Celtics Defeat Suns 130-120, Devin Booker Becomes 6th NBA Player to Reach 70 Points
Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) goes up for a shot against Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown (7) during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game, Friday, March 24, 2017, in Boston. Booker scored 70 points, but the Celtics won 130-120. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)
Devin Booker scored 70 points, becoming the sixth different player in NBA history to reach that total, but the Boston Celtics got 34 points from Isaiah Thomas and outlasted the Phoenix Suns 130-120 on Friday night.
Booker joined Wilt Chamberlain, Kobe Bryant, David Thompson, David Robinson and Elgin Baylor as the NBA’s 70-point scorers. Baylor also held the previous record against the Celtics with 64 points in Minneapolis for the Lakers on Nov. 8, 1959.
Just 20 years old, Booker scored 51 after halftime.
The win was Boston’s third straight, and avenged its buzzer-beater loss in Phoenix earlier this month.
The rematch was dominated early by the Celtics as they hit eight 3-pointers during a 37-point second quarter to grow their lead as high as 26 points.
Chamberlain had six 70-point games and his 62 points on Jan. 14, 1962, had been the most in Boston.
Phoenix has already been eliminated from playoff contention, and had only eight available players because of injuries. Younger than some lineups in the NCAA Tournament, the Suns have lost seven straight and nine of their last 10, and they were out of this one early before Booker’s explosive performance made it interesting.
His previous career best was 39, which he reached three times before Friday. He had 19 points at halftime, then scored 23 in the third quarter to get the Suns back within range.
Boston took advantage of a disastrous shooting start by the Suns to build an early cushion.
The Suns missed their first 13 shots from the floor before Booker finally hit the first field goal for Phoenix on a layup with 4:40 left in the first quarter. Read More Here
Cleveland Cavaliers Win 112-105 Over Charlotte Hornets
LeBron James had 32 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds, and the Cleveland Cavaliers bounced back from their worst defensive outing of the season with a 112-105 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Friday night.
Kyrie Irving added 26 points and Kevin Love had 15 points and 12 rebounds as the Cavaliers snapped Charlotte’s three-game winning streak and remained atop the Eastern Conference standings.
Charlotte was led by Kemba Walker, who had 28 points on five 3-pointers. Cody Zeller added 15 points and 11 rebounds.
The Cavaliers did it with defense.
After allowing 73 first-half points – and 70 in the paint – in a 126-113 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday night, the Cavaliers held the Hornets to 42 percent shooting from the field. It was a welcome change for Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue, whose team had allowed its previous four opponents to shoot better than 50 percent from the field.
James got hit in the eye by Jeremy Lamb on a driving layup in the closing seconds of the third quarter. He remained down on the court for more than the minute. When he lined up to complete the three-point play, he threw the ball back to the ref because he was unable to focus. The Cavs took a timeout and James returned to the floor to make the free throw.
The Hornets had a chance to tie the game at 100 with 4 1/2 minutes left, but Walker made only one of two free throws.
The Cavs took over from there with JR Smith knocking down a 3-pointer from the corner and Kevin Love a 12-footer. James then converted in the lane to push the lead to eight.
The Hornets cut the lead to five, but Nic Batum missed an open 3-pointer from the left wing with 25 seconds left. James added two more free throws to put the game away. Read More Here
Comments