Hornets stymie Irving’s comeback – Al Ittihad Newspaper

New York (AFP)
The Boston Celtics rose to the top of the Eastern District in the NBA, with a 134-112 victory over its guest Minnesota Nemberwolves, while the Charlotte Hornets disrupted Kyrie Irving’s participation for the first time at home this season, by defeating the Brooklyn Nets 119-110.
Jason Tatum scored 34 points, Jalen Brown added 31 and 10 rebounds, leading the Celtics to their sixth straight win.
Boston ended the first half leading 72-49, which is its highest score in the first two quarters of this season, to achieve its 47th victory against 28 defeats, equal to Miami as the best record in the Eastern Province.
Order is very important, Brown said. We definitely want to take advantage of that. But at the same time, we will face whoever the opponent is.
He continued: The battle in Al Sharqiya will be very fierce, so we are not running away from anyone.
The defending champion Milwaukee Bucks III and Philadelphia 76ers IV enjoy the same record (46-28), in an intense struggle for the top spot in the East.
Philadelphia lost 114-104 against the Phoenix Suns, the leader of the West and the league, which strengthened its record to 61-14 after its eighth victory in a row.
From the winning side, Devin Booker scored 35 points, while Chris Paul added 19 and 14 assists. Cameroonian Joel Embiid of the Sevens Sixes was the best with 37 points and 15 rebounds.
In Brooklyn, Irving, who was not vaccinated against the Corona virus, played his first home game after a change in the rules related to the pandemic in New York, which previously prohibited him from playing matches at home.
However, Charlotte refused to disrupt this comeback led by Lamelo Paul, who scored 33 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.
Kevin Durant was the best in the Nets with 27 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists, while Irving contributed 16 points and 11 assists.
In New Orleans, LeBron James’ 39 points with the Los Angeles Lakers were not enough to avoid a 108-106 loss against the Pelicans, who rose to ninth place in the West at the expense of the 2020 champion, who became tenth, in the last qualifying positions for the playoff playoffs. .