The poster opposing the two most successful franchises in history, 17 coronations each, kept all its promises and ended up turning in favor of the Celtics, comfortable leaders in the East.
But it was close, because LA led for a long time and a gross foul by Jayson Tatum (30 pts, 11 rebounds) on James (9 rebounds, 8 assists), who went to the circle before the buzzer, did not been hissed.
“
That one hurt a lot!
I don't understand
,” lamented “
LBJ
” on Twitter long after the game.
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On the floor, he vainly howled at the injustice and Patrick Beverley received a technical foul, after bringing a camera to the referees to show them the shot damning their bad judgment.
In all good and bad shots, the fullback (15 pts) came close to being California's hero of the evening in the last minute, with an award-winning basket followed by an extremely rare dunk tap from him, before.. commit a foul on Jaylen Brown causing the C's equalizer.
The five minutes of rab then benefited Boston, Brown scoring 11 of his 37 points, well helped by Malcolm Brogdon (26 pts).
On the Lakers side, still stuck in 13th place in the West, far from the play-offs, Anthony Davis (16 pts, 10 rebounds) could not weigh enough in support of James, who is approaching Kareem's record at great speed. Abdul Jabbar.
He only needs 117 units to become the league's all-time leading scorer.
Earlier, in Philadelphia, the poster between the 2nd from the East and the 1st from the West, was also raised, with a show of force from Joel Embiid, which allowed the Sixers to overthrow the Nuggets, however front of 15 lengths at the break.
The Cameroonian naturalized French then American - these two countries pray to take advantage of his talents for the Worlds-2023 and the Olympics-2024 - was ultra-dominant in this meeting.
And his banner 30 seconds from the buzzer, planted in the nose and beard of Nikola Jokic, was fatal.
Immediately he turned and spread his hands, his gaze seeming to say, "
But what do you want to do against me?"
".
An image reminiscent of the famous one of Michael Jordan when he martyred Portland in match N.1 of the 1992 final then won by the Bulls.
Without demerit, the Serbian interior (24 pts, 9 rebounds, 8 assists) could not do anything, against Embiid (18 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 interceptions, 2 blocks) irresistible in the second half of a match however badly hired by Philly, since the Nuggets were ahead in the score of the 40th second five minutes from time.
Determined to send a message to the competition, in the race for the title of MVP, of which Jokic is the double holder, but also to the fans, who preferred Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant and Jayson Tatum in the five-type All-Star Game, Embiid succeeded in the action of the match in the 3rd quarter, crossing his dribble to put the Serb in the wind and accelerate to the dunk.
“
There is no rivalry.
I love this big guy.
Twice MVP, one of the best players in the league... We just wanted to compete against the best team in the West and I think we have a chance
"to fight for the title, he reacted .
Brooklyn for its part solidified its 4th place in the East, beating the Knicks (122-115), guided by Kyrie Irving (32 pts).
In Atlanta, the Clippers chained a fifth victory (120-113), carried by the reborn Kawhi Leonard (32 pts), to climb to 4th position in the West.
Finally, in San Antonio, the Suns spoiled the birthday of Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, now 74, by winning (128-118 ap), thanks in particular to Chris Paul (31 pts, 11 assists).