Jaylen Brown sparks Boston Celtics over Miami Heat

NEW YORK – Jaylen Brown did not want to miss more minutes of National Basketball Association (NBA) action, and he made a huge statement with 29 points as the Boston Celtics got back to winning ways with a 108-89 home rout of the Miami Heat on Dec 2.

Brown, who missed Boston’s 115-111 defeat by Cleveland a day earlier due to illness, spearheaded a potent Celtics offensive effort against a depleted Miami line-up at TD Garden.

The 28-year-old shooting guard finished with seven rebounds and four assists as Boston improved to 17-4 to remain second in the Eastern Conference behind the Cavaliers (18-3).

“Everybody in the whole league is no different so I think we just had a mindset that you know... we come out and we play good basketball, put our best out there as a team,” said Brown, who played 31 minutes.

“Back-to-backs are tough, to get your body and your mind ready... but as you are looking to do something special, those are the moments you kind of have to accept.

“It’s hard for teams to be great if some of their best players never play back-to-back.”

Payton Pritchard once again caught the eye with a sharpshooting performance off the bench, knocking down five three-pointers from 12 attempts to finish with 25 points.

Derrick White, who also missed the loss to Cleveland, impressed for the NBA champions as well with 19 points, including five three-pointers.

Jayson Tatum added 18 points as Boston kept the scoreboard ticking over, establishing a hefty double-digit lead midway through the third quarter before cruising to victory.

The Celtics’ prowess from outside the arc was decisive, with Boston making 19 of 55 attempts from three-point range, in sharp contrast to Miami, who finished with only eight of 35.

Tyler Herro and Jaime Jaquez Jr led Miami’s scorers with 19 points apiece. The Heat dropped to 9-10.

“The guys take pride in playing... it’s not going to look pretty every single night,” said Boston coach Joe Mazzulla. “I think it’s more about the preparation and the things that go into making sure those guys are ready to play, whether it’s back-to-back or not.

“You see that from Jayson and what Jaylen did to try to play tonight’s game. I thought it’s important, it sets a tone for the other guys and for the locker room. It sets a tone that you’re willing to work through everything to play.”

In Minneapolis, the Timberwolves blew past an anaemic Los Angeles Lakers offensive performance to romp to a 109-80 victory and improve to 10-10.

The Lakers (12-9) led briefly in the first quarter but were never in the contest thereafter, making just 32 of 79 attempts from the court and converting just six three-pointers from 31 attempts.

Julius Randle led Minnesota with 18 points while Rudy Gobert finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds.

Lakers point guard D’Angelo Russell had a game-high 20 points while Anthony Davis added 12 points. LeBron James finished with just 10 points from four-of-16 shooting.

“We are not good on the offensive right now,” admitted James.

“We spent so much time on trying to get our defence correct today and our offence took a toll. We have to work, just work, that is all.”

In Atlanta, De’Andre Hunter bagged 22 points while Jalen Johnson and Dyson Daniels added 19 points each to give the Hawks a comfortable 124-112 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.

Atlanta’s fourth straight victory helped them improve to 11-11 for the season.

The Pelicans (4-18), meanwhile, remain bottom of the Western Conference after stumbling to their ninth consecutive defeat.

In Chicago, the Bulls powered to a 128-102 drubbing of the Brooklyn Nets thanks to 21 points from Nikola Vucevic and a triple double from Australian star Josh Giddey, who posted 20 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists.

Both teams are 9-13 for the season. AFP