NBA: Banged-up Boston stretches win streak to 11

LOS ANGELES, United States - The Boston Celtics juggernaut continues to steamroll its way through the NBA, extending their winning streak to 11 games on Friday despite a rash of injuries that now includes all-star Kyrie Irving.

With Gordon Hayward out for the season and Al Horford sitting out a second straight game with a concussion, Irving suffered a possible concussion less than two minutes into the game after taking an elbow from teammate Aron Baynes.

No matter -- despite the revolving door on the infirmary -- the Celtics just keep on winning without their Big Three, rallying from an 18-point deficit then hanging on for a 90-87 victory on Friday night over the Charlotte Hornets.

"We're just going to do what we do no matter who we got," Celtics Terry Rozier said. "No matter who we're going to play with, we're going to play hard."

Boston scored a season-low 11 points in the first quarter and was down 18 early in the third before sending the Hornets to their fourth straight loss.

With unheralded guard Shane Larkin leading the way, the Celtics went on a 14-2 fourth-quarter surge to take control of the game and held the Hornets to 11 points in the fourth quarter. But Boston still had to survive a scramble at the end to survive.

Larkin finished with a season-high 16 points, while rookie Jayson Tatum, who is playing with a sore ankle, scored 16 points.

"There's no funner place to play than in Boston in comeback games," Larkin said. "We went out there. Crowd got behind us. We pulled out a victory."

Rozier had 15 points seven rebounds and four assists, Marcus Morris had 14 and seven rebounds and Jaylen Brown scored 10 points and had 13 rebounds.

Kemba Walker led all scorers with 20 points despite missing all six of his three-point shot attempts, while Frank Kaminsky scored all 14 of his points in the first half.

Walker, who missed a jumper that would have put his team ahead with five seconds left, scored Charlotte's final eight points.

Hornets forward Dwight Howard had a dismal night, shooting two-for-eight from the floor, two-for-nine from the foul line, while making seven turnovers.

"We're giving up huge leads. We're not maintaining our game. We've got to be better as a whole," Walker said.

- Jackson's late bombs -

Elsewhere, Reggie Jackson made two clutch three pointers down the stretch as the Detroit Pistons won their fourth straight with a 111-104 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.

Jackson had 22 points and six assists for the Pistons, who gave away a 19-point lead before regaining control in front of a crowd of 16,600 at Little Caesars Arena.

Andre Drummond had 16 points, 20 rebounds and a career-high seven assists for Detroit, who improved to 9-3 on the season.

Avery Bradley tallied 20 points and Tobias Harris finished with 16 points and eight rebounds. Ish Smith came off the bench to finish with 17 points and five assists.

Kent Bazemore had 22 points, five rebounds and five assists for the Hawks (2-10).

Detroit led 76-69 heading into the fourth. The Hawks closed the gap to five early in the quarter and once again midway through after Bazemore made a jumper.

Bazemore's three-pointer from the top of the key and another from the wing tied it 94-94 with 3:49 left.

The teams traded scores until Jackson's three with 52.3 seconds left put the Pistons on top 103-100. Following Bellinelli's miss, Bradley made a free throw and collected the rebound after missing the second try. Jackson then drained another key three-pointer to clinch the win.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

NBA: Celtics roll past Lakers for 10th straight win

The Boston Celtics won their 10th straight game by cruising to a 107-96 win Wednesday over the Los Angeles Lakers in a matchup between two of the NBA's most storied franchises.

Australia's Aron Baynes scored a career high 21 points during the game which saw the Celtics compile a 21-point first-half lead before the Lakers closed the gap in the third.

But they allowed the Celtics to pull away again in the fourth when it mattered most.

The 30-year-old Baynes, who was born in New Zealand but grew up in Cairns, Australia, also grabbed eight rebounds and had three assists.

Boston's Kyrie Irving overcame a poor shooting night to finish with 19 points, six rebounds and five assists. Irving was just seven of 21 from the floor and missed all seven shots from three-point range.

But the banged-up Celtics are the hottest team in the NBA for a reason. They are getting contributions from everyone with different players stepping up each game. On Wednesday, it was Baynes' turn along with Marcus Morris, who had 18 points, and Terry Rozier who added 14 points and eight rebounds.

Brandon Ingram and Jordan Clarkson scored 18 points apiece, and Julius Randle contributed 16 points and 12 rebounds for the Lakers, who were guilty of 21 turnovers. They had their modest two-game winning streak ended.

Wednesday also marked the first pro meeting between Celtics rookie and third overall pick Jayson Tatum and Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball. But the matchup was shortened after Tatum had to leave the game because of an ankle problem.

The Celtics effectively passed over Ball at the draft by trading down from the number one pick to get Tatum at number three. The Celtics knew Tatum was going to be available in that position because the Lakers planned to take Ball at number two.

In skipping over Ball, the Celtics also gave the Philadelphia 76ers the chance to take Markelle Fultz first overall.

Tatum finished with five points and had one rebound and one assist in nine minutes during the first half. He didn't return for the second half.

The 19-year old Tatum had been given a more prominent role because of an opening night injury to Gordon Hayward. He has responded by averaging 14.3 points and 6.5 rebounds in his first 11 games.

The Celtics, who are already without Hayward for the season, were also missing Al Horford on Wednesday. He is out with a possible concussion.

Point guard Ball was loudly booed during the pre-game introductions and jeered every time he touched the ball. Celtics fans are still upset at his father LaVar Ball who said publicly that the younger Ball wouldn't play for the Celtics.

Ball's shooting woes continued on Wednesday as he finished with just nine points on four-of-15 shooting from the field in 39 minutes of playing time.

The Lakers other point guard is Jordan Clarkson who came off the bench to tie for a team high 18 points in just 27 minutes of action.

source: news.abs-cbn.com