A decisive Zach LaVine with his 36 points dragged the Chicago Bulls to a 117-108 victory against the Boston Celtics, reigning NBA champions, while LeBron James, a phenomenon of the LA Lakers, once again entered the history of the league.
LaVine shot 11 of 19 from the field and made six three-pointers, adding six rebounds and four assists for the Bulls, who improved to 13-15 on the season. “We are a good team – LaVine’s post-match comment -. We are competitive and a resistant group”. Ayo Dosunmu contributed 17 points for the Bulls while, again for Chicago, Nikola Vucevic had a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds. Double double, also for Jayson Tatum, Boston’s star, with 31 points and 10 rebounds. For the Celtics also 20 points from Kristaps Porzingis and 19 from Jaylen Brown. Boston is now 21-6 on the season.
As for LeBron James, he broke the record for minutes played in the NBA that belonged to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, taking the field for his 57,447th minute of game in the NBA and the 10th minute of the game, helping the Los Angeles Lakers beat Sacramento 113-100. James, who earlier this year surpassed Abdul-Jabbar for the NBA’s all-time points record, stopped at 19 in this game, while Austin Reaves scored 25 points and Anthony Davis, in double double, he scored 21 points and grabbed 20 rebounds. “It’s just a commitment to the craft and the passion and the love I have for the game,” James said. “I don’t take much time in the off-season, but a little more now.”
Spotlight also on Victor Wembanyama, who scored 42 points in the match that the San Antonio Spurs won in overtime, 133-126, against the Atlanta Hawks. In overtime ‘Wemby’ made a dunk and two three-point shots to essentially beat Atlanta on his own.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points to lead the Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder to a 105-99 victory in Orlando. Anthony Black led the Magic with 23 points.
Memphis beat the Golden State Warriors 144-93, but lost guard Ja Morant to back soreness following a fall after playing just 17 minutes. Spaniard Santi Aldama scored 21 points and grabbed 14 rebounds off the bench to lead the Grizzlies, who made a career-high 27 three-pointers in 48 attempts, with Aldama and Luke Kennard making five each.
Karl-Anthony Towns of the New York Knicks was greeted with an ovation by his former fans upon his return to the Minnesota field after being traded in the summer, he scored 32 points and grabbed 20 rebounds to give the Knicks a boost they outscored the Timberwolves 133-107.
2024-12-20 08:39:00