The excitement brought by the Boston Celtics–Cleveland Cavaliers live betting matchup turned into horror after Gordon Hayward suffered a gruesome ankle injury less than six minutes into the game.
Although Hayward’s injury clearly motivated the Celts to give it their all and try to turn around the betting odds, it still wasn’t enough to upset the East’s online betting favourites.
Boston Celtics 99-102 Cleveland Cavaliers
Boston played with the desire to win, not only for ex-Cavs star Kyrie Irving but also for their fallen comrade and new Celtics forward Hayward.
Hayward went up during the game to catch an alley-oop pass from Irving. However, he collided with LeBron James mid-air and fell on the floor awkwardly, with his left leg bent and ankle turned at an odd angle.
The 27-year-old was carried off the floor before the game continued, with Marcus Smart taking his place in the lineup.
The Celts then fought hard and looked to be on their way to victory, erasing the 18-point deficit the Cavs built after the accident and taking a 96-93 lead with three minutes remaining on the clock. But then LeBron took over and put the Cavs back in front in the closing stages.
James finished with 29 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists, including a layup with 1:19 remaining that gave Cleveland the lead for good.
Jaylen Brown led the visitors with his 25 points and six rebounds, while rookie Jayson Tatum also impressed with a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds. Kyrie Irving ended with 22 points and 10 assists, but missed what could have been a game-tying three.
Houston Rockets 122-121 Golden State Warriors
On the main event of the opening day, meanwhile, the Houston Rockets spoiled Golden State’s banner night with a narrow win at Oracle Arena.
Kevin Durant thought he had won it for the Warriors with a jumper as time expires, but an official review conducted after the shot revealed that the reigning NBA Finals MVP released the ball late and failed to beat the buzzer.
The Warriors led by as much as 17 points in the game, thanks in large part to Nick Young’s explosion that saw him score 20 of his 23 points just in the first half.
Houston, however, slowly cut the deficit and capped the game with a 34-20 fourth quarter that doomed the defending champions.
Six players finished in double figures for the Rockets, led by James Harden who tallied 27 points to go along with 10 assists and six rebounds.
New Rocket Chris Paul didn’t have much contribution in scoring, but he distributed the ball well as he dished out 11 dimes.
Golden State’s Durant had 20 points while Steph Curry made 22, but they will certainly regret their slow start that could have allowed them to pull away for good.
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