The Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins were both in action in matinee contests on Martin Luther King Day. The Celtics were in Charlotte for their second road game in a row against the Hornets, and the Bruins hosted the Philadelphia Flyers.
At the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, Jayson Tatum scored 51 points as the Celtics pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the Hornets for the second time in three days 130-118. Boston (33-12) has now won seven in a row after they were trounced by the OKC Thunder 150-117 on January 3. Derrick White added 19 points and eight assists, and Malcolm Brogdon had 16 points off the bench. Tatum was 15-23 from the floor, 7-12 from three-point range, 14-14 from the foul line and also added nine rebounds and five assists. Tatum at 24 years old becomes the first Celtics player to reach five 50+ point games, surprising Larry Bird who had four. Lamelo Ball had 25 points in the losing cause for Charlotte (11-34). The Celtics are back at home on Thursday night in another Finals rematch against the Golden State Warriors, who beat the green by 16 in San Francisco back on December 10.
At TD Garden in Boston, David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha both had two goals and an assist as the Bruins rolled over the Philadelphia Flyers 6-0. Jeremy Swayman made 29 saves in net for the shutout. David Krejci, who was appearing in his 1000th career NHL game, had three assists on the afternoon. Brad Marchand and Matt Grzelcyk also had one goal and one assist, as the top team in the league continued their dominant play improving to 34-5-4 on the season. Carter Hart stopped 12 of 16 shots in the cage in 27 minutes in the loss for the Flyers (18-19-7), while Samuel Ersson stopped 11 of 13 in the final 32 minutes and change. Boston heads to New York to play the Islanders and Rangers in a back to back Wednesday and Thursday night.
Recaps by Chris Lessner
