Jayson Tatum's buzzer-beating layup gave the Boston Celtics a dramatic 115-114 victory over the Brooklyn Nets in their series opener on Sunday.
Tatum scored 16 of his 31 points in the second half, along with adding eight assists, four rebounds, two blocks and a steal. His final two points came in the frenetic final seconds, cutting towards the basket off Kevin Durant for Marcus Smart, spinning past Kyrie Irving and finishing with as time expired.
Smart particularly showed poise, forcing the closeout from Bruce Brown and Nic Claxton before dishing, along with adding 20 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals.
While Irving scored a game-high 39 points for the Nets, Durant put up 23 points but went nine-of-24 from the floor, including some open, trailing looks in transition. One miss at 102-98 would have made it a three-possession game in Brooklyn's favour midway through the fourth quarter, but a miss leading to a Jaylen Brown dunk brought it back to one.
It was also at that point where Boston were zero-for-seven for the quarter from the floor, and momentum suddenly shifted.
Giannis yields Bucks win in opener
Giannis Antetokounmpo put up 26 points and 17 rebounds as the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Chicago Bulls 93-86.
The defending NBA champions blew a 16-point lead, but recovered with a Jrue Holiday triple that triggered an 8-0 run.
The Bulls still had their chances, with Zach LaVine missing a game-tying three-pointer with 29 seconds remaining in what was a rough shooting night. LaVine and DeMar DeRozan shot a combined 12-of-44 as the team connected on only 32.3 per cent of field goal attempts.
Red-hot Robinson gives Heat opening victory
Duncan Robinson set a franchise playoff record with eight three-pointers in a catch-and-shoot clinic, leading the Miami Heat to a 115-91 win against the Atlanta Hawks in their series opener.
Robinson scored 27 points on nine-of-10 shooting for the Eastern Conference's first seed, who had three players see over 20 minutes of game time off the bench.
Trae Young had his worst-ever shooting night for the Hawks, making one field goal out of 12 attempts, as well as committing six turnovers.
CP3 takes over for Suns
Chris Paul scored 19 points in a brilliant fourth quarter, as the Phoenix Suns secured a 110-99 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
As the Pelicans cut a 23-point deficit to single digits to two possessions, the Suns needed the 36-year-old, who eventually finish with 30 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds and three steals.
Despite 25 points from CJ McCollum, the Pelicans finished with the unusual statistic of a better three-point field goal percentage (39.1) than total field goal percentage (37.9).
Grizzlies All-Star Morant discusses 'ongoing process' to 'cope with stress in a positive way'
Memphis Grizzlies franchise player Ja Morant faced the media on Tuesday to discuss what he had learned from his eight-game suspension.
Morant, 23, has missed nine games since showing off a gun while intoxicated on an Instagram live video in the early hours of the morning in a Colorado nightclub.
A league investigation found him guilty of bringing the league into disrepute and "holding a firearm in an intoxicated state", but did not find any evidence that the gun belonged to him, or that he took it on the team plane or any NBA facilities.
After serving an eight-game suspension from the NBA, Morant missed his ninth in a row on Monday as he worked his way back into playing shape, and he is expected to return on Wednesday at home against the Houston Rockets.
Speaking to the media about his time away from the team, where he spent 11 days at a Florida counselling facility, Morant stated he has no problem with alcohol and has been focusing on positive ways to deal with stress.
"Obviously, I took that time to better myself, get in a better space mentally," he said. "It's an ongoing process, a continued process for me.
"I've been there for two weeks, but that doesn't mean I'm completely better. So that's an ongoing process for me that I've still been continuing since I've come out.
"Obviously, I've made mistakes in the past that caused a lot of negative attention – not only to me, but my family as well, my team, the organisation – and I'm completely sorry for that.
"So my job now is, like I said, to be more responsible, more smart, and don't cause any of that no more.
"I don't have an alcohol problem, never had an alcohol problem. I went [to Florida] for counselling to learn how to manage stress, cope with stress in a positive way instead of ways I've tried to deal with it before that caused me to make mistakes."
When asked if he planned to dial back his nightlife activities, Morant said "clubbing and all is not on my mind at all right now".
"Right now for me, it's just keeping the main thing, the main thing, and continuing to go through my process of becoming a better me," he said. "I feel like if I do that, not only will it help me, but it'll help everybody around me as well."
While he received a raucous ovation from the home fans in Memphis when he returned to the bench on Monday, Morant admitted he is "uncomfortable" with how crowds may react to him.
"It's a lot, man," he said. "A lot of people don't know what's going on – not in my shoes right now with everything that's been going on as of late. Obviously, I take responsibility for decisions I've made that pretty much hurt me to the core.
"Like I said, it not only affected me, but it affected everyone around me… and caused me not to be out there on the floor. Which, one thing I love to do the most is play basketball.
"So it's a lot, but like I said before, it's an ongoing process with everything I've been doing the past two weeks, and I'm going to continue to do that to get through everything I need to be healthy."
Knicks great Willis Reed dies aged 80
Legendary New York Knicks Hall of Famer Willis Reed, who was part of one of the most memorable moments in NBA history, died on Tuesday at the age of 80.
Reed played his entire 10-year NBA career with the New York Knicks, winning championships in 1970 and 1973 while being named MVP in both of those Finals.
He is most famous for surprisingly playing in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers after sitting out Game 6 due to a thigh injury.
After not joining his team-mates on the court during pregame warm-ups, Reed emerged from the tunnel at Madison Square Garden and received a rousing ovation from the fans.
Reed started the game and hit his first two shots, and while those were the only points he scored, the captain of the Knicks inspired his team to a 113-99 win that secured the franchise's first title.
"Willis Reed was the ultimate team player and consummate leader," NBA commissioner Adam Silver said.
"My earliest and fondest memories of NBA basketball are of watching Willis, who embodied the winning spirit that defined the New York Knicks' championship teams in the early 1970s.
"He played the game with remarkable passion and determination, and his inspiring comeback in Game 7 of the 1970 NBA Finals remains one of the most iconic moments in all of sports."
Reed was the NBA regular-season MVP in 1969-70, earned seven All-Star selections and was named to the 50th and 75th NBA anniversary teams.
The first pick of the second round (eighth overall) in the 1964 NBA Draft and 1964-65 NBA Rookie of the Year, Reed averaged 18.7 points and 12.9 rebounds over 650 regular-season games before retiring after the 1973-74 season.
Reed became head coach of the Knicks in the 1977-78 campaign and led them to the playoffs before only lasting 14 games the next season. He coached Creighton University from 1981-85 and took over the New Jersey Nets in March 1988 before coaching them in 1988-89.
That marked Reed's final season as a coach before moving to the Nets' front office.
Prior to the NBA, Reed helped Grambling State win the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) championship in 1961 and averaged 26.6 points and 21.3 rebounds during his senior season.
He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982 and was a member of the founding class of the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.
Breakout March Madness coaching star lands Iona role, replacing Pitino
Iona did not take long to replace departed Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino, turning to the breakout star of the NCAA Tournament.
Tobin Anderson has been rewarded for leading 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson into the second round with one of the biggest upsets in tournament history.
FDU defeated Purdue, who had won the Big Ten regular season title and the Big Ten Tournament, in what Anderson described as "one of the most unbelievable stories of all".
Anderson had garnered attention even before that first-round game, telling the Knights after a play-in win: "The more I watch Purdue, the more I think we can beat them. Let's go shock the world."
He and FDU delivered on that, although their run ended in the second round against Florida Atlantic, losing 78-70.
And that was the end of the road for Anderson at Fairleigh Dickinson as his appointment at Iona was confirmed on Tuesday.
The Gaels moved swiftly to name a new coach after Pitino left for St. John's this week.
"We are very excited to introduce Tobin Anderson as Iona University's men's basketball head coach," said Iona director of athletics Matthew Glovaski.
"We have long known him to be a fantastic coach and an even better person. Now, with his team's impressive run in the NCAA tournament, everyone paying attention to March Madness also knows this.
"We're delighted that he will be at the helm of our men's basketball programme."
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