LOS ANGELES – The Boston Celtics fought off a spirited challenge from short-handed Cleveland Monday (Tuesday Manila time), beating the Cavaliers, 109-102, to take a commanding 3-1 lead in their NBA Eastern Conference semifinal series.
Jayson Tatum scored 33 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and Jaylen Brown added 27 points for the Celtics, who will try to finish off the best-of-seven series at hom e on Wednesday.
The Cavaliers were dealt a heavy blow when Donovan Mitchell, who had averaged more than 35 points over the six prior games, was ruled out with a calf injury, joining starting center Jarrett Allen on the sidelines.
NBA superstar LeBron James, who led the Cavs to their only NBA title back in 2016, was sitting courtside, but with Mitchell absent the Cavs ultimately didn’t have enough firepower.
The Cavs kept the pressure on, taking the lea d briefly on Darius Garland’s driving basket early in the third quarter — their first lead since the first quarter.
But the Celtics quickly reasserted themselves and led by 10 going into the final period.
Cleveland, on the back of 30 points from Garland, pulled within five points three times in the final four minutes, but Brown, fed by Tatum, connected on a three-pointer with 1:09 to play that effectively sealed it.
“It’s a game of runs,” Tatum said after the Celtics struggled to put the depleted Cavaliers away.
“It’s not going to be perfect every single time. They’re going to make shots, but it’s our job to figure it out.”
The Celtics, winners of a league-best 64 regular-season games, used a 12-0 scoring run to take charge in the first quarter, Tatum scoring 16 points in the period.
Boston led by as many as 13 in the second quarter but Tatum cooled off and Cleveland, buoyed by 11 of their 15 3-pointers in the first half, battled back, twice cutting the deficit to one point before going into the break down by five.
The Celtics caught a break early in the second quarter, when Brown was called for only a common foul, rather than a flagrant, after he fell backwards into Max Strus and grabbed Strus’s ankle as the Cavs player — himself struggling to stay upright — stepped over his head.
Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff was more concerned at the fact that Boston went to the free-throw line 24 times compared to Cleveland’s seven.
“I’ll be honest with you, I was disappointed with the way the whistle blew tonight,” he said.
“I thought our guys deserved much better, the way that they were competing, they were attacking the paint, they were getting after it.
“We’re not asking for anything more, but we’re asking for equal and I don’t think we got an equal opportunity at it tonight from that standpoint.”
The Dallas Mavericks were aiming to extend their 2-1 series lead as they hosted Western Conference top seeds Oklahoma City Thunder in the later game.
MANILA, Philippines — Kapamilya actor Gerald Anderson approved the reunion movie of girlfriend Julia Barretto with her ex-boyfriend Joshua Garcia.
In his interview with Cinema One, Gerald said that the reunion project of the two will bring joy to their loyal fans.
“It’s exciting, it’s exciting para sa mga fan nila. I’m not sure ilang years ago sila huling nagkasama, but I’ve been in that situation,” Gerald said.
“Alam ko na marami silang mapapasaya na mga fan nila. They’re both great actors so alam natin na magiging quality ‘yung ipapalabas nilang proyekto,” he added.
Julia and Joshua are set to reunite in the film “Un/Happy For You” which will be released in cinemas this year.
Joshua said he never hesitated to reunite with his ex-girlfriend.
“Nu’ng nalaman ko ‘yung project, sabi ko yes agad kasi ang tagal na rin kasi nu’ng agwat nu’ng panahon na nag-work kami before kasi mga teenager kami,” he said.
“Ngayon, I can say nag-mature na rin kami, lumaki na kami, literal. Exciting lang, nagkanya-kanya kaming journey parang ngayon magbabalikan kami sa pelikula,” he added.
For Julia, the movie came at the right time.
“Over the years, there were several attempts to coming together. At some point, when a good material comes along and a great team, of course, being reunited with Josh is such an exciting idea,” the actress said.
“It almost felt like maybe it was already the right time, it’s the right material, we’re both in a good place in our life. I’m happy na magkakatrabaho tayo uli,” she added.
Julia and Joshua starred in the hit movies “Vince and Kath and James” in 2016, “Love You to the Stars and Back” in 2017, “I Love You, Hater” in 2018 and “Block Z” in 2020.
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