Boston Celtics Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Atlantic Notes: Porzingis, C. Johnson, Bridges, Sixers

May 1st, 2024 at 8:44pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Celtics are hoping Kristaps Porzingis can recover from his right soleus (calf) strain in time for the Eastern Conference Finals, Chris Haynes reported tonight on TNT (video link via ClutchPoints).

Porzingis was ruled out for Game 5 after suffering the injury on Monday, but no official announcement has been made beyond that. Sources tell Haynes that the Celtics are preparing for Porzingis to be out for that second round but that team officials are optimistic that Porzingis can make a full recovery with some time off.

“The Celtics are very ecstatic and happy that this injury wasn’t anything more severe,” Haynes said. “He will use his time to rest and go through rehab and then around the six- or seven-day mark, they will reevaluate him to see how he is feeling and then go from there.”

Appearing on a Boston radio show, coach Joe Mazzulla confirmed that doctors will reexamine Porzingis next week to see how much progress he has made, writes Brian Robb of MassLive.

“I don’t know the specifics of it, they used a lot of fancy words,” Mazzulla said. “But I do know it’ll be kind of a more reevaluated next week. We’ll see how he responds to the treatment and how much better he gets here in the first week. I think that’s kind of the goal is to just get crazy in the next week and see where we’re at from there.”

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Cameron Johnson was one of two Nets players who showed up to welcome new head coach Jordi Fernandez at his introductory press conference, according to a NetsDaily article. Johnson admitted being disappointed by his performance this season, which played a role in the coaching change and caused him to be pulled from the starting lineup. “Nobody ever says anything will be handed to you, anything will be easy, adversity won’t come up, so it’s part of it,” he said. “You just got to take it, keep it pushing, keep working, and focus on tomorrow, focus on what we can do today.”
The Nets have to be careful in how they deal with Mikal Bridges, who will be eligible for an extension this summer, Keith Smith of Spotrac states in his offseason preview for the team. Smith believes Bridges is miscast as a franchise player in Brooklyn because he doesn’t score consistently enough to lead the offense and he doesn’t have enough size to anchor the defense. Smith sees a three-year extension in the range of $100MM to $120MM as reasonable, but adds that anything beyond that could be a bad use of resources.
The Sixers are taking steps to make sure Wells Fargo Center isn’t filled with Knicks fans for Game 6 like it was on Sunday, per David Aldridge of The Athletic. The team’s ownership joined with Fanatics CEO Michael Rubin – a former minority stakeholder in the franchise – to purchase and distribute more than 2,000 tickets from the secondary market.

Celtics Notes: Porzingis, Horford, White, Tatum

May 1st, 2024 at 2:08pm CST by Luke Adams

Holding a commanding 3-1 lead against an injury-riddled Heat team, the Celtics may not need any more contributions from Kristaps Porzingis to get through the first round of the playoffs. But Boston’s odds of winning a title this spring would take a serious hit without a healthy Porzingis available in future rounds.

After the Celtics announced on Tuesday that Porzingis would miss Game 5 on Wednesday due to a right soleus (calf) strain and Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the big man is expected to miss multiple games, Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe clarifies (via Twitter) that no one considers it to be a season-ending injury.

According to Himmelsbach, the Celtics have yet to provide a specific timeline for Porzingis’ recovery and potential return because they want to see how he responds to treatment first.

Appearing on FanDuel’s Run it Back show on Wednesday morning (Twitter video link), Shams Charania of The Athletic said he expects the club to treat the soleus strain like a “week-to-week” injury, suggesting that Porzingis might end up missing just a week or two, though there’s a chance he’ll be sidelined for longer than that.

Here’s more on the Celtics as they prepare for a possible close-out game at home vs. the Heat:

For as long as Porzingis is unavailable, Al Horford is expected to move into the starting lineup, with Luke Kornet and Xavier Tillman acting as his primary backups at the five, writes Jay King of The Athletic. As King observes, Horford played 21 of the final 24 minutes in Game 4 following Porzingis’ exit, but that level of workload likely won’t be sustainable for the 37-year-old on a regular basis going forward, so the team will need effective minutes from its reserves.
Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, and Porzingis combined to shoot just 17-of-47 (36.2%) from the field in Game 4, but Derrick White‘s 38 points on 15-of-26 shooting helped propel the team to victory. In a separate story for The Athletic, King takes a look at White’s career night and details why his teammates want to see him continue to seek out his own offense. “When he’s being aggressive it just opens everything up,” Tatum said. “Whatever they’re trying to take away, maybe for myself, when your teammates are hitting shots and being aggressive and attacking closeouts and making plays, it really makes us very, very hard to guard. You want everybody to be assertive and be aggressive and try to make plays. It just makes us a better team.”
As we relayed on Tuesday, Tatum turned an ankle during the fourth quarter of Game 4 when he came down on Bam Adebayo‘s foot while attempting a jump shot after a whistle (Twitter video link). The star forward was ultimately fine, but Horford wasn’t happy about Adebayo contesting Tatum’s shot and getting into his landing area during a dead ball. “I know that we get to playing around and trying to contest shots after fouls and things like that, but there’s levels to contest,” Horford said, per Souichi Terada of MassLive.com. “And if a guy shooting and the play is over with, just kind of let him be. I know he’s trying to compete over there, but I was just mad. I don’t want to see any of my guys get hurt or anything like that. Thankfully, JT is fine, but it could have been bad.”

Wolves’ Mike Conley Named 2023/24 Teammate Of The Year

May 1st, 2024 at 11:22am CST by Luke Adams

Timberwolves point guard Mike Conley has been named the NBA’s Teammate of the Year for the 2023/24 season, the league announced today (via Twitter).

The Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year award “recognizes the player deemed the best teammate based on selfless play, on- and off-court leadership as a mentor and a role model to other players, and commitment and dedication to team,” per the NBA.

The award isn’t voted on by media members. A panel of league executives select the 12 finalists (six from each conference) for the award, while current players vote on the winner. Players receive 10 points for a first place vote, seven for second, five for third, three for fourth, and one point for fifth place.

Here are this season’s full voting results, according to the NBA, with the player’s point total noted in parentheses:

Mike Conley, Timberwolves (1,172)
Mikal Bridges, Nets (1,041)
Jalen Brunson, Knicks (783)
T.J. McConnell, Pacers (759)
Georges Niang, Cavaliers (748)
Al Horford, Celtics (634)
Larry Nance Jr., Pelicans (627)
Jalen Williams, Thunder (565)
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Nuggets (560)
Dwight Powell, Mavericks (549)
Harrison Barnes, Kings (435)
Markelle Fultz, Magic (421)

It’s the second Teammate of the Year award for Conley, won also won it in 2018/19 when he was a member of the Grizzlies.

The award, which was introduced in ’12/13, had gone to Jrue Holiday in each of the past two seasons (and three of the past four), with Damian Lillard taking it home in 2021.

Celtics’ Porzingis To Miss Game 5 With Strained Calf

April 30th, 2024 at 4:30pm CST by Luke Adams

4:30pm: Porzingis is expected to miss multiple games, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski tweets.

4:03pm: Porzingis has been ruled out for Game 5 due to what the Celtics are calling a right soleus strain (Twitter link via Brian Robb of MassLive.com).

The soleus is the same calf muscle that has sidelined Giannis Antetokounmpo since the final week of the regular season, though it’s unclear whether Porzingis’ strain is as severe as Antetokounmpo’s.

7:40am: The Celtics took full control of their first-round series vs. Miami on Monday by picking up their second consecutive road victory and extending their series lead to 3-1. However, as Chris Herring of ESPN writes, the Game 4 win might have come at a cost, as big man Kristaps Porzingis exited in the second quarter due to a right calf injury and didn’t return.

The Celtics’ starting center is expected to undergo an MRI on Tuesday to assess the severity of the ailment, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who hears from sources that early indications are that Porzingis didn’t suffer an Achilles injury.

Porzingis initially appeared to start limping with about 3:15 left in the second quarter when he stepped on Tyler Herro‘s ankle (video link). However, he turned his left ankle on that play, and the injury was said to affect his right calf, so it may have been unrelated. Less than a minute later, as he caught a pass from Jaylen Brown, Porzingis began limping again and gestured toward the bench that he needed to be subbed out of the game (Twitter video link).

Porzingis has been relatively healthy for the past two seasons, appearing in 57 regular season games in 2023/24 and 65 a year ago. But he has missed significant time due to health problems in the past, having made just 151 total appearances in the four seasons prior to 2022/23. As such, any injury is a concern, though there have been some signals that this isn’t a significant one.

Abby Chin of NBC Sports Boston reported at the start of the second half that Celtics assistant Charles Lee was “cautiously optimistic” that Porzingis would be OK (story via Brian Robb of MassLive). And Porzingis himself tweeted after the win that he “will be good.”

If Porzingis is unable to play in Game 5 on Wednesday, it would mean an increased role for Al Horford, with reserve bigs Luke Kornet, Xavier Tillman, and Neemias Queta moving up on the depth chart. As Jared Weiss of The Athletic notes, Boston gave up a pair of second-round picks at February’s trade deadline for Tillman precisely so the team didn’t find itself shorthanded in the frontcourt in a situation like this.

“Luke, Xavier, Neemie, have to kind of be ready to step up and answer the call,” Horford said after the game, per Weiss. “They’ve been doing a good job of that all year. Obviously, it’s the playoffs now, it’s different, but I have confidence in those guys if they need to come in and bring energy and impact the game.”

The Celtics had another injury scare in the fourth quarter of Game 4, as Jayson Tatum turned an ankle when he came down on Bam Adebayo‘s foot while attempting a jump shot after a whistle (Twitter video link). However, Tatum was able to walk it off and finish the game — he’ll presumably be good to go for Game 5.

Celtics’ Brad Stevens Named NBA’s Executive Of The Year

April 30th, 2024 at 10:59am CST by Luke Adams

Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens has been named the NBA’s Executive of the Year for the 2023/24 season, the league announced today (via Twitter).

In his third season as the Celtics’ head of basketball operations after eight years as the team’s head coach, Stevens put together a dominant Boston roster that posted a 64-18 record, easily the best mark in the NBA, along with a +11.7 net rating, the third-best mark in league history.

The Celtics were coming off a 57-win season in 2022/23, but Stevens shook up the roster drastically last summer, trading away longtime defensive stalwart Marcus Smart in a deal for Kristaps Porzingis, then moving key role players Malcolm Brogdon and Robert Williams in a a blockbuster for Jrue Holiday as training camps got underway.

Stevens also signed several Celtics players to contract extensions in the past 12 months, including Jaylen Brown, Payton Pritchard, and Holiday.

Unlike the NBA’s other major awards, the Executive of the Year is voted on by 29 team executives from around the league rather than 99 media members. Stevens received 16 of 29 potential first-place votes, along with six second-place votes and three third-place votes, for a total of 101 points (Twitter link).

The runner-up, Sam Presti of the Thunder, had 47 points, including four first-place votes. Tim Connelly of the Timberwolves also earned the top spot on four ballots en route to a third-place finish (29 points).

Knicks president Leon Rose (27 points; one first-place vote) was the only other executive to earn more than 11 points, though Nico Harrison (Mavericks) and Monte McNair (Kings) also received first-place votes, while Rockets general manager Rafael Stone earned a pair of them. A total of 13 executives showed up on at least one ballot.

Porzingis Keys Boston's Offensive Attack

April 28th, 2024 at 9:52pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis has scored 18 points in each of the team’s first-round victories over Miami. He was held to six points in Boston’s Game 2 loss. Getting Porzingis involved in the offense is crucial, Jayson Tatum told Jared Weiss of The Athletic. “He’s probably our most important guy on our team for what we’re trying to accomplish,” he said. “So no doubt in my mind, I knew he was going to have a better game and bounce back.”

Tatum: We Need To Be More Creative

April 25th, 2024 at 10:55am CST by Dana Gauruder

Following their 111-101 home loss to the Heat on Wednesday night, Celtics star forward Jayson Tatum said it’s his team’s turn to counter Miami’s adjustments, Brian Robb of MassLive.com relays. “I think we’ve gotta be more creative,” Tatum said. “The playoffs are about making adjustments game to game, and they did that. They’re not just going to let us catch the ball, they’re not just going to let us throw it to (Kristaps Porzingis) easy. They’re supposed to try to mess things a little up, and make it a little bit tougher. So it’s our job to react in real time, as well as make our adjustments going from game to game.”

Southeast Notes: Adebayo, Martin, Redick, Hornets, Magic, Suggs

April 24th, 2024 at 12:45pm CST by Luke Adams

While Bam Adebayo is probably a long shot to be named the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year for this season, the Heat big man is one of the finalists for the first time in his career, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. Prior to this spring, Adebayo had never finished higher than fourth in Defensive Player of the Year voting.

“They’re actually watching games, they’re actually looking at games,” Adebayo said of the award voters. “They’re paying attention to what I do. It’s not only what shows up in the stat book.”

As Chiang writes, Adebayo blocked just 0.9 shots per game in 2023/24, well below the averages posted by fellow finalists Rudy Gobert and Victor Wembanyama. However, he’s capable of guarding positions all over the court and has adapted his game to new personnel and new coverages with players in and out of Miami’s lineup all season long due to injuries.

“Man, I can play in any coverage,” Adebayo said. “That’s pretty much the dynamic that I have. I can play any coverage. If you want to be in drop, we can play drop. If you want me in zone, we can play zone. Blitz, switching, being able to be on the one or two option, being able to be the help guy. I’ve been in many different roles throughout my career.”

“What it shows you is that he’s becoming a defensive technician,” Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said of his defensive anchor. “That’s a different level of expertise.”

Here’s more from around the Southeast:

As Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel relays, Spoelstra and the Heat downplayed the outside reactions that Caleb Martin‘s hard foul on Jayson Tatum in Game 1 of their series elicited, particularly from Celtics analyst Brian Scalabrine, who called it a “dirty play” that warranted a suspension. “It was an irrational assessment in our view in what actually happened,” Spoelstra said. “The players are fine. All the outside noise or anything like that is not going to decide this series or the game. This is good, clean, tough, physical playoff basketball — and it always has been with Boston and us.”
ESPN analyst and former NBA sharpshooter J.J. Redick is a “serious candidate” for the Hornets‘ head coaching job, Shams Charania of The Athletic said on FanDuel’s Run it Back show (Twitter video link). According to Charania, Redick has a “strong desire” to move into coaching and could end up interviewing for more jobs besides Charlotte’s this spring.
While the Magic‘s long-term outlook remains very promising, the weaknesses of their young roster have been exposed in the first two playoff games against Cleveland, according to Josh Robbins of The Athletic, who cites inexperience and a lack of shooting and play-making as shortcomings for Orlando. “Our defense is what we thought it was, but it ain’t going to win us a game,” Paolo Banchero said. “We’ve got to be better on the other end.”
Magic guard Jalen Suggs is “doing better” after suffering a left knee injury in Game 2, per head coach Jamahl Mosley, who told reporters today that he expects Suggs to be available for Game 3 (Twitter link via Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel).

Tatum Practices In Full After Hard Foul

April 23rd, 2024 at 10:54pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Jayson Tatum is just fine after Caleb Martin‘s hard foul in Game 1 of the Celtics’ series with the Heat on Sunday. Tatum, who hit the floor hard on that play, practiced in full on Tuesday, The Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn tweets. Game 2 will be played on Wednesday night.

Atlantic Notes: Hetzel, Nets, Maxey, Thibodeau, Celtics

April 22nd, 2024 at 10:02am CST by Luke Adams

The Nets are hiring veteran assistant coach Steve Hetzel to be part of Jordi Fernandez‘s new staff in Brooklyn, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Hetzel was an assistant coach in Portland for the past three seasons under Chauncey Billups. Prior to his stint with the Blazers, he worked on Steve Clifford‘s staffs in both Charlotte (2014-18) and Orlando (2018-21).

Perhaps most notably, Hetzel was the head coach of the Canton Charge in the G League during the 2013/14 season. Fernandez was an assistant on his staff that year before taking over as the Charge’s head coach for the next two seasons after that.

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

The Sixers have listed guard Tyrese Maxey as questionable to play in Game 2 on Monday due to an illness that forced him to miss this morning’s shootaround, tweets Gina Mizell of The Philadelphia Inquirer.
In an anonymous player poll conducted by The Athletic, 47% of the respondents named Tom Thibodeau as the head coach they’d least want to play for. However, Thibodeau’s Knicks players were prepared to go to bat for him, as Fred Katz of The Athletic writes. “Nobody’s in our locker room and everybody that talks is on the outside of our locker room. They don’t know what goes on,” Donte DiVincenzo said. “Thibs is a great leader. He’s a great head coach and he’s done an amazing job this year not only dealing with injuries in and out of the lineup but also getting the best out of every single player on our team. I’m having a career year. Different guys on the team are having career years.”
The Celtics have made at least the Eastern Conference Finals in five of the last seven postseason but haven’t won a title during that time. Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston explores how last year’s additions of Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday give the team a new dimension and raise its ceiling entering the 2024 playoffs.
Porzingis passed a key test in Game 1 on Sunday vs. Miami, writes Brian Robb of MassLive.com, scoring 18 points and finishing as a +17 in his 34 minutes. Porzingis – who had only played in 10 playoff games, including none since 2021 – lacks the extensive postseason experience of his fellow Celtics starters, but he showed on Sunday that he’s up to the challenge with the stakes raised, says Robb.