The Boston Bruins and Boston Celtics were both in action Thursday night against a pair of New York teams. The Bruins were at home against the New York Rangers, while the Celtics were on the road to face the Brookyln Nets.
At TD Garden in Boston, the Bruins got goals from four different skaters and Jaroslav Halak stopped all 27 shots for a 4-0 win over the Rangers.
David Pastrnak had his 12th goal and Patrice Bergeron had a shorthanded tally in the first for Boston (14-6-4), while in the second period David Krejci added a powerplay marker and Jake Debrusk also scored. Alexander Georgiev allowed all four goals on 14 shots for New York (10-12-3), before being replaced in the second by Keith Kinkaid who stopped all 13 shots. Brad Marchand had three assists for the Bruins, while Krejci, Bergeron, and Matt Grzeclyk also had one assist a piece. Boston will face New York again Saturday at 1 p.m. at TD Garden.
At Barclays Center in Brooklyn, Kyrie Irving had 40 points as the Nets won the first game of the second half after the All-Star break with a 121-109 win over the Celtics.
Boston (19-18) put five players in double figures, but couldn’t overcome the big game from Irving. Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 31 points. Marcus Smart returned after missing six weeks due to injury and put in 19. Irving added eight rebounds to his point total, while James Harden had 22 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists for the Nets (25-13). Boston has their four game win streak snapped and will go to Houston to visit the Rockets on Sunday at 8 p.m.
