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Western Notes: Warriors, Finals, Wood, Grizzlies, Lakers

May 29th, 2022 at 9:19pm CST by JD Shaw

The Warriors are thankful to have plenty of rest ahead of the NBA Finals, Kendra Andrews of ESPN.com writes. By defeating Dallas in five games, the Warriors put themselves at a competitive advantage over the Celtics and Heat — who needed a Game 7 to decide their series on Sunday night.

“We gave our guys two straight days off, which is almost unheard of, in playoffs or even just regular season,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “So it was a great chance to decompress the last couple of days.

“We won’t have a formal practice until tomorrow. It’ll be the first day we’ll build on our opponent. So I’ve said it many times: You go to the Finals, it’s almost a two-month journey filled with stress and fatigue, so if you can build a little break, it’s very meaningful.”

Golden State is dealing with injuries to Gary Payton II, Andre Iguodala and Otto Porter Jr., but Payton and Iguodala will likely return in the Finals and Porter’s injury isn’t considered serious.

On the flip side, Miami is dealing with injuries to Kyle Lowry, Max Strus, Jimmy Butler, P.J. Tucker, Tyler Herro and Gabe Vincent, while a pair of Boston starters – Marcus Smart and Robert Williams III – have missed time in the Finals due to various ailments.

There’s more from the West this evening:

The Rockets are continuing to receive trade interest for big man Christian Wood, Kelly Iko reports for The Athletic. Wood, 26, complements the Rockets well offensively, but the team may consider moving his contract and focusing on its younger core. He averaged 17.9 points and 10.1 rebounds per game this season.
Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal examines 14 players to watch for the Grizzlies’ three draft picks next month. Memphis owns the 22nd, 29th and 47th selections in the event, which takes place on June 23.
New Lakers coach Darvin Ham is expected to have control over choosing his coaching staff, Marc Stein confirms in his latest article at Substack. Stein also reports that senior advisor Kurt Rambis will not be a regular presence in coaching meetings as he was under Frank Vogel‘s leadership.

Celtics Notes: Game 7, G. Williams, Smart, R. Williams

May 28th, 2022 at 6:48pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Celtics missed a chance to close out the Eastern Conference Finals at home, but they remain confident that they can win the series in Miami, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Road teams historically don’t fare well in Game 7, but after beating the Bucks in seven games in the last round, Boston players like their chances Sunday night.

“Scale of 1 to 10?” Jayson Tatum asked. “Ten. I mean, it shouldn’t be any less than that, right? You know, it’s the last game. That’s what it’s all about. It’s a 10 out of 10 in my confidence level and the group.”

Familiar mistakes prevented the Celtics from ending the series on Friday, Bontemps adds, as they turned the ball over frequently in the early part of the game. They also struggled to get production from their main scorers in the second half as Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for just 18 points after halftime.

“We won the close-out game, obviously, [against Milwaukee], and for us we’ve won two in Miami, so that’s the positive of it,” coach Ime Udoka said. “We know we can go there and win. But just have to make it harder than it is, and at times it feels like we’re doing that, not taking advantage of what’s in front of us, and just overall sloppy basketball on both ends. We can’t have that on the road.”

There’s more on the Celtics:

Rick Barnes, who coached Grant Williams and P.J. Tucker in college, tells Jay King of the Athletic that there are a lot of similarities between them. “Incredible basketball IQ,” Barnes said. “If you mic’d them both up during the game, they’re never going to stop talking. Never. Because they know their job. They know everybody else’s job. Both of those guys would be terrific coaches if they wanted to be, because they really see the game from every spot on the floor, they know how everything is supposed to work. And both of them want to win. That’s all they did.”
This is the fourth conference finals in six years for Boston, but the current core hasn’t been able to reach the next level, notes Joe Vardon of The Athletic. One of those losses was to Miami two years ago, and the players want to make sure they don’t come up short again. “You don’t want any feelings of regret,” Brown said. “We’ve got an opportunity to do something with this group that’s special. So let’s not take that for granted.”
Marcus Smart and Robert Williams, who have both seen their availability in the series affected by injuries, are listed as questionable for Game 7, according to Souichi Terada of MassLive. Terada notes that both players were active for Games 5 and 6 after being game-time decisions.

Herro To Miss Game 6; Smart, R. Williams Active

May 27th, 2022 at 6:36pm CST by Rory Maher

6:36pm: Smart and Williams will both be active for Boston, reports Tim Bontemps of ESPN (via Twitter).

6:06pm: Heat guard Tyler Herro is expected to be sidelined for Friday’s Game 6 against Boston, league sources told Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.

Herro suffered a left groin strain in Game 3 and will now miss Games 4, 5 and 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals with the injury. He was a limited participant in the team’s shootaround this morning, but “experienced discomfort while sliding defensively,” Haynes reports.

Head coach Erik Spoelstra confirmed that Herro will be out, tweets Jared Weiss of The Athletic.

“He’s definitely made progress, but he’s not quite ready to step into this kind of intensity of a game,” Spoelstra said.

It makes sense to be cautious with a muscle strain, as they can be notoriously tricky to deal with and easily re-injured, like what happened with teammate Kyle Lowry‘s hamstring strain in the previous series. Lowry hasn’t looked like himself since he originally sustained the injury more than a month ago.

After averaging 20.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists on .447/.399/.868 shooting in 66 regular season games (32.6 minutes), Herro saw his numbers drop off in the postseason, averaging 13.5 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists on .413/.232/.926 shooting in 14 games. Still, his absence will certainly be felt by the Heat, as they’ve struggled mightily to score without the Sixth Man of the Year winner, posting just 82 points in Game 4 and 80 in Game 5, both losses.

On Boston’s side, Celtics head coach Ime Udoka told reporters, including Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated (Twitter link), that both Marcus Smart and Robert Williams are game-time decisions for the potential close-out contest. Boston currently leads Miami 3-2.

Smart and Williams had previously been listed as questionable, and it seems we won’t know their status until later this evening. Game 6 tips off at 7:30pm CT on ESPN.

Atlantic Notes: Smart, Williams, Diop, Nets, White

May 26th, 2022 at 5:21pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Celtics starters Marcus Smart and Robert Williams are listed as questionable for Game 6 on Friday, the team tweets. It’s the same injury designation they had for Game 5.

Smart wound up playing 24 minutes on Wednesday despite his right ankle sprain and Williams made it through 27 minutes on his sore left knee.

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

DeSagana Diop is the new head coach of the G League’s Westchester Knicks, Marc Stein tweets. Diop was represented by Knicks president Leon Rose when Rose was a player agent. Diop has assistant coaching experience with the Jazz and, most recently, the Rockets.
It has been reported that the Nets will likely defer the first-rounder owed by the Sixers from this year to next summer. However, that doesn’t mean the Nets will hold onto it and draft a rookie next summer, according to Heavy.com’s Sean Deveney. They might instead use it to facilitate an in-season trade next season to address injuries or roster shortcomings.
The deadline deal that sent Derrick White from San Antonio to Boston has proven to be crucial to the Celtics in their postseason run, Brian Windhorst of ESPN notes. They have registered blowout wins in two of the three games Smart has missed during the playoffs and having White at their disposal was a key to those successes. The Spurs acquired Josh Richardson, Romeo Langford, the Celtics’ 2022 first-round pick, and the conditional right to swap first-round picks with Boston in 2028 in exchange for White.

Herro Out For Game 5; Smart, R. Williams Active

May 25th, 2022 at 5:54pm CST by Rory Maher

Heat guard Tyler Herro (left groin strain) will miss Wednesday’s Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals against Boston, tweets Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald.

Miami head coach Erik Spoelstra said Herro was itching to return to action after missing Game 4’s 102-82 blowout loss, but the team’s training staff thought it would be irresponsible to let him play, so he was held out (Twitter link via Jackson). The groin injury isn’t considered to be a long-term concern, but obviously the Heat are being cautious with their Sixth Man of the Year winner after seeing Kyle Lowry re-injure his hamstring against Philadelphia.

The Celtics will have their full starting lineup intact for the first time this series, as both Marcus Smart (sprained right ankle) and Robert Williams (knee soreness) will be active tonight, per Jared Weiss of The Athletic (Twitter link). Smart missed Game 4 with the injury, while Williams missed Game 3.

Boston head coach Ime Udoka said the Defensive Player of the Year isn’t 100 percent healthy, but his mobility is “good enough” to play through the pain.

“He (Smart) has enough movement where he’s not restricted in certain areas like a few days ago,” Udoka said.

As for Williams, Udoka said he won’t have any type of minutes restriction, but added that the team is hopeful to reduce his minutes if possible (Twitter links via Weiss).

All three players had previously been listed as questionable for Wednesday’s crucial Game 5. The series is currently tied at two games apiece.

Miami holds home-court advantage and would host a potential Game 7 if it gets that far, but Boston has looked like the slightly better team through four games, posting a +7.7 net rating. In our poll earlier today, a bit more than 72 percent of our readers predicted the Celtics to advance to the NBA Finals.

With Herro sidelined, Victor Oladipo, who has emerged as a regular part of the Heat’s rotation since midway through the first-round series vs. Atlanta, figures to once again play significant minutes. Oladipo contributed 23 points, four rebounds and six assists in Game 4, but unfortunately for Miami, he outscored the entire starting lineup (23 to 18). The Heat will need a much more balanced effort to take Game 5 and the lead in the series.

Atlantic Notes: Smart, Nets Front Office, Raptors, Barrett

May 24th, 2022 at 10:08pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Celtics starting point guard Marcus Smart, already the Defensive Player of the Year and an All-Defensive First Teamer, has added another end-of-season honor to his résumé.

The league has given Smart the 2021/22 NBA Hustle Award, per a press statement. The award is given to players who contribute to their teams in ways that transcend traditional box score statistics, including deflections, screen assists, box-outs, loose balls recovered, drawn charges, and contested shots.

Smart previously won the award for the 2018/19 NBA season. With the hardware this year, he becomes the first-ever two-time recipient of the honor, which debuted during the 2016/17 season.

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

With Nets assistant coach Ama’re Stoudemire moving on and David Vanterpool and Adam Harrington also expected to join the exodus, head coach Steve Nash‘s bench could look quite different next season, writes Brian Lewis of the New York Post. Former Hornets head coach James Borrego could be a target as a seasoned assistant for next season. Lewis adds that Brooklyn may make some changes to its front office personnel as well, mentioning that consultant Steve Clifford could also be looking to depart.
Raptors All-Star point guard Fred VanVleet may be open to signing an extension with Toronto, but his decision could ultimately be dictated by the free agent market this season, writes Eric Koreen of The Athletic in a new mailbag. Koreen also projects the Raptors’ starting lineup heading into next year, identifies the team’s biggest offseason need, and more.
Knicks small forward RJ Barrett, who missed New York’s final game of the year with a knee sprain, appears to be recovered and ready to play for Team Canada in this summer’s World Cup qualifiers, writes Marc Berman of the New York Post.

Celtics/Heat Injury Updates: Smart, Williams, Herro, Lowry

May 24th, 2022 at 6:01pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Celtics starting point guard Marcus Smart and starting center Robert Williams have both been listed as questionable for a critical Game 5 tomorrow in their Eastern Conference Finals series against the Heat, Boston announced (Twitter link).

Smart has a right ankle sprain. Williams missed Game 3 with a sore knee, but proved to be a key defensive contributor in Boston’s 102-82 blowout Game 4 victory over Miami.

The Heat, meanwhile, have listed a whopping five role players as questionable ahead of Wednesday’s home contest. Miami has announced (via Twitter) that starting point guard Kyle Lowry, starting shooting guard Max Strus, starting power forward P.J. Tucker, and crucial reserves Gabe Vincent and Tyler Herro all have murky availability for the next game in the 2-2 series.

Lowry, Strus and Vincent are all grappling with hamstring injuries, while Tucker is dealing with left knee irritation. Lowry missed the first two games of the series with his left hamstring strain, and returned in a productive Game 3. In that game, Lowry chipped in 11 points, six assists and four steals. Vincent started in Lowry’s stead for the first two contests. Smart and Herro both sat for Game 4.

Herro was sidelined for Game 4 with a groin injury he suffered during Game 3, a 109-103 Heat victory. The injury could be a lingering problem.

“From what I’m told, this is an injury, this groin injury he has, that would normally keep him out two-to-four weeks if this was the regular season, but he is pushing really hard to play, either in the next game or the game after that,” Ramona Shelburne said today during an ESPN appearance (Twitter video link).

In addition to Game 4, Smart – the newly-minted Defensive Player of the Year – also missed Game 1 of the series due to a right mid-foot sprain. He has been incredibly productive when available during the series, averaging 20.0 PPG, 9.5 APG, and 6.5 RPG in the second and third contests of these Eastern Conference Finals.

All-Star Miami swingman Jimmy Butler, who missed the second half of a Game 3 Heat win with right knee inflammation and struggled offensively in Game 4, has not been listed on Miami’s injury report.

Marcus Smart Won’t Play In Game 4

May 23rd, 2022 at 6:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart will miss Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Monday due to swelling in his sprained right ankle, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

It’s a huge blow for the Celtics, who are trying to even the series after losing Game 3 at home. Smart also missed Game 1 of the series, then played heavy minutes in Games 2 and 3.

He racked up 24 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds and three steals in Boston’s 127-102 Game 2 victory while playing 40 minutes. He fouled out after 37 minutes in Game 3 while posting 16 points, seven assists, four rebounds and four turnovers in 37 minutes.

Center Robert Williams, who missed Game 3 with knee soreness, is listed as available to play by the team, Tim Bontemps of ESPN tweets. Derrick White, Payton Pritchard and Aaron Nesmith will likely get increased court time in Smart’s absence. White will take Smart’s place in the starting lineup.

As reported earlier, Heat sixth man Tyler Herro is out with a groin injury. Jimmy Butler (right knee inflammation), Kyle Lowry (left hamstring strain), Max Strus (right hamstring strain), P.J. Tucker (left knee irritation) and Gabe Vincent (left hamstring strain) all intend to play after being listed as questionable.

Heat’s Butler, Celtics’ Williams Questionable For Game 4

May 22nd, 2022 at 4:32pm CST by JD Shaw

Heat star Jimmy Butler (knee inflammation) and Celtics center Robert Williams III (knee soreness) are both listed as questionable for Game 4 on Monday night, according to the teams’ injury reports.

According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, Butler plans to play. He missed the second half of Game 3 due to the injury, while Williams missed the entire contest.

The Heat are also listing Tyler Herro (groin strain), Kyle Lowry (hamstring strain), Max Strus (hamstring strain), P.J. Tucker (knee irritation) and Gabe Vincent (hamstring strain) as questionable.

In addition, the Celtics have listed Marcus Smart (right ankle sprain) as questionable and Jayson Tatum (right cervical nerve impingement) as probable to play.

Smart and Tatum suffered their injuries during Game 3, leaving the court momentarily before returning a short time later. Miami has been listing Lowry, Tucker, Vincent and Strus on its injury report for quite some time, though Tucker suffered his knee injury this series. He was previously dealing with a calf strain.

Despite missing Butler in the second half, Miami held on to win Game 3 and take a 2-1 series lead. Boston also missed Williams, one of the league’s best interior defenders, as Bam Adebayo finished with 31 points. A Boston win on Monday would tie the series 2-2, while a loss would mean the Celtics have to head back to Miami facing a 3-1 deficit and possible elimination in Game 5 on Wednesday.

Jimmy Butler Leaves Game 3 Due To Knee Inflammation

May 21st, 2022 at 10:14pm CST by Arthur Hill

10:14pm: Butler’s injury isn’t serious and there’s a “strong possibility” he’ll be ready for Monday’s Game 4, a source tells Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link). The Heat now hold a 2-1 series lead.

9:08pm: Heat forward Jimmy Butler didn’t return to Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals after halftime because of inflammation in his right knee, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic.

Butler played nearly 20 minutes in the first half with eight points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals. He helped Miami build a 15-point lead at halftime as the team tries to bounce back from a lopsided loss in Game 2. Victor Oladipo started the second half in Butler’s place.

Butler has been the Heat’s leading scorer throughout the playoffs, averaging 29.8 PPG through 12 games, more than double anyone else on the team. He missed Game 5 of the first-round series against Atlanta with the same issue and has been dealing with discomfort in the knee throughout the postseason.

The Celtics had a health scare of their own as Marcus Smart was helped to the locker room with an ankle injury shortly after the second half began, tweets Jared Weiss of The Athletic. Smart suffered a sprain but will try to play through it, a source tells Weiss (Twitter link).