NBA: Walker's 37 lead Celtics past Magic

Kemba Walker scored 37 points, Gordon Hayward added 22 and the short-handed Boston Celtics surged past the host Orlando Magic 109-98 on Friday night.

Hayward also had 14 rebounds, and Daniel Theis chipped in 16 points as the Celtics won their third straight.

Boston played without two of its three top scorers in Jayson Tatum (right groin strain) and Jaylen Brown (right ankle sprain), and key reserve Enes Kanter also was out with a right hip contusion.

Evan Fournier had a team-high 30 points, Nikola Vucevic added 17 and 12 rebounds and Aaron Gordon scored 12 for the Magic, who lost for the fourth time in their last five.

The Celtics went down by 16 early in the second quarter but were within four at the break thanks to 19 points in the quarter and 27 in the half from Walker.

Boston went up 70-69 on a Theis bucket with 4:07 left for its first lead since 5:42 of the first and ended the third quarter on an 18-8 stretch to take an 82-77 advantage into the fourth.

Walker was at it again in the final quarter, hitting a pair of 3s and two free throws to reach 35 points as the Celtics grew their lead to 14 with 8:46 remaining.

A pair of Fournier treys helped the Magic stay within six with three minutes to go, but a Theis dunk and Marcus Smart basket gave Boston a 9-point edge with 1:11 left.

The Magic used a 23-6 run to grab their first 10-point lead, 30-20, with 2:01 left in the first. Orlando ended the period up 30-24.

The Magic took their largest lead (46-30) of the half with 7:45 to go in the second, but Walker scored 13 straight points for the Celtics as they got within 54-43.

Treys from Grant Williams and Hayward in the final minute had Boston trailing 57-53 at intermission.

Fournier paced Orlando with 15 first-half points.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

NBA: Walker hits 39 as Celtics end Nets’ win streak

Kemba Walker scored a season-high 39 points in his return from a neck sprain as the host Boston Celtics held off the Kyrie Irving-less Brooklyn Nets 121-110 on Wednesday night.

Jaylen Brown had 22 points and 10 rebounds as six Celtics scored in double figures. Boston won for the third time in its last five games.

The Nets also placed six scorers in double figures, led by Garrett Temple and Joe Harris with 22 and 21, respectively. Despite hitting 21 3-pointers as a team, Brooklyn's four-game winning streak came to an end.

Jarrett Allen (17 points, 14 rebounds) and Spencer Dinwiddie (16 points, 11 assists) each had double-doubles for the Nets.


Irving, who played for the Celtics the past two seasons, missed what would have been his first game back in Boston and his seventh straight contest with a shoulder injury. Walker, meanwhile, missed just one game after getting stretchered off the court with his injury on Friday in Denver.

Walker had 30 points -- including 13 apiece in the second and third quarters -- as the Celtics carried a five-point lead into the final 12 minutes. Boston grabbed the game's first double-digit advantage, 99-89, on a Brad Wanamaker layup with 9:07 remaining.

The Nets got within three, 104-101, on Temple's sixth 3-pointer with 5:28 left, but Walker responded with a 3 as the Celtics used an 8-1 run to restore order.

A Walker basket made it 119-108 with 1:51 left, and the Boston lead grew as high as 13 down the stretch.

Trailing by six at the break, the Celtics roared back to knot the score at 75 on a Walker three-point play with 6:39 left in the third. Boston ended the quarter on a 9-3 run to lead 91-86 entering the fourth.

The Nets drained 10 3-pointers in a 40-point second quarter and led 60-51 with 2:03 to go. The Celtics got back in it with 3s by Brown and Walker, but Dinwiddie answered with a 3 as the Nets entered the half up 63-57.

Temple led Brooklyn with 16 points. Walker had 17 for Boston.

The Celtics held a 30-23 lead after one.

--Field Level Media

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NBA: Celtics rout Spurs despite Hayward's injury

Jaylen Brown scored 30 points, and Kemba Walker added 26 as the Boston Celtics overcame a first-half injury to Gordon Hayward to reach a season high in points in beating the Spurs, 135-115, Saturday night for a rare victory at San Antonio.

Jayson Tatum had 19 points, Marcus Smart had 16 and Robert Williams III chipped in 11 as the Celtics won their seventh straight game -- and first at San Antonio since 2011. Boston had lost 14 of its last 15 to the Spurs overall.

DeMar DeRozan scored 22, and Patty Mills added 20 for the Spurs, who lost for the third time in four games. LaMarcus Aldridge was held to three points, taking just four shots from the field in 26 minutes.

Hayward fractured his left hand when he ran into Aldridge while guarding Dejounte Murray with 1:34 left before halftime. Aldridge was assessed an offensive foul, and Hayward quickly exited to the locker room.

The Celtics announced the diagnosis early in the third following an X-ray, and Hayward was ruled out for the remainder of the game. He will see a specialist Monday to determine if surgery is necessary, according to ESPN.

Despite the injury, Boston was up by 18 at the half and increased increased the margin to 20 on a pair of Smart free throws 12 seconds into the third. San Antonio battled back within 14 before the Celtics restored the 20-point margin, 88-68, on a Brown floater with 6:20 remaining.

The Spurs inched within 12, ultimately entering the fourth trailing, 104-91. Boston went up by as much as 24 the rest of the way to cruise to victory.

The Spurs opened the game on a 7-0 run before the Celtics blew past them with a 19-3 stretch. Boston's lead in the first reached as high as 15 as the Celtics ended the quarter up 39-30, their largest-scoring opening period of the season.

San Antonio fell further behind in the second, trailing by as much as 19 when a Javonte Green layup put Boston up 70-51 with 25.3 seconds to go. Brown led all scorers with 20 points as the Celtics entered the half up 72-54.

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NBA: Tatum, Celtics rally from 19 down to deny Bucks

Jayson Tatum had 25 points, including 11 during a third-quarter comeback, as the Boston Celtics overcame a 19-point deficit to beat the visiting Milwaukee Bucks 116-105 on Wednesday night.

Kemba Walker led all scorers with 32 points, Gordon Hayward had a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds and Marcus Smart hit five 3-pointers and scored 19 as the Celtics won for the third time in four games. 

Boston played without swingman Jaylen Brown, scratched hours before the game with an illness.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 22 points and 14 rebounds, and Khris Middleton scored 26 for the Bucks, who have dropped two of four. Milwaukee hit just 15 of 24 at the free-throw line.

The Celtics outscored the Bucks 38-18 in the third quarter to overcome a 16-point deficit at halftime. Tatum got Boston within single digits, at 71-62, on a layup with 5:04 left and put the Celtics up for the first time since 1:32 into the game when he followed a block on Antetokounmpo with a try to make it 77-76 with 59 seconds to go.

Tatum hit another 3-pointer with a second left as Boston led 80-76 entering the fourth.

The Celtics carried that momentum into the fourth quarter, extending their lead to seven on a Hayward layup with 8:48 to go. Boston went up by double digits, 91-80, on a one-handed Tatum dunk with 7:23 left.

After a flurry of scoring, Daniel Theis hit a 3-pointer with 5:30 left, but Middleton responded with a trey of his own as Milwaukee got within 98-90.

Walker scored eight straight points for the Celtics to increase their lead to 13 with 3:10 left, and Milwaukee never got closer than 10 the rest of the way.

The Bucks held a 19-point edge, 40-21, at 10:11 of the second quarter. Milwaukee would end the half leading 58-42.

The Bucks first went up by double digits, 22-10, on an Ersan Ilyasova 3-pointer with five minutes remaining in the first, finishing the quarter up 34-19.

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FIBA: Walker leads US to easy win over Australia in World Cup warm-up

MELBOURNE -- Boston guard Kemba Walker dazzled with 23 points as the United States ramped up preparations for the defense of their World Cup crown with an impressive 102-86 victory over Australia in a warm-up game Thursday.

Myles Turner added 15 points with 14 rebounds while Donovan Mitchell scored 13 with three assists to build on their recent victory over world number two Spain en-route to China for the tournament that tips off on August 31.

Chris Goulding led Australia with 19 points off the bench, along with San Antonio Spurs' Patty Mills, who had two rebounds and three assists in front of more than 50,000 fans at Melbourne's Marvel Stadium.

"I'm one of the leaders of this team so I just try to do my best for my teammates," said Walker, who was appointed captain for the game.

"I'm super happy to be here. I want to inspire the young kids coming up."

The five-time world champions, ranked number one in the world by international governing body FIBA, started on a 6-0 run before Mills got Australia on the board, with the Americans ending the first quarter 22-20 in front.

They raced to an 11 point advantage before Goulding drained back-to-back threes and Mills hit from deep just before the buzzer to trim the margin to just one point, 44-43, at the half-way mark.

But Team USA then went on a 10-0 spree, reeling off a trio of three-pointers, to assert their authority, finishing three-quarter time comfortably ahead 76-61 before closing it out.

"We are looking to build and grow," said Australia's Mills. "The World Cup is where we want to peak and this was a good hit out for us."

Coach Gregg Popovich's USA squad -- which needs to be trimmed to 12 from the current 13 -- head to the World Cup as favorites despite missing a host of top NBA stars.

LeBron James, James Harden, Anthony Davis and Kawhi Leonard all opted out, while others such as Houston Rockets forward P.J. Tucker are injured, leaving a depleted, but still talented, line-up who have not had much match time together.

While Australia, widely seen as a medal contender, boasts a handful of NBA stars, including Utah Jazz's Joe Ingles and Mills, they too have had to deal with withdrawals.

Philadelphia 76s' Jonah Bolden pulled out this week, joining Ben Simmons and Thon Maker (NBA commitments), Ryan Broekhoff (birth of his child) and Dante Exum (injury) as no-shows .

The two teams play each other again in Melbourne on Saturday.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

James pours in 41 as Cavs crush Hornets

LeBron James had 41 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists to lead the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers to a 118-105 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night at Spectrum Center.

Kemba Walker scored 21 points and Dwight Howard added 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Hornets, who had a four-game winning streak snapped. Walker had a milestone night, breaking the franchise record for points scored at 9,841, passing Dell Curry (9,839), and the franchise mark for free throws made at 2,003, passing Gerald Wallace (1,999).

Cleveland, which rebounded from a 19-point loss at Miami to win for the sixth time in seven games, shot 48.4 percent from the field and went 11 of 28 (39 percent) from 3-point range but hit 85 percent from the free-throw line.

Cleveland led 95-78 entering the fourth quarter, but the Hornets trimmed the lead to as little 11 with 7:02 left in the game. The Cavaliers went on a 15-10 run as James had six points on a pair of dunks and a layup to increase the lead and get back on their winning ways.

The Cavaliers used a big second quarter to take control, outscoring Charlotte 42-28 to take a 64-54 lead into halftime. James had 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting before the break, and JR Smith had 10 points off the bench for Cleveland.

Smith finished with 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting, and Jeff Green added 18 points for the Cavaliers, who are a half-game in front of the Philadelphia 76ers for third place in the Eastern Conference.

Kaminsky finished with 16 points for the Hornets, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Jeremy Lamb added 11 apiece.

Howard scored 10 of his points in the first half and Kaminsky had eight for the Hornets, who shot 42 percent before the break.

Charlotte got off to a good start, leading 26-22 after the first quarter.

Cleveland returns home for a Friday contest against the New Orleans Pelicans to kick off a four-game homestand.

Charlotte heads back on the road for a Saturday game at Washington before returning home to host Philadelphia on Sunday.

--Field Level Media

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Walker's OT surge leads Hornets past Knicks

Kemba Walker had 31 points, including 11 in overtime, and Dwight Howard added 23 points to lead the Charlotte Hornets to a 137-128 overtime win over the visiting New York Knicks on Monday night at Spectrum Center.

Walker had three 3-pointers in the extra frame as the Hornets outscored New York 20-11 to win their fourth straight game.

Trey Burke had 42 points and Michael Beasley had 27 to lead the Knicks, who lost for the third time in four games to fall to 27-48 on the season.

New York jump-started its offense in the third quarter, outscoring the Hornets 33-25. Charlotte went into the fourth quarter up 87-82 and led 92-86 with 10:22 left, but the Knicks went on a 20-9 run to take a 106-101 lead with six minutes left. 

The Hornets responded with a 13-4 run to go up four, but New York scored seven straight to go up 117-114 with 40.6 seconds left. Walker hit a 3-pointer with 21.5 seconds left to send it to overtime.

Marvin Williams had 13 points and Jeremy Lamb and Willy Hernangomez each had 12 points off the bench for the Hornets, who shot 54.8 percent from the field and 39.3 percent from 3-point range.

Tim Hardaway Jr. had 17 points and Enes Kanter added 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Knicks.

Charlotte took a 62-49 lead into halftime as Walker had 11 points and Frank Kaminsky had 10 off the bench. The Hornets got good production from their reserves in the first half, as they had 30 of the team's 62 points. Charlotte gave itself the early lead with solid shooting, hitting 52 percent in the first half and 91 percent from the free-throw line.

Frank Ntilikina had all of his 12 points in the first half on 6-of-8 shooting. Beasley added 10 points for the Knicks, who shot 41 percent from the field in the first half.

The Hornets remain home for a Wednesday matchup with the Cleveland Cavaliers before heading to Washington on Saturday.

The Knicks conclude a three-game road trip at Philadelphia on Wednesday before returning to Madison Square Garden for a Saturday matchup with Detroit.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Hornets score 49 in first, hold on to beat Pacers

Kemba Walker scored 41 points to help make sure the Charlotte Hornets didn't waste a franchise record set early in the game in a 133-126 victory against the Indiana Pacers on Friday night at Spectrum Center in Charlotte, N.C.

Nic Batum, buoyed by seven 3s, pumped in a season-high 31 points and Frank Kaminsky supplied 15 points as the Hornets cranked it up late after a spotty midgame stretch.

The Hornets scored a record 49 first-quarter points, the most points for any quarter in franchise history.

They made 19 of 23 shots from the field during those opening 12 minutes, 16 of which came from Batum. 

It's the first time this season that the Hornets had two players reach the 30-point mark in the same game.

Charlotte's Jeremy Lamb provided 14 points and Dwight Howard chipped in with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Victor Oladipo tallied 35 points for the Pacers, who pulled even briefly in the second half.

With 4:43 left in the third quarter, the Pacers tied the score at 82-all on Myles Turner's 3-point basket.

Walker heated up for 10 consecutive of Charlotte's points to close out the third quarter, with the Hornets holding a 96-91 lead.

Still, Charlotte had to fend off Indiana's late charge when a 121-112 edge with less than three minutes to play was reduced to 128-124 with 40 seconds left.

Walker finished 11-for-22 from the field with five 3-point baskets. He was 14-for-14 on free throws.

Charlotte made 30 of 34 free throw attempts.

Turner notched 19 points, Bojan Bogdanovic had 18 and Lance Stephenson posted 15 points for Indiana. Cory Joseph's 12 points and Darren Collison's 10 also helped keep it close.

The Hornets broke out to a 16-6 lead. They scored 36 points in the first 9 ½ minutes.

Charlotte's scoring pace slowed down, so it held a 71-57 halftime edge.

Charlotte was without starting forward Marvin Williams, who's out with an ankle injury that's considered day-to-day.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Hornets break through while cooling off Heat

After dismal performances in two opening losses, the Charlotte Hornets knew they needed to regroup quickly in their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series against the Miami Heat.

The Hornets did precisely that on Saturday, and the result was a 96-80 Game 3 victory that puts them in position to even the best-of-seven series in Game 4 on Monday.

The Hornets went on an 18-0 run midway through the third quarter, holding the Heat scoreless for a span of 6:37, and then they went on to lead by as many as 24 in the fourth.

It was a complete reversal from the Heat's 106-80 win in Game 1 and a 115-103 win in Game 2, both in Miami.

"Our intensity, our defense, our communication was so much better," Hornets coach Steve Clifford said. "So it's a good win and if we can come back and play better in some areas Monday night, it'll give us a chance to tie the series."

The Hornets clearly benefitted from a return home to Time Warner Cable Arena, where they went 30-11 during the regular season.

They were crisp offensively, committing only four turnovers, and they came through with a brilliant defensive effort in limiting the Heat to 34.2 percent shooting from the field.

"The thing tonight was, we were more intense, we were more disciplined, and our defense was a ton better," Clifford said. "I mean, we had two of our five worst deflection games all season in Miami and that all changed tonight. We played a lot harder. We played a lot smarter. We were a lot more organized."

Jeremy Lin led a balanced attack with 18 points, as six players scored in double figures. The Hornets also got 17 points from Kemba Walker, 15 points from Frank Kaminsky, 12 points from Cody Zeller, 12 points and 14 rebounds from Marvin Williams, and 10 points from Al Jefferson.

Kaminsky and Jefferson found themselves in the starting lineup as Clifford went with a starting combination that he had not used any time during the regular season.

The score was 53-53 midway through the third quarter when the Hornets went on their 18-0 run for a 71-53 lead. The 7-foot Kaminsky, often finding himself matched up against 6-4 Dwyane Wade, keyed the spurt with 13 third-quarter points. And the Heat missed nine straight shots during the run.

"It was 51-51 and it looked like it was going to be a possession game, and the next thing I looked up and it was 14 before the next time out," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said.

"You have to give them credit. They came out with great energy during that spurt. I think all three games have had a big burst of energy and momentum when one side has been able to separate. That's what happened tonight.

"They played with great energy particularly during that stretch."

Kaminsky said, "I was just playing for pride. They came at me to start the game, I didn't do well on defense and I started hanging my head.

"At halftime I was like, 'Well, it can't get any worse than this so you might as well go out there and play your game and see what happens.' I was just able to get some buckets and it went well."

The Heat had actually hit 10 of their first 15 shots and finished 27-of-79, so they were 17-of-64 in the final 40 minutes. The Heat's bench combined to go 3-of-17 from the field.

"(Miami president) Pat Riley gets the credit for saying it, it's a make or miss league," Clifford said. "The nights when you make, you look good. The nights when you miss, it looks bad.

"I'm sure they feel like they missed some open shots. The difference for us defensively was our attention to detail. We did the little things right tonight."

Luol Deng led the Heat with 19 points. Wade scored 17, Hassan Whiteside had 13 points and 18 rebounds, and Goran Dragic scored 11.

"This is a series, best of seven," Deng said. "We knew at some point they'd have a good game. They're competitive and they play hard and it's not by accident that they had a good season.

"It wasn't going to be one of those where you keep them quiet the whole series. They're good players and they responded."

(Editing by Peter Rutherford)

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