WASHINGTON – Jayson Tatum scored 25 points and Jaylen Brown added 24 to lead the “championship-calibre” Boston Celtics over San Antonio 134-101 on Dec 31, stretching their winning streak to six games.
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, who has won five National Basketball Association (NBA) titles, said of the Celtics: “They are a championship-calibre team, that’s what they are out there for, that’s their goal, and they proved it once again.
“Joe (Mazzulla) does a great job with them. They’ve got good talent, obviously, All-Star talent; and they’ve got the grit. They’ve got the execution and getting better all the time.”
Boston have not won an NBA title since 2008, but reached the Finals in 2022. Said Spurs’ 19-year-old star centre Victor Wembanyama: “I can feel that compared to the past years, they have something extra this year.”
Kristaps Porzingis added 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds for the NBA-best Celtics, who improved to 26-6.
Boston also got 17 points from Derrick White, who spent five seasons with San Antonio before joining the Celtics in a 2022 trade. He heard chants of “White’s an All-Star” from the Texas fans.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for the fans here, great memories here,” White said. “I’m just thankful.”
Boston outscored the Spurs 40-23 in the third quarter to lead 105-76 and pull away for good.
“Just had that mindset of third quarter is important and coming out ready to go,” White said. “We finished the first half well and kept it going from there.”
Tatum made 10 of 17 shots from the floor, five of 10 from three-point range, while Brown went nine of 13 from the floor, hitting both three-point attempts, and four of six from the free-throw line.
French rookie Wembanyama, the 2.24m top pick of the 2023 NBA Draft, scored 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds for the hosts, who fell to 5-27. Devin Vassell led the Spurs with 22 points.
In Oklahoma City, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a game-high 24 points to lead the Thunder to a 124-108 win over the Brooklyn Nets for a fourth consecutive triumph.
He said: “We’ve gotten a lot better. We’ve put in a lot of work. I expect us to get better.
“I’m not surprised. We’ve got to keep going and keep getting better.”
The Canadian guard hit seven of 15 from the floor and all nine free throws to pace five starters scoring in double figures for the Thunder, who at 22-9 are two games back of Western Conference leaders Minnesota Timberwolves.
Josh Giddey added 20 points and tied a career high with four three-pointers. Every Oklahoma City starter scored at least 17 points, with Chet Holmgren and Luguentz Dort each supplying 18 and Jalen Williams getting 17.
The Thunder shot 54.2 per cent from the floor, their fourth consecutive game shooting 50 per cent or better. They were 18 of 33 from beyond the arc.
Said Holmgren: “I think we picked up our energy. Early in the game, they were making shots from the outside. Some of that was them coming out ready to play and some of that was us just being a little late on rotations and close-outs.
“Once we picked that up, we really made shots tough on them and we started to get some stops.”
Meanwhile, Phoenix’s Kevin Durant scored 31 points, Bradley Beal added 25 and Devin Booker had 21 to spark the hosts Suns over Orlando 112-107.
The Magic, paced by Paolo Banchero’s 28 points and Franz Wagner’s 27, used a 21-8 rally in the third quarter to erase a Suns lead, but shot only three for 13 in the final 7min 30sec to fall short.
“They made us work a little bit harder than we wanted to but that’s what we need right now,” Beal said, after his highest-scoring game since arriving from the Washington Wizards in June.
“I’m just trying to figure out my way with the guys. I’m not here to step on any toes but at the same time I’m here for a reason.
“I’ve got to be aggressive. I’ve got to be me. I came out tonight being aggressive and thankfully we got a great win out of it.
“We’ve got to be better on defence, got to clean that up, but we’ve got some good mojo, some good juices going into the new year.” AFP, REUTERS
