DETROIT – Boston coach Joe Mazzulla has said it is an “honour” to coach Jaylen Brown, after the forward’s 33 points helped the league-leading Celtics beat the Detroit Pistons 129-102 on March 22 to push their National Basketball Association (NBA) winning streak to eight games.
With teammates Jayson Tatum, Al Horford and Jrue Holiday all out, Brown ably filled the void and connected on 13 of 19 shots from the field in Detroit.
“(I) just tried to be aggressive coming out,” Brown, who notched his sixth game since the All-Star break of 30 or more points, told NBC Sports Boston. “I know we had some guys out.”
He added that he tried to keep his teammates involved, and even though he ended up with zero assists, Mazzulla said he was doing all the right things.
“It’s an honour to coach Jaylen when he is playing like this,” the coach told ESPN. “He’s processing every possession on both ends of the floor and he’s getting the shots he wants, both for himself and his teammates.
“He’s playing very well-rounded basketball and it has been fun to watch.”
Payton Pritchard added 20 points and Derrick White and Kristaps Porzingis scored 19 apiece for Boston, who improved their league-best record to 56-14. The Milwaukee Bucks are second in the Eastern Conference on 45-25.
Tatum sat out the first game of a six-game road trip to rest a troublesome ankle. Horford was sidelined by a toe injury and Holiday by an arm injury.
But against the last-placed Detroit (12-58), the Celtics were still too strong.
James Wiseman got his first start of the season for the Pistons and scored a team-high 24 points.
Elsewhere, the Oklahoma City Thunder (49-20) edged back ahead of defending champions Denver Nuggets (49-21) for the Western Conference lead with a 123-103 victory over the Raptors in Toronto.
Point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 23 points, had seven rebounds and eight assists, and rookie centre Chet Holmgren scored 18 points with 10 rebounds.
In Los Angeles, the Lakers clamped down defensively in the second half to beat the Philadelphia 76ers 101-94.
Anthony Davis scored 23 points and grabbed 19 rebounds and LeBron James scored 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, as the Lakers (38-32) overcame 21 turnovers that led to 27 Sixers points.
“The second half we did a great job (defensively), despite some of our offensive mistakes – turning the ball over, missing point-blank shots,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said.
“We were able to still sustain our defensive effort.”
D’Angelo Russell drilled four three-pointers on the way to 14 points, while setting a Lakers franchise record for most three-pointers in a season.
His first trey of the night was his 184th of the season, surpassing the record of 183 set by Nick Van Exel in 1994-95.
In San Francisco, Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton scored 26 points and handed out 11 assists as the Pacers beat the Golden State Warriors 123-111.
Pascal Siakam added 25 points and 16 rebounds for Indiana, while Stephen Curry led Golden State with 25 points and 10 rebounds. AFP
