The Boston Celtics and New Jersey Nets are waiting until the playoffs to officially renew one of the NBA's budding rivalries.
``It doesn't mean nothing,'' Celtics guard Paul Pierce said on Wednesday night after Boston's 96-79 home victory. ``This game doesn't put us into the NBA Finals. It's a regular-season game.''
The teams met in the Eastern Conference finals last season and became bitter opponents when New Jersey objected to how Boston celebrated after the Nets blew a 26-point lead in Game 3. Celtics fans also taunted Jason Kidd's wife and son during the series, which the Nets won in six games.
PHOTO: REUTERS
``The rivalry started in the playoffs, and it will have to continue in the playoffs, not the regular season,'' Kidd said.
Tony Delk and Shammond Williams each scored 21 points -- the first time this season that neither Pierce nor Antoine Walker led the Celtics in scoring. Pierce had 18 points and 13 rebounds, and Walker added 16 points as the Celtics snapped a two-game losing streak.
``The big two didn't have their 'A' game tonight,'' said Kidd, who scored 19 points. ``So it shows they're different from last year.''
The Celtics took control with a pair of 11-0 runs in the third quarter, with the Nets scoring just 14 points on 4-for-22 shooting in the period.
``We were terrible tonight,'' Nets coach Byron Scott said. ``I don't understand how you can come in here, especially against a team that you know is going to play you extremely hard, that wants to beat you badly ... and we come out with a lackadaisical effort.''
Pacers 97, Raptors 95
At Toronto, Al Harrington scored 16 of his 22 points in the second half as Indiana improved to 9-1 to match its best start.
Jermaine O'Neal added 20 points for the Pacers, who tied the team record set in the 1969 to 1970 ABA season.
Voshon Lenard had 22 points, and Alvin Williams 21 for the shorthanded Raptors, who have lost three straight.
Spurs 95, Lakers 88
At San Antonio, Stephen Jackson scored a career-high 28 points, including eight 3-pointers, as the Spurs overcame an early shooting slump.
The Spurs made only one of their first 19 shots from the field and fell behind by 12 in the opening period. But Jackson came off the bench and made three 3-pointers late in the quarter to start San Antonio's comeback.
Kobe Bryant led the Lakers with 24 points, but scored only nine in the second half. Injured center Shaquille O'Neal plans to make his season debut Friday night at home against Chicago.
Pistons 79, Heat 68
At Auburn Hills, Michigan, Ben Wallace had 19 rebounds, a season-best 12 points and tied a franchise high with 10 blocks to lead Detroit over Miami.
Chucky Atkins scored a season-best 21 points in place of the injured Chauncey Billups.
Eddie Jones scored 15 points for Miami, which failed to reach 70 points for the second time in three games.
Timberwolves 103, Hawks 93
At Atlanta, Troy Hudson scored 20 points and Marc Jackson added 18 for Minnesota.
Kevin Garnett was held to 15 points on 5-for-19 shooting from the floor, but had a game-high 12 rebounds for the Timberwolves, who beat the Hawks for the sixth straight time.
Glenn Robinson scored 33 points and Shareef Abdur-Rahim had 23 points and 11 rebounds for Atlanta, which had won three straight and was 4-0 at home.
Jazz 96, Nuggets 79
At Denver, Karl Malone scored 21 points, including 16 in the second half, and Utah handed the Nuggets their fifth straight loss.
76ers 95, Grizzlies 88
At Memphis, Tennessee., Allen Iverson scored 33 points as Philadelphia kept the Grizzlies the NBA's only winless team at 0-12.
Stromile Swift set a Memphis record by blocking eight shots, and he also had 12 points and 16 rebounds. Rookie Drew Gooden led the Grizzlies with 21 points.
Trail Blazers 98, Magic 84
At Portland, Oregon, Rasheed Wallace had 26 points and 14 rebounds, and Derek Anderson added 26 points as the Trail Blazers won consecutive games for the first time this season.
Warriors 100, Bulls 94
At Oakland, California, Antawn Jamison scored 25 points, and Gilbert Arenas had 16 points and 11 assists as Golden State withstood Jalen Rose's one-man comeback in the second half.
Troy Murphy had 17 points and 13 rebounds as Golden State grabbed a big early lead and held on through a tense fourth quarter and a stirring second-half performance by Rose, who scored 26 of his 34 points after halftime.
Kings 93, Clippers 89
At Los Angeles, Chris Webber and Bobby Jackson each scored 19 points for Sacramento.
Corey Maggette scored a career-high 30 points for the Clippers, including a 3-pointer with 21.7 seconds left that pulled them within two at 91-89. But Stojakovic made two free throws, then the Clippers missed three shots in a row.
New Taipei Kings guard Jeremy Lin on Friday was named the Taiwan Professional Basketball League’s (TPBL) Player of the Month, the first domestic player to win the award, while the Hsinchu Toplus Lioneers are to welcome their third head coach in less than a year. Lin averaged 22 points, 5.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists over five games in October and last month, helping the Kings to second in the standings with a 4-2 record as of Friday. The Kings last night defeated the Lioneers 96-78 to move level with the top-of-the-table Formosa Dreamers (5-2), while in the night game, the New Taipei
LIVERPOOL WIN: The 50th Champions League goal by Mohamed Salah helped the leaders of the Premier League to keep their perfect record intact Real Madrid’s big stars on Tuesday turned on the style to revive the Spanish giant’s faltering UEFA Champions League title defense. Galacticos Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham all scored in a thrilling 3-2 win against Serie A leaders Atalanta BC. However, Madrid still had to ride their luck as Mateo Retegui fired over from in front of goal in stoppage-time when handed a golden chance to level the game. It was only Madrid’s third win in the competition’s revamped league phase and leaves the 15-time champions in the unseeded playoff positions in 18th place. “It’s a very important win. Not everyone wins
TO NO AVAIL: The Denver Nuggets’ Serbian center Nikola Jokic surpassed his 53-point performance in the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix The Washington Wizards withstood a 56-point explosion from Denver star Nikola Jokic to beat the Nuggets 122-113 on Saturday and snap their 16-game NBA losing streak. Jokic, who won his third NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) award last season, posted a career scoring high — surpassing a 53-point performance in game four of the 2023 Western Conference semi-finals against Phoenix and a 50-point regular-season best against Sacramento in 2021. The Serbian big man added 16 rebounds and eight assists, but it was all to no avail as Washington, buoyed by 39 points from Jordan Poole, won for the first time
Taiwan’s Lin Cheng-jing won a bronze medal in the clean and jerk in the women’s under-49 kg division at the 2024 IWF World Weightlifting Championships in Bahrain on Saturday. Lin won her first medal at a World Weightlifting Championships for lifting 107kg in the clean and jerk in her weight class, 2kg more than Rosegie Ramos of the Philippines. However, Ramos won bronze for the combined lift after topping Lin by 5kg in the snatch. Ri Song-gum of North Korea won gold in the division’s combined lift with a total of 213kg, while Xiang Linxiang of China took silver with
RSS