Brown is 7th Celtic to hit 50 pts

BOSTON • Jaylen Brown scored a career-high 50 points and the Boston Celtics needed all of them in a 116-111 National Basketball Association (NBA) overtime victory over the Orlando Magic on Sunday.

The All-Star forward scored 21 points in the fourth quarter, helping the hosts rally from 14 down with 4min 20sec left in regulation time at TD Garden.

Brown opened overtime with his fifth three-pointer of the contest, adding 11 rebounds, four assists and a blocked shot.

His performance was all the more impressive as the Celtics were without All-Star teammate Jayson Tatum, Enes Freedom and Aaron Nesmith due to Covid-19 protocols, while Robert Williams III was injured.

On becoming just the seventh Celtic player to notch 50 points in the regular season, joining the hallowed company of Larry Bird (four times), Tatum (twice), Kevin McHale, Sam Jones, Paul Pierce and Isaiah Thomas, Brown, who surpassed his previous career high by four points, said: "We needed to win.

"No way we could have lost this game... I wanted to get a win for everybody. I was just trying to be aggressive the entire time.

"My teammates encouraged me to take the shots. I feel like I took some good looks and they went down tonight."

Boston, with an 18-19 record, have been inconsistent all season and are ninth in the Eastern Conference, and outside of the automatic qualifying spots for the post-season.

After a turbulent year that saw the Celtics exit the play-offs in the first round and the appointment of debutant coach Ime Udoka in the summer, Brown is hoping things can start to settle down for the team.

"We're trying to put 2021 behind us. It's a new year," he said.

"We're trying to start off on the right note. First game, we got a win, but we have to continue to build good habits as we welcome guys back into the line-up. We have to make a push to win some games here and we can do it."

In Oklahoma City, All-Star Luka Doncic, returning from a 10-game absence because of injuries and Covid-19, came up just shy of a triple-double with 14 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds in the Dallas Mavericks' 95-86 victory over the Thunder.

"My chest was burning," said the Slovenian guard, who played 31 minutes in his return.

"It was a weird feeling, but happy. Very happy."

Oklahoma City rookie Josh Giddey, back after three games in Covid-19 protocols, became the youngest NBA player to post a triple-double with 17 points, 14 assists and 13 rebounds.

The Australian guard, at 19 years, two months and 23 days old overtook LaMelo Ball as the youngest player with a triple-double and came up with four steals as well.

"It's cool, as I said earlier in the year. The individual stats are good, you enjoy it for the night,'' said Giddey, who was the No. 6 pick in the last NBA draft.

"But a win is always better than individual stats. If I have zero-zero-zero and we win, it's always better than if I have a triple-double and lose.''

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE