Celtics Outlast Warriors
On a night where both teams had trouble finding their shot, the Boston Celtics outlasted the Golden State Warriors 121-118 in overtime. It was the Celtics eighth straight win and 12th in their last 14 games, raising their record to an NBA-best 34-12. Meanwhile, the Warriors have lost five of their last seven games, dropping below .500 for the season (22-23).
The Celtics’ Jayson Tatum compiled 34 points, 19 rebounds, six assists, and three steals. The last Celtic to record at least 30 points, 15 rebounds, and five assists in a game was Paul Pierce on Dec. 16, 2002.
Tatum struggled from the field, hitting just nine of his 27 shots (33.3%), but made all 12 of his free throws. As a team, the Celtics shot 43-108 from the field (39.8%), just the fourth time this season they’ve recorded a field goal percentage less than 40%. It’s the first time they’ve won such a game.
Celtics forward Al Horford turned back the clock, tallying 20 points, 10 rebounds, and three blocks. Horford was one of the few players to shoot well from the field in this game, making eight of his 13 attempts (61.5%).
Horford was not charged with a turnover. He’s the second-oldest player to record a 20-point, 10-rebound, 3-block game without committing a turnover since the NBA began tracking individual turnovers in 1977-78 (age in years-days):
37-173 — Robert Parish (Feb. 19, 1991)
36-230 — Al Horford (Jan. 19, 2023)
36-209 — Kevin Willis (April 3, 1999)
The Warriors’ Stephen Curry scored a team-high 29 points, but was also off target much of the night. He shot just 9-25 from the field (36.0%), including 6-18 from 3-point range (33.3%).
Golden State’s Jordan Poole scored 24 points, but made just 10 of his 25 attempts from the field (40.0%). Curry and Poole are just the fourth starting backcourt since the ABA-NBA merger to each attempt at least 25 shots from the field with a field goal percentage of 40% or worse:
James Harden & Russell Westbrook (Dec. 3, 2019)
Bradley Beal & Russell Westbrook (Jan. 3, 2021)
John Wall & Victor Oladipo (March 3, 2021)
Stephen Curry & Jordan Poole (Jan. 19, 2023)
The Warriors’ Draymond Green narrowly missed a triple-double, recording 11 points, 13 rebounds, and nine assists.
Stars Lead Sixers
Led by its two stars — Joel Embiid and James Harden — the Philadelphia 76ers defeated the Portland Trail Blazers 105-95. Since falling to .500 on December 9, the Sixers have won 17 of their last 21 games to move into a tie with the Milwaukee Bucks for second place in the Eastern Conference standings.
Embiid scored a game-high 32 points, also contributing nine rebounds and three blocks. Embiid shot 12-22 from the field (54.5%) and made all seven of his free throws.
Embiid has scored at least 30 points on 50% shooting from the field in each of his last seven games, the longest such streak of his career. It’s the second-longest such streak in franchise history, trailing only Wilt Chamberlain’s eight-game streak in February 1965.
Over those seven games, Embiid is averaging 35.1 PPG and 9.7 RPG with shooting percentages of 56.9% from the field, 43.5% from 3-point range, and 88.9% from the free throw line.
The Sixers’ James Harden recorded the 73rd triple-double of his career, compiling 16 points, 14 assists, and 10 rebounds. Harden has produced 19 points-assists double-doubles in just 30 games played this season, the fourth-most such games in the NBA.
Damian Lillard paced the Trail Blazers with 25 points and 11 assists, but shot just 6-21 from the field (28.6%). It’s the 61st time Lillard has recorded at least 25 points and 10 assists in a game, two more such games than the next two closest players in franchise history combined:
61 — Damian Lillard
34 — Clyde Drexler
25 — Terry Porter
Lillard made all 10 of his free throws, the 46th time he’s made at least 10 free throw in a game without a miss. The only active players with more such games are Kevin Durant (69) and James Harden (59).
Quick Hitters
Some other notes from around the NBA:
In a game played in Paris, the Chicago Bulls’ Nikola Vucevic had 16 points, 15 rebounds, and six assists in a 126-108 rout of the Detroit Pistons. Vucevic has tallied at least 15 points and 10 rebounds in each of his last nine games, the longest such streak by a Bull since Artis Gilmore recorded 10 such games in a row in 1979. Vucevic has recorded 10 straight double-doubles, the second-longest such streak of his career.
Bojan Bogdanovic scored a team-high 25 points in the Pistons’ loss to the Bulls. He ended the game with exactly 10,000 career points.
Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton had 20 points, 11 rebounds, and three blocks in a loss to the Phoenix Suns. It was Claxton’s third straight game with at least 15 points, 10 rebounds, and three blocks, matching the longest such streak in franchise history. Claxton has blocked at least three shots in each of his last 10 games. The only other active players to record at least 10 such games in a row are Serge Ibaka and Myles Turner.
The Toronto Raptors’ Fred VanVleet scored 25 points and dished out 10 assists in a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. It’s VanVleet’s 10th career 25-point, 10-assist game. The only other players in franchise history to record 10 such games are Damon Stoudamire (24) and Kyle Lowry (21).