Horford gets New England fans cheering before the Super Bowl
Al Horford captured the attention of New England sports fans even on Super Bowl Sunday.
Horford made a 15-foot fadeaway jumper at the buzzer and the Celtics finished off Portland 97-96 Sunday, giving fans in Boston a few hours to get home before the Patriots played for the NFL championship.
“Wanted to end the game so we could go watch the Super Bowl,” Boston head coach Brad Stevens said.
Stevens spoke while wearing a Patriots hat. He was joined by Philadelphia fan and Celtics forward Marcus Morris, who sported an Eagles jersey.
“I called ‘Game’ when Al hit the turnaround, just so you know,” Morris said.
Stevens smiled, adding: “Al feels a lot like Tom Brady today, right?”
Several jerseys for Brady and Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski were in the crowd at TD Garden. An Eagles fan shown on the Jumbotron repeatedly got booed.
Horford wound up with 22 points and 10 rebounds, helping Boston win its fourth in a row.
Stevens “had called a play for Jaylen (Brown) but they were ready for it, so he kept yelling, ‘Keep the ball. Keep the ball,’ ” Horford said. “It’s a shot I work on a lot and it felt good when it left my hands.”
Damian Lillard shot 6-for-19, but scored Portland’s final eight points, including a three-point play with 7.2 seconds remaining to give the Blazers a 96-95 lead. CJ McCollum led the Blazers with 22 points. Lillard added 21.
Lakers 108, Thunder 104: Oklahoma City appeared to be on its way to its lofty preseason expectations during an eightgame win streak. Then the Thunder hit another rough patch. Oklahoma City dropped its fourth straight game when Brook Lopez scored 20 points and Julius Randle added 19, leading visiting Los Angeles to victory. Thunder guard Russell Westbrook said the team won’t panic. “Me personally, I love adversity,” he said. “It gives you an opportunity to bring your teammates together and bring everybody together. Looking forward to positive things. Throughout this season, there (are) going to be a lot of ups and downs, but we never flinch. That’s one thing about this organization and about our team — we never flinch. We are always going to stay together.” Westbrook scored 36 points and Paul George had 26, but Oklahoma City struggled on defense again.
Raptors 101, Grizzlies 86: Delon Wright scored 15 points, and Toronto took control in the fourth quarter. DeMar DeRozan and Fred VanVleet each scored 13 points as the Raptors improved to 21-4 at home. Jonas Valanciunas had 12 points, and Kyle Lowry finished with 11. Toronto is 14-3 when VanVleet scores 10 or more points. He matched his career high with seven rebounds and had eight assists. Marc Gasol scored 20 points and Andrew Harrison had 16 for Memphis, which has lost six straight road games.
Hawks 99, Knicks 96: Kent Bazemore’s three-pointer with 6.7 seconds left lifted visiting Atlanta to the victory. The Hawks rallied from a 93-87 deficit in the final 2:16. Bazemore was wide open in the left corner and hit for a 98-96 lead. Tim Hardaway Jr. then stepped on the line trying to inbound, giving the ball back to Atlanta. After Dewayne Dedmon made one of two foul shots, Hardaway missed a potential tying three-pointer. Bazemore led the Hawks with 19 points. Kristaps Porzingis scored 22 for the Knicks. Enes Kanter finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Bucks 109, Nets 94: Eric Bledsoe scored 28 points, John Henson had 19 points and 18 rebounds, and visiting Milwaukee easily extended its streak over Brooklyn to 10 games. The Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo departed after twisting his right ankle with about 71⁄2 minutes left. He finished with 16 points and eight rebounds. Khris Middleton also had 16 points for the Bucks, who improved to 6-1 since firing head coach Jason Kidd and moved a season-best six games over .500 at 29-23. DeMarre Carroll and Caris LeVert each scored 15 for Brooklyn, which lost for the sixth time in seven games.
Hornets 115, Suns 110: Nicolas Batum scored 22 points and visiting Charlotte rallied from a 21-point deficit in the second half. Kemba Walker and Dwight Howard added 18 apiece for the Hornets, who staged their biggest comeback of the season and matched their season best with three straight wins. Rookie Josh Jackson scored a personal-high 23 and T.J. Warren added 21 for Phoenix, which led 78-57 with 7:53 left in the third quarter. Devin Booker and Dragan Bender added 18 apiece. Booker, already playing with bruised ribs, left with a left hip pointer with 6:53 to play.