Kyrie Irving is enjoying the extra responsibility bestowed upon him by coach Jacque Vaughn in the absence of Kevin Durant.
Irving starred as the Brooklyn Nets beat the Utah Jazz 117-106 on Friday, scoring 48 points with 11 rebounds and six assists at Vivint Arena.
The Nets have struggled since Durant was sidelined by an MCL injury earlier this month, losing four in a row prior to Friday, but Irving stepped up to lead his team to a win in Utah, and when asked about consistently shooting close to 50 points said: "I don't think it's an unrealistic expectation."
The 30-year-old is averaging 26.4 points this season, and following his first 40+ point contribution of the campaign, said: "Every night I try to put myself in that place, in that zone. Specifically in the fourth quarter when it's winning time.
"I have the trust through Jacque to be able to make plays down the stretch, and he comes to me and we talk about it.
"I think we've been able to develop a dialogue, it continues to grow game-to-game so it gives me a lot of confidence in the fourth quarter to be able to perform that way.
"And my team-mates looking to me as well and when the ball's feeling good in my hands you just want to get a great shot, that's better for our team."
Vaughn – who has a record of 24-10 since being appointed head coach in November – was understandably pleased with Irving's efforts.
"I thought you saw from him throughout the course of the night just different segments of the game where he really put his imprint on what we were trying to do offensively," he said.
"And it paid dividends, especially in the fourth quarter."
Nic Claxton was Brooklyn's next-highest scorer with 20 points, and added his kudos for Irving, saying: "I'm really observing out there on the court and just watching him. It's like he's in a different world. He's locked in. He's in a different type of zone, and he makes those big shots time and time again.
"We just watch it and don't take it for granted, just having a guy that can create shots from all three levels the way he can."
Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray collected the first triple-double of his career as he filled in as his side's top option during Friday's 134-111 home victory against the Indiana Pacers.
The Nuggets were without reigning back-to-back MVP Nikola Jokic for the fifth time this season as he sat out with hamstring tightness, allowing Murray to slide in as the primary initiator in what was Denver's ninth consecutive win.
Murray made the most of his opportunity, producing a Jokic-like performance as he attempted only eight field goal attempts on his way to 17 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds.
He was not alone as the Nuggets shot 61 per cent from the field and 50 per cent from three-point range, with Aaron Gordon also dominating on his way to 28 points (11-of-15 shooting), six assists and five rebounds.
Michael Porter Jr chipped in 19 points (eight-of-14 shooting) and eight rebounds, while Bruce Brown was everywhere on his way to 17 points (seven-of-11), five assists, four rebounds, two steals and a block.
As a team, the Nuggets finished with 38 assists, which was just four away from the league's best total this season, which was set at 42 by the Brooklyn Nets in December.
Speaking after the game, Murray joked he would have more triple-doubles if he did not play with Jokic.
"He steals a lot of my triple-doubles," he said. "It was nice to finally get one on the board.
"I was just playing our game, playing aggressive. We were just having fun out there, the ball was hopping."
Fill-in head coach David Adelman – who is 3-0 while standing in for Michael Malone – spoke about how Murray's game changes with Jokic out of the team.
"I think sometimes you have to [take into consideration] that Jamal plays with Nikola – his job is to score," he said. "The facilitating has gotten better, but we're a unique team in that sense.
"Our guards are out there to cut, move, make plays and score baskets off Nikola, but there are nights where the coverage is what it is and he takes advantage of it.
"We've talked a lot about Aaron Gordon being a possible All-Star – we're the number one team in the West – if Jamal Murray is not in the conversation, then you don't value winning.
"All three of those guys have been so consistent throughout the year, they deserve the accolades they're getting."
The Nuggets are now 33-13, and sit one-and-a-half games clear atop the Western Conference.
Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers did not hide his frustration with certain elements of his team's play despite beating the Portland Trail Blazers 105-95 on Thursday.
The Sixers made it four wins on the bounce, all of which have been on the road, with Joel Embiid and James Harden playing key roles.
Embiid's 32 points made it the seventh game in a row he has reached at least 30, while Harden posted a triple-double of 16 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds.
The Sixers looked to be coasting at one stage, finding themselves 26 points to the good, but the Trail Blazers made life a little trickier towards the end.
Rivers' team got the job done as they improved to 29-16 in the East, behind only the Boston Celtic and Milwaukee Bucks, though he was certainly not completely satisfied.
He was particularly irritated by the Sixers' poor handling of the Trail Blazers' trapping, and he was not impressed by how spread out his players were.
Asked how they coped with respect to trapping, Rivers said: "Poorly, but we also took advantage of some of it as well.
"I didn't think trapping was that hard, our spacing was horrendous, and we're great at spacing most nights, but tonight we kept leaving two guys on the other end.
"I'm hoarse from yelling, just getting one to cut through and we basically didn't do it. We got away with three or four more than I thought they could've had. But that's easy to fix."
In letting Portland back into the contest somewhat in the second half, Rivers felt there was a hint of complacency in the Sixers' performance.
As such, he surmised they are still not at a stage where they can consider themselves anything more than a "good" team.
He added: "There's no lesson, the lesson is execute. I just thought we didn't.
"You get leads sometimes and they're hard, NBA leads shrink quickly and then you get complacent, and I think we did a little bit of that.
"But in that, one thing I like is we kept playing defense, and that's a good sign.
"I think we're good, and I think we can be really, really good. But we have work to do.
"We can't expect to come in and just show up and win, we have to go out and do something about it."
Nevertheless, with the likes of Embiid and Harden in their arsenal, the Sixers have the kind of star quality that can drag them through the mud even when they are not at their optimal level as a unit.
That is not lost on Embiid.
"I think from the beginning it was easy," he said of linking up with Harden, who joined from the Brooklyn Nets last February.
"When you've got two guys with high basketball IQs, you can figure it out everything easy.
"So, it's all about just playing off of each other. We've been doing a wonderful job of doing that."
Jacque Vaughn will continue challenging Ben Simmons to answer his responsibilities after another disappointing outing saw him ejected in the Brooklyn Nets' loss to the Phoenix Suns.
Simmons was sent from the game for arguing with referee Eric Lewis having played just 18 minutes, as the Nets continued to struggle in the injury-enforced absence of Kevin Durant in a 117-112 loss – their fourth defeat in a row.
In his previous outing, Simmons had put up his first triple-double for the Nets in Tuesday's defeat to the San Antonio Spurs, but a season of ups-and-downs went on in Phoenix, where he spent most of the game contending with foul trouble.
Averaging just 7.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 6.3 assists this campaign, the Nets need more from a player who has All-Star pedigree.
Vaughn is determined to spark more consistency in Simmons, who arrived last February as part of a blockbuster trade that sent James Harden to the Philadelphia 76ers.
"We need him to be productive, and that is without the fouls," Vaughn said. "That is helping us rebound the basketball. That is playing with poise and composure. That is pushing the pace for us.
"So unfortunately when you're a really good basketball player, your list is long and so are the responsibilities. And hopefully, we'll continue to ask of those things and challenge him and challenge this group to be able to answer those long lists."
For his part, Simmons felt the decisions given against him lacked consistency.
"I don't want to say nothing because I ain't trying to get another fine," he said.
"I think if you're going to call the game like that, then you've got to be consistent. I think it's been like that all year. If you're going to call a moving back, then you've got to be consistent [on] both ends. Same with the holding."
Team-mate Kyrie Irving remains confident in Simmons' ability to contribute to the Nets' cause but urged him to control his emotions going forward as the season reaches an important stretch towards the playoffs.
"Same thing we've been doing is just give him a ton of confidence," Irving said when asked how the team can help Simmons get going.
"But also knowing that he's mature enough to handle himself. He's a very talented basketball player, and we could name all the superlatives, but we need him in the game and I think he understands that, especially during this stretch we're going to need him in every game.
"I've gotten ejected before only once in my career. Tempers flare, you disagree with the refs, but the big picture is the most important thing, and on this team, I think Ben realises that. But tonight, just his emotions got the best of him."
The latest defeat leaves the Nets fourth in the Eastern Conference with a 27-17 record.
Jaylen Brown likened the intensity in the Boston Celtics' workmanlike overtime 121-118 victory over the Golden State Warriors to a playoff game.
The Warriors had not returned to TD Garden since winning Game 6 of last season's NBA Finals to secure the championship.
Much like in that series, the Celtics were littered with turnovers (17 in total resulted in 24 points for the visitors) and struggled to fire on all cylinders offensively.
This time, though, Boston found a way to win. Trailing by 11 points in the second half, the Celtics fought back and Brown tied the game via a three-pointer with 18 seconds remaining and then, having gained an eight-point advantage, held on after a sloppy ending to overtime.
"That felt like a playoff game," Brown said.
"Their intensity, their force where they came, that's a game I'm sure they wanted to win. We were down, what, five to seven [points] in the fourth quarter, four, five minutes left.
"To be able to have poise to battle back, that shows a lot of growth. We're taking steps in the right direction."
Jayson Tatum had a career-high 19 rebounds to go with 34 points and six assists but was also guilty of a couple of poor turnovers.
He too, though, felt the Celtics showed the sort of requisite desire to win when the team is not particularly playing their best basketball.
"You're going to need games like this," Tatum said.
"There's going to be a handful of playoff games where you don't necessarily shoot the ball well, maybe even on the road – under 40 per cent, 73 per cent from the free-throw line, 17 turnovers – and still find a way to win.
"I think that just shows the depth of our team, that on a below-average night for us, we can still find a way to win. That's all that matters at the end of the night. Did you win or did you lose?"
Interim Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla felt the nature of the victory showed how the team have grown since losing the Finals.
"For us, we've talked about poise and physicality," he said.
"Everybody asks, what did we learn [from losing in the Finals]? What have we learned? And I think what we've learned is it takes a mindset in order to be successful. And it takes a mindset to be a really, really good team in the NBA. And you can't be inconsistent with that.
"I think even though you play really, really well and we win, we're still going to have some of those moments. Yeah, we had some turnovers, we had some kind of plays where it's just kind of like, 'That shouldn't happen'. But that's going to happen.
"It's about just the habits that we're growing as far as our mindset, our poise, our physicality, our ability to execute, our ability to handle the chaos of an NBA game."
The Celtics sit top of the Eastern Conference with a league-best 34-12 record, while the Warriors are ninth and 22-23 in the West.
Jayson Tatum grabbed a career-high 19 rebounds during the Boston Celtics' 121-118 overtime victory against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday.
It was a gritty all-round performance from Tatum as he also finished with 34 points, six assists and three steals, imposing his will on the game despite shooting an inefficient nine-of-27 from the field and committing seven turnovers.
Like Tatum, his All-Star team-mate Jaylen Brown also shot just 33 per cent from the field (six-of-18), but veteran center Al Horford picked up the slack, scoring 20 points on eight-of-13 shooting while adding 10 rebounds and three blocks.
As was a theme on the night, Warriors superstar Stephen Curry struggled from the field, shooting nine-of-25 for his 29 points, supplementing his outing with seven assists, four steals, four rebounds and two blocks. Klay Thompson (eight-of-16) and Jordan Poole (10-of-25) chipped in 24 points each.
With the win, the Celtics improved their league-leading record to 34-12, while the Warriors fell under .500 at 22-23, including a horrific 5-17 record on the road.
Russell leads late Timberwolves comeback
Minnesota Timberwolves guard D'Angelo Russell nearly scored as many points as the entire Toronto Raptors team in the fourth quarter of a 128-126 comeback win.
Russell had 16 in the last period – including 14 in a row for the Timberwolves – while the Raptors could only muster 17 points, allowing the home side to claw back from what was a 14-point margin with 10 minutes remaining.
The former All-Star finished with 25 points on eight-of-15 shooting, adding six assists and two steals, while role-player Kyle Anderson continued to flourish in his expanded minutes with 20 points (eight-of-nine), 10 rebounds and six assists.
Suns snap losing run with Nets win
In the battle of two short-handed teams, the Phoenix Suns ended their three-game losing streak in a nail-biting 117-112 victory over the Brooklyn Nets.
The Suns were up by 24 at one point, but Kyrie Irving got hot in the fourth quarter to finish with 30 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, for the Nets who were without Kevin Durant.
Deandre Ayton stepped up for Phoenix, missing Devin Booker and Chris Paul, with 24 points and 14 rebounds, while Mikal Bridges added 28. Cam Johnson added 19 points on his return from injury.
Chicago Bulls All-Stars DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine both described Thursday's 126-108 win against the Detroit Pistons in France as a "beautiful" experience.
Playing at the Accor Arena in Paris, the Bulls were too strong as LaVine, DeRozan and Nikola Vucevic all put together stylish performances in front of a crowd packed with celebrities, including former Barcelona defender Gerard Pique and future top NBA Draft pick Victor Wembanyama.
LaVine scored a game-high 30 points on 10-of-20 shooting, DeRozan posted 26 points (nine-of-18) with nine rebounds, five assists and two steals, while Vucevic snatched a game-high 15 rebounds to go with 16 points and six assists from the center position.
It was a disappointing homecoming for Detroit's Killian Hayes, who was drafted out of France, as he shot two-of-13 from the field, but nobody had more than his eight assists.
While it may be a long flight home for the Pistons, the Bulls were left with a great taste in their mouth as they enter the second half of the season.
"It was amazing," DeRozan said. "One of those games I'll look back years down the line and think about how great it was. It was a beautiful atmosphere and a privilege to be here and be part of this whole thing."
LaVine echoed those sentiments, highlighting the team bonding during this kind of trip.
"It was great for us, going into the second half of the season, spending time together, bonding," he said. "Everybody seeing each other's family, who they brought and care about. It was a great experience overall.
"The atmosphere was great, and the Bulls' brand recognition… it was great to see. You see how much the game is growing, and how much people are locked in to see the players.
"It's beautiful – I'm definitely coming back to Paris again, maybe for a wine trip."
With the win, the Bulls are now 21-24 and sit 3.5 games behind the Miami Heat in the race for the Eastern Conference's six seed.
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