The Boston Celtics have won an exciting basketball duel of record NBA champions against the Los Angeles Lakers. The team with the currently best record in the North American league prevailed 125:121 (48:54, 105:105) after extra time, but also benefited from a controversial decision at the end of regulation time.

Lakers star LeBron James was upset because a foul against him was not called on the final move to the basket. So it went into overtime, in which Boston's Jaylen Brown dominated with eleven points. Brown ended the game with 37 points. James towered with 41 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. In the NBA's all-time scorer list, 38-year-old James is just 117 points behind leader Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Germany international Dennis Schröder scored 13 points.

Wagner brothers also lose

The Orlando Magic around the Wagner brothers lost to the Chicago Bulls 109:128 - despite a strong performance by Moritz Wagner. The older of the two brothers from Berlin meanwhile achieved 16 Magic points in a row and a personal season best of 27 points. The starters around Franz Wagner, who scored fewer points than ever before this season with seven, were disappointing.

In another top game of the evening, the Philadelphia 76ers won 126-119 against the Denver Nuggets, the leaders in the Western Conference. It was the seventh win in a row for the Sixers. Philadelphia's Joel Embiid topped with 47 points and 18 rebounds in the duel against Nikola Jokic, the two-time most valuable player of the year.

The New York Knicks with Isaiah Hartenstein lost to the Brooklyn Nets 115:122. For the Nets it was the ninth win in a row in the city duel. Hartenstein put in a good performance with eight points, five rebounds and two blocks. Without their star player Luka Doncic, the Dallas Mavericks lost 100-108 at the Utah Jazz.