Celtics fan since 1965. Brooklyn-born. BU alum. Honorary Aussie. Sporadic
@CelticsBlog
contributor. Was called a Celtics historian in print, so it must be true.
At 35,
@RealBillRussell
won his 11th title. He was the player-coach of the Celtics and had no assistant coaches. He also played all 48 minutes in 14 of Boston's 18 playoff games that postseason. These are historical facts. None of these achievements will ever happen again.
NBA superstars at age 35
• Michael Jordan: retired
• Larry Bird: limited to 45 games (retired at end of season)
• Shaquille O’Neal: 13.6 PPG, traded to Phoenix
• Wilt Chamberlain: 14.8 PPG (lowest in career to that point)
• LeBron James: headed to 9th NBA Finals in 10 years
Boston 136, Brooklyn 86
Ever since Lucky was stepped on, the Celtics have destroyed and demolished the Nets repeatedly. It's the gift that keeps on giving.
Ok, strictly basketball, you quit in the Milwaukee series and broke your unsolicited promise to re-sign with the Celtics. But keep pretending you have the moral high ground.
Kyrie Irving on returning to Boston for Game 3
"Hopefully we can just keep it strictly basketball. There's no belligerence or any racism going on, or subtle racism. People yelling s**t from the crowd."
#Celtics
@NBC10Boston
@RaulNBCBoston
This is my annual request to the
@NBA
that the Boston
@celtics
play a home game on every St. Patrick’s Day. Their mascot is a leprechaun, so it’s a no-brainer, isn’t it?
Tatum played in the last Olympics when most big names stayed home. He was 2nd in scoring after KD and they won gold. Tatum earned his Team USA status. But during the friendlies Kerr had him stand in the corner not getting touches, and now the DNP. Tatum deserves much better.
“[Jayson Tatum] handled it well. I talked to him today before the game, that it may play out this way just with Kevin [Durant] coming back... I felt like an idiot not playing him... [In] a 40-minute game, you can't play more than 10."
— Steve Kerr 👀
Perk just came off the top rope on Kyrie. 👀 Recalled how Kyrie was hugging the Celtics after dropping 40, but tonight didn't shoot well and walked straight off the court.
The Celtics started the season 18-21.
The coach and players called out each other:
"They don’t want to pass the ball"
"Looking in the mirror? Nah"
"They lack mental toughness"
They are now 39-27 with the NBA’s best defense.
One of the greatest in-season turnarounds ever.
Is this heaven? Coach Joe Mazzulla of the NBA CHAMPION BOSTON CELTICS brought the trophy to his native Rhode Island today. After the ceremonies were done, he stayed and posed with every person who wanted a trophy picture. A true man of the people! ☘️🏀💚
Just a reminder: If the Minneapolis/LA Lakers had beaten Bill Russell’s Celtics *even once* in the Finals, instead of being 0-7, then a) they’d already have the most titles and b) their fans would have a very different take on the era of “plumbers and truck drivers.”
The Celtics took the lead after the first minute and a half and Miami never led again all night, but in Q4 Stan Van Gundy stated "I have not liked the Celtics’ approach this entire game." WTF is his problem?
Never forget, Philly actually stole Horford from the Celtics a few years ago, but they screwed it up so bad that now the whole city hates him. Which makes games like last night so much sweeter.
Jabari Parker was the no. 2 pick in the 2014 draft. The last no. 2 pick that the Celtics signed as a free agent was Evan Turner (
@thekidet
), and that worked out pretty well.
Retiring Bill Russell’s number league-wide wasn’t just for basketball, it was about him being a social leader in the fight for civil rights. Would Udonis Haslem want to live under Jim Crow laws? Face segregation? Play in a quota system? He should be ashamed for these comments.
Udonis Haslem said ‘F**k Bill Russell’ in his pregame speech to his teammates after seeing Russell’s jersey retired in Miami’s arena
“Tell me when you gonna see a Miami Heat jersey hanging in Boston”
(🎥
@theOGsShow
/ )
A likely benefit of this Celtics hot streak: any players who hit the buyout market will now see Boston as an attractive destination. Can only help the Cs in their recruiting efforts.
The Grant Williams Boston Experience:
-Missed first 25 3ptFA, went on to become one of league’s best in 3pt%.
-Epic 7 threes, game-high 27 pts in Game 7 win vs. Bucks.
-“Imma make both.” Misses both.
Grant is a fun player and great guy. Gonna miss him with the Celtics.
It's all right to be upset that the Celtics didn't go up 3-1, but there are supposed Boston fans tweeting that the Cs are "pathetic" and "losers" and worse. FYI: If you hate them for not being perfect, it's ok to just stop watching the games.
There were two reasons I wanted the Celtics to avoid the Nets.
1) Brooklyn has too much talent.
2) All the Kyrie BS would be dredged up again.
I'm 2 for 2.
Last night vs. Celtics, Thanasis Antetokounmpo was ejected for scrapping with Blake Griffin.
Tonight, Kris Dunn was ejected for scrapping with Blake Griffin.
Celtics next game is in Philly. I nominate Joel Embiid to be ejected for scrapping with Blake Griffin.
Jimmy Butler says national media is in the tank for the Celtics, while being given a platform on national TV at a game in which he’s not even in uniform. GMAFB
"If I gotta hear one more praise about Boston on national tv when we win a game, I'm tired of hearing that, man." 🍿
@ChrisBHaynes
caught up with Jimmy Butler during Game 3
Just learned Barkley said that when the Celtics won 9 straight “they didn’t play anybody.” 🤔 They went into Philly and won by 48 (!) last week and THE GAME WAS ON TNT! Did he doze off in the studio or what?
The Celtics:
— Best defense since December 1
— Best point differential in 2022
— 12-2 in last 14 games
— Only East team with winning record vs .500 teams
The
@cetics
Jaylen Brown (418 points) and Jayson Tatum (405) each scored at least 400 points in January.
They are just the third duo in franchise history to achieve this feat:
✅ Cousy & Sharman (Jan. 1956)
✅ Bird & McHale (Jan. 1988)
✅ Brown & Tatum (Jan. 2022)
Devin Booker upset that the Raptors mascot, the only fan in the building, is behind the hoop distracting him with the game on the line. Refs send him to timeout in the corner.
The Celtics have 4 straight home games in 8 days (Dec. 29-Jan. 5). It's the perfect time to bring back the Little Guy on a 10-day. He wouldn't even have to play much, but he sure would light the Garden on fire. Any kind of spark would help this team now.
The Lakers and Isaiah Thomas won’t do a second 10-day contract, making him a free agent, sources tell
@TheAthletic
@Stadium
. Multiple teams are expected to express interest in Thomas, who averaged 9.3 points in four games for Lakers.
Happy birthday to
@smart_MS3
, who is so cool that his high school jersey had his name on the front. (Also because he attended Edward S. Marcus HS in Texas, but still...)
#BleedGreen
2008 Celtics vs LA in Finals:
-Win Games 1&2 at home.
-Lose G3 in LA.
-Fall way behind in G4, but stage huge rally that rips hearts out of home team/crowd.
2018 Red Sox:
-Same
#BelieveInBoston
Random John Havlicek facts:
-Also drafted as wide receiver by Cleveland Browns
-Always closed pregame warmups with 2 layups
-Played all 48 minutes of all 7 games, 1969 Finals
-Celtics record 54 points in playoff game vs. Hawks
-Rec'd 7+ minutes standing O prior to final game
This says that with 19 seconds left in OT and the Celtics down 1, Derrick White was fouled on his layup attempt. He should’ve had 2 FTs that could’ve given Boston the lead. That didn’t happen.
But thanks for letting us know,
@nba
.
L2Ms have said 4 of Celtics 8 losses were tainted by refs.
MIN: Tatum fouled on shot, tie score, 1:26 left in reg., no call. Lost in OT.
PHI: Embiid stepped out of bounds, no call. Lost by 3.
CHA: Clock error. Lost in OT.
IND: Missed illegal screen & wrong foul call. Lost by 2.
Three times the Bucks could’ve taken full control of this series, but the Celtics never gave in. Today’s the day to finally make home court advantage matter.
Celtics in 7.
OKC's record against 'top-tier' teams in the NBA this season
2-0 vs. Warriors
1-0 vs. Rockets
1-0 vs. Raptors
1-0 vs. Cavaliers
(h/t
@AdamJosephSport
)
I’ll say this about Embiid. He came back from injury and played hard. After game 7 ended, he congratulated the Celtics like a stand up guy and didn’t slink off to locker room like others have. Gotta respect that.
It's been a very, very long time since any Celtics team has been this good on the road. They've won two road games in *each of the three series,* and that is something incredibly special.
It’s a shame Ime Udoka didn’t get any love here. He’s completely reshaped the Celtics from a play-in team last year to a legit contender that wins with offense and defense. Exceptional leader.
This is like when
@Leon_Powe
hit the Lakers with 21 points and afterwards Phil Jackson tried to distract everyone by purposely mispronouncing his name as Pow. It didn’t work then and it’s not working now.
"We understand people try to drive a wedge between us ... This is not our first time at the rodeo."
-Jayson Tatum on Jason Kidd saying Jaylen Brown is Boston’s best player 👀
(via
@NBATV
)
Today, Marcus Smart became contractually eligible to be traded. Tonight, Sacramento is playing in Boston. The Kings are said to have players available. If the two teams make any sort of deal between now and tipoff, this will become one of the weirdest days in Celtics history.
According to ESPN, the only individual defensive category that Marcus Smart led this season was loose balls recovered per game (1.1) which a) isn't even a defensive stat and b) even if you want to grant that as a real stat, he finished 11th. Jimmy Butler was 1st. What is going on