The Brooklyn Nets on Friday stunned the Boston Celtics 115-105, rallying from 28-point deficit to beat the Eastern Conference contenders on their home floor in the biggest comeback win of the NBA season.
Mikal Bridges scored 38 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Cameron Johnson, celebrating his 27th birthday, added 20 points for Brooklyn, who have struggled to find their form since trades last month saw stars Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant depart.
They had lost four straight, including a blowout loss to the New York Knicks on Wednesday, and looked to be heading for another lopsided defeat when the Celtics took a 51-23 lead with 7 minutes, 23 seconds left in the second quarter.
Photo: AP
“We just kept fighting,” Bridges said. “We just kept fighting, we got stops and that was the biggest thing — defense and getting out in transition, but it all started with our defense.”
The Nets had whittled the deficit to nine points at halftime and took the lead for the first time — and for good — with 6 minutes, 11 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
The win marked the biggest comeback of the season, eclipsing the Los Angeles Lakers’ fightback from a 27-point deficit in a victory over the Dallas Mavericks.
Photo: AP
“We ain’t gonna stop playing no matter what the score is,” said Bridges, who arrived in the trade that sent Durant to the Phoenix Suns.
Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 35 points. Jayson Tatum, celebrating his 25th birthday, added 22 points with 13 rebounds, but the Celtics have lost two of their past three and slipped a bit further behind the Milwaukee Bucks atop the East.
“We got off to a really good start playing the right way and we just took the foot off the gas and it cost us,” said Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, who also saw center Robert Williams depart early in the third quarter with a tight left hamstring. “You can’t be comfortable.”
Elsewhere on Friday, it was:
‧ Bulls 104, Suns 125
‧ Hawks 129, Trail Blazers 111
‧ Heat 120, Knicks 122
‧ Hornets 106, Magic 117
‧ Kings 128, Clippers 127
‧ Lakers 102, Timberwolves 110
‧ Nuggets 113, Grizzlies 97
‧ Thunder 130, Jazz 103
‧ Warriors 108, Pelicans 99
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
A goalkeeper with one of Iran’s top soccer clubs has been suspended after he embraced a female supporter during a championship match, sports daily Khabar Varzeshi reported on Monday. Hossein Hosseini, 31, who plays for Tehran team Esteghlal, was suspended after the incident on April 12. The Esteghlal fan rushed onto the pitch where stadium security attempted to detain her. Hosseini approached the woman while security staff were trying to hold her back and briefly took her into his arms. The newspaper said that the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran fined the goalkeeper the equivalent of US$4,700 and gave him a one-match
A wine merchant who blind tasted a different glass of wine at each mile of the London Marathon on Sunday has said he feels “honored” his challenge went viral on social media, as he surpassed his fundraising target. Tom Gilbey, nicknamed “the wine guy,” sampled 25 glasses of wine during the race, stopping to guess the drink’s grape variety, country of origin and vintage at each mile. A video he posted on TikTok has amassed more than 3.2 million views. He had his first sip at about 9:30am, shortly after the race began. Gilbey said he aimed to raise £2,000 (US$2,487) for Sobell
Shohei Ohtani on Tuesday night slammed a 450-foot (137m) homer to the second deck in right field in his first visit to Nationals Park, as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Washington Nationals 4-1. Ohtani’s sixth homer of the season was the hardest-hit of his career at 118.7mph (191kph). It was also the hardest-hit home run for a Dodgers player in the Statcast era, which began in 2015. The solo shot in the ninth inning off Matt Barnes made it 4-1 after pinch hitter James Outman and Miguel Rojas drove in runs an inning earlier to put Los Angeles ahead. “There’s only