Tatum hero of Boston

Intense at the start of the season, Jayson Tatum donned his hero’s mantle with a difficult 3-pointer at the buzzer to give Boston a 126-123 win over Toronto after overtime, much to the delight of the TD Garden. “I missed so many shots in the second half, I had to make one,” said Tatum, author of 24 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists, who had previously missed his first game point at the 4th quarter buzzer. Jaylen Brown led the scoring for the Celtics with 27 points, against Jakob Pöltl’s 35 points for Toronto. Boston thus retains 2nd place in the Eastern standings with 11 wins and 3 losses.

Milwaukee loses by one point

Despite the first triple double of the season for Giannis Antetokounmpo (22 points, 15 rebounds, 12 assists), Milwaukee suffered a 9th loss (4 wins), this time by one point to Charlotte (115-114), buoyed by LaMelo Ball (26 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists). Antetokounmpo, MVP 2019 and 2020, crushed a furious dunk of which he is accustomed with 1 min 26 remaining, before distributing the ball well to his teammates, then missing the game ball with a mid-range shot, after two free throws from Ball.

Davis stays hot

On the heels of a major performance against San Antonio, Anthony Davis once again led the Los Angeles Lakers to victory, on the floor of the New Orleans Pelicans (104-99). The All-Star pivot racked up 31 points and 14 rebounds, enabling the Lakers to erase a poor first half and make the difference in the 4th quarter. LeBron James scored 21 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and dished out 5 assists for a 5th consecutive win for the Lakers, at the top of the Western table (9 wins – 4 losses).

Wembanyama rested, Spurs beaten

The French phenomenon Victor Wembanyama was rested by the San Antonio Spurs after suffering a blow to his right knee on Friday during a duel with Anthony Davis. Without him, the Spurs were largely dominated by Dallas (110-93) and Kyrie Irving (22 points), despite a more discreet evening than usual for Luka Doncic (16 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists).