The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Tatum scores 31, Celtics get 1st win
HOUSTON — Jayson Tatum had 31 points and nine rebounds and the Boston Celtics avoided their first 0-3 start since the 201314 season with a 107-97 win over the Houston Rockets on Sunday night.
Tatum, had 20 points in the first half on 8 of 13 shooting. Al Horford finished with 17 points, including 11 in the third quarter, and 10 rebounds.
Dennis Schroder, who started for the injured Jaylen Brown, finished with 18 points and Grant Williams added 18 points off the bench. Boston shot 44% from the field and hit 15 of 47 on 3-pointers.
Second overall pick Jalen Green had the best game in his young career, scoring 30 points including making 8 of 10 on 3-pointers. Christian Wood had 20 points and nine rebounds, and Kevin Porter Jr. added 15 points for Houston, which shot 43% and hit 14 of 32 on 3-pointers.
Boston held a 38-32 advantage in points in the paint and held a 43-40 advantage in rebounds.
After Houston knotted it at 55 on a lay-up by Green two minutes into the third, Boston went on a 10-0 spurt started with four straight points by Horford and capped on a 3-pointer by Tatum.
The Rockets responded with five straight points to cut the lead in half, but Boston responded with a 24-9 run to open the lead to 20 on a three-point play by Horford with 11⁄2 minutes left in the third.
HORNETS 111, NETS 95
NEW YORK — LaMelo Ball had a good first three quarters in Brooklyn, then decided it was best if he watched the fourth.
Ish Smith was rolling so well that the Rookie of the Year told Charlotte coach James Borrego to stick with this backup.
“That’s big. That just shows where our growth is,” forward Miles Bridges said. “As long as he’s being mature and we’re all being mature, we’re going to keep winning.”
The Hornets have never done that this well to start a season.
Bridges had 32 points and nine rebounds, Smith added 11 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter and the Hornets improved to 3-0 for the first time by beating the Brooklyn Nets.
Ball had 18 points, six rebounds and five assists, but it was the Hornets’ backups who led them in a dominant final quarter. Cody Martin scored eight of his 12 in the final 12 minutes.
Before that, it was another big night for Bridges, who had his second straight 30-point outing and finished a point shy of his career high.
Kevin Durant scored 38 points for the Nets, who fell to 1-2. James Harden had 15 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for Brooklyn.
It was a disappointing home opener that featured demonstrators outside the arena supporting Nets guard Kyrie Irving and protesting New York’s vaccine mandate.
The Nets are not allowing Irving to play while he is not vaccinated against COVID-19, which the city’s mandate says pro athletes playing for a local team must do.
Brooklyn sure looked as if it needed Irving on a night when nobody besides Durant, who shot 17 for 24, got into any sort of flow. Durant disagreed. “It’s three games in. Of course, we’ve got enough,” Durant said.
“We definitely want Kyrie Irving out here on the floor and he’s a huge part of what we do, but it’s not happening right now. So we’ve got to figure it out. But nobody’s going to lose confidence while we’re playing and hope Kyrie comes and saves us during the game. No, you’ve got to play.”
The Hornets won their first two largely through their offense, with a teambest 246 points in their first two games. This one was done through defense, outscoring the Nets 61-37 in the second half.
“To hold that team to 95 points, that’s pretty special,” Smith said.