The Boston Celtics chalked up their ninth win a row and padded their Atlantic Division lead with a 104-102 victory over the Washington Wizards on Thursday.
Point guard Rajon Rondo had 21 points and 11 assists, but the Celtics needed a foul shot by center Kendrick Perkins with five seconds left to take a 104-100 lead and put the game on ice.
With All Star Paul Pierce in foul trouble, Rondo and forward Kevin Garnett, who had 17 points on eight of 14 shooting, made the difference, Celtics coach Doc Rivers said.
PHOTO: REUTERS
“Rondo was great, especially down the stretch,” he said. “The fouls threw Paul off his game a little bit. It was really the Rondo-Kevin pick-and-roll show. We got a lot of good stuff out of it. But one thing we need to do is go to lay-up practice. I don’t know how many lay-ups we missed tonight but it was unbelievable.”
Washington faced a 14-point halftime deficit but outscored the Celtics 22-6 to take a 72-70 lead. Boston countered with a 13-2 run to take an 83-74 lead into the final quarter.
“We came out with the 14-point lead and thought if we showed up in the third quarter that they would go away. And they didn’t,” Rivers said.
“We didn’t handle that well. I’ve said we’re not a 48-minute team yet and that’s great proof right there. But that’s OK. We’re still winning these games. We did it on the road and I’ll take it,” Rivers said.
Boston (18-4) has a nine-game lead over the second-place Toronto Raptors in a division where the Celtics are the only team over .500.
The Wizards (7-13) lost their third in a row.
Washington was paced in scoring by Gilbert Arenas’s 19 points, but with the Wizards down 100-98 with 26 seconds left, the three-times All-Star guard missed two foul shots.
JAZZ 120, MAGIC 111
At Salt Lake City, the Utah Jazz shook off an embarrassing defeat the previous day to beat the NBA’s Eastern Conference leader Orlando Magic.
Deron Williams scored 21 of his 32 points in the second half and had 15 assists and eight rebounds for Utah.
Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Jazz, coming off a loss the previous day when they scored just six points in the fourth quarter against the Lakers.
Vince Carter had 34 points for Orlando, who had won eight in a row on the road.
PISTONS 101, NUGGETS 99
In Auburn Hills, Michigan, Detroit held on to beat Denver when former Pistons star Chauncey Billups missed a layup in the final seconds.
Charlie Villanueva scored 27 points, and Rodney Stuckey had 26 to help Detroit run their winning streak to a season-best four games.
Carmelo Anthony scored 40 points for Denver.
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