Nothing stops Boston at TD Garden at the start of the season. The Celtics maintained their invincibility at home on Thursday by beating Cleveland (116-107) and thus achieved a twelfth success in as many matches in front of their public. A victory also allowing them to consolidate their first place in the Eastern Conference and have the best record in the League, tied with the Minnesota Timberwolves, leaders in the West (18 wins for 5 losses).
As is often the case this season, it was the most successful major five in the entire NBA who carried Boston. The five starters all scored 14 points or more, with the duo Jayson Tatum (27 points, 11 rebounds) – Jaylen Brown (22 points) leading the attack. Even stronger, the Celtics were not led for a single second in the entire match, taking up to 14 points in advance, in the heart of the second quarter, despite Donovan Mitchell’s 21 points (31 in total) in the first half. But the Cavs were too clumsy from afar (4/20 at 3 points at the break) to stay in contact.
On contact, they nevertheless returned, first in the wake of Darius Garland (19 points), only to be trailed by three points at the end of the third quarter (90-87), then thanks to Caris LeVert (26 points, 5 assists), who reduced the gap to five points in money time (107-102, 45th). Insufficient for the Cavs, still deprived of Evan Mobley and already beaten in Massachusetts on Tuesday (120-113), to avoid a third defeat in a row and slip to ninth place in the Eastern Conference, with 13 victories for 12 defeats. For its part, Boston will put its invincibility at home on the line on Friday, against the exciting Orlando Magic (3rd in the East, 16 v. – 7 l.), who will also be at TD Garden on Sunday. A good test for Joe Mazzulla’s players.
A historic evening for the Bulls
In another duel between Eastern teams, Miami confirmed its inconsistency this season by being surprised at home by Chicago (116-124). The Bulls capitalized on an ideal start. Indeed, they led by 25 points after only 8 minutes of play (8-33)! You had to go back to January 1997 to see the Illinois franchise, at the time guided by a certain Michael Jordan, have such a lead in the first quarter. The response to what the Heat inflicted on them on November 18, when they conceded a 22-1 start to the match.
DeMar DeRozan, facing Jimmy Butler and Caleb Martin, Thursday in Miami, where Chicago won. (J. Rassol/Reuters)
But the Bulls managed to overcome this handicap to end up winning (102-97), which the Floridians were not capable of on Thursday, despite Jimmy Butler’s 20 points and especially Jaime Jaquez Jr.’s 22, decidedly attractive rookie. The Heat, who have lost six of their last ten matches (14 v. – 11 l. on the season), have come as close as 4 points on numerous occasions (24th, 41st, 46th), without managing to get ahead .
Chicago resisted thanks to a monumental quartet, from Nikola Vucevic (24 points, 12 rebounds, 7 assists) to DeMar DeRozan (23 points), through Coby White (26 points, 7 rebounds, 11 assists) and Ayo Dosunmu (24 points). Never since 1969 have four different Bulls players reached or exceeded the 23-point mark in the same game. This shows that the evening was decidedly historic for Billy Donovan’s troop, who took the opportunity to return to a Top 10 victory (10 v. – 16 l.).
