Category: NBA

On March 8th, the Phoenix Suns played the Charlotte Hornets. The Suns won 111-99 behind a combined 78 points from the backcourt trio of Devin Booker, Collin Gillespie, and Jalen Green. For most of us, this was a game like any other. We watched, we enjoyed, we went to bed happy that our Suns got another win. It was the second win in a row, and it came against a Charlotte team that is surprisingly hot this season.

But in Phoenix at the Mortgage Matchup Center, in section 108, row 17, there was a special young man and his parents, for whom this game meant so much more.

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22-year old Tate Haddock comes from a long line of Suns fans. His mother, Pam, reminisces about the stories her father would tell about the first seasons of Suns’ basketball. Tate himself started really paying attention to the Suns around a decade ago during Devin Booker’s sophomore season.

In August of 2024, the lives of the Haddock family would change forever. Tate was diagnosed with Leukemia. Doctors told him that if left untreated, he had six months left to live.

“It was very rattling, more than anything,” Tate said.

However, it was neither the diagnosis nor the chemo that Tate said was the worst part of his battle with cancer.

“People don’t talk about watching your loved ones struggle with it just as much, if not more than you do. It was a lot harder on the people that cared about me than it was myself.”

Ever since the diagnosis, Mike and Pam Haddock have been driving four and a half hours every week with their son to St. Louis for chemotherapy. Through it all, Tate and his parents remained strong and hopeful, with the help of their community.

“I had a great support system. My parents, my partner, grandparents. There are a lot of people taking good care of me. My partner stayed with me throughout my entire hospital stay. For better or worse, there were people that cared.”

It wasn’t just his family, either. His small town in Missouri held a golf benefit for him. Pam said, “You don’t realize until you’re in the middle of it and you find the kindness of strangers, how you really are supported and how much people are willing to care and support you if they know what you need and want.”

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Even through the last year and a half of treatment, the Haddock family has kept up with their Suns. Ask them about their favorite Suns players of all time, and you will see a trend. Pam immediately chimes in, “I loved Charles Barkley’s bad attitude!” Tate will tell you, “Dillon Brooks, and we love Goodie!”

The conversation about favorite players led us to his Instagram (@haddock_tate_haddock). “If I’m really locking in, I like Dionte Christmas because one time he reposted my story on Instagram.” Dionte Christmas played his sole 31 NBA games for the Suns in the 2013-2014 season.

That Suns fandom was why, just a few days before Tate’s birthday, the family piled into their car and roadtripped from Missouri to Phoenix to watch the Suns play the Hornets. 

But Pam had more in mind than just a good time at the arena. “I tried everything to get him to be able to meet players. Emailing reporters, players. I’ve got to figure this out!”

Eventually, she was able to get a hold of the Sun’s Mercury Foundation. “They said they wanted to make it a night he wouldn’t forget.” 

And so it was that before the game, Tate Haddock could be seen, freshly in remission, walking through the players’ tunnel to stand courtside for pregame shootaround.

“I didn’t know how special it was going to be. I was allowed to just walk up to Oso and talk to him.”

In addition to this incredible experience, the Suns gave him a bag full of merch. He even got his hat signed by Royce O’Neale, Amir Coffey, Haywood Highsmith, and Oso Ighodaro.

“It was amazing,” says Pam, “For them to recognize him and make him feel special and for them to treat our whole family like VIPs, it made me feel like I had accomplished something amazing.”

Overall, it was an incredible night for a young man with battles still ahead of him. Though in remission, Tate has to continue chemo until September 2027. He’s happy that during this, the team is moving in a positive direction.

“This is the best I’ve felt about being a Suns fan since 2021,” Tate said.

“We love the culture and scrappiness,” Pam continued.

When Tate was asked about who his favorite young player on the roster was, he said, “I love Rasheer Fleming.”

And why shouldn’t he? Rasheer Fleming is turning himself into a scrappy player, much like his other favorite players Dillon Brooks and Jordan Goodwin. These players exemplify in their games what Tate has exemplified in his heart, a fighting spirit that doesn’t give up.

“When you are facing adversity, try to see the good in things. When it’s hard to find the good, you’ve got some options. You can create it for yourself or look harder. Eventually, you’ll find it, no matter how hard it can be.”

Tate’s story isn’t just about one man’s battle with cancer. It is a reminder of how much more we are capable of when we come together. It is a reminder of the power of a community working together toward a common goal, whether as a nation, a small town in Missouri, or the fans of a basketball team.

The most important thing we can do is take care of one another. So tell the people you love that you love them, go out and get involved in your community, and cheer as hard as ever for the teams you love.

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#1 – Early game trouble

As it was highlighted by Gray Washburn in the press conference after the game, it’s rare for Joe Mazzulla to call multiple timeouts so early in the game. However, pretty quickly, the Celtics were falling behind, especially because of their offense. As the Celtics head coach said, there were too many “empty possessions.”

Looking back at the film, most of the shots prior to that second timeout were contested pull-up shots or floaters, but rarely open opportunities or layups at the rim. The Hawks did a great job of contracting the space without leaving too much gap to the shooters.

Right after the timeout, it was yet another missed pull-up from the mid-range, but this time the Celtics crashed the glass and extended the possession for a Hugo Gonzalez three-pointer.

#2 – Quick adaptation

To get back in the game, the Celtics needed to find a way to the rim. For that, they used the Hawks’ coverage against them. As the Hawks were willing to switch over screens, the Celtics multiplied the cuts and increased the movement while obtaining the matchup they wanted.

On the play below, the screens on the strong side of the court create a switch that gives Luka Garza a big size advantage on Gabe Vincent. This makes it easier for Derrick White to find him on the cut and finally get a shot at the rim for the Celtics.

The Celtics used that momentum against the Hawks bench to get going and make the most of the mistakes. Here, Jonathan Kuminga jumps on the fake and White drives right away for another layup. The Celtics were finally able to get deep into the paint.

The lack of good execution on switches was perfect for the Celtics offense, and showed how deep the Celtics can be. While the starters struggled a little at first, the bench rolled over the Hawks. Here, the switch is completely broken and Garza gets a free roll to the rim.

This run was fueled by a man who was craving buckets, Payton Pritchard.

#3 – MVPayton the tornado

Of course, it had to be him to conclude the first-quarter run.

Buzzers HATE to see Payton shooting 🚨 pic.twitter.com/pPzwXVLXqt

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) March 28, 2026

But he was just getting started, as the guard ended up with 36 points last night. Often, Joe Mazzulla talks about creating good looks early in the possession. Well, look at PP here going full speed on that handoff with Garza. The defense isn’t even set and he scores right at the rim. The early bird gets the worm, right?

Then, a little give-and-go early in the possession. As he passes to Jayson Tatum, PP uses the flare screen from Neemias Queta to get enough space for another bomb.

Here, the action starts a bit slow as he runs a first ball screen with Tatum. He sees space to attack, so he swings it to the side, but immediately cuts and gets the ball back for another layup.

And he kept attacking the Hawks like this all night until the final buzzer. Great game from PP with Jaylen Brown sitting out. But while the scoring is what stands out, he impacted the game in other ways.

#4 – Pritchard beyond the scoring

Asked Joe Mazzulla about Payton Pritchard, who was a +26 in a game the Celtics won by seven:

“The points are one thing, but I thought the ball handling, handling the pressure, the offensive rebounding… It’s just those big time plays for us. He's not defined by scoring.” pic.twitter.com/jTlPSfP8Ip

— Justin Turpin (@JustinmTurpin) March 28, 2026

Joe Mazzulla was right, the 36 points will make the headlines, but some plays had an even bigger impact on the game. In the second half alone, he created four extra possessions with offensive rebounds.

He also put his body on the line late in the game to force a foul on Nickeil Alexander-Walker that created a much-needed extra possession.

This extra effort from one of the smallest guys on the court speaks loudly to the commitment to winning and doing what it takes to put the team in the best position possible, with or without the ball.

#5 – Roaming off Dyson Daniels

The other big factor in the game was the Celtics’ defensive plan against the Hawks — and once again, it was about how they mixed matchups. As expected, they put Neemias Queta on the Atlanta Hawks’ worst shooter, Dyson Daniels. This lack of shooting from the former Pelicans guard created an overload of players in the paint for the Hawks on offense, as Queta was playing the safety.

Yet, what was surprising was Sam Hauser being matched up with Onyeka Okongwu, and the Hawks weren’t going after him to punish the Celtics’ bet. Of course, the Celtics center isn’t known for his post-up moves and isn’t even that tall, but the Hawks could have tried to put pressure on the Celtics’ defensive shell with that size advantage.

The Hawks tried various things to help Daniels. They attacked the Celtics big men with drives, or asked for more movement from their non-shooting wing, but the flow seemed off when the actions involved him, and the paint was full of bodies anyway.

Overall, the Celtics were able to turn him into a non-impact offensive player, forcing others to make the difference from the outside.

#6 – Dealing with Jalen Johnson

A big wing with driving and shooting abilities like Jalen Johnson is tough to handle for any team, but the Celtics had a plan in mind to make sure they gave away the right thing. Early in the game, they were comfortable living with his shooting variance, even as he was making pull-up threes from deep.

On the action above, it is clear that the threat the Celtics identified was his drive, not his shot. The following play speaks even louder. Like against the Thunder, the Celtics sent a lot of help from the nail, closed the drives, and took away the pass to the corner. And if you take away the drives and the corner three from a team… well, there isn’t much hope left.

#7 – Queta the QB

Against a team with a lot of ball pressure, drawing offense around Neemias Queta was smart and worked pretty well. Here, he gets the ball at the nail, and Sam Hauser sets a back screen for Jayson Tatum. The action isn’t well read and that creates a gap for JT’s cut.

Right away, they run the same play again and Queta finds JT deep in the paint so he can use his size and touch to go over Dyson Daniels.

A little later, Tatum returns the favor to Sam Hauser with a screen on the zoom action, and Queta is again the man holding the ball while the play unfolds, like a QB waiting to deliver a touchdown pass.

#8 – Small-ball experiment

With 5 minutes left in the second quarter, the Celtics were up 3 points and then went for a small-ball unit to close the first half. While the score at the break indicates it didn’t go as expected, there are some encouraging flashes and lessons from that stretch.

First, the Celtics — and Jayson Tatum in particular — will need to be more disciplined in these situations where he is the rim protector. Here, he gets caught by Daniels behind him and that’s an easy layup for the Hawks.

At the same time, Jayson Tatum at the five is great for spacing and mismatch hunting. He can be the screener and, depending on the defensive coverage, it creates gaps in the defense. Here, the double comes and he finds Jordan Walsh on the cut.

The Celtics will need to keep working on that lineup because it could be a game changer depending on the matchup when the playoffs come.

#9 – Jordan Walsh delivers

After six games without playing, the opportunity was much needed for Walsh — especially in such a competitive game. And Jordan delivered.

I asked Joe Mazzulla about Jordan Walsh’s energy and impact after not playing for six games.

“The game called for toughness and physicality and that’s something that he brings, it’s a to credit to him.

“The professionalism to stay ready over the course of the season says a lot… pic.twitter.com/EO2LVMTvoK

— Bobby Krivitsky (@BobbyKrivitsky) March 28, 2026

On offense, it was simple and energetic. He made the right reads and took the shots he was supposed to. Most importantly, he showed presence on the offensive glass to generate much-needed extra possessions.

On defense, he was very active but remained disciplined. He had the second-most contested shots for the Celtics and did a great job against the Hawks guards, especially on CJ McCollum. On the play below, he stays connected, navigates the screen the right way, and baits McCollum into a shot that he can block.

Jordan stayed ready and delivered a strong performance with a real impact.

#10 – Another trip, another blast because of you

This three-week trip to Boston to cover the Celtics was, like last year, an immense honor. Every game, I have to pinch myself to make sure it is still real.

However, this experience wouldn’t be possible if all of you weren’t here to read, comment, and react to these articles. So I just wanted to thank you for taking the time to go through these lines.

The kid I was back in my French Alps wouldn’t have dared to dream about an opportunity like this, and you made it possible by reading my work on CelticsBlog. I hope I didn’t disappoint.

Thanks.

As the NBA appears focused on major reforms to get teams to stop tanking, the NBA Player’s Association (NBAPA) has made a proposal of their own for the league to consider. While the commissioner’s office unveiled a trio of reforms focused on the lottery, the player’s proposal included something massive: huge financial incentives. According to a report by Jake Fischer of The Steinline, the NBAPA’s proposal would allow the standings to impact each team’s share of national TV revenue.

Currently, all NBA teams evenly split national TV revenue. However, per Fischer, the NBAPA’s pitch emulates soccer’s English Premiere League, which would reward teams with an additional $10 million of revenue for each higher seed. It’s unclear whether the proposal is specific to conferences or if team would be stacked up from 1-30. Either way, entering the season expecting to tank would put potentially $50-$100 million of revenue at risk under this proposal, something that would be an extremely strong deterrent aimed at tanking owners.

The NBAPA also proposed an adjusted lottery. The proposal is similar to one of the three unveiled by the league office, expanding the lottery to 18 teams, giving the bottom 10 teams a 7% chance to move up in the draft with the remaining eight squads getting a 3.75% chance of landing the number one pick. The union is also supporting Silver in giving the commissioner more explicit powers to punish tanking teams by diminishing their lottery odds, moving their pick to the end of the lottery or the first round, or stripping them of a first-round pick all together.

It’s hard to imagine league owners ever agreeing to such a clear change to their revenue sharing, but if the league wants to actually disincentivize tanking, making losing hurt a team’s bottom line would be the easiest way to get owners to stop empowering front offices that always want to kick the can down the road.

In strange-but-true news, Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams has filed to trademark the word “Iceman” for his merchandise line. If the name “Iceman” sounds familiar, it’s because San Antonio Spurs legend George Gervin has been using it for over half a century.

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams recently filed four trademark applications to legally claim the "Iceman" nickname for his own clothing and merchandise line, but Spurs legend George "The Iceman" Gervin is officially fighting back. Just days after Williams submitted his… pic.twitter.com/gzacHRA3OJ

— SpursRΞPORTΞR (@SpursReporter) March 26, 2026

The Hall of Fame baller has taken action by filing trademark requests for “Iceman and ”Iceman 44.“ This came four days after Williams initially filed his clothing line trademark request.

There has been much discussion on social media. Young fans unaware of Gervin believe he should have trademarked the nickname by now. Meanwhile, fans of the ABA/NBA crossover star have pointed out his merits as reason enough for Williams to change his path.

In their professional careers:

Gervin — Williams —
4x Scoring Champ
12x All-Star
1x ASG MVP
9x All-NBA/ABA
ABA All-Rookie

One is Iceman. One is a guy. pic.twitter.com/3fOJ5RJUfZ

— SpursMuse (@spurs_muse) March 27, 2026

Skip Baylessn spoke out in defense of George Gervin….

I’m a Caleb Williams fan. But I was a much bigger Iceman Gervin fan, and I’m offended Caleb and Co. are trying to steal George’s all-time great nickname. I unleash on today’s Arena Gridiron 2:30 E.

— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) March 27, 2026

…which compelled Williams to respond.

Idc about where your fandom stands.

I was trying give you and everyone else the benefit of the doubt. About knowing business and being smart about it. But I guess not. Foolish of me!

Also words matter Skip Bayless.
“Steal”

Enjoy that podcast. https://t.co/PDMbllK1lxpic.twitter.com/fouK4A4zsz

— Caleb Williams (@CALEBcsw) March 27, 2026

Turns out both could be fighting for table scraps as former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell may have trademarked the term prior to either Williams or Gervin.

This story is ongoing and will be updated.

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In his 10th game back with the Boston Celtics on Friday night, Jayson Tatum delivered his best performance of the season by dominating the second half against the Atlanta Hawks. It wasn’t particularly efficient, at least not by his standards, and afterward, he admitted the process of building himself back up has brought a mix of emotions.

Jayson Tatum’s return to basketball hasn’t been seamless, but he’s grateful for how far he’s come and for those who have been by his side.

“Playing through it,” Tatum told reporters, per CLNS Media. “I feel rusty, obviously. You can probably see in moments when it doesn’t look the same, or it looks rusty. But I think the mindset of onto the next play (helps). I’m thankful that I got teammates and the coaching staff that are patient with me in this moment as I’m trying to figure it out.”

Tatum missed five layups in Boston’s 109-102 win over Atlanta at TD Garden. He had just five points at the end of the first quarter and remained there by halftime after going scoreless in the second, missing all seven of his attempts. Five of those shots came within 13 feet of the basket, making it even tougher to watch as teammate Payton Pritchard kept the Celtics within striking distance while Tatum struggled to find his rhythm and contribute to the cause.

When dissecting the rust itself, Tatum couldn’t pinpoint anything specific.

“It’s all over the place sometimes,” Tatum explained. “I’ll be dribbling the f—ing ball, and I just mishandle it. Sometimes I still have the ball, but it’s just like, ‘Damn.’ It is frustrating. Obviously, some of the shots and layups at the rim — just kind of moving too fast a little bit. It’s frustrating to me.”

Since rejoining Boston after nearly 10 months away from basketball, Tatum has contributed. His 9.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals through 10 games lead all Celtics. The issue is that Tatum’s recovery didn’t end after he suited back up against the Dallas Mavericks three weeks ago. It’s ongoing, and each game is another step in the process of returning to his old form.

That requires a level of patience that Tatum hasn’t had to demonstrate before in his career. So every turnover, every missed layup, every jumper that doesn’t fall is difficult to take in stride at times, knowing it’s a reminder that there’s still work to do.

Tatum overcame his five-point first quarter and scoreless second against Atlanta by turning it up in the second half. He absorbed contact from C.J. McCollum after cutting to the basket and finishing the layup, converting the and-1. He then knocked down a 12-foot fadeaway jumper, helping spark a 21-point surge across the third and fourth quarters before finishing with a season-best 26 points in an impressive turnaround.

But Tatum’s scoring wasn’t what Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla felt helped Boston in the absence of Jaylen Brown.

“I saw his defensive rebounding; I thought that was the most important thing,” Mazzulla told reporters, per CLNS Media. “I thought offensively, he got into the paint and was able to get to the free-throw line — shot 10 free throws — just continuing to chip away and give the game what it needs. He was aggressive in his drives. He missed some easy layups there, but as long as he stays aggressive, makes the right reads, and continues to rebound, he’s continuing to get better and better.”

Even if his scoring isn’t flashy, it’s just one of several ways Tatum has pitched in. He has not only rebounded as well as he did before suffering his ruptured right Achilles last May, but he’s also been an elite playmaker, setting teammates up to keep the offense active and flowing.

There’s always the pressure to immediately return to the superstar version Tatum was in his first eight seasons with the Celtics, but that will take time. For now, it helps that Boston’s coaching staff remains by his side through the ups and downs.

Mazzulla played Tatum a team-high 36:36 on Friday night, including the entire fourth quarter. It’s unclear what that will mean going forward, as Mazzulla continues to manage Tatum’s minutes based on his on-court response rather than a fixed plan.

“There isn’t a specific number,” Mazzulla clarified. “It’s more about what looks best for us, where we’re at, what we need, and we continue to go from there. He played the whole (fourth) quarter a couple of games in a row, and he’s handling it well, and we continue to assess that and go from there.”

The Celtics worked their way into a strong position, holding the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference since Jan. 15 and sitting four games behind the top-seeded Detroit Pistons. They earned that spot without Tatum, building an identity to withstand the production lost in his absence. Now, with him back, Boston’s chances of returning to the NBA Finals for a third time in five seasons are more legit than ever. Tatum and Brown’s 50-point combined effort against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday proved the Celtics aren’t just poised for a feel-good, Cinderella run — they’re back and ready to make a serious push for it all.

Tatum will be a key piece of that journey, as he was two years ago.

In the meantime, whenever Tatum needs a break from the basketball court, he looks to those closest to him as a father of two.

“I think right now, when I’m frustrated or really want to be better, just going home and my kids,” Tatum told reporters. “Now I’ve got two boys, and it just kind of puts things in perspective and helps me forget about what just happened or transpired in the game.

“I talk about it all the time: being a father is second to none. And now, having two boys and seeing their relationship develop, it was just one kid running to me when I walked in the house. Now it’s two, so that’s a cool feeling.”

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BOSTON — With Jaylen Brown out against the Atlanta Hawks, someone needed to step up to shoulder the offensive load for the Celtics and Payton Pritchard answered the call.

Pritchard finished with a team-high 36 points along with 7 rebounds and 4 assists while shooting 13-23 from the field and 6-11 from three-point range. The biggest indicator of how much Pritchard dominated this game was that he ended as a +26 in a game the Celtics won by seven.

Pritchard was asked postgame about filling the Jaylen Brown role tonight and said nothing really changed on his end. “I don’t think my role changed,” he said. “Like any other night, just come out being aggressive, looking to make plays for my teammates or for myself, and just make the right reads.”

In 8 games without Jaylen Brown this season, Pritchard has stepped up with averages of 25.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 7.3 assists on 48% shooting from the field and 46% shooting from three.

Payton Pritchard vs the Hawks
36 Points
7 Rebounds
4 Assists
13-23 FG
6-11 3PM pic.twitter.com/XqUtJueGiE

— Ian Inangelo (@iinangelo) March 28, 2026

The Celtics offense was slow to start in this game, going down 25-9 with 3:39 left in the first quarter. Joe Mazzulla called his second timeout in a row, seemingly looking for any kind of a spark from someone. That was when Pritchard started to turn it on, scoring 7 points and assisting on another to cut the deficit to 3 points at the end of the first.

In classic Payton Pritchard fashion, he ended the quarter with an incredible buzzer beater, crossing over Dyson Daniels and finishing with a layup that kissed the banners in the TD Garden rafters before falling in.

When asked about his buzzer beater heroics, he talked about the science behind them, saying, “It’s a momentum play and the crowd feels it. Our team feels it. So I feel like it’s crucial because ending a quarter or a half and then going into the next possession you get that energy and the momentum swing.”

When asked about his situational awareness when it comes to taking these shots, Pritchard credited his high school coach for instilling it in him, saying, “I really don’t know… My high school coach, we used to do situations all the time of like end the game, and we would run through like, 8 to 10 situations every day of practice. And I just got really good at learning how to get my shot off in different ways and make a play.”

Pritchard didn’t slow down after swinging the momentum for Boston in the first quarter, riding his hot streak into the second quarter where he had 12 points on 5-7 shooting. He did a great job when it came to getting his shot off quickly and find ways to get to the basket aggressively.

Pritchard carried his impressive play into the third quarter with 13 points on 4-7 shooting. The Hawks tested out a new defensive style of not guarding Payton when he was wide open for three. This, as you could imagine, did not work out well for Atlanta.

Boston dominated the rebounding battle in this game, destroying Atlanta 52-35. Out of those rebounds, the Celtics had 13 offensive rebounds where Pritchard had 3 of them that made a huge difference in the second half. His rebounding led three different scoring plays, one a follow up basket for his own and the other two resulting in Jayson Tatum drawing fouls to shoot free throws.

Joe Mazzulla praised Pritchard’s ability to box out the defenders, calling out specifically the first one he had in the fourth quarter on Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Mazzulla said, “…the offensive rebound that he got looked like a defensive box out, but he got an offensive rebound in the foul [Tatum] drew. They were going out in transition and that could have changed the game a little bit.”

Talking about his offensive rebounds specifically, Pritchard just credited it to hard work and the want to win to win saying, “I want to win. You want to make a play and you see somebody shoot the ball, and I see it coming off the rim, I’m just fighting to try to get in, get an extra possession. Those little things like that can change the game and win a game. So, yeah, it’s just about the want and competitive spirit.”

When asked about the Celtics improvement on the boards as a whole Pritchard said it was all about “hard work, being about your work every day coming in. And, you know, trying to get better at the things that we need to improve at. That’s just a testament to the culture we built here.”

If Pritchard didn’t start for most of the season, it feels like he would be the runaway favorite for Sixth Man of the Year. Since moving to the bench on February 3rd, he has played in 22 games and has averaged 17.3 points, 5.1 assists, and 3.5 rebounds on 47% shooting from the field and 41% shooting from three.

Pritchard’s ability to come in and just cause chaos coming off the bench is a skill that no one in the league is better than him in. We have seen him be able to take over games and be a complete three-level scorer on the offensive end while being a great on defense for his size. He is a one-of-one type of player and his ability to out-work everyone on the court is an example of how he embodies the culture of playing in Boston.

While the coaches pacing the sideline in tailored suits or quarter-zips often get the most attention in men’s college basketball, it’s the players on the court who determine who makes the Final Four and wins the national championship.

The 2025-26 season has been one of the most star-studded in recent memory in the sport, with future NBA Draft lottery picks and wildly productive college players dominating the landscape nationally.

During the 2026 NCAA Tournament, some of the sport’s brightest stars have continued to propel their teams on deep runs. Though standouts like AJ Dybantsa, Darius Acuff Jr. and Darryn Peterson are watching the tournament from home, a number of All-American and all-conference performers are still chasing their dreams of cutting down the nets in Indianapolis on the first Monday night of April.

REQUIRED READING: A scoundrel returns: Will Wade's LSU comeback makes perfect sense

Among that distinguished group, who are the best players competing in the Elite Eight?

Here are the top eight players in the Elite Eight, with one player from each of the remaining eight squads:

Best players to watch in the Elite Eight

Players listed in alphabetical order

Cameron Boozer, Duke

The likely national player of the year has been everything the Blue Devils could have hoped for this season, averaging 22.4 points and 10.3 rebounds per game to make him one of just 14 Division I players averaging a double-double this season. The 6-foot-9 freshman, the son of former NBA All-Star Carlos Boozer, has kept up his outrageous production in the tournament, with a double-double in each of Duke’s first three wins, including 22 points and 10 rebounds in a narrow Sweet 16 win over St. John’s. He’s a projected top-three pick in the NBA Draft for a reason.

Brayden Burries, Arizona

Burries is one of several top-10 recruits from the 2025 class who have enjoyed stellar freshman seasons. On what might be the most well-rounded team in the country, Burries is the leading scorer at 16.2 points per game and has been efficient getting there, shooting 50.2% from the field and 39.5% from 3-point range. Though teammate Jaden Bradley earned Big 12 player of the year honors, Burries has been the Wildcats’ best player in the tournament thus far, averaging 19 points per game and shooting 64.3% (including 75% from 3).

Ja'Kobi Gillespie, Tennessee

He's not the best NBA prospect on his team (that would be star freshman forward Nate Ament), but no player has been more indispensable to the Volunteers than Gillespie, who entered the Sweet 16 averaging a team-high 18.4 points, 5.6 assists and 2.1 steals per game. The Maryland transfer has been a steady, consistent presence for a team that has struggled to score at various points during the season.

Trey Kaufman-Renn, Purdue

It wasn’t an accident that Kaufman-Renn was in position to score the winning basket in Purdue’s biggest win this season. The Sellersburg, Indiana native, the rare college player who’s in his fourth season with the program where he started his career, has come through in a big way during the Boilermakers’ run to the Elite Eight, averaging 21.3 points and 8.7 rebounds per game while shooting 63.6% from the field. Teammate Braden Smith, the Division I career assists leader, has had the better career and better season, but Kaufman-Renn has been Purdue’s best player so far in the tournament.

Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan

Lendeborg was one of the best players outside the five power conferences last season, averaging a double-double for a 24-win UAB team. This season, he’s proven to be just as effective in arguably the best conference in the sport while being the star for a team that spent several weeks this season ranked No. 1 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll. The 6-foot-9 consensus first-team All-American is averaging 15.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per game and in the NCAA tournament, he’s been on fire, making 19 of his 30 shots (63.3%) and eight of his 13 3s (61.5%).

Tarris Reed Jr., UConn

Dan Hurley's team is remarkably balanced, with five players averaging between 10.6 and 14.2 points per game for a squad that's aiming to win its third national championship in the past four years. At the top of that group is Reed, a 6-foot-11 senior center who entered the Huskies' Sweet 16 win against Michigan State leading the team in scoring (14.2 points per game), rebounding (8.9 per game) and blocks (two per game). The Michigan transfer has followed up a strong regular season with an even better NCAA tournament, averaging 20.3 points and 15 rebounds per game. That run included one of the most ridiculous performances of the tournament, with 31 points and 27 rebounds in a first-round win over Furman.

Bennett Stirtz, Iowa

While Ben McCollum’s coaching acumen helped him rise from Division II head coach to Iowa’s first Elite Eight since 1987 in just two years, Stirtz’s on-court contributions didn’t hurt. The Hawkeyes guard has been with McCollum every step of the way the past four years, following the coach from Northwest Missouri State to Drake to Iowa, where he’s averaging a team-high 19.7 points and 4.4 assists per game this season. He’s carried the Hawkeyes offensively, as he’s the only Iowa player averaging more than 10.4 points per game.

Keaton Wagler, Illinois

In a star-studded freshman class, Wagler has been perhaps the most unexpected star. He was the No. 261 recruit nationally in the 2025 class, according to 247Sports’ composite rankings, but has been one of the best guards in the sport this season, averaging 17.7 points per game and shooting 41.1% from 3. He’s been the centerpiece for a dynamic Illinois team that’s No. 2 in adjusted offensive efficiency this season, according to KenPom.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: March Madness bracket breakdown: Best players to watch in Elite 8

HOUSTON — Rebounding has always come naturally to David Mirkovic. Before he committed to play college basketball at Illinois, the 6-foot-9 forward from Montenegro played two seasons of professional basketball in the Adriatic Basketball Association League, where he averaged 6.4 rebounds per game during the 2024-25 season.

When the ball bounced off the rim or backboard, Mirkovic corralled it, simple as that.

That changed when he got to Illinois last summer.

“It’s much different,” Mirkovic said. “(In Montenegro), I didn’t have coaches that tell me and remind me every day all day to crash the boards or get some of the defensive rebounds. But since I’m playing basketball, every time I was the best rebounder on my team. I would say just naturally, I had that feel for rebounds. So when that combines with the coach that’s put that much emphasis on rebounding, it’s just getting better.”  

Mirkovic is now the top rebounder on an Illinois team that is riding a rebounding wave into Saturday’s NCAA Tournament Elite Eight game against Iowa.

This season, the Illini are ranked 10^th in rebounds per game (41.1) and seventh in rebounding margin (10.1). It’s not a new strength; Illinois has been a top-10 rebounding team in the country in each of the last three seasons.

“I think the secret sauce is just, it’s something you emphasize every single day,” said Illinois assistant coach Tyler Underwood.

Underwood’s father, Illinois head coach Brad Underwood, was Kansas State’s director of operations during the 2006-07 season under head coach Bob Huggins, who is famous for his aggressive rebounding schemes. That left an imprint on Underwood, and in nine seasons at Illinois he’s made rebounding a pillar of his program.

The Illini track individual players’ “go rates” – what percentage of the time they crash the offensive glass – in practices and games. At halftime, coaches check "go rates" and remind players who are falling short to fulfill their offensive rebounding obligations. The message is clear: If you don’t go, your playing time stops.

The Illini are receiving key contributions on the boards from a pair of freshmen, Mirkovic and guard Keaton Wagler.

Through three NCAA Tournament games, Mirkovic is averaging a team-high 10.7 rebounds to go with 13.7 points. Wagler, the team's top scorer averaging 17.7 points, is right behind him averaging 8.0 rebounds.

In the Illini’s Sweet 16 win over Houston, Mirkovic broke the Illinois freshman total rebounding record set by Kofi Cockburn six seasons ago, while Wagler pulled down a career-best 12 rebounds. They became the first pair of freshman teammates to each have a double-double in the same NCAA Tournament game since freshmen became fully eligible in 1972-73. 

“His frame doesn’t scream 12 rebounds, but his toughness does,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said of Wagler.

Prior to Thursday’s game, Brad Underwood told Illini players that they would need a massive effort on the glass to win, especially from the guards. Wagler answered the call.

“He's a great listener,” Brad Underwood said. “We knew that (Chris) Cenac and (Joseph) Tugler, they back tap a lot of balls. They're elite at it. So our bigs were going to have to hit bodies, but our guards were going to have to come clean it up. So we needed a big, big rebounding game from our guards. I thought Keaton just takes everything to heart. He's had some big rebounding games this year, but to do this in this moment – you guys got to understand what a joy it is to coach him, and he doesn't worry about needing to score points.”

While Illinois’ bigs engage in physical battles under the basket to grab rebounds off the rim and box out their defenders, Wagler and the other guards stay alert and track down longer rebounds.

Tyler Underwood said that the Illini chart their misses and find that most occur on shots from the left corner of the court. When they miss from the left, the ball tends to carom to the right side of the basket, so Illinois tells players to flood “opposite and inside” to be in prime rebounding position.

Illinois typically has four players crash the boards after shots on offensive possessions, but last season the team slightly altered its rebounding philosophy. Instead of either the point guard or the shooting guard always being the player responsible for getting back on defense after a shot, the Illini decided that on 3-point shots, the shooter is the one who gets back – regardless of what position he plays.

That nuance has helped Illinois take advantage of their “twin towers,” brothers Tomislav and Zvonimir Ivisic, two 7-footers who each attempt more than half of their shots behind the 3-point line.

“With our pick-and-pop bigs, they end up shooting a lot of 3s, so that draws opponents’ bigs away from the rim, which puts them in uncomfortable sports, which allows guards to rebound,” Tyler Underwood said. “And our bigs end up being back in transition a lot, which is good because they’re our 7-footers.”

The strategy only works if players like Mirkovic and Wagler pick up the slack on the boards.

“I think rebounding, there’s an element of feel to it, an element of timing, an element of tracking the ball while it’s in the air,” Tyler Underwood said. “Both of those guys excel in that area because they have such a good feel for the game. And then they’re very disciplined and they put their teammates first. They’re willing to make winning plays.”

Both freshmen are do-it-all players who have developed a close relationship with each other on and off the court.

On the surface, the idea of a 6-foot-9 former professional player from Montenegro forming a bond with a skinny guard from Shawnee, Kansas, calls to mind videos of unlikely animal friendships. But the pair’s chemistry has blossomed through a mutual appreciation for hard work and competition, be it playing the “NBA 2K” video game or working out on the court.

“We have some similarities in our personality, like we are both Gen Z, I would say,” Mirkovic said. “The second thing, we had a lot of similarities, basketball-wise. Like we are pretty similar players despite different positions. … I would say our understanding and IQ of basketball and our unselfishness and skill level, that makes us unstoppable.”

Wagler said, “My first impression of him is that he’s a goofy guy who likes to mess around, but then in practices, he’s super competitive. He hates losing drills, no matter what it is. I knew we were gonna get along after that because I’m competitive. I don’t like to lose.”  

They’ve both learned to embrace the Illini’s rebounding ethos, too. Wagler said he and Mirkovic have gained confidence from watching each other succeed.

“I think we both learned that you don’t have to be the most athletic or fastest person on the court,” Wagler said. “You can play at your own pace and still be as good as anyone. We both do the right things and we both want to win. Doesn’t matter if we score however many points, you know – if we got to go in and pass, get assists, get rebounds, we’ll do that.”  

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Elite 8: Illini get rebounding boost from freshmen Mirkovic, Wagler

Warriors' three-game win streak enters danger zone vs. NBA playoff contenders originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – The Warriors often talk about building good habits and generating momentum while approaching the NBA play-in tournament, but Friday night was the latest instance in which their bad habits have been too stubborn to leave.

Having frittered away a 12-point halftime lead during a brutal third quarter, the Warriors went into the fourth down by two to the Washington Wizards, who had lost 16 of their last 17 games and, thankfully for the Warriors, are cool to the notion of slowing their rocket to the NBA draft lottery.

There they were, two teams missing their top two players, traipsing through the final 12 minutes before the war of the woeful was won by the team sure to play beyond the regular season.

Down by five (111-106) with 6:18 remaining, the Warriors went on an 16-2 run that spurred a 131-126 victory, their third in a row, before a sellout crowd too polite to boo moments that invited it but summoned rousing cheers down the stretch.

“First half, I saw focus offensively, simple decisions,” coach Steve Kerr said. “And then I thought we let our guard down defensively in the second quarter. A couple back-cut layups, some poor transition, missed communication on switches.

“There was good and bad tonight, but I like the way we closed the game and had a lot of good individual performances.”

The cleanest and most efficient of those performances came from Gui Santos, who scored 27 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field, including 3 of 5 from deep while splashing 8 of 9 from the line. Kristaps Porziņģis continue to lurch toward impact status, producing a team-high 28 points on 9-of-17 shooting, including 5 of 11 from distance, while grabbing eight rebounds. Brandin Podziemski delivered 22 points, a team-high 10 rebounds and seven assists.

The Warriors’ three-game win streak was built on wins over teams waving white flags big enough to cover Chase Center. This was the Warriors’ second consecutive “clutch” game against an opponent with no incentive to win. Two nights after the lottery-bound Brooklyn Nets sat three starters in the fourth the quarter to welcome defeat, Washington followed the same script.

Oh, but here comes the heat, three consecutive opponents bound for the NBA playoffs, all fighting to gain favorable position.

The Warriors fly to Denver on Saturday to face the Nuggets on Sunday, return home to face the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday and then greet the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday.

The only way Nikola Jokić or Jamal Murray or Victor Wembanyama or Donovan Mitchell are sitting in the fourth quarter is if they’ve already blown the Warriors off the floor – which is a distinct possibility if they donate more quarters like the third against the Wizards, who, aided by six Golden State turnovers, posted a 34-20 advantage.

“We just got to slow down,” Santos said. “We need to play fast, move the ball fast, but at the same time stay under control. When we drive, when we get into the into the paint, we’ve got to just stop with two feet.”

The Warriors showed signs of improvement in the first quarter, leading by as much as 16 points. They accomplished this by shooting 50 percent from the field, including 46.7 percent beyond the arc – and not committing a single turnover.

That had to be encouraging for Golden State, which had committed 97 turnovers in its previous four games.

But the Wizards (17-56) understood the assignment, which allowed the Warriors opportunities to overcome the worst of themselves.

Those bad habits will be their undoing if they aren’t broken. Their desire to climb above 10th place in the Western Conference surely will be sabotaged if they help teams that don’t need it.

“We’re getting there,” Podziemski said. “We’re showing flashes of good and bad. Fortunately, we got to do it against Brooklyn and Washington in these last two games.

“But we’ll see what we’ve got come Sunday.”

Stephen Curry won’t make it to Denver. He’ll stay in the Bay Area, working with medical/performance chief Rick Celebrini in hopes of being ready by Wednesday or Thursday.

Curry’s arrival won’t matter much by then unless the Warriors catch some of the good habits that they insist they are chasing.

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The Brooklyn Nets have not been a physically imposing team in a long time. That lack of phsyicality has been a common criticism of Sean Marks’ rosters in his decade-long tenure as GM, though there have been a couple notable exceptions. Andre Drummond and Day’Ron Sharpe aren’t just strong on paper; they’re two of the best offensive rebounders of the 21st century.

Those two are more exception than rule. Jarrett Allen, Nic Claxton, and Noah Clowney all have their individual strengths, but they are also prone to getting pushed around in the paint. This has irritated Nets fans to no end because the cycle repeats every couple years, feeling more like a stain on the front office rather than the individual players.

It’s not just big men, and it’s not just physicality. David Nwaba tore his achilles during the 2019-20 season, and Brooklyn did not then roster a wing with nearly as much burst until Drake Powell, whose quick-twitch ability is exciting partly because we have not seen it in so long.

Some of this is inherent in watching a bad team lose a bad game. Where they are long, they are not strong; where they are strong, they lack burst. If the Nets were full of plus-athletes, they’d probably be better.

But for all the panic over the Flatbush Five’s relative lack of athleticism and size, the tide is shifting, ever so slightly. Clowney has continually scaled down positions, playing the 5 for much of his rookie year with the Long Island Nets but manning the wings of late, where his lack of strength and vertical explosion is a bit less of an issue. I think the a-ha moment was a couple of Long Island matchups against the Mexico City Capitanes in Clowney’s rookie year, when a 34-year-old Kenneth Faried put him in a hydraulic press.

Brooklyn’s signing of Chaney Johnson to a two-way contract drew some surprise, but he has had a fun stint with the big league club despite a lack of traditional offensive skills. Johnson is a thick 6’8”, and has put that frame to good use, grabbing offensive boards, blocking shots, and dunking the ball seven times already while getting fouled on a couple other attempts…

CHANEY JOHNSON WITH AUTHORITY pic.twitter.com/2lz9SM0y0l

— Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) March 24, 2026

But that seems to be all a preface to Friday’s game (which didn’t finish till after midnight back on the East Coast) wherein Ziaire Williams and Josh Minott combined for 34 points. Those two have brought a new dynamic to Brooklyn’s wings. Their play and toughness over the last month has been a revelation.

Of the two, it’s tougher to make that argument for Williams, a skinny guy who doesn’t initiate a ton of contact on either end. Williams is listed at 6’9” and can jump, but has he dunked on anybody as a Net? These limitations will sometimes flare up when the 24-year-old puts the ball on the floor, which he’s done frequently in March.

That said, Williams has been a menace on the perimeter this season, particularly over the past month. Among the 313 NBA players who have appeared in 40+ games this season, he ranks 10th in deflections per minute. Opponents turn the ball over on 4.4% more of their possessions when Williams is on the court, a 98th percentile swing, per Cleaning the Glass. Certainly, the Nets have encouraged him to be aggressive in the passing lanes, particularly in the middle of the floor…

from a while ago, but a good example of Ziaire's freedom to play attacking defense: pic.twitter.com/tRL0smHVsR

— Lucas Kaplan (@LucasKaplan_) March 27, 2026

“Sometimes we gotta let Ziaire be Ziaire, right?” explains Jordi Fernández. “His energy is contagious, and a lot of times it’s not going to be perfect, but he just makes up with — you know, sometimes they’ll make mistakes, but he makes up with that extreme energy. But the guys know it; like, if you gamble, you better get it. That’s what I always tell them.”

Williams’ offense is uneasy, but it’s trending in the right direction — threes comprise over 60% of his shot diet, and he’s shooting 34.3% on 9.9 attempts per 100 possessions this season, all career-highs. He’s also cut most of the fat out of his two-point diet (notwithstanding this stretch of late-season experimentation) as a strong cutter with just a couple finishing tricks in the bag.

A couple years ago, the Nets and other teams might have imagined Williams as a stretch-4 of sorts. Not anymore. Williams played many minutes next to a Clowney/MPJ/center trio this season, both guarding the opponent’s lead ball-handler and being an attack dog in the passing lanes. For an off-guard, his length and energy is a plus, hardly a questionable athlete in this role.

This was a good find from NetsFilm on Twitter…

Ziaire is currently the second youngest player in the NBA with a STL% >2.5, BLK% >1.5 and TS% >56, only behind teammate Josh Minott pic.twitter.com/9aS7OJtuFG

— Nets Film Room (@NetsFilm) March 26, 2026

Williams has been a chaotic defender who makes enough of his shots to be a net positive and in March, he’s put up big numbers averaging 13.3 points on 52/51/90 shooting splits. That’s 13 games of very hot shooting, and Williams has been known to be inconsistent over his Nets tenure, but he is putting together a strong season by any definition.

So is Josh Minott. Minott is a sturdy 6’8” with a plus-wingspan, throwing down some big dunks since getting traded to the Nets midseason, but there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of self-creation.

Despite a couple nice drives here and there, he’s recorded nearly twice as many turnovers as assists in Brooklyn. You see in the first clip below that he misses a open corner pass on a drive. However, in that second clip, you see yet another impressive 3-pointer from the former Celtic…

Across the season, with both Brooklyn and Boston, Minott is shooting an absurd 44.1% from deep on nearly nine attempts per 100 possessions. Across four NBA andG League seasons, Minott is shooting 38.2% from deep on just under 400 total attempts as a pro. The shot looks a little funky, and he hasn’t really let it fly until this season, but that ball is going in.

If it continues, Minott is a bonafide NBA player who will bring more force to Brooklyn’s wings. This season, he ranks 17th in the league in deflections per minute, averaging nearly four stocks (steals + blocks) per 36. Jordi Fernández has openly challenged his mediocre rebounding numbers, but Minott plays with a clear blend of athleticism and calculated risk-tasking on D. This steal (initially called a foul but overturned via challenge) against the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday really showed off his hands…

You figure Fernández is going to love playing Williams and Minott next season (assuming Brooklyn picks up the team option they have on each guy — $6.3 million on Williams, $2.3 million on Minott). Brooklyn has forced turnovers at just above a league-average rate over Fernández’s stint as head coach, but it’s taken a concerted effort from the staff to get them there. The Nets trapped ball-screens relentlessly in ‘25, and though they’ve toned that down a bit in ‘26, they play aggressively in the gaps, demonstrated above by Williams.

Next season, can Brooklyn force even more turnovers and will that factor into their offseason decision-making? Furthermore, can they both force turnovers and shut off the rim ever so slightly? After all, Brooklyn’s opponents have taken 36.1% of their attempts directly at the rim, the highest mark in the league, per Cleaning the Glass.

Sean Marks and the Nets might be turning over a new leaf. Egor Dëmin isn’t going to win a dunk contest anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean the team isn’t getting more athletic, particularly when Ziaire Williams or Josh Minott is playing the 2.

Neither Williams nor Minott is a perfect player. On a competitive team, neither can handle the ball much, and for 3-and-D players, both have questions about their outside shot. But for a Nets team that has too often been bullied by their opponents, it’s been fun to watch Williams and Minott fly around on the wing.

In a game of runs, it was the Celtics that eventually finished out the final stretch to beat the visiting Hawks 109-102 behind 36 points off the bench from Payton Pritchard and a 26-12-5 line from Jayson Tatum. Without Jaylen Brown (and Nikola Vucevic), Boston was able weather a Hawks’ 25-9 opening kick and a 26-14 run bridging the second and third quarter to push their record to 49-24 and end Atlanta’s three-game winning streak and adding a loss to their 14-2 record since February 22nd.

After beating the Oklahoma City Thunder earlier in the week and a top-6 Eastern Conference team, the Celtics sit at +600 with our friends at FanDuel to win the 2026 Finals.

Jayson Tatum

36 minutes, 26 points (2-8 from 3, 8-10 from the free throw line, 8-24 from the field), 12 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 turnovers, +1

It wasn’t the most efficient night for Tatum, but you can see him slowly getting his legs and confidence back in Game #10. Where Tatum seems to be lacking is where you’d expect: finishing. Whether it’s getting lift on his pull-up 3s, rising around the rim, or changing direction on his drives, he doesn’t seem to have his twitchiness yet. To be honest, it might take another summer to get that back.

However, where he’s been consistent is in areas where he can use his size — Tatum seems a little stronger in his upper body, right? — and length to overpower defenders, rebound, and navigate the floor and find shooters with his passing.

“I mean, I thought I saw his defensive rebounding. I thought that was the most important thing.  Thought offensively, got into the paint, got to the, you know, was able to get to the free throw line, shoot ten free throws, just continuing to chip away at giving the game what it needs,” Joe Mazzulla said after the game. “He was aggressive in his drive, missed some easy layups there, but as long as he stays aggressive, as long he makes the right read, as long as he continues to rebound, he’s, you know, continuing to get better and better.”

The ball seemed a little sticky whenever JT got a matchup that he thought he could beat, but it’s important for him to get those reps in March before they really matter in April, May, and June.

Grade: B

Sam Hauser

29 minutes, 10 points (2-5 from 3, 4-7 from the field), 3 rebounds, 2 assists, one turnovers, -2

It’s been an odd couple of games for Hauser. When he’s been wide open, he’s uncharacteristically been missing those. In tight windows or off the dribble, he’s hit the more difficult looks.

Sam Hauser with the moves

Stream the game: https://t.co/qEd1lTnFA2pic.twitter.com/gkFmiqk1nG

— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) March 28, 2026

Grade: B+

Neemias Queta

27 minutes, 5 points (1-2 from the free throw line, 2-2 from the field), 11 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 turnovers, 1 block, +5

The Hawks are a high-volume drive team, but for the most part, the Celtics were able to control the defensive glass and Atlanta’s halfcourt offense because of Queta’s presence in the paint. Neemi didn’t score much, but I’ll chalk that up to Brown not playing and Queta not getting those dunker spot opportunities.

Grade: B

Derrick White

34 minutes, 10 points (0-4 from 3, 4-5 from the free throw line, 3-13 from the field), 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 turnovers, -4

Over his last four games, DWhite has shot 6-15, 6-15, 3-11, and 3-13 last night against the Hawks. There’s no worry here even though he’s mired in a season-long slump.

Grade: C+

That was IMPRESSIVE, Derrick

Stream the game: https://t.co/qEd1lTnFA2pic.twitter.com/yQIs03pMCx

— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) March 28, 2026

Baylor Scheierman

28 minutes, 3 points (1-3 from 3, 1-3 from the field), 6 rebounds, 2 assists, one turnover, -13

Scheierman replaced Jaylen Brown in the starting lineup and was largely invisible against Atlanta. He still played good defense whenever he got his licks against Jalen Johnson and Nickeil Alexander-Johnson and was a steady Baller Scheierman tonight rather than the Baylor Schowman that we saw against the Thunder on Wednesday.

Grade: C

Payton Pritchard

34 minutes, 36 points (6-11 from 3, 4-4 from the free throw line, 13-23 from the field), 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 turnovers, +26

Simply put, the Celtics don’t win this game without PP going nuclear. After making all three from behind the arc in the first half, another three straight triples in the third quarter put Boston up virtually up for good for the rest of the game. He hit the Hawks with a couple of drives and grabbed some timely offensive rebounds which made up for his five turnovers.

Grade: A+

Jordan Walsh

27 minutes, 5 points (1-1 from 3, 2-3 from the field), 3 rebounds, one assist, 3 blocks, +3

After six straight DNP-CDs, Walsh ate up the minutes vacated by Jaylen Brown and did well in his return to the rotation. For Walsh to be successful, he has to find ways to impact the game without the ball. When he was starting earlier in the year, that met being a plus defender on the opposing team’s best player and hitting catch-and-shoot opportunities. In other words, getting in where he was fitting in. A block here, a block there, a back door cut here, a kick out 3 there on a night when the Celtics needed to gut out a win earns high marks for JW.

Grade: A

Luka Garza

15 minutes, 11 points (1-2 from 3, 2-2 from the free throw line, 4-5 from the field), 4 rebounds, 2 assists, +10

Garza has become reliable at all the things you can’t count on. In every game, you just know he’s going to grab an offensive rebound or two and get a handful of second chance points. If he picks and pops for an open three, there’s a good chance that it’s going down. Last night, he had a pair of decel drives that I didn’t see coming, but like I said, he’s reliably surprised me all year long.

Grade: A-

Hugo Gonzalez

7 minutes, 3 points (1-1 from 3, 1-1 from the field), 2 rebounds, 7 assists, +10

In the box score, it’ll never look like much, but the kid just adds juice to the game when it needs it. When Gonzalez, Walsh, Garza, and Pritchard came in at the 6-minute mark of the first quarter, Boston was down 17-9. Going into the second, they flipped the script and were only down 3. It wasn’t all because of Hugo, but he added a little pickup to the game after the Celtics went down early.

Grade: B

DNP-CD: Ron Harper Jr., Amari Williams, Max Shulga, Charles Bassey

Inactive: Nikola Vucevic, Jaylen Brown

SAN JOSE, CA — The harsh Arizona deserts are no stranger to droughts. One has lasted quite a while in Tucson, except it has nothing to do with rainfall.

It’s that Final Four drought.

For more than two decades, Tucson residents have been trying to turn on the faucet of basketball success, and while enough falls out to keep the grass from turning brown, it’s waiting for a steady stream to end the dehydration and nourish the garden of winning.

Arizona hasn’t been to the Final Four since 2001, and the city is very aware of the crisis.

“You hear rumblings of it all the time,” Wildcats forward Tobe Awaka told USA TODAY Sports.

Luckily, the forecast is showing a possible end to the dry spell. A chance of heavy showers of victory could be raining down Saturday, March 28 with Arizona facing Purdue in the Elite Eight. But the Wildcats have been here several times before. An opportunity to break the spell turns into more heat. 

“The collective joy it would give our community, it would be more special than just the win by itself,” said Wildcats coach Tommy Lloyd.

No coach has stacked up wins in their first five seasons like Lloyd, with 147 victories already on his resume. It’s been an impressive start to his tenure, bringing Arizona back into the national picture and perfectly weaving into a stacked Big 12.

All of that, yet this will be the first time Lloyd has the Wildcats in the Elite Eight, a microcosm of all of the March struggles this program has had since 2001.

Since 2010, Arizona has the fourth-most wins in Division I, in the top five with Gonzaga, Duke, Kansas and Kentucky. However, the Wildcats are the only one from that group to have not made the Final Four in that time span. Even worse, the all in that group have made multiple Final Four trips.

This year will be the sixth Elite Eight appearance for the Wildcats since their last Final Four appearance. Two of those times, it was a No. 1 seed, and it lost to the No. 2 seed, including the 2014 overtime thriller against Wisconsin. In 2026, it’s a No. 1 seed again facing the No. 2 seed.

Arizona has had all the right pieces to have multiple Final Four trips, with NBA talent on all of those Elite Eight squads, but it just can’t get over that hump.

“These games from here on out are not guaranteed,” said guard Jaden Bradley.

Unlucky? A curse? There really isn’t an answer for why Arizona can’t get the job done. If history is any indication, the Wildcats won’t be able to take down Purdue, and the Boilermakers will be the ones going to Indianapolis.

But this isn’t the same Arizona.

At 35-2, the Wildcats have a case to be the best team in the country. It’s a talented, deep roster with so many players that can end opponents, and they’ve proven so. 

Arizona knows how to score and prevent you from doing so. It’s why they’re in the top five of scoring margin. What’s impressive is that includes 12 ranked victories this season, showing it handles even elite squads.

“One of the best teams in the country, if not the best team in the country,” said Purdue coach Matt Painter. 

The last thing standing in the way of Arizona breaking through is a contrasting Purdue team. While Arizona is led by freshmen with a mix of veteran presence, the Boilermakers are as experienced as it comes, with three players that have played in a national championship game and a starting unit with a combined 559 career starts.

On paper, Arizona has more talent than Purdue. But it knows better than anyone these games are played on the court, where all of that gets thrown out the window, and anything can happen in 40 minutes.

In fact, Painter knows all about the burden of being at a premier program with a long Final Four drought, with the Boilermakers making the 2024 edition after last appearing in 1980. While Lloyd said Arizona’s recent struggles in the NCAA Tournament don’t bother him, Painter acknowledges the burden.

“There's relief there. It gets talked about a lot,” he said. “You don't have to wait for the morning paper to hear what people say about you anymore. You hear it all day long.”

Lloyd and Arizona have a chance to finally silence all the talk about it in the Elite Eight. The Wildcats have shown they were on a warpath to this destination ever since it beat defending champion Florida in the season opener.

Now it’s time to put all of the past behind, and officially declare Arizona basketball drought-free.

“I'm not surprised we're sitting here. Not at all,” Lloyd said. “We're exactly where we should be. Now we've got to go put in the work – and probably have some good fortune on our side as well – to hopefully take the next step.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: When was Arizona last in Final Four? It's been a while. Like 25 years

Oh, how quickly empires fall.

For the longest time, I would try to carve out an opening in my writing schedule for at least one or two games against the Bucks. Even when the Spurs were at their worst, I wanted to see what would happen.

The Bucks served as a measuring stick for me; a team with the right mixture of talent and discipline to tell me exactly what the Spurs were (and were not) capable of.

I envied their draft heist in the form of Giannis Antetokounmpo, feeling less than optimistic about San Antonio’s chances of lucking into another franchise-altering big man. I admired the aggression and shrewdness of the acquisition that had given them arguably the NBA best all-around guard in Jrue Holiday, a player I’d wanted on the Spurs since his days at UCLA.

I watched them play basketball in the vaguely Spurs-ish way that Popovich protege Mike Budenholzer employed at every stop along the way, and tried to summon visions of a Spurs team that would play that well (or better) in the near future.

I cannot blame my imagination for having failed me at the time. It was a grim time to be writing about the Spurs. I saw franchise favorites flipped for assets. I witnessed losing streaks never before seen in the history of the franchise. I cannot say that it was fun, though I did my best to make it so.

And yet, I was always watching for that moment when things might fall into place. Those moments that the Spurs would exceed the sum of their very humble parts, and take advantage of the strangeness of a long NBA season.

The one thing about losing seasons is that you’re surprised by certain victories in a way that you can’t be about a contender. I clung to those minor miracles, and they got me through it.

Now the returns to Milwaukee remind me of the fickleness of fortune.

We like to believe that the NBA is a meritocracy, but sometimes it’s just not. Seemingly abandoned by the fates of a previous half-decade, Bucks management is paralyzed regarding what feels like an unresolvable exit trajectory for their aging superstar player, torn between the promising mystique of future assets and the hope that one stroke of luck can restore them to their former glory — a consolation devoutly to be wished.

The Spurs, on the other hand, are at full health, and so deep that it hardly seems to matter. They’ve found their rhythm, sitting just shy of a net rating identical to that of the 2014 roster, and are led by an ascendant wunderkind intent on bringing home as much hardware as humanly possible.

Wemby’s averaging 26/11/3.5/3.5/1.5 on 51% shooting over the last 10 games. The Spurs are 1st in Offensive Rating and Net Rating, and 2nd in scoring over that same stretch.

They’re 1st in rebounding and effective field goal percentage, and 2nd in three pointers made and assist-to-turnover ratio. They don’t make mistakes. They rain hellfire.

The scales between these two teams have definitively flipped. The Bucks will be without 3 of their top 5 scorers (and possibly 5 out of their top 6), leaving a Giannis-shaped hole in the roster of a team that is almost certainly trying to better their draft odds.

And yet, I think back to those years in the wastelands, and I know I’ll be looking for that same flicker from Milwaukee. The NBA season is lengthy and bizarre, and the Spurs are on an extended win streak.

What a fantastic time for the basketball gods to indulge their prevailing senses of humor.

One of the long-standing tests of the grecian deities was that of hubris. This Spurs team has almost everything they need to bring home another championship. But do they have the humility?

The memory of struggle has allowed me to enjoy this season more than so many of the successful ones I’ve been witness to, and I’m looking forward to an easy win as much as anyone, but I’m also hoping for the kind of graciousness that those who’ve experienced attrition are best suited to deliver.

That, and a whole lot of dunks. (I have an Icarus tattoo. It reminds me that my capacity for humility is limited.)

San Antonio Spurs (55-18) vs Milwaukee Bucks (29-43)

March 28th, 2026 | 2:00 PM CT

Watch: NBA on Amazon Prime/FanDuel Southwest| Listen: WOAI (1200 AM)

Spurs Injuries: None

Bucks Injuries: Myles Turner: Day-to-Day (Calf), Bobby Portis: Day-to-Day (Wrist), Kyle Kuzma: Out (Achilles Tightness), Gary Harris: Out (Groin), Kevin Porter Jr: Out (Knee), Giannis Antetokounmpo: Out (PRitis)

LOS ANGELES — It wasn’t a pretty win for the Lakers against the Nets on Friday night. Despite Brooklyn having every incentive to lose and dropping nine games entering this contest, they trailed by just one entering the final quarter.

The Lakers, desperately trying to avoid an embarrassing loss, needed to get a boost from somewhere. LeBron James was having a quiet night with just 11 points, and Luka Dončić was already doing everything he could to help the team win, scoring 36.

So, the Lakers went to their other top scorer, Austin Reaves, for some offensive production. In the clutch, Reaves delivered, playing all 12 minutes and scoring 15 in the fourth to ensure the Lakers would walk away victorious.

“I think AR just being mentally tough and playing through everything that was happening in the game and just eventually found his rhythm, head coach JJ Redick said postgame. “I think that started with getting to the free throw line. It started with touching the paint and scoring on some of those non-rim paint twos.”

Reaves’ fourth-quarter dominance felt like it came out of nowhere.

This was the first Lakers home game after a six-game road trip where Reaves struggled from beyond the arc, going 9-39.

He entered the final frame, struggling from the field overall, shooting 3-8, and passed up on a couple of open looks from beyond the arc. Still, Reaves did what many great players do and worked through his slow start and played his best when it mattered most.

Reaves’ offensive onslaught in the fourth started mildly with a free throw technical. But like an avalanche, it was the movement he needed to build up his momentum.

With the Lakers down by one with less than nine minutes to go, Reaves responded by knocking down a pair of threes. He continued to attack the paint, drawing contact and getting to the line. After hitting a pair from the charity stripe, he followed that up with another from downtown.

The subdued crowd erupted as the make gave the Lakers a 13-point edge with less than three minutes left to play.

Defense to offense 💪 pic.twitter.com/NSkvEanepG

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) March 28, 2026

LA never gave up control and Reaves scored the final points of the night with a late 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the contest.

It was an ugly win, but it counts just as much as all their quality victories. And with the Western Conference playoff race being as tight as it is, winning is all that matters and Reaves knows that better than most.

“Just continuing to play hard and play the right way,” Reaves said. “Yeah, it’s a tough game, but you got to go to work and be successful.”

The Lakers will only go as far as Dončić and Reaves will take them. As the stakes of these Lakers games increase, Reaves will have to elevate his game. So watching him do just that, even on a night when it looked like he couldn’t reach that level, was encouraging.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.