All-Star power forward Jayson Tatum was on the verge of a double-double by contributing 31 points with nine rebounds and the Boston Celtics beat the young Houston Rockets 97-107 on Sunday in what was their first victory of the new season.
The win kept the Celtics (1-2) from a losing 0-3 start to the season for the first time since the 2013-14 season.
Tatum scored 20 points in the first half after making 8 of 13 shots from the field, while Dominican center Al Horford used his experience and power in the paint to get a double-double of 17 points, including 11 in the decisive third. period, and 10 rebounds that also made a difference in favor of the Celtics.
German point guard Dennis Schröder, who started for the injured Jaylen Brown, finished with 18 points and backup power forward Grant Williams added 18 points to make him the Celtics’ sixth player.
Brown was out of the lineup with left patella tendinopathy after leading the Celtics in the first two games with an average of 27.5 points.
Boston coach rookie Ime Udoka said Brown’s injury was something he struggled with last season and it cost him a few games to miss as well.
As a team, Boston had 44% shooting from the field and 32% (15 of 47) from outside the perimeter.
The second overall pick, guard Jalen Green, completed the best game of his young career by scoring 30 points, including 8 of 10 from 3-pointers, which put him at the forefront of the Rockets’ attack.
The center Christian Wood had 20 points and nine rebounds, and forward Kevin Porter Jr. reached 15 points as the third highest scorer for the Rockets (1-2), who had 43% on field goals and scored 14 of 32 3-point attempts.
Boston had a 38-32 advantage in points in the paint and a 43-40 advantage in rebounds.
After Houston tied the score at 55 at the start of the third period with a basket on Green’s layup after two minutes of action, Boston began a 10-0 run after Horford scored four consecutive points and Tatum sentenced with a triple.
The Rockets responded with five straight points to cut the lead in half, but Boston responded with another 24-9 streak to open the lead to 20 on a three-point play by Horford with 1.5 minutes to go in the third.
The Celtics committed 12 turnovers and forced Houston to 20, which the Boston team converted to 28 points.
Warriors 119, Kings 107
Stephen Curry again led the balanced attack of the Golden State Warriors by contributing 27 points that helped them beat the Sacramento Kings 107-119 on the road, in a duel between California teams.
Curry also became the first player in Warriors history to amass 5,000 assists, and Golden State improved to 3-0 from the start of the season.
The Warriors All-Star point guard finished the game with a double-double by distributing 10 assists and grabbing seven rebounds.
The two-time Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the league has contributed at least 20 points and 10 assists in the Warriors’ opening games.
Guard Jordan Poole reached 22 points and veteran power forward Draymond Green contributed 14 points, six rebounds and seven assists, which also helped the Warriors win.
While the Mexican-American forward Juan Toscano-Anderson, who came out of reserve, added three points, two rebounds and two assists in the 15 minutes he played.
Toscano-Anderson scored a three-shot field goal, including a two-shot triple, missed the personnel line, and recovered a ball.
Forward Warriors forward Harrison Barnes scored 24 points as the leader of the Kings (2-1) who suffered their first loss so far this season.
While center Richaun Holmes was once again the best in the inside game by getting a double-double of 16 points and 11 rebounds with the Kings who suffered the second consecutive defeat.
Lakers 121, Grizzlies 118
Veteran power forward Carmelo Anthony added 28 points, including six triples from eight attempts, which put him in front of the Los Angeles Lakers attack that beat the Memphis Grizzlies 121-118 this Sunday and got their first win of the new season. .
Anthony, who plays his first season with the Lakers, came out of reserve to play 28 minutes in which he scored 10 of 15 shots from the field; he was perfect (2-2) from the personnel line and captured three rebounds.
Center Anthony Davis had another 22 points and four blocks, while forward LeBron James scored 19 points.
The excitement of the match continued until the last minute when Morant was fouled by guard Kent Bazemore on a 3-point attempt with 2.5 seconds left and Memphis three down.
Morant, who set a personal best with five 3-pointers, had a chance to equalize the score, but missed the third free throw and the Lakers took the victory.
Anthony advanced to ninth on the NBA’s top scorers list with a total of 27,423 career points.
With this victory, the Lakers ended the streak of two consecutive losses with which they had started the season. For their part, the Grizzlies lost for the first time after consecutive victories in this league start.
The Spanish center, rookie Santi Aldama, continued to see no action with the Grizzlies since the new season began.
Hornets 111, Nets 95
Point guard LaMelo Ball needed just three quarters of a game to help the Charlotte Hornets to a 95-111 road win over the Brooklyn Nets, who still did not have their All-Star, point guard Kyrie Irving with them.
Reserve Ish Smith, who gave him minutes of rest, was doing so well that Rookie of the Year told Charlotte’s coach, Hispanic James Borrego, to leave his teammate on the field and also help the team win. and the perfect 3-0 mark at the start of the season, something Michael Jordan’s team had never achieved before.
Forward Miles Bridges had 32 points and nine rebounds, leading the Hornets and Smith added 11 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter when Ball voluntarily gave the ball to him.
Ball had 18 points, six rebounds and five assists, but it was the Hornets’ backups who led them in a dominant fourth quarter. Forward Cody Martin scored eight of his 12 goals in the final 12 minutes.
Before that, it was another big night for Bridges, who had his second straight 30-point outing and finished one of his career highs.
Star forward Kevin Durant scored 38 points as the leader of the Nets, who have fallen to 1-2 so far this season. Guard James Harden had 15 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for Brooklyn.
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