SPORTS DIGEST

BASKETBALL

The Boston Celtics held on to a ninth consecutive win after a closely-fought 110107 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. In a game that saw the lead change 25 times, Kyrie Irving stood out with 35 points, 12 of which came in the fourth quarter to see out the win. With less than three minutes on the clock, Boston were behind at 100-99, but Irving helped claw back the deficit with an easy lay-up shot followed by a dribble hand-off from Al Horford, who had 15 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. Jayson Tatum also helped Boston on their way to the win, totalling 21 points in the game and gaining a three-pointer with little more than 47 seconds remaining. The 23 points from Dennis Schroder did little to lift the spirits of the Hawks In another tight contest, the Brooklyn Nets overcame the Phoenix Suns by 98-92 in Arizona. Fighting back from 15 points behind in the first half, the Suns managed to gain the lead thanks to Jared Dudley’s lay-up. But the 75-74 scoreline did not last for long as the Nets saw out their victory thanks to a season-high 18 points from Joe Harris and 23 points from D’angelo Russell. NBA: Atlanta Hawks 107 Boston Celtics 110, Golden State Warriors 97 Miami Heat 80, Phoenix Suns 92 Brooklyn Nets 98

GRIDIRON

The Detroit Lions brought an end to their three-game losing streak with a 30-17 win over the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Quarterback Matthew Stafford was the star man on the field, passing for 361 yards and two touchdowns to Marvin Jones, the first of which marked Stafford’s 200th touchdown pass in 117 career games. Ameer Abdullah also scored a four-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to help put Detroit on the path to victory. The Packers’ first score did not come until a field goal from Mason Crosby and they finally found the end zone in the fourth quarter thanks to a one-yard run from Brett Hundley. But the Lions continued on their destructive path, and after Stafford’s 25-yard pass to Jones in the first, the quarterback again found the wide receiver with an 11-yard touchdown pass in the fourth. While the Packers put on a more competitive display in the closing stages of the game, Jamaal Williams scoring a one-yard touchdown run, they could not do enough to close the 17-point lead that had opened up by the end of the third quarter. The Packers have now lost three games in a row as they feel the loss of injured quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who broke his collarbone last month against Minnesota. NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE: Green Bay Packers 17 Detroit Lions 30.

ICE HOCKEY

Three power play goals helped the New York Rangers defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-3 at Madison Square Garden for a fourth straight victory. Those power play goals came as the Rangers scored four times in the third period to seal the win. An empty-net goal with 48 seconds to go was one of two strikes from Michael Grabner, with Mika Zibanejad making a career-high three assists and Henrik Lundqvist making 22 saves for the winners. The Boston Bruins did not miss the injured Brad Marchand too much as five players scored in their 5-3 victory against the Minnesota Wild at TD Garden. Zdeno Chara and Jordan Szwarz each had two assists for Boston as Sean Kuraly, Jake Debrusk, Frank Vatrano, Torey Krug and Tim Schaller found the target. Tuukka Rask kept out a penalty shot from Mikael Granlund penalty shot in the third period in his 24 saves. The Bruins had six rookies in their line-up after Marchand’s upperbody injury made him their fifth forward on the sidelines. The Washington Capitals went to overtime to beat the Arizona Coyotes 3-2 and the Toronto Maple Leafs needed a shootout to overcome the Vegas Golden Knights 4-3. NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE: Boston Bruins 5 Minnesota Wild 3, Dallas Stars 1 Winnipeg Jets 4, New York Rangers 5 Columbus Blue Jackets 3, Toronto Maple Leafs 4 Vegas Golden Knights 3 (SO), Vancouver Canucks 2 Detroit Red Wings 3, Washington Capitals 3 Arizona Coyotes 2 (OT).