A clear win over the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Sixers’ loss to the Suns lift the Boston Celtics into first place in the Eastern Conference. The NBA on Monday morning.
Daniel Theis and the Boston Celtics have taken the lead in the Eastern Conference. The record champions picked up a 134-112 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves and also benefited from the Philadelphia 76ers’ loss to the Phoenix Suns in the day’s top game. Theis scored four points in just under 18 minutes on the court. The duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown played a major role in the record champions’ sixth consecutive victory: Tatum scored 34 points, Brown added 31 points and ten rebounds in the 47th win of the season.
The Suns (Devin Booker, 35 points) extended their winning streak to eight and remain the undisputed best team in the league, while the 76ers slipped from first place in the East to fourth with the 104-114 loss. The Miami Heat and defending champions Milwaukee Bucks are now also ahead of the 76ers, for whom Joel Embiid’s 37 points were not enough.
Lakers 20-point lead not enough
The Los Angeles Lakers, tied with the Celtics for the NBA record with 17 championships, suffered another setback. LeBron James’ team lost to the New Orleans Pelicans 108-116 despite a 20-point lead at the break and slipped back to tenth place in the standings behind the Pelicans. As tenth, the Californians would just be able to take part in the play-in tournament, while eleventh already has a summer break after the regular season.
The Dallas Mavericks climbed to fourth place in the Western Conference with a 114-100 win over the Utah Jazz. Luka Doncic (32/10/5) was once again the match-winner, Maxi Kleber contributed two points and seven rebounds in 23 minutes. Third are the Golden State Warriors, who have lost five of their past ten games with a 115-123 loss to the Washington Wizards. Even a career-best 25 points by Corey Kispert didn’t help the visitors in the nation’s capital.
Oscars for “Shaq” and Steph Curry
Kispert’s teammate Stephen Curry was able to console himself with the Oscar. Together with former superstar Shaquille O’Neal, the Warriors’ guard cleared the coveted film award. Both are co-producers of the 22-minute film “The Queen of Basketball”, which won in the category of best short documentary. It is about Lusia Harris, who scored the first basket in the history of the Olympic Games in Montreal in 1976 and was the first woman to be drafted by a team from the NBA in 1977.
