets vs Bulls
• Thunder vs Raptors
• Jazz vs Warriors
• Kings vs Timberwolves
• Trail Blazers vs Lakers
   

(Basketball news) Lakers suffered an embarrassing loss to Timberwolves as they lost 110-92. For the Wolves, Karl-Anthony Towns had 28 points and 10 rebounds, and the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Los Angeles Lakers for a second time this season as Malik Beasley and D'Angelo Russell each had 17 points and Jarred Vanderbilt grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds to help them win their third straight game. They played without star Anthony Edwards, who was under NBA's health and safety protocols. For the Lakers, their squad was depleted with Covid protocols as LeBron James had a quiet 18 points and 10 rebounds, Isaiah Thomas made his season debut with 19 points, Russell Westbrook had 14 points and Kent Bazemore had a season high with 11 points. With this result the Lakers stayed 6th in the Western Conference with a record of 16-14.

''I'm going to let people make their assumptions and make their judgment. I just know that every day when I come here I play the game with a tremendous amount of confidence .I wanted to set the standard. I wanted to try to impose myself into the game real quick, understanding Ant's not here,'' Towns said.

“They definitely played a more physical brand of basketball tonight, and we've got to be better,'' Lakers coach Frank Vogel said.

The Golden State Warriors extended their winning run as they won 111-107 against the Boston Celtics. Andrew Wiggins scored 27 and Kevon Looney had 10 rebounds for the Warriors as Steph Curry top scored with 30 points, who won their third straight game on an East Coast road trip. It was Kerr's 400th victory as a coach in 576 games over eight seasons. He is third on the franchise win list, behind Al Attles (557) and Don Nelson (422). For the Celtics, Jayson Tatum scored 27 points, and Jaylen Brown had 20 points and nine rebounds for the Celtics. With this win the Warriors reclaimed their top spot in the Western conference with a record of 24-5. 

''We're coming off the emotional roller coaster ... a lot going on around the league,'' Curry said after scoring 30 points in a 111-107 victory over the Celtics on Friday night. ''You try not to get distracted by all the things that are outside the locker room.''

''On a five-game trip, guaranteeing us at least three wins makes this a good trip,'' coach Steve Kerr said. ''Now tomorrow is more of a free swing.''

''It means I'm incredibly lucky to coach a bunch of talented guys,'' said Kerr, who won the NBA championship in his first season and two more in the next three years. ''From my first game coaching in the NBA until now, I've had nothing but talented teams.''

Also read: Suns go joint top as the Nets extended their lead in the Eastern Conference

The results of the other matches were:

• Magic 105 - 115 Heat
• Hawks 115 - 133 Nuggets
• Pelicans 116 - 112 Bucks
• Jazz 126 - 128 Spurs
• Kings 105 - 124 Grizzlies
• Trail Blazers 125 - 116 Hornets

The matches for tomorrow are:

• Celtics vs Knicks
• Nets vs Magic
• Raptors vs Warriors
• Thunder vs Clippers
• Bucks vs Cavaliers
• Jazz vs Wizards

 

(Basketball news) Lakers beat the Boston Celtics 117-102 in the latest chapter of the NBA's most heated rivalry. LeBron James scored 30 points, Westbrook added 24 points and 11 assists, Anthony Davis had 17 points and 16 rebounds for the Lakers, who produced one of their best recent performances in their fourth victory in six games overall. Los Angeles made 56.5% of its shots in the first three quarters and shut down Jayson Tatum's with their defense. For the Celtics Jason Tatum scored 34 points as he scored 14 of his 34 points in an incredible early first-quarter blitz for the Celtics, who dropped to 1-2 on their four-game West Coast trip, Jaylen Brown sat out his third straight game with a strained right hamstring, as Robert Williams III's 13 points for Boston was the second most. With this victory the Lakers improved their record to 13-12 as they moved up to 6th in the Western Conference.

''As a player like myself, you want to make sure you approach all games the same while also understanding the significance of this particular game,'' Westbrook said. ''That makes it a good win for us.''

''I just like the way we competed tonight on both sides of the floor,'' James said. ''We had a lot of intensity, a lot of ball movement. Guys were attacking the rim. I think defensively, besides the first 14-point avalanche on Tatum's part, we locked in from that point forward.''

“I think at the beginning of the year, Russ was a little bit passive,'' Davis said. ''He was trying to get guys involved, pass the ball. ... We told him, 'The more you're aggressive, the more it will open up for everyone else.' The last seven to 10 games, he's been very, very aggressive, and when he does that, it opens up the floor for everyone else as far as shooting. He's just been in attack mode. That's why we brought him here, to be Russell Westbrook and not anybody else but that.''

The Brooklyn Nets defeated the Dallas Mavericks 102-99 as they made a 17 point comeback in the second half. Kevin Durant scored 24 points, Harden had 23 points and 12 assists as they handed the Mavericks their fifth consecutive home loss. For the Mavericks, Luka Doncic scored 28 points but had another rough night from 3-point range, Kristaps Porzingis had 17 points and 12 rebounds. In three games since setting a franchise record by shooting 68.7% in a 32-point victory at New Orleans, Dallas is down to 38% shooting from the arc. With this result the Nets improved their record to 17-7 which is subsequently the best in the Eastern Conference. 

''We've been in this league long enough to know it's winning time. It's go time,'' said Harden, who also had nine rebounds. ''Throughout the course of the game, I feel like we got good shots. We just missed them. We just kept sticking with it and kept sticking with it. You've got to just keep shooting, especially if that's what you do.''

''We had a lot of open looks there in the fourth quarter that just didn't go down,'' Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. ''And then Timmy has a wide-open look. You couldn't ask for a better look to tie up the game.''

''It's a character win where you just want to make the right plays to get back in the game and you want to turn the momentum to your side,'' said Durant, who was 10 of 22 from the field and had seven rebounds. ''I think we did that tonight”.

Also read: NBA: Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors became the first teams to win 20 matches this season

The tomorrow's fixtures are:

• Pistons vs Wizards
• Hornets vs 76ers
• Cavaliers vs Bulls
• Pacers vs Knicks
• Heat vs Bucks
• Raptors vs Thunder
• Grizzlies vs Mavericks
• Timberwolves vs Jazz
• Pelicans vs Nuggets
• Rockets vs Nets
• Kings vs Magic
• Warriors vs Trail Blazers
• Clippers vs Celtics
   

(Basketball news) James delivered tiebreaking and back-breaking 3-pointers in overtime and finished with 39 points to help the Los Angeles Lakers rally past Indiana 124-116. After drawing his first suspension in his career, LeBron James looked like a man on a mission as the Lakers missed Anthony Davis through fever. Russell Westbrook had 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists while Monk had 17 points. Carmelo Anthony and Ellington each added 14 but James was 13 of 29 from the field and had six assists and five rebounds. For the Pacers,  Brogdon added seven rebounds, Domantas Sabonis had 14 points, 12 rebounds and six assists while Myles Turner had 12 points, six rebounds and two blocks. LeBron James forced overtime by scoring seven straight points to give the Lakers their 10th victory of the season. With this result the Lakers improved their record to 10-10 as they lie 9th place in Western Conference. 

“I know he wanted to get this W,''' coach Frank Vogel said. ''He really wanted to play in that Knicks game, he looks forward to that every year. So to bounce back tonight, to quarterback the defense and carry the offense the way he did, that's just a performance for the ages.”

“I was excited about being in the lineup. Me not playing last night on the second night of a back to back, I knew I could kind of give our guys a boost of energy with me not playing last night'' said James.

The Brooklyn Nets defeated the Boston Celtics 123-103 as Kevin Durant scored 21 points to overtake Allen Iverson in the all time scoring charts to enter the top 25 of the NBA's all-time scoring list. Patty Mills scored 23  and James Harden had 20 points and 11 assists for Brooklyn. LaMarcus Aldridge scored 17 points with nine rebounds for the Nets, who have won four in a row, seven out of eight and 12 of their last 14 games. For the Celtics, Marcus Smart had 20 points and eight assists for Boston, which had won three in a row. Jayson Tatum had 15 points and eight rebounds as they tried their best to cut the massive lead the Nets made up in the first three quarters. Next up on the scoring list for Durant is Ray Allen, who has 24,505 points to become the 24th highest scorer in the league. 

''To pass him on the list, to end up there with some of the greats on that list is incredible,'' said Durant, who entered the night with 24,367 points, one behind Iverson, and passed him on a jumper in the first two minutes. ''I've just gotta keep going,'' he concluded.

“It's a quality road win against a team that's been playing great basketball,'' Nets coach Steve Nash said.

The Golden State Warriors continued their magnificent start to the season with a 116-96 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. Stephen Curry and his entire supporting cast in the second-half were defensively very sound to shut down younger brother Seth. Stephen Curry scored 25 points to Seth's 24, and the Golden State Warriors surged back after halftime to beat Philadelphia to make it five straight victories. Juan Toscano-Anderson came off the bench in the second half to score 13 points to go with six rebounds and six assists. Steph Curry shot 9 for 16 with six 3-pointers and added 10 assists as they improved their record to 16-2 which is the best in the league. Steph’s younger brother Seth Curry top scored for the 76ers with 24 points and Tyrese Maxey added 19 points for them.

“We were on our heels most of the entire first 18 minutes. Our identity is our defense. We can score with the best of them but we flipped the switch and got stops and made them take tough shots, especially in the second half and turned that into offense,'' Curry said. ''It was pretty impressive just the energy flip that happened after that first quarter”.

''We got great performances off the bench from Gary and Juan, two of our better defenders, and the defense led to the offense and the ball started to move because we were in transition,'' coach Steve Kerr said. ''It was a beautiful second half.''

Also read: NBA: The New York Knicks defeated the Lakers and Mavericks needed overtime to defeat the Clippers

The other results were:

• Magic 99 - 106 Hornets
• Cavaliers 115 - 120 Suns
• Pelicans 127 - 102 Wizards
• Rockets 118 - 113 Bulls
• Timberwolves 113 - 101 Heat
• Thunder 104 - 110 Jazz
• Bucks 114 - 93 Pistons
• Grizzlies 113 - 126 Raptors
• Kings 125 - 121 Trail Blazers

The Saturday fixtures are:

• Clippers vs Pistons
• Magic vs Bulls
• Knicks vs Suns
• Hornets vs Timberwolves
• Grizzlies vs Hawks
• Thunder vs Wizards
• Pacers vs Raptors
• Spurs vs Celtics
• Nuggets vs Bucks
• Jazz vs Pelicans
• Warriors vs Trail Blazers
• Lakers vs Kings
   

(Basketball news) The match between the Suns and Nuggets was a story of two halves, ultimately the Denver Nuggets came out on top as they used lockdown defence and clutch 3 point shots to start off their campaign with a 110-98 victory. Last year's MVP Nikola Jokic started off the campaign with 27 points and 13 rebounds on 13 of 22 shooting from the field as he was too much for the Suns defence to handle, on the other hand Mikal Bridges top scored with 16 points as Chris Paul and co couldn’t get themselves in a groove in the second half

Knicks edged out Celtics 138-134 after playing two overtimes, in what was an enthralling game between these two historical franchises. Evan Fournier in his first match for the New York Knicks scored a career high with 32 points and also hit the game winning three pointer with 56 seconds left in the second overtime. Earlier Jaylen Brown scored 46 points to inspire his team to make a comeback in the fourth quarter as they were down by 11 points, subsequently Brown broke the franchise record for the highest number of points scored on the opening night but ultimately his efforts went in vain as they lost by 4 points in the end. Last year’s most improved player Julius Randle top scored for the Knicks with 35 points, 9 assist and 8 rebounds to help inspire them to a historic victory.

The Chicago Bulls won 94-88 against the Detroit Pistons, this season the Bulls have made significant changes to their roster adding the likes of DeMar DeRozan and Lonzo Ball. These players made their debut and did not disappoint as they scored 17 and 12 points respectively but all the headlines were grabbed by their franchise cornerstone for years Zach Lavine who top scored with 34 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assist. Jerami Grant did his best to inspire a comeback but his 24 points wasn’t enough for them as the Bulls defeated the Pistons for the eight consecutive time.

In tomorrow's matches, the two next generation superstars Trae Young and Luka Doncic go head to head as Hawks take on the Mavericks. Last year's surprise package Hawks will be looking to continue from where they left off from last season as they made it to the Eastern Conference finals under coach Nate McMillan in his first full season. For the Mavericks they will be heading into a new era as coach Rick Carlisle will not be in there for the first time since the 2007-08 season as they have appointed former Dallas player Jason Kidd as their new head coach. 

Also read: NBA: Lakers and Nets both lose their first match of the season as Giannis and Steph Curry both shine on the opening day.

The Miami Heat will play their first match against defending champions Milwaukee Bucks. The Heat will have a renewed vigour and passion to make this year's final after a disappointing season last year, this season Miami have added some extra firepower in the form of former NBA champion Kyle Lowry and also Victor Oldapio who was added to their roster last season will come back from a recurring injury. Miami mainstays Jimmy Butler and along with Bam Adebayo will be hoping that they inspire them to go all the way and win a NBA championship together. This season the Heats have been portrayed as the dark horse for the Championship by the former players and experts.

Last year's Western Conference Finalist LA Clippers will take on Steph Curry’s Golden State Warriors. The Warriors are coming off good form after beating the Lakers and will hope to repeat the same against their city rivals. For Clippers, the task in hand will be difficult as their talisman Kawhi Leonard will be out for quite some time as he suffered an ACL injury in the Western Conference Finals. All the onus will be on Paul George to lead the franchise before Kawhi Leonard comes back.

The other significant results were:

• Trail Blazers 121 - 124 Kings
• Jazz 107 - 86 Thunder
• Spurs 123 - 97 Magic
• Grizzlies 132 - 121 Cavaliers
• Pelicans 97 - 117 76ers
• Raptors 83 - 98 Wizards 
• Hornets 123 - 122 Pacers
• Timberwolves 124 - 106 Rockets
   

(Basketball news) Steph Curry lit up the night with his first triple double since January 2016 as he scored 21 points 10 rebounds and 10 assists for Golden State Warriors who came back from 10 points to stun Lebron James and the new Los Angeles Lakers by 121-114 in the season opener.

The Lakers were dominant all throughout the first three quarters as LeBron James and Anthony Davis showed the world why they are the best duo in the league, James scored 34 points and 11 rebounds while Davis had 30 points and 11 rebounds. Ultimately it was the fourth quarter that proved to be decisive as they got out scored 38-29, no other Laker players even scored in double figures as Frank Vogel and his coaching team will try to get the best out of this roster. Newly added star player Russell Westbrook couldn’t make a big impression as he shot 4 of 13 for 8 points in his Lakers debut.

Giannis and the Milwaukee Bucks didn’t let their first title in their history distract them from their title defence as they breezed past the Nets in the opening night. Although Kevin Durant and Patty Mills scored 32 and 21 points respectively, the bucks were too strong in the end as they won 127-104. Although Bucks won the game, it came at a cost as their star player Jrue Holiday got injured with a bruised right heel and subsequently sat out the second half of the game.

Nets were missing star guard Kyrie Irving after his refusal to take the Covid-19 vaccine, James Harden had to step up but couldn’t deliver up to his expectations as he scored 20 points making 6 of 16 shots. On the other hand after Holiday’s injury, Khris Middleton and Pat Connaughton stepped up their game and each scored 20 points to secure a comprehensive victory over the Brooklyn Nets.

“We can’t give a team 20 more shots than us. Imagine coming to a game and saying, here, take the ball 20 times on offense before we get an offensive position. This is one game out of 82 of them. We’ll look at it that way. Every team will look at it that way. The Bucks won today, but they are still trying to fine-tune what they do, too. I think every team in the league is going to look at their first few games, first few weeks and see where their team is going and then make adjustments” said Kevin Durant after the loss to the bucks.

Antetokounmpo said. ''I'm excited. But now it's over with. We've got to focus on building good habits, keep moving forward and keep playing good basketball and hopefully we can repeat this again this year, next year and all the years that we're going to be here down the road.''

Brooklyn coach Steve Nash said. ''We weren't very good, If you're not playing at a high level against the champs, you're not going to win.''

In tomorrow’s matches we will see last year’s finalist Phoenix Sun take on Denver Nuggets as just one of the marquee fixtures tomorrow. The Nuggets will most likely be without last year's MVP Nikola Jokic as he is recovering from an ankle injury as they will have to heavily rely on Aaron Gordon to score the majority of the points to get a win over the rampant Suns who will head into the match with a fully fit squad. The New York Knicks take on the Boston Celtics in their opening fixtures, the Knicks last season were a surprise package making the playoffs after 10 years but this season after the acquisition of Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier they will be hoping to make the conference final at least. As for the Celtics they are going through a transition period as they will heavily rely on their young players Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown to produce the goods.

Also read: Everything to know about the 75th NBA season as Lakers and Nets start as favourites for the Championship

The other fixtures for tomorrow are:

• Hornets vs Pacers
• Pistons vs Bulls
• Raptors vs Wizards
• Timberwolves vs Rockets
• Pelicans vs 76ers
• Grizzlies vs Cavaliers
• Jazz vs Thunder
• Trail Blazers vs Kings
•  Spurs vs Magic   

 

It was the first matchup between last year’s East finalists that ended in a nail biting finish, with Payton Pritchard’s putback two tenths of a second left sealing the win for Boston Celtics. Jayson Tayton scored 27 points and Jaylen Brown had 21 points in a matchup that saw Celtics wastefully let go of an early 17 point lead and a 10 point lead until the final minute, to eventually get the edge over Miami Heat. For Miami, Jimmy Butler had 26 points, Duncan Robinson got 16, Bam Adebayo with 15 and 14 from Goran Dragic. Miami Heat made an inspiring comeback to score 10 points in 55 seconds to tie the game, thanks to a pair of 3-pointers by Robinson and another one from Dragic. The Heat fell short at the end with Pritchard swooping in from a rebound with only two tenths of a second left on the clock. The Celtics made it difficult for themselves considering they made five 3-pointers in the first 5:45 to lead 21 - 9 and also held Miami to one field goal in the second quarter for eight minutes to lead by 17. It’s a testament to the spirit shown by Miami Heat players to cut the lead by eight by halftime and overturn the deficit by five in the third quarter. Both teams were tied at 80 with 12 minutes left on the clock thanks to Grant Williams putback in the final second of the third quarter.