Knicks guard Evan Fournier made an impressive debut against his former team, posting 32 points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists in a double OT victory over the Celtics on Wednesday. Fournier struggled with his shooting in preseason games, but coach Tom Thibodeau wasn’t fazed, according to Zach Brazilier of the New York Post. “I was never worried about him making shots,” he said. “To me, he has proven throughout his career that that is who he is.” Fournier was acquired in a sign-and-trade with his four-year contract worth up to 78MM.
We have more from the Atlantic Division:
- Julius Randle‘s first game after signing a four-year, $117MM extension showed that he’s not resting on his laurels, Ian O’Connor of the New York Post writes. The Knicks forward racked up 35 points, nine assists, and eight rebounds. “Julius had that monster year, got a new contract and all that and he’s hungrier now than last year, which I thought was impossible,” Thibodeau said. “He comes in every night like clockwork. You know he’s going to be in there.” Randle was fined $15K by the league for throwing the ball in the stands at the end of the team’s opening-night win, Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press tweets.
- Chinese video-streaming giant Tencent won’t show Celtics games in the foreseeable future after comments made by center Enes Kanter, according to Eva Dou and Lyric Li of the Washington Post. Kanter posted a video voicing his support for Tibetan independence. In response, Tencent cut the live broadcast of Wednesday’s game between the Celtics and the Knicks. Sixers president and former Houston GM Daryl Morey created a firestorm between the Chinese government and the NBA with his public support in 2019 of Hong Kong pro-democracy protestors.
- The Ben Simmons saga with the Sixers even has NFL players in Philadelphia voicing their opinions. Eagles center Jason Kelce said Simmons needs to own up to his shortcomings, ESPN’s Tim McManus writes. “I don’t want to crush any other players, but what’s going on with the 76ers, Ben Simmons, stuff like that, all of that is because of a lack of accountability, a lack of owning up to mistakes and a lack of correcting things,” Kelce said. “If all that got corrected, if you’re fixing free throws, if you’re getting better as a player, none of this is happening. So everybody can b—h and complain about how tough this city is to play in. Just play better, man. This city will love you.”
Pretty amazing that China was enough to get the celts to keep Kantor on the bench all game.
Starting your season with a loss to a division rival so you can kiss China’s rear end is a really bad look.
What makes you think that was the Celtic’s choice and not the NBA’s
I have no idea who made the decision.
He wasn’t on the bench because of “China”
Seriously?
Travis Kelce for the win! 100% correct T,
OK, the city of Philly will love a player. Then boo him if he messes up once.
Simple just don’t mess up and you won’t get booed
The lesson isn’t don’t need up, it’s own it when you do mess up. Accountability should be expected not perfection.
Yeah, that’s not the case with Ben Simmons whatsoever. So your point is not well taken. 1 shot in the fourth quarter of the Hawks series last year and was scared to have ball because he was worried about free throws. If that doesn’t deserve to be booed then have your team go head and trade for him.
Jason*
What dif would it make if Simmons hit his FTs?— he still wants credit for the Sixers rise, still a wants to play PG. Hitting 3s may have made a difference but Rivers would probably still want him as forward; many observers do.
However I agree with Kelce in that he should have had this worked out earlier. He signed the extension. IDK if his agent advised that.
Good on Kanter!
#FreeBenSimmons
So what do ALL of you here. Who said Fournier isn’t worth the money. Think NOW.
Bunch of Geniuses………..
Kemba will come along. He was ok though.
Not everyone said that, but go ahead and fire yourself up game 1.
The rep. for the Dalai Lama/Ofc. of Tibet in Washington expressed thanks Thu. to Enes Kanter for remarks critical of China Wed. “He summed up the existential threat faced by the Tibetans under Chinese communist rule,” said Ngodup Tsering in a statement to ESPN, adding, “We call upon more courageous people like Kanter to speak to the truth. We salute Kanter for his courageous act of standing up to a brutal regime. We know Kanter did it at the huge risk to his personal life and career.”