Christmas special again for Spoelstra
Erik Spoelstra remained perfect on Christmas, and a record- tying show from Duncan Robinson helped him stay that way.
Robinson made seven threepointers — tying the Christmasgame mark — and scored 23 points, helping the Heat beat the New Orleans Pelicans 111- 98 to start the NBA’s holiday quintupleheader Friday.
“It’s super special to play in Christmas,” Robinson said. “I certainly don’t take it for granted.”
Goran Dragic scored 18 points, Bam Adebayo had 17 and Avery Bradley finished with 12 for Miami, and Spoelstra improved his Christmas record as Heat coach to 8- 0.
“I wasn’t even aware of that,” Spoelstra said. “Just shows you that we’ve had some really good teams here and teams that have had the opportunity to play on Christmas.”
Precious Achiuwa and Tyler Herro each scored 11 for Miami, which lost Jimmy Butler at halftime with right ankle stiffness.
Zion Williamson had 32 points and 14 rebounds in 38 minutes for New Orleans — the rebounds and minutes both career highs. Brandon Ingram had 28 points.
Brooklyn 123, at Boston 95:
Kyrie Irving scored 37 points with eight assists in his return to Boston and Kevin Durant added 29 points.
Jarrett Allen added 11 rebounds for the Nets, who improved to 2- 0 and sent Boston to its first loss. Irving was seven for 10 from threepoint range in his first regular- season game at TD Garden since he opted out of his Celtics contract in 2019.
“We’re going to continue to see them. We’re in the same division,” Irving said, adding that there was “nothing added” to his motivation in playing his former team.
Jaylen Brown scored 27 with eight rebounds for the Celtics and Jayson Tatum had 20 points and eight boards. The Celtics beat Milwaukee in their opener on Wednesday on Tatum’s last- second shot but they couldn’t do it again in their second straight matchup against a team expected to contend in the Eastern Conference this season.
“The benefit of playing these two games against two other great teams is that it forces you to be better,” Celtics guard Marcus Smart said. “It tests you to see where you’re at, it sets the bar, and now you know what you have to strive for.”
at Milwaukee 138, Golden State 99:
Khris Middleton scored 31 points and Milwaukee won its first Christmas Day home game in more than half a century. Middleton went six for eight from three- point range, leading his team’s strong performance from deep.
“The weeks before the season, I just tried to put in good work, work on my game,” Middleton said. “So far, it’s been working for me.”
Milwaukee was 20 for 37 from beyond the arc, while Golden State was 10 for 45.
The Warriors were outscored by 65 points in their f irst two games, the second- highest total in NBA history through two games to 71 points for the 1987- 88 Clippers.
Milwaukee’s only other Christmas home game came during the franchise’s inaugural season in 1968.
Stephen Curry scored 19 points for Golden State, and rookie James Wiseman had 18.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had 15 points and 13 rebounds for Milwaukee, but the two- time reigning most valuable player shot four for 15 from the f loor and seven for 15 from the foul line.