The Daily Observer London Desk: Reporter- Judith Benjamin
Jayson Tatum had 51 points, including seven triples, and the Boston Celtics beat the Charlotte Hornets for the second time in three days, 130-118 for their seventh straight victory.
Derrick White added 19 points and eight assists and Malcolm Brogdon scored 16 on Monday for the Celtics, who improved to 33-12 on the season — maintaining the best record in the Eastern Conference.
Tatum was 15 of 23 from the field and 14 of 14 from the foul line.
‘He makes me look like a better coach,’ Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said.
Jayson Tatum scored 51 points to help the Boston Celtic win their seventh straight game
Tatum had seven triples for Boston as they won on the road at the Charlotte Hornets
Jalen McDaniels led the Hornets with a career-high 26 points on 5-of-7 shooting from three-point range. LaMelo Ball finished with 25 points on 8-of-23 shooting. Mason Plumlee had perhaps his best all-around game of the season, with 19 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists for the Hornets (11-34), who’ve lost eight of their last nine games.
The Celtics set the tone early, jumping out to a 35-22 lead in the first quarter after holding the Hornets to 28.6 per cent shooting from the floor. The Celtics, meanwhile, hit six of 13 threes in the first quarter. Boston finished with 20 from outside the arc.
Charlotte cut the lead to 100-98 early in the fourth quarter, but White was fouled by Dennis Smith Jr. on a three-point attempt and made all three free throws.
Tatum took over in the final period with 17 points.
He drilled a step-back three from the top of the key to push the lead to 10 and put away the game with a long triple with 1:02 left. Then, at the crowd’s urging for him to get to 50 points, Tatum canned a three from left wing with 38 seconds left and the crowd erupted into chants of ‘MVP! MVP!’
‘I hear them and just being in North Carolina, it all feels a little more special, having gone to school two hours away,’ Tatum, who spent one season at Duke before entering the NBA draft, said.
‘Coming here feels like I’m back home a little bit.’
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla heaped praise on Tatum and joked he ‘makes him look better’
Houston Rockets 132, Los Angeles Lakers 140
LeBron James scored a season-high 48 points, the fifth time he has produced at least 35 in his past seven games, and the Los Angeles Lakers ended a three-game losing streak with a 140-132 victory over the Houston Rockets on Monday.
Russell Westbrook scored 24 points and Kendrick Nunn added 15 as the Lakers won for the first time since their five-game winning streak ended Jan. 9. Los Angeles has six wins in its past nine games and is 8-8 since Anthony Davis has been sidelined due to a stress reaction in his right foot.
The Lakers committed a franchise-low two turnovers.
James added nine assists and eight rebounds. He moved to 38,072 points for his career, 315 behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the all-time NBA scoring lead.
Alperen Sengun had 33 points, 15 rebounds and six assists and Jalen Green added 23 points for the Rockets, who saw their season-worst losing streak extend to 11 games. Houston has lost 16 of its last 17 games.
LeBron James sends Los Angeles Lakers fans wild after putting on a show against the Rockets
Eric Gordon scored 19 points for the Rockets, who last won a game on Dec. 26.
The Lakers led 37-35 after one quarter and went up 73-61 heading into halftime after shooting 54.2 percent in the first half. Los Angeles tied its highest scoring first half of the season and then led 102-98 after three quarters.
A 13-4 burst to open the fourth quarter pushed the Lakers’ advantage to 13 points with 9:24 remaining. However, a 9-0 run got Houston within 119-116 with 5:06 remaining after a dunk by Kenyon Martin Jr.
The Rockets remained close, pulling within 133-131 on a layup by Gordon with 1:11 left before James banked in a jumper for a 135-131 advantage with 50.1 seconds remaining. James then added two free throws with 40.3 seconds left for a 137-131 lead.
Patrick Beverley scored 11 points for the Lakers after missing the previous two games with a non-COVID illness.
Golden State Warriors 127, Washington Wizards 118
Steph Curry scored 41 points and Jordan Poole added 32 points to help the wobbling Golden State Warriors to a 127-118 win over the Washington Wizards on Monday.
Golden State had lost four of five coming into the game. Draymond Green had 17 points, 10 assists and six rebounds.
Kristaps Porzingis led Washington with 32 points. Kyle Kuzma added 16 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, but struggled from the field, where he was only 5 for 20.
The Warriors trailed 106-105 when Curry made a fallaway 3-pointer against a double team. He made another basket, assisted on the next, and hit a 3-pointer to put the Warriors in front, 115-111 with 3:58 to play. Curry made another stepback 3-pointer with 2:01 to play and Poole hit one with 1:29 to play to vault Golden State in front 123-114.
Steph Curry drives to the basket during the Warriors’ much-needed win over the Wizards
The Wizards reached their biggest lead of the night 89-80, following a Deni Avdija layup with 4:33 to play in the third quarter. But the Warriors quickly closed back to within two points at 93-91 on a Curry 3-pointer, then tied the game on an Anthony Lamb layup. Neither team maintained a lead for more than a spurt through the first three quarters, which had 12 ties, 12 lead changes, and finished tied, 93-93.
Three players dominated the first half. Poole scored 26 points on 10 for 13 shooting, Curry added 21, and Porzingis scored 25 points, his most for a game in January, in the first two quarters. Only Porzingis reached double figures for the Wizards in the first half.
Washington led by six at one point, Golden State by seven, before the first half ended with the Warriors ahead, 69-64.
