BOSTON: Jayson Tatum scored 37 points as the Boston Celtics launched the defense of their NBA crown with an emphatic 132-109 defeat of the New York Knicks on Tuesday.
After a triumphant pre-game ceremony that saw Boston celebrate raising their record-breaking 18th championship banner, the Celtics delivered a performance that suggested they could well be the team to beat once more.
A devastating 43-point first quarter put Boston in complete control during the first half, with Tatum producing an electric shooting performance to pour in 18 points from three-point range over the two quarters.
Tatum had brought the house down in a pre-game address to a packed TD Garden, signalling the Celtics’ determination to win back-to-back championships.
“This is special. On behalf of me, my teammates, the organization, we couldn’t have done it without you last year,” Tatum told the crowd.
“Let’s enjoy this moment together. I can honestly say, to the best fans in the world — let’s do it again.”
Boston powered to last season’s NBA championship after winning 64 games in the regular season before dropping just three games in the playoffs, sealing victory with a 4-1 rout of the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals.
That win came after years of frustrating postseason disappointments, which included a 4-2 defeat to Golden State in the 2022 NBA Finals and an agonizing 4-3 loss to Miami in the 2023 Western Conference finals.
The Celtics have retained the core of the team from last season’s roster and look well-positioned to mount a serious defense of their title.
Against New York on Tuesday, Joe Mazzulla’s team picked up where they had left off in June, with all of their heavy-hitters coming up big to leave the Knicks chasing the game for long periods.
Four of the their five starters — Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Derrick White and Jrue Holiday — posted double-digit points tallies before half-time, helping the team take a commanding 74-55 lead into the break.
Although the Knicks had enjoyed parity in a 31-31 second quarter, Boston were in no mood to let their advantage slip after the break, coasting home to close out the win.
Tatum finished with 10 assists and four rebounds in addition to his 37 points, with White adding 24 points and Brown 23. Holiday added 18 while Al Horford chipped in with 11.
Jalen Brunson led the Knicks scoring with 22 points, alongside Miles McBride with 22 from the bench.
Celtics dominate Knicks to launch NBA title defense
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Celtics dominate Knicks to launch NBA title defense
- Tatum finished with 10 assists and four rebounds in addition to his 37 points
Dembele hits double as PSG win ahead of Liverpool return
- Bradley Barcola and Goncalo Ramos had PSG 2-0 up in Brittany before Lilian Brassier pulled one back for Rennes
- Dembele netted twice in stoppage time to seal the victory for the visitors
PARIS: Ousmane Dembele scored twice as Paris Saint-Germain warmed up for the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against Liverpool by winning 4-1 away to Rennes in Ligue 1 with a much-changed team on Saturday.
Bradley Barcola and Goncalo Ramos had PSG 2-0 up in Brittany before Lilian Brassier pulled one back for Rennes, but Dembele netted twice in stoppage time to seal the victory for the visitors.
The result allowed the Ligue 1 leaders to maintain their unbeaten record in domestic competition this season.
The Parisians are now a huge 16 points clear at the top before closest challengers Marseille play at home to Lens later.
Luis Enrique’s side were ultimately comfortable winners despite the coach making eight changes to his starting line-up in between the two legs of the Liverpool tie, with the return at Anfield coming up on Tuesday.
“We are in perfect condition to go and take on Liverpool. We have nothing to lose and we will give everything to try to qualify,” for the quarter-finals, said Luis Enrique.
“It was difficult but we put in a serious performance and it gives us lots of hope before going to Liverpool,” the Spaniard added of his team’s display.
Barcola, Joao Neves and Willian Pacho were the only players to keep their places for PSG against Rennes following the 1-0 home loss to Liverpool in the first leg last Wednesday.
Dembele was among the regular starters to be rested at kick-off, but he came off the bench just after the hour mark and the France forward’s double strike moves him onto 20 league goals for the campaign.
The player who began his career at Rennes has now scored 28 times in all competitions this season, including 23 goals in 18 appearances since mid-December.
Rennes came into the game on a run of four wins in five outings to climb up into mid-table after Habib Beye replaced Jorge Sampaoli as coach at the end of January.
However, PSG went in front at Roazhon Park on 27 minutes as Desire Doue, another former Rennes player, quickly took a free-kick just inside the home half and released Barcola to run through and score his 18th goal of the season.
Teenage forward Mohamed Kader Meite almost equalized for Rennes before the break, heading off the crossbar from Adrien Truffert’s cross.
Barcola then turned provider as PSG doubled their lead five minutes after half-time, squaring for Ramos — one of those brought into the starting line-up — to net his 13th this season in all competitions.
Center-back Brassier pulled one back for Rennes shortly after, heading in from close range after a corner had been flicked on.
However, Luis Enrique then sent on the cavalry, with Dembele, Nuno Mendes, Vitinha, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Achraf Hakimi all coming off the bench for the latter stages.
PSG made sure of the points as Hakimi ran through on goal before unselfishly squaring for Dembele to make it 3-1 in the first minute of stoppage time at the end of the game.
Dembele then fired in his second and PSG’s fourth goal from the edge of the area in the 94th minute.
Elsewhere on Saturday, Lille were 1-0 winners at home to Montpellier in a game that fell in between the two legs of their Champions League last-16 tie against Borussia Dortmund.
Jonathan David scored the only goal of the game early in the second half, the Canadian netting his 14th of the campaign in Ligue 1.
Lille are fifth in the table, behind Monaco in fourth on goal difference.
They entertain Dortmund on Wednesday after drawing 1-1 in the first leg in Germany.
‘No advantage’ in playing Champions Trophy matches in Dubai, says Indian coach
- Rohit Sharma’s team to face New Zealand in the title clash today
DUBAI: India playing all their Champions Trophy matches in Dubai was a pre-tournament decision and the talk of unfair advantage is baseless, the team’s batting coach has said.
Rohit Sharma’s team face New Zealand in the title clash on Sunday at the Dubai International Stadium, where India have been unbeaten in four matches.
India refused to tour hosts Pakistan in the eight-nation tournament due to political tensions and were given Dubai as their venue in the United Arab Emirates.
“The draw that happened, it happened before,” batting coach Sitanshu Kotak told reporters. “After India winning four matches, if people feel that there is an advantage, then I don’t know what to say about it.”
The tournament’s tangled schedule, with teams flying in and out of the UAE from Pakistan while India have stayed put, has been hugely controversial.
South Africa batsman David Miller said “it was not an ideal situation” for his team to fly in to Dubai to wait on India’s semifinal opponent and then fly back to Lahore in less than 24 hours.
Even nominal hosts Pakistan had to jump on a jet and fly to Dubai to play India, rather than face them on home soil.
The pitches have been vastly different in the two countries. Pakistan tracks produced big totals, in contrast to the slow and turning decks of the Dubai stadium.
“End of the day, I think in a game, you have to play good cricket every day when you turn up,” the 52-year-old Kotak said. “So the only thing they (critics) may say is that we play here. But that is how the draw is.”
“So nothing else can happen in that. It is not that after coming here, they changed something and we got an advantage,” he added.
India have been the team to beat after they topped Group A, which had New Zealand, Pakistan and Bangladesh.
They then beat Australia in the first semifinal.
New Zealand, led by Mitchell Santner, lost the last group game to India by 44 runs before they beat South Africa in the second semifinal in Lahore.
Kotak said the previous result between the two teams will have no bearing on their mindset going into the final.
“That depends how the New Zealand team thinks, but I think we should not think that,” said Kotak. “We should just try and turn up and play a good game of cricket because there is no use thinking about the last match.”
New Zealand head coach Gary Stead said they are not too worried about India’s advantage.
“I mean, look, the decision around that’s out of our hands,” said Stead.
“So, it’s not something we worry about too much. India have got to play all their games here in Dubai. But as you said, we have had a game here and we’ll learn very quickly from that experience there as well.”
“And if we’re good enough to beat India on Sunday, then I’m sure we’ll be very, very happy,” he added.
Barcelona game is postponed after a member of their medical staff dies
- Fans were informed of the decision minutes before the game was scheduled to kick off
BARCELONA: Barcelona’s home game against Osasuna has been postponed after the death of a member of Barcelona’s medical staff, the Spanish club said.
Fans were informed of the decision minutes before the game was scheduled to kick off Saturday night in Barcelona at Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium.
Barcelona lead La Liga by one point over Atletico Madrid.
The Osasuna game will be rescheduled.
The match was canceled due to the death of the FC Barcelona’s team doctor Carlos Minarro Garcia.
‘Captain America’ to the rescue as Pulisic scores 2 goals in Milan’s 3-2 win at Lecce
- Pulisic first earned and converted a penalty to level the score at 2-2 after Lecce had been leading 2-0
- The result saw Milan inch up to eighth in the Italian league
MILAN: Christian Pulisic was the hero for AC Milan on Saturday with his two goals helping the Rossoneri end a three-match losing streak in Serie A.
Pulisic first earned and converted a penalty to level the score at 2-2 after Lecce had been leading 2-0. The United States international — who is nicknamed “Captain America” — then scored the late winner in a 3-2 victory at Lecce.
The result saw Milan inch up to eighth in the Italian league. Lecce remained three points above the relegation zone.
City rival Inter Milan were playing bottom club Monza later Saturday and looking to move four points clear at the top of the table.
Milan were in deep crisis as they had also been knocked out of the Champions League by Feyenoord before their miserable run at home. They thought they had got off to the perfect start at Lecce as Santiago Giménez had the ball in the back of the net after just 47 seconds but it was ruled out for offside.
Instead it was Lecce that took the early lead, within seven minutes, with a stunning Nikola Krstovic curler from 20 yards.
It was Lecce’s first goal in 367 minutes, having failed to find the back of the net in their previous four matches.
Milan had more celebrations cut short in the 15th minute when Matteo Gabbia volleyed home Theo Hernández’s free kick but it was again ruled out for offside.
Both teams also hit the woodwork before Krstovic doubled his and Lecce’s tally in the 59th, sweeping a low cross into the bottom left corner.
However, Milan turned things round in the space of five minutes.
João Félix’s effort was probably going wide but went in off Lecce defender Antonino Gallo for an own-goal and then Pulisic leveled in the 73rd with a powerful spot kick down the middle after being tripped by Federico Baschirotto.
The turn-around was complete nine minutes from time. Rafael Leão floated in a free kick from the left for Pulisic to volley in at the back post.
Fight against relegation
A last-gasp penalty saw Venezia snatch a third successive draw, holding Cesc Fabregas’ Como 1-1.
Venezia remained 19th in the 20-team league, five points from safety.
Parma inched two points above the relegation zone after two Mateo Pellegrino goals saw them twice fight back to draw 2-2 against Torino.
Salah fires Liverpool 16 points clear, Forest beat Man City
- Fresh from a smash-and-grab 1-0 Champions League victory over Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool boss Arne Slot made just three changes
- The Egyptian slotted home a second penalty two minutes from time to take his tally for the season to 32 goals
LONDON: Premier League leaders Liverpool needed two Mohamed Salah penalties to beat bottom-of-the-table Southampton 3-1 on Saturday.
Liverpool stretched their lead at the top to a massive 16 points, despite a sloppy first 45 minutes.
Fresh from a smash-and-grab 1-0 Champions League victory over Paris Saint-Germain, Liverpool boss Arne Slot made just three changes.
However, the Dutchman was forced into making three half-time alterations to kickstart the champions-elect.
Southampton have taken just nine points from 28 games all season, but stunned Anfield when Will Smallbone fired the visitors in front in first-half stoppage time.
Alisson Becker was Liverpool’s hero at the Parc des Princes on Wednesday but the Brazilian and Virgil van Dijk got in each other’s way to allow Smallbone to roll into an unguarded net.
Slot turned to Harvey Elliott, Alexis MacAllister and Andy Robertson at the break, and the changes had the desired effect with two goals in three minutes before the hour mark.
Darwin Nunez levelled with a sharp near-post finish from Luis Diaz’s cross.
Nunez was then upended inside the area and Salah converted from the spot.
The Egyptian slotted home a second penalty two minutes from time to take his tally for the season to 32 goals.
Second-placed Arsenal have two games in hand on the leaders, the first of which comes away to Manchester United on Sunday.
But it appears a matter of when not if Liverpool will clinch just their second league title in 35 years.
Crystal Palace shrugged off the loss of top scorer Jean-Philippe Mateta to a serious ear injury to beat Ipswich 1-0 thanks to Ismaila Sarr’s winner.
The Eagles have won nine of their last 11 games in all competitions and climb to 11th.
Brighton boosted their own Champions League hopes courtesy of Joao Pedro’s 98th-minute penalty to beat Fulham 2-1.
Raul Jimenez’s spectacular strike opened the scoring for Fulham, but Jean Paul van Hecke levelled before half-time.
Pedro’s spot-kick lifts the Seagulls to sixth and within one point of City.
Aston Villa travel to Brentford and Wolves host Everton in Saturday’s later kick-offs.
