The Boston Celtics easily beat the New York Knicks 116-102 in Saturday’s NBA round and won their eighth consecutive victory. Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis were Boston’s top scorers, with 30 and 22 points, respectively.
Leader of the Eastern Conference with 45 wins and 12 losses, Boston has a much better campaign than its closest competitor, the Cleveland Cavaliers (36 and 19), but Brown minimized these numbers. “When the playoffs start, none of this really matters,” Brown said. “It will be about confrontations, playing hard. Obviously, playing at home is important.”
The New York team suffers from the absences of Julius Randle, OG Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson, who are injured, and has only 3 defeats in 9 games in February. Jalen Brunson again performed well, with 34 points and 9 assists, but he did not have the support of his teammates. The New York Knicks are fourth in the Eastern Conference with 34 wins and 23 losses.
Candidate for MVP of the season, Jayson Tatum has not been presenting amazing individual statistics. This Saturday, at Madison Square Garden, there were 19 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists, but a style of play that deserved praise from Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla.
“It was a beautiful performance from Jayson,” said the coach. “The pace, the passing, the defense and the balance, facing double marking and creating for others, were great. Hats off to him.”
“We have a lot of good players on the team,” Tatum said. “We always talk about respecting each other’s space.”
In this streak of eight straight victories, Tatum averaged 27.5 points, 8.9 rebounds, 7 assists and 1.3 steals per game. His totals of 220 points, 71 rebounds and 56 assists were only matched by two other Celtics players over an eight-game span: the legendary Larry Bird and Antoine Walker.
Tatum has scored 30 points just three times in those eight games. He could surpass that mark many more times, but he took a balanced approach. His teammates seem to recognize his importance.
“JT deserves a lot of credit,” Kristaps Porzingis said. “He could say ‘I want to score 30 every night,’ but he’s not doing that.”
In Detroit, Paolo Banchero was decisive in the Orlando Magic’s 112-109 victory over the Detroit Pistons. With 0.8 seconds left in the game, he managed to convert a shot and an additional free throw.
The Orlando Magic thus reached their third consecutive victory. There are 32 wins and 25 losses in sixth place in the Eastern Conference. The bottom-placed Detroit Pistons have the worst campaign in the entire league, with 8 wins in 56 games.
Check out the results from Saturday night
Detroit Pistons 109×112 Orlando Magic
New York Knicks 102×116 Boston Celtics
Minnesota Timberwolves 101×86 Brooklyn Nets
Follow this Sunday’s games
Philadelphia 76ers x Milwaukee Bucks
Phoenix Suns x Los Angeles Lakers
Indiana Pacers x Dallas Mavericks
Washington Wizards x Cleveland Cavaliers
New Orleans Pelicans x Chicago Bulls
Golden State Warriors x Denver Nuggets
Houston Rockets x Oklahoma City Thunder
Atlanta Hawks x Orlando Magic
Utah Jazz x San Antonio Spurs
Portland Trail Blazers x Charlotte Hornets
Los Angeles Clippers x Sacramento Kings