The Boston Celtics beat the Houston Rockets 103-91 in Boston on Friday, the Rockets’ second defeat in three days.
Jeremy Lin scored 12 points on four of nine shooting attempts and three of five free throws. He also made six assists, five rebounds and three steals, with no errors.
However, Houston could not outrun the Celtics and shot poorly.
The Rockets “simply couldn’t shoot straight, especially from the free throw line where Houston shot an unspeakable 12-for-29,” said commentator Jason Friedman for NBA.com, blaming the low number for the Rockets’ fate on Friday as the team recorded its second straight loss on the heels of a five-game winning streak.
On Wednesday, the Rockets lost to the New Orleans Hornets 88-79. In Boston, the Rockets at one point found themselves with a chance of winning in the fourth quarter with a 12-0 run that enabled them to narrow the gap to just two points.
However, just as quickly as Houston had found their way back into the contest, the Celtics shoved them back down. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett rapidly restored order for Boston, teaming up to propel the Celtics on a 15-3 run after which the Rockets never challenged again.
Rajon Rondo finished with 12 points and eight assists for the Celtics. Courtney Lee and Jared Sullinger scored 14 apiece and Sullinger also had 11 rebounds for his second straight double-double.
“We dug ourselves a little hole and we spent a lot of energy coming back and we just weren’t able to sustain the energy,” Lin was quoted in the Friedman article as saying.
“They did a good job putting pressure on us. They really controlled the tempo and they got the shots they wanted to get and we didn’t make them uncomfortable enough,” Lin said.
The Rockets’ most powerful shooter, James Harden, scored the most points in the game (24), but also made six errors.
The Celtics’ 51.9 percent shooting rate overshadowed the Rockets’ 43.8 percent.
Lin said: “There were a lot of fouls today and our foul shooting was terrible. Both of those things combined, a lot of fouls and you’re not hitting your free throws, makes it really hard for us to have the ability to get that rhythm that we normally get.”
Meanwhile, Kevin Durant scored 42 points, Russell Westbrook had 27 points and 10 assists, and the Oklahoma City Thunder easily sent the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers crashing to their sixth straight defeat, 116-101.
Kevin Martin scored 15 points and hit three 3-pointers for the Thunder, who romped to a 27-point lead in the second half of their seventh victory in nine games.
Oklahoma City (28-8) matched the Clippers for the NBA’s best record with a virtuoso performance from Durant, who had 38 points midway through the third quarter.
Kobe Bryant scored 28 for the Lakers, on their first six-game skid since March 2007.
Antawn Jamison added 19 points as Los Angeles looked lost and overmatched in their third straight game without starting big men Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol.
“We have to put things in proper perspective,” Thunder head coach Scott Brooks said.
“They have some of their best players not playing tonight and they’re short-handed. They’re going to be a different team once they get everybody back,” he said.
In other NBA action it was:
‧ Bulls 108, Knicks 101
‧ Hawks 103, Jazz 95
‧ Hornets 104, T-Wolves 92
‧ Nets 99, Suns 79
‧ Raptors 99, Bobcats 78
‧ Pistons 103, Bucks 87
‧ Grizzlies 101, Spurs 98, OT
‧ Nuggets 98, Cavaliers 91
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but