Boston Celtics

Thursday's game between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Clippers featured a battle between two of the best dynamic duos in the NBA, and the young Celtics stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown managed to outlast the veteran Clippers pair of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.

Tatum and Brown scored 29 points apiece to lead the Celtics to a 116-110 victory in front of home fans at TD Garden. Tatum also finished with a team-high 11 rebounds. Leonard had 26 points and George notched 24 for the Clippers in the loss.

Boston's tandem appeared to be amped up for Thursday's clash of superstar wings and answered the bell with strong play on both ends of the floor. Tatum and Brown are players on the ascent, and they continued to prove their prowess with a statement victory over a Clippers team that beat them by 20 earlier this month.

NBA Twitter liked what it saw from Tatum and Brown, praising the duo for another impressive showing:

After improving to 25-10, Boston maintains its spot atop the Eastern Conference. With Tatum and Brown leading the way, the Celtics look primed for another run to the NBA Finals.

Boston will look for a fifth straight win when it visits the Denver Nuggets (22-12) on New Year's Day.

The NBA announced Sunday it fined Boston Celtics star Al Horford $25,000 for "unnecessary and excessive contact" to the lower body of Orlando Magic center Moritz Wagner.

Horford was ejected in the third quarter of Boston's 117-109 loss to the Magic on Friday after being assessed with a Flagrant-2 foul. He was jostling for position with Wagner on an inbounds play when he swung his right elbow toward Wagner's groin.

Wagner said after the game he was "a little surprised" by the elbow and pleaded ignorance on what specifically led to the excessive contact.

Celtics star Jayson Tatum criticized the decision to eject Horford and called it "unbelievable," especially since Wagner was whistled for a foul as he was engaged with Horford:

I couldn't believe Al got thrown out of the game. I didn't think that was warranted, especially once they went to go review and they saw that Mo fouled him first. That's why I got to shoot free throws. So I mean, sometimes guy get tired of people grabbing on him and the ref not seeing it, so (expletive) as a grown man, you take it into his own hands and get somebody up off of you, and that's all he did, just got him up off him because he was getting fouled.

Boston and Horford are fortunate to a degree the NBA decided against suspending him and only issued a fine. His ejection already carried a cost to the team, though.

The Celtics trailed by 10 points, 66-56, when the five-time All-Star was sent to the locker room. Wagner sank two free throws for the flagrant foul to make it a 12-point game, leaving Joe Mazzulla's squad with a hefty deficit to overcome without its starting center.

Horford will at least be able to suit up for Sunday's rematch with the Magic at home inside TD Garden.

Boston Celtics star forward Jayson Tatum took the top spot in the first ESPN NBA MVP straw poll for the 2022-23 season Friday.

According to ESPN's Tim Bontemps, Tatum earned 47 of the 100 first-place votes cast by league insiders. He was also on 98 of the 100 ballots.

Tatum's 47 first-place votes and 759 total points led the way, followed by Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo with 36 first-place votes and 687 total points, and then Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Dončić with 10 first-place votes and 392 total points.

The 24-year-old Tatum is in the midst of his sixth NBA season, and the three-time All-Star has reached new heights in terms of his production.

Tatum is averaging career highs with 30.2 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.4 three-pointers made and 1.0 block per game, plus he is averaging 4.1 assists and 1.1 steals and shooting 47.0 percent overall and 36.2 percent from beyond the arc.

With Tatum leading the way, the Celtics are an NBA-best 22-7 and look like strong contenders to reach the NBA Finals for a second successive season.

Tatum was the driving force behind last season's playoff run for Boston, which ended with an NBA Finals loss to the Golden State Warriors.

After previously never finishing higher than 12th in the NBA MVP voting, Tatum logged a career-best finish of sixth last season.

While Tatum is the early favorite, he has some major competition to contend with in the form of Antetokounmpo and Dončić.

Giannis is already a two-time NBA MVP, and he could be on his way to a third with averages of 30.6 points, 11.1 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.0 block per game, while shooting 52.7 percent from the floor.

Dončić has yet to win an MVP, but he has been in the mix in recent years and is enjoying arguably his best season yet.

The Slovenian star is leading the NBA with a career-high 33.0 points per game, plus he is averaging 8.7 assists, 8.4 rebounds, 2.8 three-pointers made and 1.7 steals as the unquestioned go-to guy for the Mavs.

As noted by Bontemps, the only other players to receive first-place votes in the straw poll were Warriors guard Stephen Curry and reigning two-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokić of the Denver Nuggets, who are fourth and fifth, respectively.

Rounding out the top 10 are Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant, Brooklyn Nets forward Kevin Durant, New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson, Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker and Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid.

The Boston Celtics will reportedly get a much-needed boost at center this week.

Robert Williams III is expected to make his season debut Friday against the Orlando Magic, per The Athletic and Stadium's Shams Charania. The Celtics upgraded his status to questionable.

Williams underwent left knee surgery before training camp this year to correct a lingering issue he had been dealing with since the 2021-22 campaign.

Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said during an appearance on 98.5 The Sports Hub's Zolak and Bertrand on Wednesday that Williams was considered day-to-day:

"He's definitely made huge strides, especially in the last week-and-a-half or so, and so we're constantly kind of measuring how he responds to the five-on-five setting, and then a day off, and then a workout session, and then a day off and then five-on-five.

"So just kind of getting him back into the simulation of what that season is like and then we're constantly seeing how he's responding to it. He's doing a great job. He's making great strides. We'll continue to measure that, and he's day-to-day, but he's doing well."

Williams, Boston's 2018 first-round pick, had a career year during the 2021-22 campaign. After emerging as the team's starting center, he averaged 10.0 points, 9.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.2 blocks in 61 games while shooting 73.6 percent from the floor. He was also selected to the NBA's All-Defensive Second Team.

With Williams out to start the season, the Celtics have primarily relied on a combination of Al Horford, Luke Kornet and Blake Griffin at the 5.

Horford, who has missed Boston's last five games for various reasons, has served as the starter. In 20 games, the 36-year-old has averaged 10.2 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.0 block while shooting 53.7 percent from the floor and 46.6 percent from deep. He is questionable for Friday's matchup because of personal reasons.

Kornet and Griffin have been solid off the bench. In 24 games, Kornet has averaged 4.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.0 block while shooting 70.1 percent from the floor. Griffin, who has only appeared in 13 games, has averaged 6.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists while shooting 50.9 percent from the floor.

The Celtics enter Friday's game atop the Eastern Conference with a 22-7 record. Led by Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart, Boston looks primed to reach the NBA Finals again this season.

The addition of Williams should only help solidify Mazzulla's squad as a true title contender.

LeBron James and Anthony Davis are NBA legends and future Hall of Famers, but they weren't the best duo in the building during the latest edition of the rivalry between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers.

That title—and the victory—goes to Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

Tatum (44 points, nine rebounds and six assists) and Brown (25 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and three steals) each stuffed the stat sheet while leading Boston to a 122-118 overtime win over the Lakers.

Boston, which made the NBA Finals last season, improved to an NBA-best 22-7 on the campaign and is in championship-or-bust mode with that pairing spearheading the effort on a nightly basis.

They received nothing but praise from social media following the latest showing:

It seemed like Boston wouldn't need late heroics from its superstars when it built a 15-point halftime lead, but the Lakers came storming back behind strong efforts from James (33 points, nine rebounds and nine assists) and Davis (37 points and 12 rebounds).

Los Angeles turned a six-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter into a 13-point lead with fewer than five minutes remaining, but Boston closed on a 17-4 run that saw Davis miss two free throws that could have iced it in the last 30 seconds and Tatum drill a step-back jumper over James to force overtime.

It was Brown's turn to play hero in the extra period with a personal 7-0 run to push a one-point advantage to eight that all but ended it.

The duo was unstoppable with the game on the line and provided the rest of the league with yet another reminder that the road to the championship may just run through Boston this season.

Anthony Davis was brilliant during Tuesday's game against the Boston Celtics with 37 points and 12 rebounds behind 13-of-24 shooting from the field.

But it was two missed shots that stood out the most.

Davis went to the free-throw line with 28 seconds remaining and the Los Angeles Lakers holding on to a two-point lead after a dramatic back-and-forth that saw multiple comebacks. Rather than ice the game away, he missed both and left the door wide open.

Jayson Tatum took advantage by tying the contest with a jumper over LeBron James, and the Celtics eventually won 122-118 in overtime.

Davis couldn't stop thinking about the missed free throws after the game, and James was nothing but supportive of his All-Star teammate:

That didn't stop some of the criticism Davis received from social media:

It was a back-and-forth contest well before crunch time, as the Celtics built a 15-point halftime lead only for the Lakers to come charging back. Los Angeles turned a six-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter into a 13-point lead with fewer than five minutes remaining, but Boston closed on a 17-4 run with Tatum and Marcus Smart scoring 14 of those points to force overtime.

The Celtics then controlled much of the extra period, and Jaylen Brown's three-pointer to push the lead to eight in the last minute all but ended it.

The stars came out to play with Tatum dropping 44 points to go with nine rebounds and six assists, while Brown stuffed the stat sheet with 25 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and three steals. James countered on the other side with 33 points, nine assists and nine rebounds.

Yet the contest was defined by Davis' missed opportunity near the end of regulation.

Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum isn't taking too much away from Saturday's loss to the Golden State Warriors.

"Tonight was probably more meaningful to you guys than it was to us," Tatum told reporters after the game.

Boston had a chance to avenge last year's loss in the NBA finals, but it was the Warriors that came out on top with a 123-107 victory. Though some saw it as a statement victory for Golden State, Tatum doesn't want to overrate the regular-season battle.

"It's one game," the forward said. "We want to win every game we play but it's tough. You never want to lose. We've been playing well and to lose this one, — especially the way we played is tough — but it's not going to dictate our season. We've had a great season so far and we lost the game. It's all about how we respond."

Even after the loss, the Celtics still have the best record in the NBA at 21-6. Tatum has emerged as an early MVP candidate while averaging 30 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.

The squad clearly won't let the high-profile loss distract from the quality start to the year.

On the other hand, Golden State will hope the big win will get the team on track after improving to 14-13 on the season.

The Boston Celtics failed to exorcise their demons against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night at Chase Center in their first meeting since the 2022 NBA Finals.

Golden State defeated Boston 123-107 to move to 14-13 on the season, while the Celtics dropped to 21-6.

In a game where Jayson Tatum was expected to come out firing on all cylinders, the budding superstar struggled, finishing with 18 points, seven rebounds, two assists, three steals and one block in 40 minutes. He made just 6-of-21 shots from the floor and 2-of-9 shots from deep.

Jaylen Brown was a highlight for Boston, finishing with 31 points, nine rebounds, three assists and one steal in 37 minutes. He made 13-of-23 shots from the floor and 3-of-9 shots from deep.

But with Tatum's ugly performance, NBA Twitter was quick to question his MVP credentials in a game where the Celtics never found an answer to Stephen Curry and Co.

Tatum's performance against the Warriors certainly hurts his MVP chances, but there's still plenty of season left, and he'll get the opportunity to redeem himself when the Warriors travel to face the Celtics at TD Garden in January.

Tatum entered Saturday's game averaging 30.5 points, 8.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 25 games while shooting 48 percent from the floor and 36.5 percent from deep. It has been his best season since entering the NBA in 2017.

Still, if Tatum is going to beat out players like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Dončić for the MVP award, he's going to have to elevate his game when it matters most.