The Boston Celtics clearly underlined their ambitions and tore the Golden State Warriors to shreds. In the New York Knicks’ victory in Cleveland, only a few of the visitors’ players were left standing at the end. The NBA on Monday morning
Record champions Boston Celtics tore the Golden State Warriors to shreds with a 140:88 victory. After decent opening minutes, the visitors from California fell behind before the break and found themselves trailing 38:82 at half-time. By then, the Celts’ eleventh win in a row could no longer be prevented, with the result that Dubs’ Head Coach Steve Kerr was able to rest his stars early on.
Perfect birthday for Tatum
For Boston (48-12), it was the largest intermission lead in history; for the Warriors, it was the largest deficit. “That was a great birthday,” summed up Jayson Tatum (now 26) after the game, in which he scored 27 points. Co-star Jaylen Brown even scored 25 points after the first two quarters and finished with 29 points. It was Boston’s third-highest win since the club was founded in 1946, with the only other clearer wins being 133:77 in Chicago (December 8, 2018) and 128:75 against Sacramento on January 25, 2022. In addition, the Celtics are now the first team in league history to win three games in a season by a margin of 50 points or more. The Celtics had beaten Indiana 155-104 in November and most recently Brooklyn 136-86.
Long faces for the visitors (32-28). Curry missed all nine of his three-point attempts (four points) and had to call it a day after 17 minutes of action. “They did to us what we normally do to our opponents,” said the dejected superstar. None of the five starters scored in double figures
Magic on six – Theis and the Clippers win defensive battle
Elsewhere it was more exciting than in Boston. The Los Angeles Clippers led by Daniel Theis (four points, 13 rebounds) held on to a razor-thin 89:88 victory in the top game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Kawhi Leonard (32) stood out in the defensive battle in the North and Los Angeles closed the gap on the conference runners-up in the West: The Clippers are now 38-20, the T-Wolves 42-19.
The Oklahoma City Thunder (42-18) took the top spot in the West with a 118-110 win at the Phoenix Suns (35-26). Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was once again OKC’s top scorer with 35 points, while Suns center Jusuf Nurkic grabbed 31 rebounds (franchise record, previously 27), his best total in 14 years.
Mavs lose to Sixers – Banchero shines against Detroit
The Dallas Mavericks and Maxi Kleber suffered another setback in the battle for direct playoff qualification. The 116:120 (51:56) loss against the Philadelphia 76ers (35-25) was the second defeat in a row for the Texans. Kleber scored two points. 38 points, eleven rebounds and ten assists from top star Luka Doncic were not enough. At 34-27, the Texans are in eighth place in the West.
Meanwhile, the Orlando Magic with world champions Franz and Moritz Wagner can still hope to qualify directly for the play-offs. The team from Florida clearly won 113:91 (59:50) against the cellar dweller Detroit Pistons (9-51) and climbed to sixth place in the playoffs with a 35-26 record in the East. Franz Wagner scored 13 points, Moritz six. The best scorer was All-Star Paolo Banchero (29).
The New York Knicks (36-25) also occupy a direct playoff spot, but their 107-98 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers (39-21) was a costly one. Top man Jalen Brunson added to his team’s already full injury list with a knee injury in the opening minute – diagnosis still pending. Isaiah Hartenstein finished with eight points, seven rebounds and eight assists. After Brunson’s absence, the Knicks only had three substitutes on the bench
