The Celtics stall again

But what happens to the Celtics? While the final sprint before the playoffs is launched, Boston has been idling lately. Indeed, last night the teammates of Jayson Tatum, who had notably been rested, were beaten for fourth in their last five games. On the move in Cleveland, Joe Mazzulla’s players seemed to have the game in hand before cracking at the end and losing in overtime (118-114), at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Because, after the first three quarters, the Celtics led against the Cavaliers by 12 points… before taking a terrible 31-17 in a few minutes and having to make a little more time, like the day before against the New York Knicks ( loss 131-129).

Thus, despite a Jaylen Brown close to the triple-double (32 points, 13 rebounds and 9 assists), Donovan Mitchell (40 points and 11 rebounds) and Evan Mobley (25 points and 17 rebounds) were Boston’s executioners. In the meantime, before hosting Damian Lillard’s Portland Trail Blazers in two days at TD Garden, the Celtics will have to pull themselves together quickly, with the Philadelphia Sixers not far behind them.

The four in a row for Denver

On the night of Monday to Tuesday, Denver for its part played to scare itself. While the Nuggets remained on three successes in a row, Toronto’s reception was more hectic than expected but Mike Malone’s players ended up winning at the Ball Arena (118-113). The fault of the Raptors who boldly played their luck in Colorado and who led for almost the entire meeting, before finally seeing the locals pass them in the last minutes of the meeting.

For this, the Canadians were able to count on Fred VanVleet (21 points and 14 assists), as well as Pascal Siakam (19 points) and Jakob Poeltl (18 points and 8 rebounds). On the other side, Jamal Murray (24 points) was the Nuggets’ leading scorer, while Nikola Jokic, close to a new triple-double (17 points, 13 rebounds and 9 assists), did not weigh on this meeting as much as one might imagine (only eight shots for example). However, with this 46th victory in 65 games this season in the NBA, Denver logically remains the leader of the Western Conference and is not far from the current best record in the League, that of the Milwaukee Bucks (46 wins in 64 games).

BASKETBALL – NBA / REGULAR SEASON
Monday, March 6, 2023
Cleveland Cavaliers – Boston Celtics: 118-114 (aet)
Detroit Pistons- Portland Trail Blazers : 104-110
Indiana Pacers- philadelphia 76ers : 143-147
Miami Heat – Atlanta Hawks: 130-128
Denver Nuggets – Toronto Raptors: 118-113
Sacramento Kings – New Orleans Pelicans: 123-108