BOSTON — Gordon Hayward scored 25 points and the Boston Celtics earned their fifth victory in six games with a 119-104 win over the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night.
Marcus Smart added 21 points, scoring 17 in the second half on a night when Boston became the latest team to offer a tribute to Kobe Bryant following his death in a helicopter crash.
Jayson Tatum, who was named to his first All-Star team before the game, returned to the lineup after missing three games with a right groin strain. He finished with 20 points in 24 minutes.
D’Angelo Russell led the Warriors, who lost their fifth straight, with 22 points. Alec Burks scored 18.
The Celtics trailed in the opening minutes of the first quarter, but closed out the final 5:48 of the period on an 18-7 run to edge in front. Boston led by as many as 19 in the fourth quarter.
It was the Celtics’ first home game since Bryant, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others were killed in Sunday’s crash in Calabasas, California.
In the pregame, Bryant’s No. 24 was illuminated in lights on the court as Celtics fans joined the organization in honoring him with 24 seconds of silence. Then, following a video tribute that included cameos from current and former Celtics, the arena erupted in cheers to salute the Lakers’ great.
Bryant was a longtime Boston nemesis in the Celtics-Lakers rivalry, but any lingering hard feelings were set aside in arenas around the league as players and fans mourned the 41-year-old global star.
NOTES:. C Enes Kanter missed his fourth straight game with a right hip contusion. … Tatum joined Walker as the Celtics’ All-Star selections. Walker was voted in as a starter last week. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, at 21 years and 333 days Tatum is the second-youngest Celtics player selected to an All-Star game behind Antoine Walker, who was 153 days younger. A diehard Bryant fan growing up, Tatum wore sneakers from Bryant’s Nike collection during pregame warm-ups.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less