Boston Celtics' Robert Williams says team-mates Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are using last year's close call as motivation to win the NBA Championship this time around.
Tatum and Brown were scintillating as the Celtics cruised to an emphatic 139-96 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday.
The duo became the first team-mates in franchise history to each make seven three-pointers in the same game, doing so in just three quarters, while Tatum's plus-42 heading into halftime saw him better Kevin Garnett's Celtics record for a single-half plus/minus.
Tatum finished with a game-leading 31 points as well as nine rebounds and four assists, while Brown had 26 points, three assists and three rebounds. It was the eighth time this campaign that the pair have each accumulated 25 points or more.
Williams added a useful 16 points and nine rebounds from just 19 minutes of action, and he said Tatum and Brown are "carrying the team" as they look to make amends for last year's NBA Finals defeat to the Golden State Warriors.
"They take all criticism. They take all the 'he said, she said'," Williams said.
"But I love how they've been responding. Feel like they're hungry, really. You know what I'm saying? Still p***** about last year."
Only Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks (1,538) has more points on the board than Tatum's 1,493 this season, while the latter's 31.1 points per game average is a career-best.
Tatum, for his part, feels the sustained level of performance from Brown and himself has been overdue as he noted "it's not done" until the Celtics clinch their first championship since 2008.
He told reporters: "It's been a long time coming. We've had our good times and not-so-good times, but I think those are just growing pains.
"We were just 19-year-old kids that came into the league hungry and trying to help our team win. We've had to learn how to play in this league, learn how to play with each other, learn how to lead the team.
"I feel like we're still a long way ultimately from where exactly we want to be, but we've made amazing strides from the beginning.
"You can tell we were ready to go from the jump. We've still got a long way to go. It's not done until we win a championship."
It was the first time in franchise history that Boston, who top the Eastern Conference with a league-best 37-15 record, outscored their opponent by at least 30 points in the first quarter, in which they scored 46 points before going on to record their biggest victory of the season.
Nets star Kyrie Irving, whose 20 points was a team-high for Brooklyn, felt there was little his side could do as they slumped to their heaviest loss since a 44-point defeat to the Portland Trail Blazers in February 2014.
"It's clear as day that they want to win the championship, and they're not wasting any time in the regular season," Irving said. "Tonight I felt like we were just one of those teams in the way, and you know, we just can't be one of those teams in the way.
"We've got to be one of those teams that stands up to them and at least shows them that we're going to be competition for them moving forward, which I believe we are. But we just didn't show it."
Rybakina eases past Sherif to reach Madrid Open last 16
Elena Rybakina cruised past Mayar Sherif in straight sets to reach the last 16 of the Madrid Open on Sunday.
World number four Rybakina rarely looked like being troubled by Sherif, easing to a 6-1 6-4 triumph, winning 22 of her 26 first-serve points on her way to victory.
The 2022 Wimbledon champion broke Sherif's serve twice in the first set to gain control of the match, before holding her serve five times in the second to ensure victory.
Also into the last 16 in Madrid are Yulia Putintseva and Daria Kasatkina, who beat Caroline Dolehide and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova respectively, both in straight sets. However, world number seven and reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova is out after she was upset by Mirra Andreeva, losing 7-5 6-1.
Data debrief
In reaching the Madrid Open last 16, Rybakina again showed her class on clay. Her victory over Sherif saw her become only the fourth player in the last 10 years to win 14 straight WTA matches on clay, alongside Serena Williams, Simona Halep and Iga Swiatek.
Additionally, Rybakina's 475 winners at WTA-1000 events in 2024 are 112 more than the next best, Danielle Collins with 363.
Tottenham 2-3 Arsenal: Gunners hold off late fightback to boost title hopes
Arsenal survived a late scare to move four points clear at the Premier League summit following a 3-2 win at rivals Tottenham in Sunday's north London derby.
The Gunners cruised into a 3-0 half-time lead thanks to an own goal from Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg along with Bukayo Saka's strike and Kai Havertz's header.
Yet a second-half collapse looked to be on the cards when Cristian Romero punished David Raya’s error before Son Heung-min pulled another back from the spot. However, the Gunners ultimately held on.
Arsenal, at least temporarily, tightened their grip on top spot ahead of second-placed Manchester City, who play the first of their two games in hand against Nottingham Forest later on Sunday, while Tottenham remain seven points off the top four in fifth.
The Gunners broke through after 15 minutes when Hojbjerg inadvertently nodded Saka’s inswinging corner beyond Guglielmo Vicario at his near post.
Spurs responded, and after Romero headed against the post, Micky van de Ven thought he had levelled when he slotted home from close range. However, the decision to award the goal was overturned following a VAR review with the defender adjudged to be offside.
Arsenal doubled their lead in the 27th minute following a swift counter that saw Havertz pick out Saka, who cut inside before slotting past Vicario.
Havertz then got in on the act before half-time, heading home Declan Rice’s corner from inside the six-yard box.
Yet an error by Raya gifted Spurs a lifeline after the break, when Romero pounced on the goalkeeper’s poor clearance to reduce the hosts’ arrears.
Matters were made more fraught for the Gunners late on, when a VAR check confirmed a penalty should be awarded to Spurs for Rice’s foul on Ben Davies.
Son lashed a brilliant spot-kick into the left-hand corner, yet a late Spurs onslaught ultimately came to nothing, as the Gunners secured another big win.
Saka shines in the derby limelight
The destiny of the Premier League title may be in Man City’s hands, but Arsenal are still very much in the hunt after a second London derby victory this week.
Mikel Arteta’s side, who thumped Chelsea 5-0 on Tuesday, have bounced back brilliantly from their defeat to Aston Villa two weeks ago, scoring 10 goals in three games while conceding just twice.
After his corner led to the opening goal, Saka doubled the lead with his 15th league strike of this term – his most in a single season – while he became the first English player to score home and away for Arsenal against Tottenham in a single campaign since Ian Wright 30 years ago (1993-94).
The damage was effectively done when Havertz headed in the Gunners’ 16th goal from a corner this season, the most in a single campaign since West Bromwich Albion in 2016-17 (also 16), though Arteta will have been concerned by their near slip at the end.
Spurs' struggles on home soil continue
The 195th north London derby culminated in Tottenham losing successive home league games against Arsenal for the first time since 1988.
Despite their best efforts in the second half, it was always going to be difficult to turn things around against the side that has now won all 16 matches when leading at half-time this season.
Now without a win in four meetings against their rivals, they have also tasted success just once in five home outings against the Gunners.
With their own title hopes undented by their rivals, Arsenal will hope Tottenham can instead harm City’s chances when they host them on May 14.
Malone: Shoe mix-up not to blame for Nuggets' Game 4 loss
Michael Malone refused to blame a bizarre equipment mix-up for his Denver Nuggets' Game 4 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday.
Denver headed into the game with a 3-0 first-round series lead, but ahead of a Game 4 where they could have sealed their progression, some Nuggets players warmed up in flip-flops after a delay in their shoes arriving to the arena.
Following the equipment mix-up, the Nuggets fell to a 119-108 loss as LeBron James led the way for the Lakers with 30 points to keep his team in the series.
Despite the pre-match muddle, Malone says to blame that for the ensuing defeat would be a "reach".
"Is it ideal? No," Malone told reporters. "But hopefully we can figure that out and make sure it never happens again.
"If you want to dig into stuff and say, 'well, we lost because for some strange reason our players didn't have their shoes when they got here for their normal warm-ups, that we had guys out there shooting around with flip-flops'. Is it ideal? No. But I'm not an excuse guy. And I'm not going to point to the reason we got our butts kicked in the paint because shoes weren't here."
Denver had been forced to overturn double-digit deficits in all three of their series victories prior to Saturday's defeat, and Michael Porter Jr. again lamented his team's slow start while crediting the Lakers.
"We talked about getting off to a better start," Porter Jr. explained. "It takes a lot of energy to come back from these double-digit leads, down 20, down 15, whatever it is.
"Tonight they [Lakers] did a good job of sustaining it. Whenever we got within 10 or eight, it seemed like they made a 3-pointer or made a big shot. So credit to them."
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