Hours after attending the funeral of his father in Illinois, coach Doc Rivers saw the new-look Celtics remain the NBA's only undefeated team and personally show the Nets they are the team to beat in the Atlantic Division with an impressive 112-101 win on Saturday.
The victory was the fifth straight for Boston, which is off to its best start since winning six in a row to start the 1987-1988 season. That was the last time the trio of Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish got to the Eastern Conference finals.
Paul Pierce had 13 of his 28 in the third period when Boston turned a seven-point halftime lead into a 21-point margin. Ray Allen added 27 points and Kevin Garnett had 18 points and 14 rebounds.
Trail Blazers 91 Mavericks 82
At Portland, Oregon, Brandon Roy scored a career-high 32 points and added seven assists and the Portland ended a 13-game losing streak to Dallas.
LaMarcus Aldridge added 18 points and eight rebounds for the Blazers (3-3), who extended their modest winning streak to three games after dropping the first three of the season.
Josh Howard had 20 points for Dallas (4-2), which had won its last three.
Dallas had won the previous 13 games against the Trail Blazers, a streak dating to the 2003-2004 season, including a six-game winning streak at the Rose Garden.
Kings 100, Timberwolves 93
At Sacramento, California, Kevin Martin had 29 points and Brad Miller added 12 points and 16 rebounds to lead Sacramento over winless Minnesota.
John Salmons had 19 points and three steals for the Kings who were playing at home for the second night in a row.
Al Jefferson had 17 points and 12 rebounds and Rashad McCants came off the bench to score 16 points for Minnesota in a game that was tied 21 times.
Suns 106, Magic 96
At Orlando, Florida, Leandro Barbosa scored a career-high 39 points and Phoenix withstood a 33-point, 18-rebound effort by Dwight Howard to beat Orlando.
Grant Hill had 14 points and eight rebounds in his Orlando return, but couldn't quiet a hostile crowd soured on him since he signed with Phoenix. Hill was booed all night, an unusual experience for the popular All-Star who spent seven years in Orlando but missed two-thirds of the games with several ankle injuries.
Led by Barbosa, all five Suns starters scored in double figures. Steve Nash had 19 points and 11 assists and Shawn Marion added 11 points and eight rebounds. Amare Stoudemire had 13 points and six rebounds in his second outing after missing three games with a sore knee.
In other games, it was: Jazz 118, Grizzlies 94; Nuggets 113, Pacers 106; Raptors 101, Bulls 71.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
NO DOUBT: Spurs star Wembanyama was unanimously selected as NBA Rookie of the Year, winning all 99 votes to become the first Frenchman to capture the honor The Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night produced a dominant defensive display to seize a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven playoff series against the Denver Nuggets with a 106-80 road victory. The third-seeded Timberwolves harassed Denver relentlessly to claim a second straight win over the NBA champions as the series heads back to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Friday. Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards scored 27 points apiece, but the star of the show was Minnesota’s suffocating defensive effort, which knocked Denver out of their stride almost from the tip-off. The Timberwolves finished with 11 steals and 12 blocks, in sharp contrast to
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
One of Malaysia’s top soccer clubs has pulled out of today’s season-opening Charity Shield after a spate of assaults, including an acid attack, on players in the country. It leaves the kickoff of Malaysia’s season this weekend under a cloud following the unprecedented acts of violence against players, which have left the country shocked and angry. Authorities said they have imposed tighter security, but Selangor said that they would not play in the showpiece curtain-raiser against Malaysian Super League champions Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) citing “a series of criminal incidents and recent threats.” Selangor and Malaysia winger Faisal Halim is in intensive care