Both the Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins went to overtime Friday night, and it ended as a split for the two squads.
At TD Garden in Boston, Kyrie Irving scored a game high 43 points to lead the Boston Celtics past the top team in the Eastern Conference the Toronto Raptors 123-116 in overtime.
A very closely contested first half had the Celtics up by two at intermission. The Raptors (12-4) took the lead and led by as many as eight in the third quarter, and by four entering the fourth quarter. Toronto once again led by eight in the fourth and by five with 3:18 left. Up four late, Boston (9-6) cut it to just two on a Jayson Tatum dunk with 48 seconds to play. Torontos Kawhi Leonard missed a jumper with 25 seconds left, and the Raptors committed a foul allowing Gordon Hayward to tie from the line with 24 seconds on the clock. Leonard missed another opportunity as his jumper was off in the closing seconds, sending the game to overtime.
Four points each from Irving, Hayward, Tatum, and Al Horford allowed the Celtics to control overtime outscoring the Raptors 16-9 in the extra session. Irving shot 18-26 from the field, and added 11 assists and three steals in the win. Tatum had 21 points and seven rebounds. Hayward had 15 points, five rebounds, and five assists. Horford and Marcus Morris also added 11 points a piece. Leonard had 31 points for Toronto, adding 15 rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Serge Ibaka had 21 points and nine rebounds. Pascal Siakam added 16, and Kyle Lowry chipped in 14 points. Boston hosts Utah Saturday night at 7:30 pm.
At the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas, the Boston Bruins earned a point in the standings but fell 1-0 in overtime to the Dallas Stars.
Tuuka Rask played outstanding giving Boston a chance to secure two points, making 36 saves on the night but neither team could crack the scoring sheet until the 1:34 mark of overtime. A drive to the net by Mattias Janmark was stopped by Rask, but the rebound spit out into the crease and was knocked home by Jason Dickinson for the game winner. Boston (10-6-3) was 0-2 on the powerplay on the night, while Dallas was 0-4. Dallas (10-7-2) got 23 saves from former Maine Black Bear Ben Bishop for the shutout victory. The Bruins head to Arizona to battle the Coyotes Saturday night at 8 pm.
