Gordon Hayward on Tuesday capped a perfect night from inside the arc with the biggest basket of the game.
Hayward tied a career high with 39 points, making all 16 of his two-point attempts, as the Boston Celtics won their fifth straight game by holding off the Cleveland Cavaliers 119-113.
Hayward hit 17 of 20 shots, including one three-pointer. He put in Kemba Walker’s miss with 22 seconds left to give Boston a five-point lead. Walker stole the inbounds pass and sank a free throw to put the game away.
Photo: David Richard-USA Today
The only person in the building who was not impressed with his perfection on two-pointers was Hayward.
“It seems like a pointless stat to me,” Hayward said. “Tonight just felt sweet because we got the win, but I wish we could have closed out better.”
Celtics coach Brad Stevens took a different point of view.
“Certainly, you always felt like he could get a bucket at any time,” Stevens said. “He was aggressive going to the basket. He did a good job when guarded by big guys. He did a good job when guarded by small guys.”
Walker had 25 points for Boston, who have not lost since the season opener against Philadelphia.
“That’s pretty impressive,” Walker said of Hayward’s stat line. “He made all his twos and only missed three threes. That’s nuts.”
Hayward scored 16 points in the opening quarter and 22 in the first half, hitting all nine attempts from the field.
Cavaliers forward Larry Nance Jr had a simple assessment of the performance.
“He didn’t miss,” Nance said. “He’s crafty. He plays the game at a very cerebral level.”
Hayward suffered a horrific leg injury in Cleveland in the opening minutes of the 2017-2018 season opener. He averaged 16.5 points in two games at Cleveland last season.
“I don’t think about it,” Hayward said. “I haven’t thought about it for a while. Hopefully, you guys won’t be asking about it again.”
Collin Sexton, who scored 21 points, hit a trey with 1 minute, 33 seconds to play that cut Boston’s lead to 116-113. The score remained that way until Hayward’s crucial basket after his offensive rebound.
“Probably a case, I don’t know what the film’s going to show, ball-watching,” Cavaliers forward Kevin Love said. “I’d gone for the rebound and he just crashed weak side.”
Boston were 48 of 85 from the field (56 percent). Jayson Tatum scored 18 points and Carson Edwards had 13.
Tristan Thompson had 19 points and 13 rebounds for Cleveland, who have lost three straight. Love scored 17 and Nance 15.
In other results, it was:
‧ Hornets 122, Pacers 120, OT
‧ Lakers 118, Bulls 112
‧ Hawks 108, Spurs 100
‧ Thunder 102, Magic 94
‧ Nuggets 109, Heat 89
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