The Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers (125-121) this Saturday in a 'classic' that was decided in overtime after a controversial arbitration decision at the end of the fourth quarter where a clear foul by Jayson Tatum on LeBron James was pointed out.
Boston put a stop to the losing streak of three losses in the last week against the Magic, Heat and Knicks.
Thanks to LeBron's good start, the Lakers competed head-to-head against the Celtics in the first quarter. He closed the period with 10 points, more than half of his team before going to the bench after eight minutes on court.
Brown completed all the minutes of the first quarter on the track and was the most dangerous of the Celtics also with 10 points, four of them in the last attacks of the period for his team to finish up on the scoreboard (28-27).
In a game that still did not stand out due to the outside shooting of either team, the Lakers were more consistent under the basket with 28 points from the paint (ten more than the Celtics) and 14 of them on rebounds. With this, the Angelenos closed up at halftime (48-54).
LeBron aside, the Lakers' disconnections also helped the score never seem final.
Two minutes from the end of the third quarter, a triple by Brogdon returned the initiative to Boston (77-75).
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With an exciting tie at 81 points, the last and decisive quarter was faced.
LeBron and Brown led the scoring for both teams, but it was an unexpected guest who slammed the table down at the last breath.
The last play will remain as one of the biggest controversies of the season.
LeBron, with just four seconds left, drove to the rim and was fouled by Tatum, who slapped him on the arm, but no one called the foul to the enormous frustration of the Lakers star.
In overtime the Celtics were better with Brown adding 11 of the team's 20 points, but they didn't tie the victory definitively until Tatum sentenced with free throws.
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The Lakers star, who completed a round game with 41 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists, showed great anger with the referees for the controversial ending.
In the Celtics, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum stood out plus Malcolm Brogdon from the bench with 37, 30 and 26 points respectively.
For the rest of the day:
- Philadelphia 126-119 Nuggets
- Nets 122-115 Knicks
- Magic 109-128 Bulls
- Hawks 113-Clippers
- Spurs 118-128 Suns
- Blazars 105-123 Raptors
- Pistons 114-117 Rockets
- Pelicans 103-Wizards
- Timberwolves 117-110 kings
- Jazz 108 – 100 Mavericks
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