The Boston Celtics rode another impressive performance from MVP candidate Jayson Tatum to a 107-99 home win against the Chicago Bulls on Monday, improving their league-best record to 29-12.
Boston also boast a 16-5 home record, and while they have been the NBA's best offense for most of this season, it was their defense getting the job done against the Bulls.
After holding their opponent to under 100 points only four times from their first 37 games this season, the Celtics have now accomplished the feat in two of their past three outings.
While part of the Bulls' offensive issues boiled down to DeMar DeRozan leaving with a quadriceps strain, the Celtics were also able to hold the red-hot Zach Lavine to 40 per cent shooting (10-of-24), despite his otherwise impressive figures of 27 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
Jayson Tatum was clearly the Celtics' best player, scoring a game-high 32 points on 10-of-21 shooting with eight rebounds and seven assists, while Grant Williams chipped in 20 points (eight-of-15 shooting) and eight rebounds off the bench.
Tatum's 30.8 points per game has him sitting fifth in the league, while his field goal percentage of 47.2 is the highest since his rookie year (47.5 per cent).
The loss for the Bulls snaps a three-game winning streak, and leaves them 10th in the Eastern Conference at 19-22.
Nuggets remain top of the West
The Denver Nuggets had no issue dealing with the visiting and LeBron James-less Los Angeles Lakers, defending home court with a 122-109 triumph.
It was another playmaking masterclass from reigning back-to-back MVP and arguably the greatest playmaking center in the history of the sport, with Nikola Jokic dishing a game-high 16 assists, grabbing 11 rebounds and finishing a perfect five-of-five from the field for his 14 points.
He handed lead-scoring duties to Jamal Murray for the night, and he delivered with a season-high 34 points on 13-of-29 shooting, leaving the Nuggets tied with the Memphis Grizzlies for the top seed in the West at 27-13.
Russell Westbrook continues to build his case for Sixth Man of the Year, contributing 25 points (10-of-21 shooting), seven rebounds and seven assists off the Lakers' bench.
Brunson heroics not enough for the Knicks
New York Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson scored a career-high 44 points as his side went down 111-107 against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Brunson shot 15-of-30 from the field, hitting all 10 of his free throws, but a 38-point final quarter from the Bucks saw them claw back from a deficit that reached 17 points in the third period.
Giannis Antetokounmpo was solid by his standards with 22 points (six-of-15 shooting), 10 rebounds, five assists and two blocks, while offseason signing Joe Ingles impressed off the bench with 17 points (six-of-14 shooting) and five assists.
Bob Myers reportedly stepping down as Warriors’ president, GM
Bob Myers is reportedly stepping down as president and general manager of the Golden State Warriors after leading the franchise to four NBA titles during his 11 years at the helm.
The news was first reported Tuesday by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
The 48-year-old Myers joined the Warriors’ front office in 2011 and was promoted to GM in April 2012.
Since taking over, he hired Steve Kerr as coach, signed Stephen Curry to two supermax contracts, drafted Draymond Green and oversaw the deals for Kevin Durant, Andre Iguodala and Andrew Wiggins.
Under his direction, he helped build the Warriors into one of the most successful franchises in the NBA with four titles and six total trips to the Finals in the last nine years and was twice named the league’s executive of the year.
Golden State, however, was eliminated by the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference semi-finals 2 ½ weeks ago – the franchise’s first playoff loss before the Finals under Kerr.
During Myers' 11 seasons as GM, the Warriors compiled a 571-304 regular-season record – the most wins for any team over that span.
Myers’ decision to step down is the first of what could be a number of major changes for the Warriors this offseason.
Green has a player option on his contract for the 2023-24 season and Klay Thompson is entering the final year of his deal and is eligible for an extension.
Tatum 'a shell' after injury as Williams says Celtics 'got punked'
Jayson Tatum lamented an untimely injury while Grant Williams bluntly said the Boston Celtics "got punked" after their defeat to the Miami Heat.
The Celtics fell short of becoming the first team in NBA history to win a seven-game series after going 3-0 down, as the Heat ended their season with a 103-84 win in Boston.
With talisman Tatum hampered by an ankle injury that he sustained on the first play of Monday's game, the Celtics could not get going as Jimmy Butler led the Heat to the NBA Finals.
Tatum finished with 14 points on 5-for-13 shooting, and was left to reflect on a missed opportunity.
"It was just frustrating that I was a shell of myself," Tatum said.
"It was tough to move. Just frustrating, with it happening on the first play."
Williams' assessment was a blunt one.
"We got punked," the Celtics forward told ESPN.
"We didn't play our game from start to finish. Defensively, we just lost it all, and then offensively we were scrambled and trying to do everything ourselves and just didn't go our way.
"You hate to have that be the end of your season, especially with the fight that we've shown. But shots didn't fall either, so that didn't help. It's just tough."
"[We were] missing shots, and then they're coming down and hitting shots," added Marcus Smart.
"It puts a lot of pressure on our defense to get stops. They were hitting some shots and they got in a rhythm and we weren't making ours."
'It wasn't scripted' – Spoelstra credits 'raw' relationship after Heat end Celtics' history bid
Erik Spoelstra hailed the "intimate" and "raw" relationships within the Miami Heat's roster after his team overcame the Boston Celtics to reach the NBA Finals.
The Heat had squandered a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals, but Game 7 went their way in emphatic fashion.
Jimmy Butler led Miami with 28 points as the Heat won 103-84, ending the Celtics' bid at history in the process.
Boston was aiming to become the first team to win a seven-game series after losing the opening three encounters, but it was not to be.
"It wasn't scripted," Spoelstra told reporters.
"When you have such an intimate relationship with a locker room and they have it with each other, the staff has it with them, they have it with the staff, sometimes it's just whatever's raw, whatever's real at that time.
"Professional sports is just kind of a reflection sometimes of life, that things don't always go your way.
"The inevitable setbacks happen and it's how you deal with that collectively. There's a lot of different ways that it can go. It can sap your spirit. It can take a team down for whatever reason.
"With this group, it's steeled us and made us closer and made us tougher.
"These are lessons that hopefully we can pass along to our children, that you can develop this fortitude.
"Sometimes you have to suffer for the things that you want. Game 6, the only thing that we can do is sometimes you have to laugh at the things that make you cry."
The Heat are only the second No. 8 seed in NBA history to make the Finals, after the 1999 New York Knicks.
Butler was named the Eastern Conference finals MVP, and has full confidence the Heat can go all the way against the Denver Nuggets.
"I just know why coach Pat [Riley] and coach Spoelstra wanted me to be here," Butler said. "That's to compete at a high level and to win championships.
"I know that the group that they put around me at all times is going to give me an opportunity to do so.
"I know the work that we all put into it, so I know what we're capable of. Nobody is satisfied. We haven't done anything. We don't play just to win the Eastern Conference; we play to win the whole thing."
Spoelstra reserved special praise for the Heat's talisman.
"There's no way to quantify the confidence that he can instil in everybody. Jimmy has never had to apologise," Spoelstra said of Butler.
"I don't want him to ever apologise for who he is and how he approaches competition. It's intense. It's not for everybody, and we're not for everybody.
"That's why we think it's like an incredible marriage. We never judge him on that. He doesn't judge us for how crazy we get. It's the same language. But the confidence level that he can create for everybody on the roster is incredible.
"He's gnarly, but he knows how to have a soft touch to give somebody some confidence at the right time. That's the special gift that he has."
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