Klay Thompson described his pain at missing another season due to injury as he saw the Golden State Warriors beat the Detroit Pistons at Chase Center.
Three-time champion Thompson, who has spent his entire career with Golden State, tore his anterior cruciate ligament in the 2019 NBA Finals.
The five-time All-Star subsequently sat out the 2019-20 campaign as the Warriors struggled badly, but the team were set for another run this year.
However, their hopes were hampered by another major setback for Thompson, who suffered an Achilles injury ahead of the season that will keep him out for a further year.
The Warriors have stayed competitive so far in 2020-21, carried by superstar Steph Curry, who has averaged 27.7 points and leads the league in total points with 554.
Golden State moved to 11-9 – good enough for eighth in the West – with their 118-91 defeat of Detroit but are still missing Thompson.
The 30-year-old averaged 21.5 points per game between the start of the 2014-15 season and his first big injury in 2019. The Warriors' next best scorer after Curry this year is Andrew Wiggins on 17.9.
Speaking publicly for the first time since his Achilles blow as part of the NBC Bay Area broadcast team on Saturday, Thompson said: "I'm living good.
"[It is nice] to be back in the building that I'm so eagerly awaiting to play in. I'm just a little bored at times.
"Stuff's slow with trying to let my Achilles heal and get to the next stage, which is mobility work, but I'm feeling good. I'm happy to be with my team-mates, obviously.
"Unfortunately, I'm not playing. It kills me every day, but I plan on playing for a long time, and I don't want to have any mishaps come this rehab."
Thompson watched Curry contribute 28 points against the Pistons, comfortably securing victory to end the week on a high.
Golden State had back-to-back wins against the Minnesota Timberwolves but then lost heavily to the Phoenix Suns prior to the Detroit game.
Coach Steve Kerr said: "I thought we were on edge in a good way. The other night we were embarrassed. We got away from who we are."
LeBron James compared his achievements with the Los Angeles Lakers to Tom Brady's early success at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as the legendary quarterback prepares for his latest Super Bowl appearance.
James, a four-time champion and four-time MVP in the NBA, led the Lakers to the title last year in just his second season in LA.
Meanwhile, Brady is in his first year in Tampa Bay, having ended a glittering career with the New England Patriots, and has taken the Bucs to next week's big game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
James turned 36 last month but is still averaging an impressive 25.2 points per game in 2020-21, a mark he has not dipped below since his rookie season in 2003-04.
Meanwhile, Brady – a three-time NFL MVP chasing a seventh championship – is now 43 yet ended the regular season with 40 touchdowns, the second best return of his career, and a passer rating of 102.2.
Neither man shows signs of slowing and James was asked on Saturday what he made of the continued excellence of a fellow sporting great.
"It doesn't do anything for me as far as what I do in my profession, but it does let me know – lets both of us know – that we can still play this game at a high level," James said after the Lakers' 96-95 win at the Boston Celtics.
"No matter how many miles, how many games, no matter how many dollars, no matter the statistics – in our respective professions, at our age, we can still dominate our sport.
"Also we can bring together groups that we may have not been around for long periods of time.
"It's our professionalism, how we attack the sport, how we attack every single day of being a professional, wanting to win every single day – in practice, on the film, in games, and so on and so on.
"We gravitate towards people and people gravitate towards us because we have one common goal and that's to win and to win at the highest level."
James had 21 points, seven rebounds and seven assists against the Celtics, ending the Lakers' first two-game losing streak of the season with his 854th career win – outright eighth on the all-time list.
"We didn't want to lose one and we lost two in a row, Philly and Detroit," he said, with the Lakers at Atlanta next in the final game of a seven-game road trip.
"We understood we were coming into a hostile environment and we know how good this team is.
"We'd have to play good basketball in order to win and we were able to win one possession more than they did."
Those fine margins came as Kemba Walker missed a game-winning chance for the Celtics in the final seconds, capping a dismal night on which he shot 1-of-12 from the field and 0-of-5 from three.
Walker scored only four points in just over 28 minutes; it was the seventh time in his career he had scored no more than four points in at least 28 minutes in the regular season.
"I thought I had a good look [on the final shot] but I struggled all game shooting the basketball," Walker said.
He added: "It's more mental, I think. I'm trying my hardest not to get frustrated but I thought tonight I got frustrated at myself and it put me in a bad place.
"I'm not the type of player to get frustrated – I'm always smiling and I wasn't that tonight. I got into my own head and, mentally, I hurt myself.
"I can't do that to this team. These guys look to me, especially when things are going tough. I can't put my head down and not mentally be engaged in the game like I was tonight."
Damian Lillard conceded his ambitious streak took over when he sunk a sensational buzzer-beater to snatch victory for the Portland Trail Blazers over the Chicago Bulls.
The Bulls were leading 122-117 when Lillard hit a 37-foot three pointer with 8.9 seconds left before Gary Trent Jr won a jump ball that ended up in the star point guard's hands.
From there, Lillard drilled a superb step-back three, his eighth successful attempt from range to conclude a 44-point haul – the 35th 40-point game of his career.
"I knew they were going to try and deny me and be real physical so I just popped back towards half court," Lillard said.
"I just wanted to get a clean look. If I missed it, that probably would have been game, but it had been feeling good coming off my hands all night and I made that one.
"In these situations I usually look up at the clock and I get real ambitious - how can I help our team get out of this situation?
"A lot of times it doesn't work out but today it worked out."
Trent certainly feels Lillard is playing down his vaunted capacity to make clutch shots.
"This is what he does. Nobody is surprised in a sense," he said.
"He makes big-time shits. He's done this time after time after time.
"So at this point… it's just I know it was going in when he shot it."
Speaking to reporters afterwards, Blazers coach Terry Stotts insisted there was little credit he could share with man-of-the-moment Lillard.
"It's innate. It's God-given," he said. "He's born with it, and you can't teach it."
The Los Angeles Lakers bounced back in the NBA, while Damian Lillard produced a moment of magic for the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday.
After back-to-back defeats, the Lakers edged the Boston Celtics 96-95 to return to winning ways.
Anthony Davis led the Lakers (15-6) with a double-double of 27 points and 14 rebounds.
LeBron James had 21 points and moved up to 13th on the list for all-time three-pointers made.
He also passed Derek Fisher for eighth on the NBA's all-time wins list.
The Celtics (10-8) forced a turnover with seconds remaining, but Kemba Walker missed a jumper and Daniel Theis a lay-up.
Jayson Tatum (30 points) and Jaylen Brown (28) combined for 58 points for Boston.
Lillard produced a spectacular buzzer-beating three-pointer to lift the Trail Blazers past the Chicago Bulls 123-122.
The guard was 15-of-26 from the field and eight-of-17 from three-point range for a game-high 44 points.
The Bulls led by five with less than 10 seconds remaining before Lillard hit a long-range three and his buzzer-beater.
Butler stars on return as LaMelo shines
After missing 10 games, Jimmy Butler returned with 30 points to help the Miami Heat edge the Sacramento Kings 105-104.
LaMelo Ball (27 points, nine assists and five rebounds) guided the Charlotte Hornets to a 126-114 win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo fell just short of a triple-double with 34 points, 18 rebounds and nine assists.
The Houston Rockets made it five straight wins as Christian Wood (27 points and nine rebounds) continued to impress in a 126-112 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Luka Doncic had 29 points, but the Dallas Mavericks fell to Chris Paul (29 points and 12 assists) and the Phoenix Suns 111-105.
Walker woes
Walker went one-of-12 from the field and 0-of-five from three-point range in the Celtics' loss, finishing with just four points in 28 minutes.
Lillard magic
Lillard delivered two huge late threes to lift the Trail Blazers to an incredible win.
Saturday's results
Portland Trail Blazers 123-122 Chicago Bulls
Charlotte Hornets 126-114 Milwaukee Bucks
Houston Rockets 126-112 New Orleans Pelicans
Miami Heat 105-104 Sacramento Kings
Los Angeles Lakers 96-95 Boston Celtics
Memphis Grizzlies 129-112 San Antonio Spurs
Phoenix Suns 111-105 Dallas Mavericks
Golden State Warriors 118-91 Detroit Pistons
Jazz at Nuggets
The Utah Jazz (15-4) are riding an 11-game winning streak ahead of facing Nikola Jokic (averaging 25.7 points, 11.7 rebounds and 8.7 assists per game this season) and the Denver Nuggets (11-8) on Sunday.
Anthony Davis said the Los Angeles Lakers got a "little revenge" with their 96-95 win over the Boston Celtics in the NBA on Saturday.
Davis had a double-double of 27 points and 14 rebounds as the Lakers responded after back-to-back losses.
The Lakers seemingly had not forgotten their most recent visit to TD Garden, where they were thrashed by the Celtics 139-107 in January last year.
Davis said while the Lakers (15-6) wanted to return to winning ways, some revenge was also on their minds.
"Just trying to get back in the win column. We're a team that takes pride in not losing two in a row and we lost two in a row and we for damn sure wasn't losing three in a row," he told ESPN.
"We've got a little revenge with this team. They came in last year and beat us by 30 last time we were in this building so we're still replaying all the moments in our head.
"But we just want to be a team that don't get comfortable with losing and I think everybody had a great effort and we were able to get the win."
LeBron James finished with 21 points for the Lakers, who almost slumped to a third straight defeat.
The Celtics forced a turnover with seconds remaining, but Kemba Walker missed a jumper and Daniel Theis a lay-up on the buzzer.
Davis led the way for the Lakers despite going four-of-seven from the free-throw line.
"Come out and be aggressive. My team looked for me to be aggressive on both ends of the floor, on the glass, and that's what I tried to do," he said.
"Just going back to the old AD, playing with a lot of energy, letting the team feed off of me and just playing great basketball, making shots, still struggling from the line but I'm going to keep going, get fouled, going to the line.
"I just wanted to come out and be aggressive, I was able to do that and help us get the win."
The Los Angeles Lakers will aim to rebound from back-to-back defeats when they face the Boston Celtics in the latest chapter of a storied NBA rivalry.
A narrow 107-106 defeat to the Philadelphia 76ers was followed by a surprise 107-92 setback against the Detroit Pistons on Thursday, so the Lakers – who lost consecutive games for the first time this season – will need to improve to walk away from TD Garden with a W in the sixth of seven straight road games.
No teams have faced off in the Finals more than the 12 contested by the Lakers and the Celtics, who are tied for the most NBA championships of all time with 17 apiece.
The Celtics are now 10-7 in a season that has been affected by COVID-19 issues after going down 110-106 to the San Antonio Spurs in their previous outing.
KEY PERFORMERS
Jaylen Brown
Much of the scoring burden for the Celtics this season is landing on Brown, whose 27.1 points per game ranks him inside the top 10 in the league.
That average bumps up to 29.7 for games played at the Garden this season and he will certainly aim to make the most of home-court advantage against LeBron James and a star-studded Lakers cast.
No one on the Celtics roster has a better three-point percentage (44.1) than Brown, plus you can add in averages of 5.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists during an impressive campaign so far for the 24-year-old.
LeBron James
Most players by the age of 36 are thinking about winding down in the twilight of their careers, yet James has proven throughout his distinguished playing days he is no ordinary individual.
He leads the Lakers for both points (25.5) and assists (7.5), while he is shooting at 41.7 per cent from beyond the arc – well above his career average of 34.6 per cent.
With Anthony Davis potentially missing again due to a right quad injury, the Lakers will need their talisman firing on all cylinders.
KEY BATTLE: CAN TATUM GO TOE-TO-TOE WITH LEBRON?
The last time these teams went head-to-head was back in February 2020, the Lakers coming out narrow 114-112 victors on that occasion.
Following the game, James took to Instagram to give a huge endorsement to Jayson Tatum, writing: "That boi to the left of me is an ABSOLUTE PROBLEM!! Keep going #YoungKing."
Tatum had put up 41 points, five rebounds, two assists and two blocks in a mammoth outing, though James' enduring quality was on display with a brilliant fadeaway in the closing minutes putting the Lakers into a lead they would not relinquish (James had 29 points, nine assists and eight rebounds).
An offensive foul on what would have been a match-winning three from Tatum ended a fierce battle and the prospect of these two going head-to-head again is an exciting one.
HEAD TO HEAD
A rivalry that dates all the way back to 1948, the Celtics lead the regular season head-to-head between these heavyweights by 161-131.
When you throw in playoff clashes, the Celtics lead the way at 204-162, while they also edge the past 10 encounters between the teams at 6-4.
Lonzo Ball felt blocking out trade talk had proven key as he responded to recent speculation in style against the Milwaukee Bucks.
The New Orleans Pelicans earned an impressive 131-126 win against the Bucks on Friday.
Ball came to the fore with a season-high 27 points which included seven three-pointers – tied for his career high – and eight assists.
Eric Bledsoe (25 points) also scored seven three-pointers while center Steven Adams had 20 rebounds.
Per Stats Perform data, the Pelicans became the first NBA team ever to have two players with at least seven three-pointers and another with 20 or more rebounds.
New Orleans matched a franchise record with 21 threes in the game, with Ball the leading light as the Pelicans followed up their win over the Washington Wizards with another fine outing.
Ball, who has had a tough start to the 2020-21 season and was regularly a subject of trade talk when with the Los Angeles Lakers, insisted he had blocked out distractions.
Asked if he had any extra motivation amid the speculation, he replied: "I just stay the course.
"I've been playing basketball for a long time. I put a lot of work in and just try to play my game. That's how I play.
"I just try to stay away from all the noise and just go out there and try to help my team win games."
Zion Williamson, who just missed out on a triple-double with 21 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, was impressed by Ball as the Pelicans moved to 7-10 ahead of Saturday's game with the Houston Rockets.
"We love to see it," said former number one overall pick Williamson.
"When he shoots the ball like that with confidence, even if he misses it, just him shooting it with the confidence it's going in, that's what we want Zo to do. He hit seven and they were all big for us."
The Bucks were beaten despite 38 points from two-time league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and 22 from Jrue Holiday against his former team.
They still sit third in the Eastern Conference but are 4-5 on the road.
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