Boston Celtics News (2023-2024)

Just an update on KP.  If you listened to First Take, they tried to muddy the waters by adding more injuries onto KP's status.  ESPN still has the same story from two days ago up there with no changes.  Per ESPN injury pages, he is somewhere between Day-to-Day and Questionable as of today.  Just about every time I've seen either of those posted, that dude shows up and plays.  I'm expecting the same.  

db

And Brad will make sure that they don't know if he is playing for sure until almost game time. Takes two to tango, they played that card with Luca the other night. Tell them nothing

I'm going to bet KP is available tonight.  

db

Just heard on channel 5, Boston, that they think he is. NOT playing.  Do not know if they know what they are talking about, not regular guys who cover Celtics, so could be some guy trying to make a name for himself but I still think they will keep Dallas thinking.

ESPN confirmed it.  I was skeptical as you were, Rosalie, and thought the same thing.  

db

CELTIC PRIDE!!!  






Bob


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https://www.youtube.com/post/UgkximUY4uySn4AMgJ3SrPgkTlIYDM22JI4K?si=5uADS_ObLIkuVHN2


Bob


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Celtics’ Kristaps Porzingis’ rare injury will require offseason surgery, ‘few months’ recovery



By DOUG KYED | dkyed@bostonherald.com
June 18, 2024 at 1:32 a.m.


Kristaps Porzingis was clearly not 100% in his return to the court, which came just in time for the Celtics to win an NBA championship.

But just how bad was his “rare” injury?

“It pretty much hurts on every step,” Porzingis said after the title-clinching Game 5 win. “Like, I would take a walk in Dallas, and my leg would swell up.”


Porzingis’ torn medial retinaculum, which allowed a dislocation of the posterior tibialis tendon, will require surgery, he told ESPN’s Tim Bontemps on Monday night. The recovery process will take a “few months.”
Head coach Joe Mazzulla said it was a “huge credit” to Porzingis to play through the leg ailment.

“I know he’s been in and out in the playoffs, but he’s worked his ass off to try and get in and play as much as he could,” Mazzulla said.

“It just says — about the team, everyone is going to do whatever it takes to win. And even though he wasn’t 100%, he said he wanted to play, and he knew he could give us something. And I thought that the minutes he gave us were valuable. It speaks to who he is, and it speaks to the locker room.”

The Mavericks took four straight open threes, and hit two of them, with Porzingis on defense when he entered the game with 6:49 left in the first quarter to a thunderous ovation from the crowd at TD Garden.

Porzingis clearly wasn’t moving like his usual self and was having difficulty switching on defense.

Still, he wanted to be on the court with his teammates, and he looked more comfortable as the game wore on.
“Tonight was the night. I was like, listen, I’m going to give it everything I have,” Porzingis said. “And, yeah, I’m just super happy to be a part of this and give something to the team, and I’m super thankful for the support I’ve gotten from the fans. And tonight the arena was electric. It’s been unbelievable playing in front of these fans.”
The 7-foot-3 center played 16 minutes and shot 2-of-4 with five points, one rebound and two fouls. The Celtics were +8 when he was on the court.

“He’s just a great teammate, a great competitor. I was happy for him that he was able to go out there,” point guard Derrick White said. “The crowd cheering him on like that just got him going. He’s still 7-4 and can do so many different things here. He’s special.”


Bob
MY NOTE: Get it done now, be ready for camp at the end of September.


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After winning NBA championship in Boston, Celtics scheduled to take celebration to ... Miami


Anthony Chiang

Tue, June 18, 2024 at 6:17 AM PDT·2 min read



Before enjoying their championship parade in Boston later this week, the Celtics are set to celebrate in ... Miami.

Just hours after clinching their record-setting 18th NBA championship with Monday night’s 106-88 win over the Dallas Mavericks in Boston, the Celtics are scheduled to take a noon flight to Miami on Tuesday to continue their celebration.

“Noon FLT to Miami” was written on the whiteboard in the Celtics’ locker room following the championship-clinching win at TD Garden, according to reporters in Boston.


“Celtics are headed to Miami for a few days to party,” Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe posted on X late Monday night. “Parade [in Boston] is expected to be this Friday.”

On the surface, a trip to Miami after winning the NBA title shouldn’t come as a surprise. One of the things Miami is known for is its nightlife.

But considering Miami is also home to one of the Celtics’ biggest current rivals, the post-championship trip to South Florida is noteworthy.

The Heat and Celtics have faced off in the playoffs in four of the last five seasons: The Heat eliminated the Celtics in the 2020 Eastern Conference finals, the Celtics ended the Heat’s season in the 2022 East finals, the Heat ousted the Celtics in the 2023 East finals, and the Celtics made quick work of the Heat in the first round of this year’s playoffs.

While the Celtics may be coming to Miami, one member from the Heat’s side was in attendance for the Celtics’ title-clinching win in Boston on Monday.

Haslem, who retired at the end of the 2022-23 season following a 20-year NBA playing career spent entirely with the Heat, was at TD Garden to fulfill his NBA TV broadcasting duties, interviewing Celtics players, coaches and executives amid their championship celebration at TD Garden immediately following Monday’s victory. Along with serving as a studio NBA analyst for various networks, Haslem was hired by the Heat in November just months into retirement to be the vice president of basketball development.

In addition, former Heat guard Ray Allen was in Boston to watch the Celtics’ championship win on Monday. Allen, whose playing career came to an end following the 2013-14 season, won a championship with the Celtics in 2008 before leaving in free agency to join the Heat in 2012.

The Heat ended the Celtics’ season in Boston last year. This year, the Celtics are taking a three-hour flight to Miami to celebrate their first NBA championship in more than a decade.


Bob
MY NOTE:  The level of disrespect here is palpible.  LOL.


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Cameron Tabatabaie @CTabatabaie
12 hours ago
Mazzulla: Praise and criticism are just as dangerous…it’s Boston, we wouldn’t want it any other way



Bob


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Not news, just opinion...

Right after the ceremony to raise Banner 18 to the rafters, time to schedule raising # 20 / Ray Allen as well.

Time to end the silly pettiness; all was forgiven by his teammates anyway. If KG belongs up there, so does Ray.

Cameron Tabatabaie @CTabatabaie
about 5 hours ago
Jaylen Brown last night to @mikezarren: You’re the biggest Celtics fan I know


Bob
MY NOTE: He's also a salary cap genius. I was SO scared that he'd leave after Brad got the GM job.


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Mike Zarren IS the Celtics' #1 unsung hero.

worcester wrote:Mike Zarren IS the Celtics' #1 unsung hero.

Him, and the iPad green-light special guy. I cannot remember his name.

I wonder what his final season record was?

gyso wrote:

worcester wrote:Mike Zarren IS the Celtics' #1 unsung hero.

Him, and the iPad green-light special guy.  I cannot remember his name.

I wonder what his final season record was?

Matt Reynolds is his name but don’t know his record.

Greeny makes the argument this Celtic team is one of the best in NBA history with a "Top 5 Reasons" list.





Bob


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Greeny, whom I respect enormously, makes the argument quite convincingly that the 2023-24 Celtics team is one of the 5 Greatest teams in NBA history, but not one of the 5 Best. I agree with him.

Sure, we are amongst the best teams in NBA history, top ten, by many of the discussed metrics.  I can live with that.

You cannot pit one team from one era against another team from another era, in an actual game, we all know that.  The comparison is more about how we fared against our peers in the present time vs. how another team fared against their peers in their time.   So, perhaps top 10, approaching top 5, but not in the top 5.

Imagine the conversation if Porzingis had been healthy throughout the playoffs.  That most likely would have allowed us to cross into the top 5, easily.

bobheckler wrote:Greeny makes the argument this Celtic team is one of the best in NBA history with a "Top 5 Reasons" list.





Bob


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Greeny makes an interesting argument, and for the most part, I'll buy it.

I'm unsure if I go along with his distinction between "greatest" and "best," but it does help when comparing across eras, since he's isolating a single season. I'll consider that more; I think there is some merit there.

In terms of greatest team by Greeny's definition, eliminating anything prior to 1970 due to league expansion, rule and draft changes, I would also put the '24 Celtics just behind...

'71 Bucks
'72 Lakers
'86 Celtics
'96 Bulls
'17 Warriors

I'm not listing these in order of my perception of greatness, but rather in chronological order. Using that same definition of greatest versus best, I would have no problem listing the '24 Celtics ahead of the '08 Celtics. I personally make the '86 Celtics both greatest and best. In my view, followed by the '71 Bucks and '96 Bulls. I do also agree with gyso, that a healthy Porzingis throughout the season and playoffs might have elevated this team's rank.

One thing they brought up later in the video was the coaching job done by Joe Mazzulla. Teams are often compared and ranked, but coaches and the year or era in which they perform seems to get far less attention. My judgement is admittedly compromised since I have been a big fan of Mazzulla and his fresh/unconventional approach from day one. That being said, I think his coaching performance over the '23 - '24 season and playoff run, separate of the debate over roster quality and using that same greatest vs best metric, deserves a spot among the top dozen greatest NBA coaching performances.

Due to my Eagles fandom I am on a Philly sports message board. The following is what a member posted in regards to the Celtics winning the NBA championship this year: I will post my rebuttal after his ridiculous comment.

t me list the reasons why the Celts championship should have an asterisk.

1) Their top 3 players never got hurt
2) Giannis went down
3) Embid went down and never fully recovered from his injuries
4) Miami without Butler...cmon. And the Celts still lost a game.
5) Cavs..cmon
6) Pacers after they were exhausted in a 7 gm series against the Knicks
7) Pacers blew 2 games
Haliburton hurt for half the Pacers series
9) Sixers had to play the Knicks in 1st rd because Embid was hurt in reg season.
10) If the Sixers lost to Miami, they would have played the Celts. Heckuva lot harder for the Celts than playing Miami without Butler.
10 Even if the Knicks beat the Pacers, they would have been decimated with injuries, including Brunson
11) Avoided the Nuggets and played the 5th seed in the finals, when Luka was clearly hurting and they still got blown out in Game 4.

Like I said,  joke.

MY REBUTTAL:
I completely disagree but it’s ok, we all have different opinions. But I will say this, they beat every team that they played. Your reason #1 is frankly ridiculous. Making it through a season relatively healthy is now a disqualifier?!?! Give me a break. #2 and 3. Boston went 2-2 this season series against the Bucks and 3-1 against the Sixers. Miami is always a threat in the playoffs but Boston went 3-0 against them. It’s not the Celtics fault because the Cavs and Pacers didn’t fit your definition of a legitimate threat. As the saying goes, “if if’s and buts were candy and nuts we’d all have a merry Christmas”. They had the best record in the league by seven games, they were number three in offensive efficiency, number two in scoring and defense, number one in point differential, had a twenty point or more lead in 51 of 101 games that they played (regular season and playoffs). They went 80-21 overall. Second best postseason winning percentage of all time (GS 2017), made and attempted more 3 pointers than any other team in the league, and second all time, again to GS. It’s fine if they’re not your cup of tea, but too say their championship was a fluke and deserves an asterisk, well I highly disagree with that. As far as the western conference is concerned all the Nuggets, T-wolves, and Thunder had to do was get there and see how they would have fared against the Celtics. The Mavs beat the fourth seed Clippers, the first seed Thunder, and the third seed T-wolves, they earned their way to the finals. They beat the T-wolves who beat the Nuggets in game seven in Denver, which kind of takes away from the Nuggets unbeatable “juggernaut” that many thought they were. If it’s any title that deserves an asterisk it is the Lakers bogus “Disney bubble” title in 2020. Not a season when the league’s best and most dominant team from the start of the year through the end of the year and arguably most talented and deepest team all season goes on and wins the title.

NYCelt wrote:Not news, just opinion...

Right after the ceremony to raise Banner 18 to the rafters, time to schedule raising # 20 / Ray Allen as well.

Time to end the silly pettiness; all was forgiven by his teammates anyway. If KG belongs up there, so does Ray.

I agree that Ray should have his numbered retired but I would retire Rondo's number 9 first

Here is his reply to my post:
Health = Luck the Celts had it, the Bucks and Sixers and Heat, their 3 biggest threats didnt. Throw in Haliburton and you have the 4 biggest threats hampered with injuries. If you cant agree with that, I don't what to tell you.

The Celts are a 3 pt shooting team. Its basically all they do. In a different era, their record in the reg season and playoffs wouldnt be nearly as good.

They should have lost 2 to a very tired Indy team, whose coach admittedly said he f'd up.

They got blown out by 40 points in the finals. No championship team should lose by 40 to anyone.

Compare the road Dallas (or any West team, for that matter) had to take to get to the finals compared to the Celts, it's a joke. No wonder Dallas had nothing left by the end.

And mine too his:

[quote="willjr"]Here is his reply to my post:
Health = Luck the Celts had it, the Bucks and Sixers and Heat, their 3 biggest threats didnt. Throw in Haliburton and you have the 4 biggest threats hampered with injuries. If you cant agree with that, I don't what to tell you.

The Celts are a 3 pt shooting team. Its basically all they do. In a different era, their record in the reg season and playoffs wouldnt be nearly as good.

They should have lost 2 to a very tired Indy team, whose coach admittedly said he f'd up.

They got blown out by 40 points in the finals. No championship team should lose by 40 to anyone.

Compare the road Dallas (or any West team, for that matter) had to take to get to the finals compared to the Celts, it's a joke. No wonder Dallas had nothing left by the end.

And mine too his:

I never said or thought of them as an all time great team. They aren’t even close to being the best Celtic team I’ve ever seen. But to say they weren’t the best team in the league and needed incredible luck to win the title this season and their championship is somehow illegitimate is a ridiculous take. To run down other teams lists of injuries is IMO weak as hell. They aren’t an all time team, anyone who says they are is either a homer, delusional or both. But rather you agree with me or not it really doesn’t matter. They were undoubtedly the best team in the league this year and they deserved to win the championship. As far as your point about a 38 point loss in the finals, google the “Memorial Day massacre.” The Celtics beat the Lakers by 34 points but lost the series 4 games to 2. We are all Eagles fans, how weak does it sound to say “well if T.O. Didn’t get hurt at the end of the season we would have beaten the Patriots in the Superbowl”. I guess that means that you believe that if Malcolm Jenkins had not laid out Brandin Cooks in the Superbowl we most likely would’ve lost the game. Ridiculous, right? Well that is exactly the premise you’re taking by mentioning the injuries suffered by other playoff teams. Well as a Celtic fan should I bring up Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving missing the ECF a few years ago and declare that the champions that year deserved an asterisk? Blaming injuries, or the unavailability of players on your team or a rival team is weak. I’m not trying to change your mind, but the fact is that the most dominant, wire to wire best team record wise in the league Boston Celtics are the 2023-24 NBA CHAMPIONS. In the 2010 NBA Finals the Lakers won game seven by the score of 83-79 over the Celtics. Kendrick Perkins tore his ACL in game six. The Lakers also shot 37 free throws to the Celtics 17. It was a 4 point game, do the math, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and KG were all good free throw shooters, if the fouls were more evenly called I could make the case that Boston would have won the game and the championship. Should we consider the Lakers title that year as needing an asterisk, after all the Celtics starting center, leading rebounder and shot blocker as well as their chief intimidator didn’t play in the decisive game seven. Or maybe us Celtics fans should cry, bitch and moan about the free throw discrepancy. I get it, you apparently hate the Celtics, I hate the Lakers (and the Cowboys) but it doesn’t take away from the fact that the Lakers are recognized as the 2010 NBA Champions and their is no asterisk and no need for one either. Or that the Cowboys didn’t win the Super Bowl in 93,94&96 sans an asterisk also. Doesn’t matter if they were totally healthy and the 49’ers, Packers, Eagles, Redskins, Giants or any other NFC contender was healthy or missing key players. The Bills and Steelers fans should definitely demand an asterisk be placed on the Cowboys victory because they weren’t at full strength due to injuries. Makes perfect sense, right?!?!? Woulda, Shoulda, Coulda…but no other team did! The season is over the Celtics are league champions, there’s always next year.

The 2013-24 Celtics are one of the NBA'S 10 best teams ever. Period. Full stop.

You are 100% spot on willjr.

Your friend is an idiot.