TORONTO,
Canada —
Pascal Siakam poured in 40 points as the Toronto Raptors snapped the Boston
Celtics’ six-game win streak with a 115–112 overtime victory on Monday.
اضافة اعلان
Siakam and the Raptors took advantage of a
depleted Celtics line-up to grab a crucial victory that boosts Toronto’s hopes
of securing an automatic postseason berth.
The win moves Toronto level with the Chicago
Bulls at 43 wins and 32 losses in the East, just ahead of the Cleveland
Cavaliers who are one place outside the automatic playoff spots in seventh.
The Celtics have been the hottest team in the
NBA recently, motoring to 11 wins in their last 12 games prior to Monday’s
clash.
But Boston were jolted earlier Monday by
confirmation that center Robert Williams III faces a lengthy layoff with a knee
injury, while Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum were also sidelined with knocks.
That cleared the way for Siakam to take over
at Toronto’s ScotiaBank Arena with a 40-point display as well as 13 rebounds,
three steals and two blocks.
Fred VanVleet and O.G. Anunoby added 14
points each while Thaddeus Young and Gary Trent Jr had 12 points apiece.
“It was a great team win,” said Siakam, who
was sidelined for several months last year after undergoing shoulder surgery.
“It’s been a long road, so I’m excited about
just getting back to the grind and working hard, just playing with everything
I’ve got.
“We’re a team. We have a next man up
mentality, just go out there and win the game.”
Marcus Smart led the Celtics scorers with 28
points, while Grant Williams finished with 17.
Boston’s loss means Miami reclaimed top spot
in the Eastern Conference with a 123–100 victory over the Sacramento Kings in
Florida.
Eye
on playoffs
Jimmy
Butler finished with 27 points and seven assists while Bam Adebayo added 22
points and hauled in 15 rebounds for the Heat, who improved to 48–28.
The win ended a four-game losing streak for
Miami, who had dropped games against Philadelphia, Golden State, the New York
Knicks, and Brooklyn in the past week.
“We were very disappointed about the last
four games, and it was trending that way before that, while we were still
winning,” said Miami coach Erik Spoelstra, who used the mini slump to reshuffle
his roster with one eye on the playoffs.
“I don’t mind these stretches — they force
you to address things,” Spoelstra said. “There were detail things that we
needed to address and will continue to address. We’re not satisfied with where
we’re at.
“Our roster is deep and checks a lot of boxes
we feel we’ll need in the playoffs. If we’re fortunate enough to play multiple
series, we’ll have different needs and complexions and we feel our versatility
and depth is one of our greatest strengths.”
Elsewhere in the Eastern Conference on
Monday, the New York Knicks kept their faint hopes of forcing their way into
the postseason play-in with a fourth straight victory, downing Chicago 109–104
at Madison Square Garden.
DeMar DeRozan led the scoring for the
visiting Bulls with 37 points, but the Knicks were carried to victory with 28
points from R.J. Barrett, 28 points from Alec Burks and 16 points from Mitchell
Robinson.
The Knicks are one place outside the play-in
spots with a 34–42 record.
Atlanta, 132–123 winners over Indiana on
Monday, occupy the last play-in place in the East at 38–37.
In the Western Conference, Golden State’s
problems continued with a third straight loss.
A Warriors line-up missing the injured
Stephen Curry as well as Klay Thompson and Draymond Green was pummeled 123–95
on the road by the Memphis Grizzlies, who swept to a fifth consecutive victory
with a balanced offensive performance.
Desmond Bane scored 22 points and Dillon
Brooks 21 as five Grizzlies players posted double-digit points totals.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr was ejected after
arguing with the officiating crew at the end of the first half.
“Everyone was a little down because we were getting our
behinds kicked, and our coach was kicked out, but Steve did a fantastic job in
getting our guys fired up for the second half,” Warriors assistant coach Mike
Brown said afterwards.
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