- Daniel Theis, the Celtics‘ starting center replacement for the departed Al Horford, was having a comparable season to his predecessor before play was suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak, according to The Stats Corner of NBC Sports Boston. Theis’ production per 36 minutes has actually been better than Horford’s during 2018/19. Their scoring numbers are similar, while Theis is pulling down more rebounds and blocks and shooting at a higher field goal percentage. The 27-year-old German signed a two-year, $10MM contract with Boston during the summer of 2019. The 33-year-old Horford, meanwhile, inked a four-year, $97MM contract ($109MM if he hits all incentives) with the Sixers this summer.
- The Celtics team, staff, and attendant beat reporters experienced a tense journey on the road as the coronavirus spread beyond tenable levels, according to Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe in his first-person account of what transpired.
The Celtics, who played the Jazz in Boston last Friday, announced in a press release today that they’re having players and staffers who were in close contact with Utah players or who traveled to Milwaukee this week self-quarantine at least through the weekend.
All of the Celtics’ players – as well as staff members who came into close contact with Jazz players or exhibit COVID-19 symptoms – will be tested over the weekend, the team said in its release. After consulting with health experts, the Celtics believe it’s unlikely that any of their players came into contact with Rudy Gobert or Donovan Mitchell while they were contagious, but they want to take precautions nonetheless.
Meanwhile, the Pistons – who played Utah on Saturday in Detroit – announced today that there’s no indication the coronavirus was passed along to any of their players or staffers. However, they’re asking their players, coaches, basketball staff, and traveling party to self-isolate “until further notice” out of an abundance of caution.
A league source tells Rod Beard of The Detroit News (Twitter link) that coronavirus tests are available for Pistons players, but if they’re not exhibiting any symptoms, those tests are optional.
The Cavaliers, whose game with Utah took place back on March 2, believe based on conversations with the Jazz and health experts that Gobert and Mitchell did not have coronavirus when the Jazz visited Cleveland last week, league sources tell Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. No players or staff members have shown symptoms, so there are no plans for testing at this time, Fedor adds. If symptoms surface, that would change.
In an official statement, the Cavs confirmed that none of their players have experienced symptoms and indicated that the club isn’t currently under a mandatory quarantine.
The Knicks, whose game against Utah happened on March 4, are under the impression they’ll be self-quarantined, per Ian Begley and Alex Smith of SNY.tv. Marc Berman of The New York Post tweets that the Knicks remain at their hotel in Atlanta as of 1:00pm CT, with no concrete departure time set yet.
Earlier today, we passed along word that the Raptors, who played the Jazz on Monday, are being tested for coronavirus and have been advised to self-isolate for two weeks, while the Wizards – Utah’s opponent on February 28 – are also self-isolating for the next few days, just to be safe.
In the wake of Rudy Gobert‘s positive coronavirus test, the NBA has announced that its season will be suspended indefinitely, as we detailed earlier tonight.
While it remains to be seen exactly how long that suspension will last, one person who spoke to Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press said the NBA expects the league to be shut down for at least two weeks. That source cautioned that the situation is very fluid.
As Dan Feldman of NBC Sports passes along, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski said in a TV appearance tonight that there’s a feeling around the NBA that the season will eventually be resumed. It’s “clearly going to be a truncated schedule” though, according to Woj.
No games will take place while the suspension is ongoing, but Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said tonight that the NBA has told teams they can continue to practice, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link). Players have been told they shouldn’t have any visitors from out of town, MacMahon adds.
Here’s more on how the coronavirus situation has shaken up the NBA:
- After Gobert was tested for COVID-19 on Wednesday, Jazz and Thunder officials worked together to make sure no Oklahoma City players had any contact or exposure to Utah players, tweets Wojnarowski. According to ESPN’s Royce Young (Twitter links), Thunder players were tested tonight for fever, but not for the coronavirus. Jazz players are still expected to be tested tonight, however — the team is currently quarantined in OKC, per Woj (Twitter link).
- According to reports from Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald (Twitter link) and ESPN’s Brian Windhorst, players from teams that have played the Jazz in the last 10 days have been advised to self-quarantine. That list of clubs includes the Cavaliers, Knicks, Celtics, Pistons, and Raptors.
- Knicks players aren’t being tested yet, according to Steve Popper of Newsday (Twitter link). Blake Murphy of The Athletic tweets that Raptors players are getting tested. Cavaliers coaches and players haven’t yet heard about potential testing, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.
- Celtics head coach Brad Stevens said today that Jaylen Brown (hamstring), who will miss his fourth straight game tonight, also seems unlikely to play on Thursday. Stevens added that Kemba Walker‘s left knee is feeling good, though the point guard will remain limited to about 30-32 minutes per game (Twitter link via Tim Bontemps of ESPN).
The Celtics haven’t made a change to their 15-man roster since the start of the regular season, standing pat at the trade deadline and not signing any players off the buyout market. Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald is among those who believes the team would benefit from another shooter off the bench, identifying Jamal Crawford as one viable option. However, president of basketball operations Danny Ainge doesn’t sound especially intrigued by any players available in free agency.
“It’s my impression that they’re rarely as good as people think they are,” Ainge told Bulpett. “A lot of people, including myself and coaches and players, think that a player is still what he was two or three years prior or that he can return to a time of (when he was a) better player. But there’s always a reason why players are available.”
The Celtics have one of the NBA’s best records at 42-21, but that doesn’t mean Ainge has been content since opening night to sit back and roll with this 15-man roster. As he explains to Bulpett, trade possibilities that he pursued prior to last month’s deadline didn’t end up coming to fruition.
“There were some trades that I would have liked to have done,” Ainge said. “But they were good players and the teams that would be giving them up didn’t want to give them up, so they needed to get a home run of a trade in order to do it. And that’s typically what happens when you’re trying to get players that the other team still wants.”
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- After dealing with injuries all long, often to multiple starters or rotation players at a time, the Raptors‘ next challenge may be a welcome one, according to Doug Smith of The Toronto Star, who writes that head coach Nick Nurse will have to figure out how to balance playing time for a fully healthy roster.
- Although most of the injured Raptors players – including Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka – have now returned to the court, Fred VanVleet has yet to do so. Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca examines how experience has taught VanVleet, who has a sprained left shoulder, to be patient and avoid rushing back from a health issue.
- John Hollinger of The Athletic takes a deep dive into the Nets‘ situation and their surprising split with head coach Kenny Atkinson. Hollinger observes that Brooklyn’s coaching vacancy should be one of the most appealing around the NBA this spring, considering the team is in position to jump into the top four of the East in 2020/21.
- In case you missed it, we passed along several other Nets notes earlier today.
Here are Friday’s G League assignments and recalls from around the NBA:
- The Celtics assigned rookie center Vincent Poirier and rookie guard Carsen Edwards to their Maine affiliate, the team’s PR department tweets. Poirier has seen action in 21 games with Boston this season, while Edwards has taken the court in 35 games.
- The Pacers assigned forward Alize Johnson to the Fort Wayne Mad Ants, the team’s PR department tweets. Johnson, a 2018 second-round pick, has appeared in 13 games with Indiana this season.
- The Pistons assigned rookie forwards Sekou Doumbouya and Donta Hall to their Grand Rapids affiliate, James Edwards of The Athletic tweets. Doumbouya, the team’s first-round pick, is averaging 6.5 PPG and 3.2 RPG in 19.9 MPG in 35 games this season. Hall is on his second 10-day contract with the NBA club.
Tacko Fall has learned to enjoy his status as the latest cult hero in Boston, writes Jared Weiss of The Atheltic. Even though he has gotten into just six game for the Celtics and has played 24 total minutes, fans go crazy whenever the 7’5″ rookie approaches the scorer’s table. He also draws plenty of attention when he goes out in public with his teammates.
“They’ve been really good about it and sometimes I feel bad, ’cause I don’t want to take too much attention from the team,” Fall says. “And especially with coach Brad (Stevens), I don’t want them to see me like Tacko the rock star or Tacko the superstar. If you know me and the person I am, I don’t like to take too much attention away from them. But they actually give me attention, which is crazy.”
Fall’s size and potential make him an easy choice as a fan favorite, even though he went undrafted out of Central Florida last summer. He signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Celtics in July and earned a two-way deal in training camp. He has spent most of his first season with the organization’s G League affiliate in Maine, but still drew nearly a million All-Star votes from fans. Fall appreciates the attention, but said his immediate goal is to obtain a standard contract and eventually a spot in the rotation.
“I didn’t want that to happen, but it kinda gave me more motivation to someday earn that right,” he said of the voting. “You know, earn it on the court and then also have the fan votes where it’s like, ‘OK, I’ve really worked hard for this and all these people (are) cheering me on, wanting me to be there, so I’ve really earned it. It’s like, God put me in that position and I earned it.’”
There’s more Celtics news to pass along:
- Marcus Smart has been fined $35K for “confronting and verbally abusing” officials after Tuesday’s loss to the Nets, the NBA announced (Twitter link). The amount of the fine “reflects his multiple prior violations of acceptable on-court decorum,” the release from the league states.
- Enes Kanter may see a diminished role for the rest of the season now that the other Celtics centers are finally healthy, observes Alexandra Francisco of MassLive. Kanter has seen a combined 30 minutes over the past three games and didn’t play at all in Saturday’s loss to the Rockets.
- The short-handed Celtics were able to pull out a win in Cleveland last night because of a career-high 22 points from Semi Ojeleye, writes Mariva Lewter of Heavy. The third-year forward continues to build a reputation by taking advantage of opportunities. “He’s a great worker, he’s a great teammate,” Stevens said. “When everything is not going your way, he’s a guy that you know is in everybody’s corner, and I think that that’s huge when you start talking about team. And you also know he can not play one night and be effective in his role the next.”
Jaylen Brown suffered a strained right hamstring Tuesday night and will be out of action for at least a week, writes Tom Westerholm of MassLive.
Coach Brad Stevens announced the injury in a session with reporters before tonight’s game. Brown, who has a history of hamstring issues, limped off the court in the fourth quarter last night. His condition will be checked again in a week.
The fourth-year swingman is having his best season, averaging 20.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.
Kemba Walker will return to action on Tuesday night for the Celtics as they host the Nets, head coach Brad Stevens confirmed today (Twitter link via Tim Bontemps of ESPN). Walker, who has missed Boston’s five games since the All-Star break due to a nagging knee injury, will play approximately 20-25 minutes, according to Stevens.
- Within an article on Jayson Tatum‘s ascension to stardom, Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer revisits the Celtics‘ decision to move down from No. 1 to No. 3 in the 2017 draft. According to O’Connor, before zeroing in on Tatum, Boston was exploring acquiring extra assets in a trade down from No. 1 in the hopes of flipping them for Paul George, who was ultimately sent to Oklahoma City instead.
Recently-acquired Sixers wing Alec Burks could take on more point guard responsibilities in the wake of Ben Simmons‘ injury. However, the 6’6″ guard is better suited for the shooting guard spot, as Derek Bodner of The Athletic contends.
Burks shoots the ball well of the catch, Bodner adds — the former Warrior made 37.5% of his 96 “no-dribble” attempts while in Golden State.
Here are more notes from the Atlantic Division:
- The Sixers appear ready to have confidence in Shake Milton as the point guard replacement for Simmons, Mike Greger of Heavy.com relays. Gregor also details Milton’s rise to the NBA ranks.
- Robert Williams is a wild card for the Celtics, Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports writes. Williams, who was the no. 27 overall pick in the 2018 draft, is Boston big man with the highest ceiling.
- The Celtics are playing it safe with Kemba Walker‘s return to the court, according to A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports. Tuesday against the Cavs is a possible return date, as we detailed earlier today, but Blakely says that the need for caution “cannot be overstated.”