The Boston Celtics responded to hasty dismissals of their NBA playoff chances by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 104-86 on Monday to square their second-round series at a game apiece.
Rajon Rondo tied a team playoff record with 19 assists, Ray Allen scored 22 points and the Celtics showed they’re still very dangerous despite their advancing years.
Having blown an 11-point lead in the third quarter of Game 1, the Celtics almost squandered a much bigger one Monday. They led 91-66 with 9:08 left, but the Cavs scored 15 straight and pulled within 93-83 with 3:13 left.
PHOTO: AFP
Boston, though, closed with an 11-3 spurt to level the series ahead of hosting Game 3 on Friday.
LeBron James scored 24 and Antawn Jamison 16 for Cleveland, who were outscored 31-12 in the third.
Two years removed from their 17th NBA title, the Celtics were given little chance of getting past James and the top-seeded Cavs.
Despite beating Miami in the first round, Boston was thought to be too old, too slow and too reliant on the aging Big Three of Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.
However, the trio combined for 54 points with Rondo setting them up with passes from impossible angles. Rondo matched the club’s postseason record for assists set by Hall of Famer Bob Cousy.
SUNS 111, SPURS 102
In Phoenix, the hosts fought off third and fourth-quarter comebacks to beat San Antonio in the series opener.
After resting his sore hip for three days, Steve Nash had 33 points and 10 assists for the Suns. Jason Richardson scored 27 and Amar’e Stoudemire had 23 points and 13 rebounds.
Manu Ginobili, tape across his broken nose, led San Antonio with 27, Tony Parker had 26 and Tim Duncan 20.
The Spurs had won four straight Game 1s against the Suns, two of them in Phoenix. Both of those times, in 2005 and 2007, the Spurs went on to win the NBA title.
In the second half, the situation seemed ripe for another of those San Antonio daggers to the Suns’ heart.
Twice, San Antonio rallied from 14 back, with a 12-0 run in the third quarter and a mighty 13-0 outburst that sliced Phoenix’s lead to 94-93 with 4:26 to go in the game.
Stoudemire sank two free throws, then after the Spurs twice missed 3-pointers, Grant Hill made two from the line to put the Suns ahead 98-93.
Parker’s 19-footer cut it to 98-95 with 3:38 left, then Richardson brought the house down with a 3-pointer to make it 103-95 with 1:23 left.
After Parker’s two free throws cut it to 103-97, Grant Hill made a 13-foot jumper with 51 seconds left, and the Suns put it away by making six of eight free throws from there.
The Spurs had to rely on their veteran big three, without much help, to stay in the game. George Hill managed just nine points on 2-of-9 shooting and struggled defensively.
Richard Jefferson had five points and three rebounds in 33 minutes.
The next generation of running talent takes center stage at today’s Berlin Marathon, in the absence of stars including Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge and Ethiopian world record holder Tigist Assefa. With most of the major marathon stars skipping the event in the wake of the Paris Olympics just more than a month ago, the field is wide open in the men’s and women’s races. Since 2015, Kipchoge has won five times in Berlin, Kenenisa Bekele has won twice and Guye Adola once — with all three missing today. Kenyan Kibiwott Kandie and Ethiopian Tadese Takele are among the favourites for the men, while
Zhang Shuai yesterday said that she nearly quit after losing 24 matches in a row — now the world No. 595 is into the quarter-finals of her home China Open. The 35-year-old is to face Spain’s Paula Badosa as the lowest-ranked player to reach this stage in the history of the tournament after Badosa reeled off 11 of the last 12 games in a 6-4, 6-0 victory over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula. Zhang went into Beijing on a barren run lasting more than 600 days and her string of singles defeats was the second-longest on the WTA Tour Open era, which
Taiwan’s Tony Wu yesterday beat Mackenzie McDonald of the US to win the Nonthaburi Challenger IV in Thailand, his first challenger victory since 2022. The 26-year-old world No. 315, who won both his qualifiers to advance to the main draw, has been on a hot streak this month, winning his past nine matches, including two that ensured Taiwan’s victory in their Davis Cup World Group I tie. Wu took just more than two hours to top world No. 172 McDonald 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to win his second challenger tournament since the Tallahassee Tennis Challenger in 2022. Wu’s Tallahassee win followed two years of
UP IN SMOKE: More than half a dozen riders crashed out of the race, with Marquez’s title chances in doubt after driving off the track with flames flickering from his bike Jorge Martin yesterday won a crash-filled Indonesia MotoGP to extend his championship lead, while closest rival Francesco Bagnaia limited the damage by claiming the final podium place. The win leaves the Pramac Racing rider 21 points ahead of his Italian Ducati rival, who finished third behind Spaniard Pedro Acosta in sweltering conditions at the Mandalika International Street Circuit on Lombok island. In front of a crowd of 60,000 in motorbike-mad Indonesia, the 26-year-old put his tumble in Saturday’s sprint behind him, canceling out the gains his title rival Bagnaia made after securing victory in that race. “Thank you Indonesia. I am very happy.
RSS