LOS ANGELES: The Boston Celtics juggernaut continues to steamroll its way through the NBA, extending their winning streak to 11 games on Friday despite a rash of injuries that now includes all-star Kyrie Irving.
With Gordon Hayward out for the season and Al Horford sitting out a second straight game with a concussion, Irving suffered a possible concussion less than two minutes into the game after taking an elbow from teammate Aron Baynes.
No matter — despite the revolving door on the infirmary — the Celtics just keep on winning without their Big Three, rallying from an 18-point deficit then hanging on for a 90-87 victory on Friday night over the Charlotte Hornets.
“We’re just going to do what we do no matter who we got,” Celtics Terry Rozier said. “No matter who we’re going to play with, we’re going to play hard.”
Boston scored a season-low 11 points in the first quarter and was down 18 early in the third before sending the Hornets to their fourth straight loss.
With unheralded guard Shane Larkin leading the way, the Celtics went on a 14-2 fourth-quarter surge to take control of the game and held the Hornets to 11 points in the fourth quarter. But Boston still had to survive a scramble at the end to survive.
Larkin finished with a season-high 16 points, while rookie Jayson Tatum, who is playing with a sore ankle, scored 16 points.
“There’s no funner place to play than in Boston in comeback games,” Larkin said. “We went out there. Crowd got behind us. We pulled out a victory.”
Rozier had 15 points seven rebounds and four assists, Marcus Morris had 14 and seven rebounds and Jaylen Brown scored 10 points and had 13 rebounds.
Kemba Walker led all scorers with 20 points despite missing all six of his three-point shot attempts, while Frank Kaminsky scored all 14 of his points in the first half.
Walker, who missed a jumper that would have put his team ahead with five seconds left, scored Charlotte’s final eight points.
Hornets forward Dwight Howard had a dismal night, shooting two-for-eight from the floor, two-for-nine from the foul line, while making seven turnovers.
“We’re giving up huge leads. We’re not maintaining our game. We’ve got to be better as a whole,” Walker said.
Elsewhere, Reggie Jackson made two clutch three pointers down the stretch as the Detroit Pistons won their fourth straight with a 111-104 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
Jackson had 22 points and six assists for the Pistons, who gave away a 19-point lead before regaining control in front of a crowd of 16,600 at Little Caesars Arena.
Andre Drummond had 16 points, 20 rebounds and a career-high seven assists for Detroit, who improved to 9-3 on the season.
Avery Bradley tallied 20 points and Tobias Harris finished with 16 points and eight rebounds. Ish Smith came off the bench to finish with 17 points and five assists.
Kent Bazemore had 22 points, five rebounds and five assists for the Hawks (2-10).
Detroit led 76-69 heading into the fourth. The Hawks closed the gap to five early in the quarter and once again midway through after Bazemore made a jumper.
Bazemore’s three-pointer from the top of the key and another from the wing tied it 94-94 with 3:49 left.
The teams traded scores until Jackson’s three with 52.3 seconds left put the Pistons on top 103-100. Following Bellinelli’s miss, Bradley made a free throw and collected the rebound after missing the second try. Jackson then drained another key three-pointer to clinch the win.
![]()
Injury-plagued Boston Celtics stretches NBA win streak to 11
Injury-plagued Boston Celtics stretches NBA win streak to 11
Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics open with dazzling ceremony
- The extravaganza reflected the most geographically widespread Olympics in history
MILAN: The Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics opened on Friday with a glittering ceremony at the San Siro stadium echoed by festivities at Games venues across the snow-capped Italian Alps.
The extravaganza reflected the most geographically widespread Olympics in history.
It culminated in the lighting of two cauldrons, one at Milan’s Arch of Peace and one in Cortina d’Ampezzo, the chic resort 400 kilometers from Milan that is hosting the women’s alpine skiing.
Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni, two Italian skiing Olympic champions of the past, lit an intricate cauldron inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s knot patterns at Milan’s Arch of Peace.
In the freezing mountain air of Cortina, the task fell to Sofia Goggia — an Italian former gold medalist who had earlier taken part in a training run for the women’s downhill event.
The ceremony in Milan showcased Italy’s rich cultural heritage, with a nod to late fashion giant Giorgio Armani.
An otherwise harmonious event was punctuated by loud boos from the crowd when US Vice President JD Vance appeared on the big screen at the San Siro stadium.
But the US team received loud applause from spectators as they began their parade.
There has been anger in Italy over the presence of agents from the US immigration enforcement agency ICE as part of security for the American delegation, even though the Italian government has said the agents will not have any operational role on its soil.
Performers at the San Siro show wore outsized heads of the three great masters of Italian opera — Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini and Gioachino Rossini while American diva Mariah Carey, in a white sequined dress with feathers, sang “Volare” in Italian and “Nothing is Impossible.”
Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli got a rapturous reception after performing “Nessun Dorma” and dozens of models honored Armani by streaming across the stage wearing red, green, and white trouser suits.
Italian President Sergio Mattarella declared the Games open after International Olympic Committee chief Kirsty Coventry told the competitors: “You remind us that we can be brave, that we can be kind, that we can get back up, no matter how hard we fall.”
In a first, 2,900 athletes paraded in the venues closest to where they will compete in the February 6-22 Games, in a bid to minimize travel.
Remarkable Vonn
Earlier Friday, Lindsey Vonn, the biggest star at the Milan-Cortina Olympics, passed a crucial test of her injured knee.
The American skier successfully completed her first training run for the women’s downhill event, despite competing with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament.
It kept alive the 41-year-old’s hopes of medal glory in Italy.
Vonn won her only Olympic gold at the Vancouver Games, 16 years ago, but also has two bronze medals.
A top-three placing in Sunday’s final would cap a remarkable comeback from retirement that has been elevated to extraordinary by the injury she suffered in a pre-Olympics race.
Wearing a knee brace, Vonn completed the run at Cortina without apparent difficulty.
Before skiing she posted on Instagram: “Nothing makes me happier! No one would have believed I would be here... but I made it!!... I’m not going to waste this chance.”
Asked by reporters after the race if everything was “all good,” Vonn responded simply “yeah.”
Competitive action in the figure skating began, with defending champions the United States taking an early lead in the team event thanks to world champion ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates.
The men’s downhill race, one of the prestige events, kicks off the first full day of action on Saturday.
China’s freestyle skier Eileen Gu, one of the faces of the 2022 Games in Beijing, launches her bid for triple gold as the women’s slopestyle gets underway at Livigno Snow Park.
The extravaganza reflected the most geographically widespread Olympics in history.
It culminated in the lighting of two cauldrons, one at Milan’s Arch of Peace and one in Cortina d’Ampezzo, the chic resort 400 kilometers from Milan that is hosting the women’s alpine skiing.
Alberto Tomba and Deborah Compagnoni, two Italian skiing Olympic champions of the past, lit an intricate cauldron inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s knot patterns at Milan’s Arch of Peace.
In the freezing mountain air of Cortina, the task fell to Sofia Goggia — an Italian former gold medalist who had earlier taken part in a training run for the women’s downhill event.
The ceremony in Milan showcased Italy’s rich cultural heritage, with a nod to late fashion giant Giorgio Armani.
An otherwise harmonious event was punctuated by loud boos from the crowd when US Vice President JD Vance appeared on the big screen at the San Siro stadium.
But the US team received loud applause from spectators as they began their parade.
There has been anger in Italy over the presence of agents from the US immigration enforcement agency ICE as part of security for the American delegation, even though the Italian government has said the agents will not have any operational role on its soil.
Performers at the San Siro show wore outsized heads of the three great masters of Italian opera — Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini and Gioachino Rossini while American diva Mariah Carey, in a white sequined dress with feathers, sang “Volare” in Italian and “Nothing is Impossible.”
Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli got a rapturous reception after performing “Nessun Dorma” and dozens of models honored Armani by streaming across the stage wearing red, green, and white trouser suits.
Italian President Sergio Mattarella declared the Games open after International Olympic Committee chief Kirsty Coventry told the competitors: “You remind us that we can be brave, that we can be kind, that we can get back up, no matter how hard we fall.”
In a first, 2,900 athletes paraded in the venues closest to where they will compete in the February 6-22 Games, in a bid to minimize travel.
Remarkable Vonn
Earlier Friday, Lindsey Vonn, the biggest star at the Milan-Cortina Olympics, passed a crucial test of her injured knee.
The American skier successfully completed her first training run for the women’s downhill event, despite competing with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament.
It kept alive the 41-year-old’s hopes of medal glory in Italy.
Vonn won her only Olympic gold at the Vancouver Games, 16 years ago, but also has two bronze medals.
A top-three placing in Sunday’s final would cap a remarkable comeback from retirement that has been elevated to extraordinary by the injury she suffered in a pre-Olympics race.
Wearing a knee brace, Vonn completed the run at Cortina without apparent difficulty.
Before skiing she posted on Instagram: “Nothing makes me happier! No one would have believed I would be here... but I made it!!... I’m not going to waste this chance.”
Asked by reporters after the race if everything was “all good,” Vonn responded simply “yeah.”
Competitive action in the figure skating began, with defending champions the United States taking an early lead in the team event thanks to world champion ice dancers Madison Chock and Evan Bates.
The men’s downhill race, one of the prestige events, kicks off the first full day of action on Saturday.
China’s freestyle skier Eileen Gu, one of the faces of the 2022 Games in Beijing, launches her bid for triple gold as the women’s slopestyle gets underway at Livigno Snow Park.
Latest updates
© 2026 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.