Miami, United States—The Boston Celtics seized a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference clash with Philadelphia, shrugging off the absence of injured Gordon Hayward to thrash the 76ers 128-101 Wednesday (Thursday Philippine time) in the league’s quarantine bubble in Orlando, Florida.
Jayson Tatum was the star for Boston, scoring 33 points in a dominant victory over the 76ers.
The Celtics lead the best-of-seven Eastern Conference first-round clash.
Kemba Walker added 22 points and Jaylen Brown added 20 for a Celtics team that announced after their game one win that Hayward would be sidelined for several weeks with a sprained ankle.
Joel Embiid led the 76ers with 34 points and 10 rebounds.
In Western Conference action, Luka Doncic had 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists as the Dallas Mavericks posted a 127-114 win over the Los Angeles Clippers to level their opening round series at 1-1.
Meanwhile, the NBA reported zero positive COVID-19 cases for the fifth consecutive week on Wednesday (Thursday Philippine time) in the latest round of test results released at the league’s “bubble” in Orlando, Florida.
“Of the 341 players tested for COVID-19 on the NBA campus since test results were last announced on August 12, zero have returned confirmed positive tests,” the league said in a joint statement with the NBA Players’ Association.
“In the event that a player on the NBA campus returns a confirmed positive test in the future, he will be isolated until he is cleared for leaving isolation under the rules established by the NBA and the Players Association.”
Two players tested positive upon arrival in Florida in July, but neither had fully cleared quarantine for admittance into the NBA’s safe zone.
The league relaunched its season on July 31 after a four-month shutdown doe to the pandemic, with 22 teams playing without spectators.
Sixteen teams remain at the Florida campus for the NBA playoffs that began on Monday.