Boston Celtics Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Danny Ainge Suffers Mild Heart Attack; Full Recovery Anticipated

May 2nd, 2019 at 11:14am CST by Luke Adams

Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge suffered a mild heart attack on Tuesday night in Milwaukee, the team announced today (via Twitter).

Ainge received immediate medical attention and is expected to make a full recovery, according to the team. The Celtics, who noted that additional updates will be provided as appropriate, said that Ainge will return soon to Boston, where the C’s are set to host Games 3 and 4 of the Eastern Semifinals vs. the Bucks.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic (via Twitter), Ainge is expected to return home this evening. Sources tell Charania that he’s walking around and “feeling much better.”

Given the positive early reports, it doesn’t appear that Ainge’s health scare will prevent him from performing his usual work for Boston this summer. It will be a big offseason for the 60-year-old executive and the Celtics, who are expected to engage the Pelicans in trade talks for Anthony Davis in addition to attempting to re-sign Kyrie Irving.

We at Hoops Rumors send our best wishes to Ainge during his recovery.

Community Shootaround: NBA Finals Match-Up

May 1st, 2019 at 10:49pm CST by clarkcrum

The NBA’s conference semifinals are underway and that means we’re down to eight teams as the Warriors, Nuggets, Trail Blazers, Rockets, Bucks, Raptors, Sixers, and Celtics each won their first-round series. The Warriors have taken control of their series with a 2-0 lead but the remaining series are all tied up at 1-1 and the Rockets are heading home for games 3 and 4. As such, every club still has a realistic shot of moving forward to the conference finals.

As everyone is well aware, the Warriors are the two-time defending NBA champions and winners of three of the last four. They are also the prohibitive favorites again this season and perhaps the one team that could be classified as league villains, while the other three Western Conference teams haven’t been to an NBA Finals since the Rockets in 1995.

Meanwhile, the Cavaliers and Heat (via LeBron James) have controlled the Eastern Conference playoffs for the last decade or so, with Milwaukee and Toronto never having won the East and Philadelphia and Boston not having been conference champions since 2001 and 2010, respectively.

With that all said, there are certain to be a bevy of opinions on what would be the best finals match-up, so we’re asking you that very question. Which NBA Finals match-up do you want to see? Is that the match-up you expect as well? Let us know what you think in the comments.

Celtics Use Team Defense To Slow Giannis Antetokounmpo In Game 1

April 28th, 2019 at 6:59pm CST by JD Shaw

The Celtics picked up their defensive intensity to seal an impressive Game 1 road win over the Bucks on Sunday, swarming the paint and putting an emphasis on slowing down Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Antetokounmpo’s primary defender, Al Horford, recorded three blocks (two of which were on him). The Celtics as a whole held the Bucks to just 35% shooting from the floor, including a 7-for-21 performance from Antetokounmpo. Boston’s energy drained Milwaukee, leading to the dominate 112-90 win.

For Horford and the Celtics, containing Antetokounmpo was the game plan entering Game 1. The next challenge for Boston is dealing with Milwaukee’s adjustments entering Game 2 on Tuesday night.

Dudley Interested In Celtics; Williams Denies Receiving Money

April 28th, 2019 at 5:32pm CST by JD Shaw

Veteran NBA forward Jared Dudley has interest in joining the Celtics this summer, a league source told Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. Dudley, who’s coming off a successful season with the Nets, is scheduled to reach unrestricted free agency on July 1. Dudley turns 34 this summer and averaged 4.9 points, 2.6 rebounds and 20.7 minutes per game with Brooklyn this year, shooting 35% from 3-point range.
Celtics rookie Robert Williams denied receiving money at Texas A&M, despite his name surfacing in a Thursday testimony by financial adviser Marty Blazer that he was given money by agent Christian Dawkins and assistant coach Amir Abdul-Rahim in 2017. “I’ve been saying, never took anything from anybody during my college career,” Williams said on Friday, according to Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports. “Honestly, just trying to focus on these playoffs. I tend to stop social media because it gets to you during playoff time, but, like I said, never took anything from anybody. Hope this goes away as fast possible.”

Poll: Which Team Will Win Bucks/Celtics Series?

April 28th, 2019 at 4:00pm CST by clarkcrum

The Celtics came out in Game 1 earlier today and unexpectedly thrashed the Bucks, 112-90, to take a 1-0 series lead and home-court advantage away from Milwaukee and MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo.

While Kyrie Irving had a magnificent game, scoring 26 points and dishing out 11 assists, Al Horford appeared to be the consensus player of the game on social media after the final buzzer sounded, as the big man put up 20 points and 11 rebounds while simultaneously putting together a masterful defensive effort on The Greek Freak, holding Antetokounmpo to 22 points and only two assists on 33% shooting.

Some interesting story lines for Game 2 (which tips off Tuesday night in Milwaukee) and the remainder of the series include the possible return of Celtics’ guard Marcus Smart, who traveled to Milwaukee but wasn’t in uniform for today’s game. Smart is not expected to return for Game 2, but he has been practicing with team in recent days and could possibly return before the end of the series.

Bucks’ guard Malcolm Brogdon, who is recovering from a partially torn plantar fascia in his right foot, could also return for this series at some point, but his return remains more unclear that that of Smart. Meanwhile, Brogdon’s primary replacement, Sterling Brown, left Game 1 with back spasms. It’s still unknown whether his status for Game 2 will be affected.

Will all that said, what do you think the final outcome of this series will be after what you saw in Game 1? Will Giannis and the 60+ win Bucks come back with a vengeance of will the surging Celtics make quick work of Milwaukee? Vote below in our poll, then head to the comment section to weigh in!

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Marcus Smart Still Isn't Expected Back Soon

April 28th, 2019 at 11:40am CST by Arthur Hill

Celtics coach Brad Stevens confirmed today that Marcus Smart is unlikely to be available for the conference semifinals, tweets Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston. Smart, who suffered a torn oblique three weeks ago, is doing core work, but his return still appears far off. “I don’t see any way that he’s available until whenever his timeline hits that we thought initially — four to six (weeks),” Stevens said. “And I said at the start, the four seems awfully aggressive.”

Injury Updates: Brogdon, Smart, Kanter, Scott, Anunoby

April 26th, 2019 at 3:52pm CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics and Bucks will each be without key guards when their second round series gets underway on Sunday, according to reports.

For the Bucks, Malcolm Brogdon has been ruled out for the first two games of the series, with the team planning on re-assessing him before Game 3, per Matt Velazquez of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link). Brogdon, who put up a 50/40/90 shooting line for Milwaukee this season, has been sidelined since March 15 due to a foot injury.

On the other side, Celtics guard Marcus Smart, who remains on the shelf due to a torn oblique, won’t play this weekend, per president of basketball operations Danny Ainge (Twitter link via Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston). In fact, Ainge said the defensive specialist will be a long shot to return next weekend too. When he first suffered the injury on April 7, Smart was given a recovery timeline of 4-6 weeks, so he remains at risk of missing the entire second round.

Here are a few more injury updates for the teams that have advanced to the second round:

The status of Trail Blazers center Enes Kanter, who reportedly suffered a separated shoulder against Oklahoma City, remains uncertain, says Anne M. Peterson of The Associated Press. Although he participated in practice today, Kanter said afterward that he was in pain, adding that he’s taking his recovery day by day.
Asked whether he’s planning for Mike Scott to be available in Game 1 vs. the Raptors, Sixers head coach Brett Brown said he’s not, according to Rich Hofmann of The Athletic (Twitter link). Scott, who is battling a right heel bruise and plantar fasciitis, is an important part of a thin Philadelphia bench, so he’ll be missed if he can’t go.
The Raptors will also be without a rotation player to start their series against the Sixers, as OG Anunoby remains out of action after undergoing an emergency appendectomy two weeks ago, tweets ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. Having ruled out Anunoby indefinitely, the Raptors have given no hints about when the second-year forward might be able to return.

Pacific Rumors: Clippers, Irving, Rambis, Kidd, Suns

April 26th, 2019 at 11:16am CST by Luke Adams

While Kawhi Leonard and Kevin Durant have been more frequently mentioned as potential targets, the Clippers also figure to give a long look to Kyrie Irving this summer, if the star point guard considers leaving Boston. In fact, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the Clippers have already kicked the tires on Irving.

Charania reports that before they traded Tobias Harris to Philadelphia at this year’s deadline, the Clippers placed a preliminary call to the Celtics to inquire on Irving’s availability. The Celtics, whose ownership and senior leadership had agreed that the team wouldn’t shake things up in any real way at the trade deadline, gave the Clippers “a quick no,” per Charania.

As we wait to see if the Clips have more luck with Irving or other star free agents this summer, let’s round up a few more Pacific notes…

Based on a handful of reports within the last week, we’ve learned that Kurt Rambis has been involved in the Lakers‘ coaching search. While Rambis currently serves as a senior advisor to the franchise, the team may intend to make him an associate head coach or an assistant general manager this offseason, writes Bill Plaschke of The Los Angeles Times.
Within that same article, Plaschke writes that Jason Kidd doesn’t appear to be a serious candidate for the Lakers‘ head coaching job. According to Plaschke, the team’s interview with Kidd looks like more of a favor to his agent Jeff Schwartz, who represents Lakers forward Brandon Ingram.
While Suns owner Robert Sarver has received criticism over the years for perceived meddling in the franchise’s basketball decisions, Sarver seems content – at the moment – to remain in the background and let new general manager James Jones run the show in Phoenix, writes Greg Moore of The Arizona Republic.

John Havlicek Passes Away At 79

April 25th, 2019 at 9:02pm CST by clarkcrum

The Celtics have confirmed that Hall-of-Fame forward John Havlicek, the franchise’s all-time leading scorer, has passed away at the age of 79 after a battle with Parkinson’s Disease. As part of their official statement, the Celtics wrote:

“John Havlicek is one of the most accomplished players in Boston Celtics history, and the face of many of the franchise’s signature moments. He was a great champion both on the court and in the community, winning 8 NBA championships and an NBA Finals MVP.”

“Named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, he is enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame… His defining traits as a player were his relentless hustle and wholehearted commitment to team over self. He was extraordinarily thoughtful and generous, both on a personal level and for those in need…”

“John was kind and considerate, humble and gracious. He was a champion in every sense, and as we join his family, friends, and fans in mourning his loss, we are thankful for all the joy and inspiration he brought to us.”

Havlicek, affectionately known as “Hondo,” is perhaps best known for his clutch steal in the closing moments of Game 7 of the 1965 Eastern Conference Finals between the Celtics and 76ers. Boston would go on to win the NBA Finals that season 4-1 over the Lakers.

Community Shootaround: More Compelling Eastern Conference Semifinal

April 25th, 2019 at 7:23pm CST by clarkcrum

The Eastern Conference semifinals are set and NBA fans have a great weekend to look forward to, with the 76ers traveling north of the border to take on the Raptors this Saturday followed by the Celtics traveling to Milwaukee to face the top-seeded Bucks on Sunday afternoon.

The Bucks took two out of three from the Celts during the regular season, with the Bucks winning on their home floor and the teams splitting the two games played in Boston. Both teams are coming off impressive sweeps – of the Pacers (albeit without Victor Oladipo) and Pistons – and will now face off against a more even-matched opponent.

The Bucks lost to the Celtics in last year’s postseason, falling in Game 7 to a Celtics team led by Terry Rozier, Al Horford, and Jayson Tatum. Both Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward are now back in the fold, but the Bucks are also a much better team this season behind MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo and new head coach Mike Budenholzer.

On the other side of the bracket, the Sixers and Raptors will face each other in the postseason for the first time since 2001, when the Sixers and Hall-of-Famer Allen Iverson pulled out the series win in Game 7 despite a stellar performance from an in-his-prime Vince Carter. The Sixers are looking to return to the NBA Finals for the first time since that season, while the Raptors are looking for the first conference championship in franchise history.

The two-seeded Raptors won the regular season series between the teams 3-1, with Toronto winning both games at Scotiabank Arena and the Sixers splitting their home games at Wells Fargo Center. Both teams have new faces this postseason, with the Raptors adding Kawhi Leonard this summer and the Sixers trading for starters Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris during the 2018/19 season.

So, based on the above and any other factors you may consider, which match-up do you think will be the most compelling? Will either or both series go the full seven games? Will there be a sweep? Let us know what you think in the comments.