Jayson Tatum scored 25 points to lead six Boston players in double figures as the Celtics stretched their winning streak to six games with Sunday's 134-101 blowout of the struggling San Antonio Spurs.
Jaylen Brown added 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting in a game the NBA-leading Celtics never trailed, while former Spur Derrick White went 7 of 11 from the field while recording 17 points and five assists against his ex-team.
Tatum had 15 first-half points and White 13 as Boston built a 65-53 lead at the break. Brown then tallied 16 of the Celtics' 40 third-quarter points as Boston increased the margin to 105-76 entering the fourth.
The Celtics led by as many as 37 points in the final period.
San Antonio got 22 points from Devin Vassell and 21 out of heralded rookie Victor Wembanyama, but lost for the seventh time in eight games to fall to 5-27 on the season.
Williamson, Ingram help Pelicans cruise past Lakers
ZIon Williamson and Brandon Ingram each had 26 points to lead a dominant performance by the New Orleans Pelicans, who dealt the Los Angeles Lakers a second straight loss with Sunday's 129-109 rout.
CJ McCollum added 22 points and nine assists for New Orleans, which lead nearly start-to-finish en route to a second straight victory.
Excellent perimeter shooting keyed this win, as the Pelicans shot 50 per cent (17 of 34) from 3-point range. McCollum hit 6 of 11 shots from beyond the arc and Ingram was 4 of 7.
The scuffling Lakers lost for the seventh time in nine games despite 34 points and eight assists from LeBron James and Anthony Davis' 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Los Angeles owned a slight lead just past the midway point of the first quarter, but McCollum made four 3-pointers during a 14-1 run that gave New Orleans a 35-23 lead with three minutes left in the opening period.
The Pelicans didn't let up from there. They built a lead as large as 19 points in the second quarter before going into the half holding a comfortable 74-57 advantage, then maintained a double-digit lead throughout the second half.
Durant, Beal lift surging Suns over Magic
Kevin Durant scored 31 points, Bradley Beal added 25 and the Phoenix Suns fought off a late charge from the Orlando Magic to earn a 112-107 victory for their third straight win.
Beal, playing for just the second time since missing two weeks with a sprained ankle, made 10 of 13 field goal attempts while registering a season-high point total. Durant went 12 of 21 from the field for Phoenix, which also received 21 points from Devin Booker and 19 points and 13 rebounds from Jusuf Nurkic.
Phoenix built a 37-24 lead after one quarter and was up by 11 late in the third, but the Magic fought back with a 13-2 run to tie the game at 87-87 before Beal's jumper to close out the period put the Suns back ahead.
Orlando stayed close and got within 103-102 when Paolo Banchero converted a three-point play with 6:05 remaining, but Durant had five points during a 9-0 run that got the Suns back up by double digits with under two minutes to go.
Banchero compiled 28 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Magic, who had won three of four coming in. Franz Wagner finished with 27 points, seven rebounds and six assists in the loss.
Wembanyama named NBA Rookie of Year
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama capped a historic NBA season debut by being unanimously named the league's Rookie of the Year on Monday.
Wembanyama received all 99 first-place votes from selected media members to become the first player to unanimously win the award since Minnesota Timberwolves star Karl-Anthony Towns in 2015-16.
The heralded 20-year-old joins Spurs legends David Robertson (1989-90) and Tim Duncan (1997-98) as the franchise's Rookie of the Year recipients. Wembanyama is also the first player from France to earn the honour in the award's history.
Oklahoma City center Chet Holmgren was a near-unanimous choice for runner-up, as he was named second on 98 of the 99 ballots. Charlotte Hornets forward Brandon Miller finished third in voting, followed by Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr., Golden State Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski and Dallas Mavericks center Dereck Lively II.
Touted as perhaps the NBA's best prospect since LeBron James in 2003, Wembanyama lived up to his substantial hype by becoming the first player in league history with at least 1,500 points, 700 rebounds, 250 assists, 250 blocks and 100 3-pointers made in a season. The 7-foot-4 phenom led the league in blocks (254) and blocks per game (3.6) to become just the second rookie to place first in those categories, along with Manute Bol in 1985-86.
Wembanyama is also the fourth player in NBA history with 1,500 points, 250 assists and 250 blocks in a season, joining a trio of Hall of Famers in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Hakeem Olajuwon and Robinson. Olajuwon and Robinson were the most recent players to accomplish the feat when they both did so in 1993-94.
In 71 overall contests, Wembanyama finished with per-game averages of 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.2 steals.
Wembanyama will have an opportunity to collect some more hardware, as he is one of three finalists for the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year award to be announced Tuesday. Minnesota's Rudy Gobert and Miami's Bam Adebayo are the others.
Mavericks sign Kidd to multi-year contract extension
Jason Kidd's name was rumoured to be a candidate for a recent head coach vacancy in the NBA.
The Mavericks made sure their head coach wasn't going to leave Dallas.
Kidd signed a multi-year contract extension with the Mavericks on Monday. Terms of the deal were not released.
The team announced the deal one day before Dallas faces the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of a Western Conference semi-finals series.
The 51-year-old Kidd is in his third season coaching the Mavericks and led the team to the 2023-24 Southwest Division title after going 50-32 in the regular season. Dallas then defeated the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the play-offs to reach the conference semis for the second time in three years.
Given his success as a coach, the Los Angeles Lakers had reportedly shown interest in hiring Kidd for their recent opening after firing Darvin Ham on Friday.
While the Lakers are in a bit of a crossroads with LeBron James' future uncertain, the Mavericks appear to be on the rise as they're led by one of the NBA's most exciting players in Luka Doncic.
"I have known Jason for a long time, and I cannot think of a better, more qualified candidate to lead this team going forward," Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison said in a statement. "As a former NBA Champion Hall of Fame player, Jason brings a wealth of experience and expertise to this role which cannot be duplicated. He has earned the trust and respect of our players and that of so many across the league, and I look forward to working alongside him as we continue to build upon the culture and foundation of success he's helped foster throughout his tenure as head coach."
In Kidd's first season in Dallas in 2021-22, the Mavericks won 52 games - the franchise's most since the 2010-11 NBA championship team - and reached the West finals. Kidd was the starting point guard on the Mavericks' title-winning team 13 years ago.
A 10-time All-Star as a player, Kidd is 323-296 in eight seasons as a head coach with previous stints with the Milwaukee Bucks and Brooklyn Nets.
Cavs hero Mitchell: 'I'm tired of losing in the first round'
Donovan Mitchell said he was "tired" of losing in the first round of the NBA Playoffs after his 39-point haul dragged the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Eastern Conference semifinals on Sunday.
The Cavs were on the brink of an early exit as they trailed the Orlando Magic by 18 points in Game 7, only for Mitchell to turn the contest on its head with a stunning third quarter.
Mitchell outscored the entire Orlando team by two points in the third, when he poured in 17 of his 39 points.
Darius Garland then scored 10 points to help Cleveland pull clear in the fourth as they claimed a 106-94 victory, winning a playoff series without LeBron James for the first time since 1993.
Mitchell, who has been playing through a lingering knee injury for much of the season, says postseason success has always been the aim since his 2022 trade from the Utah Jazz.
"I'm tired of losing in the first round. You work too hard, we work too hard," Mitchell said. "That was my mindset, just to be in attack mode.
"I'm battling through what I'm battling through, but I could battle through it and figure it out or rehab it for the next three or four months. That's where I'm at mentally.
"We didn't make the group we made just to come in and win the first round. We accomplished one goal, now we have to do it again. That's the mindset.
"When they traded for me, it wasn't just to win a first-round series, it was to continue to push and move forward. I think that's where all of our heads are at."
Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff said of Mitchell: "He's the guy that can pull everybody along, not just with his skill but in spirit as well.
"When you see your team-mate, a guy you care about playing that way, you don't want to let that guy down so you go out and do whatever you can to help that guy.
"We talk about how everybody has their style and their piece of leadership here and that's how Don leads, by being special in the moment. His team-mates want to be a part of it."
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
