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Celtics Notes: White, Brogdon, Officiating Report, Mid-Range Shots

May 28th, 2023 at 7:01pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Derrick White saved the Celtics’ season with a game-winning putback just before the buzzer in Miami on Saturday night, but he also made a number of underrated contributions earlier in the game, Baxter Holmes of ESPN notes.

White’s teammates shot 6-of-8 off his passes for 12 points and he held the Heat to 1-of-12 shooting when he contested a shot. That includes an 0-for-6 performance by Jimmy Butler when White was his primary defender in Game 6.

White has two years left on his four-year, $70MM contract.

We have more on the Celtics:

  • Guard Malcolm Brogdon is listed as questionable for Game 7, Tim Bontemps of ESPN tweets. Brogdon suffered a right forearm strain that limited him in Game 5 and forced him to miss Game 6.
  • The NBA officiating report stated the timing on allowing three seconds to remain after Butler was fouled by Al Horford was correct, Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel tweets. The officials added 0.9 seconds to the clock after a review. The report says the only incorrect calls in the last two minutes were a missed foul by Gabe Vincent against Jayson Tatum and a lane violation on Miami’s Caleb Martin.
  • Mid-range shots played a key role in Game 6 as the Celtics made only 7-of-35 three-pointers and forced just five turnovers, Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe observes. Based on the NBA.com shot chart, the Celtics connected on 12-of-19 shots inside the 3-point line and outside the restricted area, while the Heat were just 6-for-28 in that area.
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Gabe Vincent To Play, Malcolm Brogdon Out For Game 6

May 27th, 2023 at 7:07pm CST by Arthur Hill

Heat guard Gabe Vincent, who missed Game 5 due to a sprained left ankle, has been cleared to play on Saturday, tweets Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald. Vincent will be back in the starting lineup, Jackson adds, and Miami has made another change, starting Caleb Martin in place of Kevin Love.

Vincent injured the ankle on an awkward landing after a jump shot late in Game 4. He sat out Thursday’s contest in Boston as the Celtics cruised to a 13-point win.

Vincent took over as the team’s starting point guard in February and has maintained that role throughout the playoffs. He has averaged 13.1 points and 4.1 assists in 15 postseason games while shooting 41.7% from the field and 37.5% from three-point range. He poured in a career-high 29 points in Miami’s Game 3 victory.

The Celtics will try to stay alive without guard Malcolm Brogdon, who suffered a right forearm strain in the second half Thursday, tweets Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Brogdon tried to go through his normal pre-game routine tonight, but Boston’s medical staff determined that he’s not able to play.

Brogdon, who also has a partially torn tendon in his right elbow, has come off the bench in every Celtics playoff game so far, averaging 12.6 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 25.9 minutes per night.

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Celtics Notes: Brown, Tatum, Game 3 Reaction, Brogdon

May 27th, 2023 at 6:35pm CST by Arthur Hill

Jaylen Brown wore an ice pack on his left wrist during an interview with Abby Chin of NBC Sports Boston (video link), but he said he doesn’t want to focus on injuries with the Celtics‘ season on the line.

Brown hasn’t commented on the status of his wrist, but it’s believed that he hurt it on a hard fall during the second-round series against Philadelphia. He has also dealt with a facial fracture and a tweaked knee this season, and the combination of all that damage may be affecting his play in the Eastern Conference Finals.

“At this point in the year, everybody got injuries,” Brown said. “I got injuries all over, compiled. But I’ll never let that be an excuse. You’ll never hear reports about me coming out, saying if anything is bothering me. You come out, you play basketball, you leave it all out there on the floor.”

There’s more on the Celtics:

  • Pre-game nerves may be an issue for many players tonight with so much at stake, but it’s a constant condition for Jayson Tatum, writes Souichi Terada of MassLive. Tatum admits that he’s always edgy heading into tip-off, regardless of the setting or the opponent. “I get nervous before every game,” he said. “Not like scared but a healthy level of anxiousness. First game of the season against Philly to now, I get nerves before every game.”
  • The Celtics appear to have been galvanized by the reaction to their embarrassing loss in Game 3, according to Tara Sullivan of The Boston Globe. That 26-point defeat on Sunday led several national media members to proclaim that the team quit and resulted in speculation that coach Joe Mazzulla might be dismissed after the series. “That locker room after Game 3 was the lowest you could be, and I think everyone just relaxed, honestly,” Tatum said. After two wins, Celtics players now believe the pressure has shifted to the Heat, who face the specter of being the first team in NBA history to blow a 3-0 lead, Sullivan adds.
  • Malcolm Brogdon, who’s listed as questionable for Game 6 with a right forearm strain, will go through pre-game warm-ups to see if he is able to play, tweets Jared Weiss of The Athletic. “He’s gonna warm up, do his shooting time and see how he feels from there,” Mazzulla told reporters.
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Celtics/Heat Notes: Game 6, Brogdon, Vincent, Lowry, White

May 27th, 2023 at 9:59am CST by Luke Adams

Even if the Celtics don’t end up completing their comeback from a 3-0 deficit in the Eastern Conference Finals, they can put the Heat in an unprecedented position by winning Game 6 on Saturday, writes Law Murray of The Athletic.

As Murray details, of the 150 NBA teams to fall behind by a 3-0 margin in a best-of-seven playoff series, only three forced a Game 7, and all three of those clubs had to play Game 7 on the road. If the Celtics can win Game 6 tonight in Miami, they’ll head back to Boston for Game 7 and become the first team in league history to attempt to win a series at home after losing the first three games.

[RELATED: Poll: Will Celtics Complete Eastern Finals Comeback?]

The Heat have shown an ability to win playoff games away from home, writes Joe Vardon of The Athletic, noting that Jimmy Butler scored 47 points to lead Miami to a victory in Boston in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals a year ago. Still, Butler and the Heat face significant pressure to finish off the series on Saturday to avoid having to go back on the road to win a Game 7.

Here’s more on the Heat and Celtics:

  • Despite losses in Games 4 and 5, Butler remains optimistic about the Heat’s ability to finish off the Celtics and earn a spot in the NBA Finals, as Nick Friedell of ESPN.com writes. “Because the last two games are not who we are,” Butler said after Thursday’s loss when asked why he’s still so confident. “It just happened to be that way. We stopped playing defense halfway because we didn’t make shots that we want to make. But that’s easily correctable. You just have to come out and play harder from the jump. Like I always say, it’s going to be all smiles, and we are going to keep it very, very, very consistent, knowing that we are going to win next game.”
  • Celtics guard Malcolm Brogdon, who left Game 5 in the second half due to what was referred to at the time as right forearm soreness, is listed as questionable to play in Game 6 with a forearm strain. The banged-up veteran is already reportedly playing through a partially torn tendon in his right elbow.
  • Like Brogdon, Heat point guard Gabe Vincent is considered questionable to play on Saturday, tweets Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. Vincent missed Game 5 due to a left ankle sprain, forcing Kyle Lowry to reenter the starting lineup for the first time in this postseason. Lowry was effective in the first two rounds but has struggled against the Celtics, averaging just 4.3 points and 4.0 assists per game on 29.2% shooting in the last four games.
  • Celtics guard Derrick White helped lift Boston to a Game 5 win with 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting (including 6-of-8 three-pointers). Jared Weiss of The Athletic takes a look at how White’s career night was rooted in a message from his father, and passes along several quotes from White’s teammates that reflect their appreciation for him.
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Malcolm Brogdon Has Partially Torn Tendon In Right Elbow

May 24th, 2023 at 11:18pm CST by Rory Maher

Celtics guard Malcolm Brogdon has been playing through a significant injury, as he suffered a partially torn tendon in his right elbow during Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, reports Jared Weiss of The Athletic.

Sources tell Weiss that Brogdon was initially dealing with a sore elbow during Boston’s second-round series against Philadelphia, but it got worse when he tore the tendon boxing out Kevin Love in the first quarter of Game 1 vs Miami. An MRI confirmed the injury.

According to Weiss, Brodgon has been dealing with “pain and swelling in his arm and wrist,” affecting his ability to shoot comfortably. Weiss points out that Brogdon, the Sixth Man of the Year winner, shot 44.4% from three-point range during the season but is just 3-of-14 during the Miami series, which Boston trails 3-1.

Brogdon has also limited his pregame shooting to mitigate the pain and has been driving more to compensate, per Weiss. The veteran guard is just 1-of-11 for two total points over the past two games, so clearly the injury has been limiting his effectiveness. He had posted solid numbers (14.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists on .446/.435/.846 shooting) in the 13 playoff games prior to tearing the tendon.

Despite the discomfort, Brogdon plans to keep playing through the injury and will determine whether or not surgery is necessary after the season concludes, sources tell Weiss.

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Malcolm Brogdon: Celtics’ Defensive Identity Has Slipped Away

May 22nd, 2023 at 8:05pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Malcolm Brogdon admitted on Monday that the Celtics’ issues began well before the Eastern Conference Finals, according to Tim Bontemps of ESPN.

Boston trails in the series 3-0 and got blown out by the Heat on Miami’s home court on Sunday night. Brogdon, who was acquired last offseason to solidify a team that reached the Finals a year ago, said the team has lost its defensive identity.

“Miami, Denver, there are only a few of them — that have a really strong identity, and they play by it every single night. They’re super committed to it,” Brogdon said. “And, for us, our identity has waned all year long. We’ve been trying to figure out who we are, because I think we’re such a great, talented scoring team, but when we don’t make shots, we got to rely on our defense, and our defense isn’t consistent every night. So, playing a team that’s very consistent and disciplined, we struggle.”

The Heat are shooting 51.9% overall and 47.8% from 3-point range in the series. They have also committed just 31 turnovers, compared to Boston’s 45.

Brogdon said the Celtics’ lack of defensive cohesion has been apparent throughout the postseason. They eliminated the Hawks 4-2 in the first round despite Atlanta scoring 119 or more points in each of the last four games of the series. Boston had to scramble back from a 3-2 series deficit to eliminate the Sixers prior to their matchup with Miami.

“We haven’t been consistently great defensively all year long, and that was the team’s identity last year,” Brogdon said. “I think that’s slipped away from us. We’ve had spurts where we’ve been great defensively, but not consistently. And, honestly, we’ve struggled in every series we’ve played. So, now we’re playing a team that’s playing as if they’re the best team in the league, and they’re just incredibly disciplined, incredibly consistent.”

Brogdon is hopeful for a history-making turnaround, starting with Game 4 on Tuesday.

“We still believe we’re the better team,” he said. “We have not played like it in these three games.”

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And-Ones: Thompson Twins, Dekker, In-Season Tournament, More

May 11th, 2023 at 2:35pm CST by Rory Maher

Amen Thompson and Ausar Thompson, twin brothers who bypassed college to compete in the Overtime Elite program, are projected lottery picks in the upcoming 2023 NBA draft. Israel Gutierrez of ESPN recently caught up with the brothers during Game 3 of the first-round series between Atlanta and Boston.

While much of the hype leading up to June’s draft has centered on French phenom Victor Wembanyama, the projected top overall pick, and G League Ignite’s Scoot Henderson, a projected top-three pick, Amen says he’s confident he’s one of the top players in the world.

“They always bring up those names, ‘How you going to pass Victor and Scoot, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,” Amen said. “And it’s just like, I’m going to do my thing. I’m going to run my race. And I think if I run my race, I’m one of the best players there is.”

The biggest question marks surrounding Amen and Ausar are the level of competition they faced at OTE and their jump shots, writes Gutierrez. Both players worked extensively on their jumpers over their two years at OTE, but it’s still a focus for improvement going forward.

“I’m improving on shooting, working on pick and roll reads, just reads in general,” Ausar said, per Gutierrez. “My ability to get paint touches, collapse the defense and kick it out for others. Then for myself, just getting open and being able to rise up over defenders and hit a jump shot, or get to the cup.”

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

  • Former NBA forward Sam Dekker, a 2015 first-round pick, has signed a long-term extension with the London Lions of the British Basketball League, the team announced in a press release. The team captain averaged 18.2 PPG, 5.6 RPG and 2.9 APG during the 7Days EuroCup last fall and is under contract through 2026, per the Lions.
  • Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic spoke to four NBA players who are Premier League fans about the NBA’s new in-season tournament, which will begin next season and was roughly modeled on European soccer tournaments. All four like the idea and believe it could be an interesting way for younger teams to get experience in a more competitive environment. “It’s gonna be really good for our league,” Pacers guard T.J. McConnell said. “Seasons can — not necessarily drag on — but adding an in-season tournament there just to like reinvigorate fan interest and give something that the players are playing for, another competitive type of environment, I think it’s going to be really good.”
  • Although the majority of the moves didn’t draw as much attention as the blockbusters over the past year, five guards acquired via trades have made a significant impact in their respective teams’ playoff runs, writes John Hollinger of The Athletic. The five players Hollinger points to are the Nuggets‘ Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (a trade he says he wasn’t a fan of at the time, but has been proven very wrong), the Knicks‘ Josh Hart, the Celtics‘ Malcolm Brogdon, the Sixers‘ De’Anthony Melton, and the Lakers‘ D’Angelo Russell.
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Atlantic Notes: Harden, Claxton, Brogdon, Raptors

April 21st, 2023 at 8:02am CST by Luke Adams

While the Sixers were able to hold on and win Game 3 without him, James Harden was fuming after the game about the flagrant foul 2 and ejection he was given near the end of the third quarter on Thursday (Twitter video link).

As Tim Bontemps of ESPN writes, the game’s referees ruled that Harden made “excessive” contact to Royce O’Neale‘s groin while trying to create space against the Nets defender. The Sixers star referred to the decision as “unacceptable” and said he didn’t get an explanation from the officials during the game.

“First time I’ve been ejected. I’m not labeled as a dirty player, and I didn’t hit him in a private area. Somebody is draped on you like that defensively, that’s a natural basketball reaction,” Harden said. “I didn’t hit him hard enough for him to fall down like that. But for a flagrant 2, it’s unacceptable. This is a playoff game. We’ve seen around the league, things are much worse than what that play was. Honestly, I didn’t think it was a foul on me. But that’s unacceptable. It can’t happen.”

While Harden was ejected, his Sixers teammate Joel Embiid avoided a similar fate early in the first quarter. After falling to the floor, Embiid kicked Nets center Nic Claxton when Claxton tried to step over him (Twitter video link). The star center was assessed a flagrant foul 1, but was permitted to remain in the game, much to the chagrin of Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen that in my career before,” Vaughn said. “For a guy to intentionally kick someone in an area that none of us want to be kicked at or towards, for him to continue to play, I’ve never seen that before in a game and a guy continues to play. Intentional.”

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

  • Claxton’s energy and fight helped keep the Nets in the game on Thursday, but his exuberance got the better of him when he picked up his second technical for taunting Embiid (Twitter video link) and was ejected from the game in the fourth quarter, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “Yeah, when I watched it, it was a little excessive. I got to keep my emotions in check,” Claxton said after the game. “They need me out there. So that’s part of my growth, just keeping my emotions like that when I’m playing well and my emotions are really high. I got to look myself in the mirror and just be smarter in those situations.”
  • Shortly after arriving in Boston last summer, Celtics guard Malcolm Brogdon stressed that he was focused on team – rather than individual – success. He reiterated that message earlier this week, just a couple days before being named the NBA’s Sixth Man of The Year, per Jared Weiss of The Athletic. “All these awards are team awards,” Brogdon said when asked about the possibility of earning Sixth Man of The Year honors. “It takes a team for anybody to get an award because there’s always five guys on the floor. It would be great for the organization, the Celtics, to have me win the award.”
  • Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri will hold his end-of-season media session on Friday, over a week after the team’s season came to an end. Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca wonders if Ujiri may have delayed his usual spring presser a little this year in the hopes of gaining more clarity on the team’s coaching situation.
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Celtics’ Malcolm Brogdon Named Sixth Man Of The Year

April 20th, 2023 at 6:11pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Celtics reserve combo guard Malcolm Brogdon has been named the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year for 2022/23, the league announced on Thursday (Twitter link).

In his first season with the Celtics following a 2022 trade from Indiana, Brogdon averaged 14.9 PPG on .484/.444/.870 shooting splits. Across 67 games, the 6’5″ guard also chipped in 4.2 RPG, 3.7 APG and 0.7 SPG, and was a critical component on both sides of the ball during Boston’s 57-25 season.

Brogdon is the first Celtic to win the honor since eventual Hall of Fame center Bill Walton did so for the 1986 title team, tweets Jared Weiss of The Athletic. Brogdon’s Celtics are currently leading the Hawks 2-0 in their ongoing first-round playoff series.

As the NBA announced last week, the three finalists for the honor were Brogdon, Bucks backup big man Bobby Portis, and Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley. Each would have been a first-time winner.

According to the NBA, Quickley was the runner-up in Sixth Man voting over Portis, Clippers guard Norman Powell and Kings guard Malik Monk. Brogdon received 60 first-place votes and 408 overall points, while Quickley got 34 first-place votes and 326 points. Portis earned the remaining six first-place votes and 97 points.

A total of 10 players earned at least one vote.

Earlier this week, All-Star Grizzlies power forward/center Jaren Jackson Jr. was named the league’s Defensive Player of the Year, All-Star Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox was honored as the NBA’s first-ever Clutch Player of the Year, and his Sacramento head coach Mike Brown won his second Coach of the Year award.

A global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters voted on all of this season’s awards recipients. The Rookie of the Year, MVP and Executive of the Year have yet to be named.

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NBA Announces 2022/23 Award Finalists

April 14th, 2023 at 5:55pm CST by Rory Maher

The NBA announced its finalists for all the major 2022/23 regular season awards on Friday evening (all Twitter links can be found here).

Here is the full list of finalists for each of the awards, listed in alphabetical order:

Most Valuable Player

Defensive Player of the Year

Rookie of the Year

Most Improved Player

Sixth Man of the Year

Coach of the Year

Clutch Player of the Year

TNT will begin announcing the winners next week during its coverage of the 2023 playoffs, according to the NBA. The three finalists for each award are based on voting results from a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters.

Antetokounmpo, the league’s back-to-back MVP winner in 2018/19 and ’19/20, has finished fourth and third in MVP voting over the past two seasons, respectively. He averaged a career-high 31.1 PPG along with 11.8 RPG and 5.7 APG on .553/.275/.645 shooting in 63 games (32.1 MPG) this season in leading the Bucks to the NBA’s best record at 58-24.

Embiid, the MVP runner-up in each of the past two years, led the league in scoring for the second consecutive season, posting a career-high 33.1 PPG along with 10.2 RPG, 4.2 APG, 1.0 SPG and 1.7 BPG on .548/.330/.857 shooting in 66 games (34.6 MPG). The Sixers finished third in the East with a 54-28 record, though it’s worth noting that record is also the third-best mark in the league.

Jokic, the reigning back-to-back MVP, averaged 24.8 PPG, 11.8 RPG, 9.8 APG and 1.3 SPG on .632/.383/.822 shooting in 69 games (33.7. MPG). In addition to breaking Wilt Chamberlain‘s record for most assists per game by a center (8.6), Jokic led the Nuggets to the top seed in the West with a 53-29 record.

It’s long been assumed that Banchero, Brown and Fox were the runaway favorites for their respective awards. Given Embiid’s excellent play to end the season and Denver’s stumble to the finish line, it seems likely that Embiid will edge out Jokic and Antetokounmpo to win his first MVP — all three finalists are more than deserving, just as they were last year.

However, the other three awards are more up in the air. Jackson and Lopez have been considered the betting favorites for DPOY for much of the second half of the season. Mobley’s inclusion is somewhat surprising, but maybe it shouldn’t be — the Cavs finished with the league’s top defense and he is arguably the best defender on the team.

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