Los Angeles: On Monday, the Los Angeles Clippers decisively defeated the NBA’s top team, the Boston Celtic, 113-93, handling them another defeat.
Kawhi Leonard had a season-high of 25 points, nine rebounds, and six assists, while Paul George scored 26 points for the injury-plagued Clippers, who proved their potential when healthy.
For the Celtics, who were coming off a 123-107 loss to the NBA champion Golden State Warriors in an NBA finals rematch on Saturday, Jayle Brown scored 21 points, Jayson Tatum added 20, and both players pulled down 11 rebounds.
The Celtics have now lost two straight games for the first time since October, dropping their league-best record to 21-7.
Tatum was held to four-of-12 shooting in the first half as the Clippers tightened up their defense on the Celtics’ explosive scores, giving Los Angeles a 56-47 lead at the intermission.
The Celtic made just nine of their 39 shots from beyond the arc, with Tatum and Brown combining for just three-pointers in 14 attempts.
Leonard remarked that everyone contributed to the effective defensive game.
Leonard was limited by rust and an odd reserve role at the beginning of the season after missing a season due to knee surgery. Next came knee tightness, followed by a three-week healing period. An ankle injury followed him back after he left. Leonard had a season-high 25 points, nine rebounds, and six assists on Monday.
Paul George, a teammate, stated that now he has adjusted and found his rhythm, and now everybody can see him more comfortably on the floor.
Despite the length of Boston’s defense, which was led by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, Leonard probed with his dribble, made 10 of 12 shots, and once again displayed his ability to dictate the tempo of the game.
Lue claimed that Leonard occasionally asked his teammates to play quicker on Monday, but at this early stage of his rehabilitation, Leonard said he can’t rush his return to playing without a cap.
In other news, the Brooklyn Nets won their fourth straight game with ease after defeating the Wizards in Washington. They won 120-100 with 30 points by Kevin Durant.
The Nets have now won eight of their last nine games after overcoming early-season difficulties that led to the firing of coach Steve Nash and the suspension of Kyrie Irving over an anti-Semitism controversy.
Durant stated that they are developing something new and they must continue to make adjustments.
On Monday, the Nets held the Wizard to 45 points after the break while maintaining a double-digit lead for the majority of the second half.
The Nets handed the Wizard their eighth straight loss as Durant added nine rebounds, six assists, and 24 points.
Kyle Kuzma and Kristaps Porzingis both scored 20 points for the Wizard, who were led by Will Barton’s 22 points off the bench.
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After the Cavaliers were defeated by Western Conference underdog San Antonio, the Nets are now only half a game behind Cleveland for third place in the East.
Josh Richardson led the Spurs with 24 points as they possessed a 10-point lead with 4:35 remaining and held on despite a Cavs comeback that saw Donovan Mitchell’s putback basket with 53 seconds to reduce the gap to two.
With 37.9 seconds left, Evan Mobey scored a free throw to bring Cleveland within one.
The Memphis Grizzles easily defeated the Atlanta Hawks,128-103, at home, despite Ja Morant’s injury absence.
The Grizzles won their sixth game in a row, pulling even with the New Orleans Pelicans for first place in the Western Conference.
The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 121-114 because of the 38 points won by Luka Docic and 11 rebounds from him.
Damian Lillard scored 38 points in Portland as the Trail Blazers defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves 133-112 because of his 11 three-pointers.
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