Category: NBA

A team needs to have standards.

That was the idea running through my mind when I heard that Kevin Porter Jr. was waived by the Milwaukee Bucks earlier this week. In the last, disastrous season for Cream City, Porter averaged more than 17 points and seven assists, with more than two steals per night. While his efficiency wasn’t fantastic, his production was undeniable, and under usual circumstances, he would have been an ideal acquisition for a number of teams, including the Toronto Raptors.

But with KPJ, circumstances are far from normal.

Serious legal problems

The guard’s documented history of violence has already sent him out of the league in a previous stint. As early as 2022, there were already “ongoing concerns about volatility,” said Nate, over at our sister site, Brew Hoop. He continued to describe Porter Jr.’s legal troubles that resulted in felony charges as a result of accused domestic abuse.

The circumstances of the case are murky, as his partner at the time, Kysre Gondrezick, is alleged by police to have told the authorities that she had been struck in the face multiple times to the point of bleeding, as well as been a victim of strangulation by Porter Jr. An ABC report pointed to a Manhattan Assistant District Attorney alleging a pattern of abuse in the relationship.

However, Gondrezick had come out and denied that any such attack had taken place in an interview with the New York Post. Porter Jr. ended up accepting a plea deal where he accepted responsibility for misdemeanour assault and harassment.

The circumstances resulted in Porter Jr. being traded and waived, before eventually making his way back into the league, ending up on the Los Angeles Clippers and eventually the Milwaukee Bucks. The PG was waived by a team that had a number of other standout guards, namely, recent acquisition Tyler Herro, and Ryan Rollins.

Bucks coach Taylor Jenkins called the waiver a “very difficult decision” made to support other guards on the team, but spoke positively about Porter Jr, in a clip shared by journalist Cameron Ezeir.

However, there was been very little discussion about where exactly a player of his calibre might end up since his departure from the team, which, as aforementioned, would be unusual without being coupled to the point guard’s apparent history of disgraceful personal conduct.

Why the Toronto fit wouldn’t work

Some Toronto Raptors fans have been clamouring for a change at point guard, displeased with Immanuel Quickley in the role. However, it should be undoubtedly clear based on two waivers thus far, that regardless of what he does on the hardwood, Kevin Porter Jr. should not be on any Toronto fan’s wishlist for the roster.

The Raptors’ strength is in large part based on locker room cohesion, and an absence of tension. The Raps are not in the business of managing problem players, and someone like Kevin Porter Jr. has demonstrated himself to be exactly that, even in his earliest days on the Cleveland Cavaliers. Porter Jr. could be a massive disruptor of chemistry, and after his very public legal battle, has demonstrated himself unfit to play for any team, let alone the Toronto Raptors.

Fans and front office alike will be testing the waters this year for new additions to the Raptors as they make a playoff push, but regardless of how dire the circumstances get, Kevin Porter Jr. is not the answer to anyone’s problems.

As you watch the Phoenix Suns play basketball against an Oklahoma City Thunder team that is severely undermanned, a situation that became even worse when Alex Caruso went down with an ankle injury in the first half, your natural inclination is to ask who’s to blame. Which player isn’t playing up to expectations? Is it the Miles Bridges trade and the impact it’s had on both ends of the floor? Is it Devin Booker failing to elevate his game to the level Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was playing at on the opposing side before he got into foul trouble? Is it the bench? Is it the injuries?

Surely, somebody has to be to blame. Somebody has to be the reason this team is struggling against a Thunder squad that’s quite literally limping through the game. But why does it always have to be someone? Why do we feel the need to point a finger at an individual and declare, “Yeah, that’s the reason why!” Because it gives us the justification to follow it up with, “Yeah, that’s the guy who needs to go!”?

In the case of the Phoenix Suns, it’s a collective issue. I don’t think there’s one sole culprit responsible for the poor basketball we’ve witnessed through the first three games of the season. While continuity exists in theory, connectivity is clearly missing at this extremely early stage of the season, and we witnessed it again Monday night in Oklahoma City.

The offensive sets aren’t crisp, and their execution leaves plenty to be desired. But defensively, the Suns collectively have a real problem. They allowed players like Ajay Mitchell to attack the lane at will, converting layup after layup. And don’t get me wrong, Mitchell is a skilled player. With the injuries Oklahoma City is dealing with, he could very well be someone who takes a significant leap this season. But Phoenix’s inability to contain his drives was troublesome.

Combine that with another night of ineffective rebounding (they lost that battle 48-38), and you have a team that seemingly can’t get out of its own way. Whenever the offense sputters, the defense can’t prevent the opposition from going on runs. Teams can knife into the lane for easy points while taking chances from beyond the arc, knowing that even if those shots don’t fall, there’s a good chance they’ll get another opportunity courtesy of an offensive rebound.

That’s why you can’t point the finger at one person. The problems we’re seeing aren’t isolated. They’re interconnected. Poor communication leads to defensive breakdowns. Defensive breakdowns expose rebounding deficiencies. Those extra possessions put additional pressure on an offense that’s still trying to figure itself out. And suddenly, everybody looks worse than they actually are. Three games into the season, the Suns don’t need a scapegoat. They need accountability across the roster, better execution, and a collective understanding of what winning basketball requires. Because pointing fingers won’t fix what five guys have to solve together.

Bright Side Baller Standings

There are some nights when you know early on that Devin Booker is going to take over a basketball game. Against the Warriors, that was evident from the jump. Booker poured in 43 points, the most ever scored by a Phoenix Suns player in a home opener. Another record for a guy who seems determined to rewrite the franchise record books one page at a time.

Naturally, he dominated the Bright Side Baller voting, earning 85% of the total vote. A landslide victory, and deservedly so. Shoutout to the three people who still thought Mariah Carey was better.

Bright Side Baller Nominees

Game 3 against the Thunder. Here are your nominees:

Jalen Green
20 points (8-of-13, 1-of-3 3PT), 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block, 1 turnover, -10 +/-

Dillon Brooks
19 points (4-of-14, 3-of-10 3PT), 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, 1 block, 0 turnovers, -12 +/-

Miles Bridges
17 points (7-of-17, 2-of-10 3PT), 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 3 turnovers, -17 +/-

Jordan Goodwin
12 points (4-of-9, 4-of-8 3PT), 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 0 turnovers, -10 +/-

Khaman Maluach
12 points (5-of-10, 0-of-1 3PT), 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block, 4 turnovers, -2 +/-

Luke Kennard
9 points (3-of-5, 3-of-5 3PT), 1 rebound, 2 assists, 0 turnovers, -6 +/-

Hear ye, hear ye! Cast ye votes here, ye!

Sometimes life immitates art — so they say.

I recently finished NBC/Peacock’s Crystal Lake series. Great watch. The premiere season follows Pamela Voorhees as she grieves the supposed loss of her son whose body was never found after he drowned at summer camp. Without spoiling too much, Pam, progressively pushes boundaries of what she’ll do to bring the boy home, or to at least avenge the loss.

It reminds me a lot of what we’re seeing with Jaylen Brown.

It’s a sad spiral to watch. A largely sympathetic character repeatedly does what they can to fumble away the benefit of the doubt.

All over someone named Ja(y)son, nonetheless.

You’d have to be living under the rock to have missed this past weekend’s exchange of words between the two former Celtics teammates and NBA champions.

In short, Jayson Tatum posted a summer docuseries episode where he claimed to have known nothing of the eventual blockbuster that sent Brown to the rival Philadelphia 76ers. Brown called “cap” (or BS) publicly in an Instagram comment.

Tatum addressed the not-so-subtle jab after Boston’s win over the New York Knicks on Friday. He insisted there was no beef. A day later, Brown agreed, but said there might be some “lamb chops and gravy” and that Tatum should “stay ready at all times.”

Then, NBC Sports Boston’s Brian Scalabrine went on his Starting Lineup show on Sirius XM and shared details from the final months of No. 7’s time with the Cs, saying that Brown had a list of demands he wanted the organization to meet and if they didn’t, he wanted to be traded.

Brown’s camp refuted the report and Scal walked back some of what he said during Monday’s pregame show.

Nonetheless, the damage was already done and you’ll never guess how the fanbase reacted.

Those who were already only tolerating Brown while he was still wearing the green and white pounced on the opportunity to smear him and took their repsective victory laps online. I’m not going to link a bunch of tweets here, but trust me, it’s not hard to find it.

The speed in which a large majority of the fanbase has turned its back on JB is dissappointing. He’s undeniably one of the great players in the franchise’s storied history and will likely be the last to ever wear No. 7 (unless this gets brutally ugly).

It’s been less than four months since the trade and his status in the Celtics community has already plummetted. But regardless of how you feel about it, Brown won an NBA Finals MVP here. He played an undeniable role in one of the winningest eras in franchise history (in terms of winning percentage). Plus, JB embedded himself in the Boston community with his 7uice Foundation.

He also, at least partly, did this to himself.

I’m not trying to pick sides here, and frankly probably still land pro-Jaylen, but I also dont’ think Scal is just making things up. He might’ve misspoke and inadvertently suggested that there was a trade request, but there has to be some truth mixed in there.

Is that truth justified?

Maybe. It depends what the alleged demands were. If Brown wanted the organization to favor him over Tatum, really in any way but specifically in some sort of “me or him” scenario, then he was out of bounds.

We’ll probably never know what they were, but it’s safe to assume it wasn’t something small.

Then, of course, the Twitch stream following Boston’s playoff elimination didn’t sit well with anyone. Brown reitterated that he was proud of his teammates (as he should’ve been with the low expectations publicly put on the group ahead of the season), and that the 2025-26 season was his favorite of his 10-year career.

Mind you, the Celtics won a title two years ago in which he was Finals MVP.

So now, we’re looking at a formerly beloved player now playing for a rival team and a fanbase that is willing to go to war for Tatum, who still wears the uniform and is the undisputed face of the franchise. The unstoppable force will meet the immovable object on Jan. 21, when Brown makes his regular-season return to TD Garden.

When the NBA released its schedule back in August, fans circled that date imagining a celebration of a tremendous 10 years. Now it’s tough to know what to expect. For all we know, Brown’s name might be met with 18,000+ boos when it’s called along with the rest of Phildelphia’s starters.

The worst part is that it’s tough to even say what’s appropriate at this point. Brown hasn’t been shy about the bitterness he feels towards both the Celtics and Tatum. That bitterness, though, comes from one of two places: ego or betrayal (it’s probably a mix of both).

Regardless, a nasty reunion is going to be a bad look for everyone involved. Of course, JB will look foolish or egotistical for burning bridges in Boston. The fans would come across as ungrateful — not the best message for any future potential Celtics.

Who knows what the story will be by then, though. We’re still three-ish months away. There’s plenty of time for more drama and back-and-forth. For now it just feels icky.

After a few false starts, the Bucks finally got their first regular-season win last night, beating the Indiana Pacers 110-102. The team had been building toward a win, but minor mistakes were costing them dearly. However, in this game, they put those lessons to good use and stayed in it long enough to outlast the weary Pacers, who were down two starters (Ivica Zubac and Andrew Nembhard) and on the second night of a back-to-back. Read our full summary of the game here.

Player Grades

Ryan Rollins

31 minutes, 19 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 turnover, 4 PF, 7/14 FG, 3/7 3P, +10

Rollins keeps building. I loved that he never took a backwards step to the trash-talking Haliburton. Rollins had a great first half, going 4/7 and 3/4 from deep. He tailed off a bit in the second half but made key plays late to seal the Bucks’ win.

Grade: C+

Tyler Herro

32 minutes, 23 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 turnovers, 7/14 FG, 3/6 3P, +1

Back to regular programming for Herro, who started slow but built as the game went on, culminating in an 11-point third quarter (when the team desperately needed it). He seemed to make a point of rebounding and kickstarting the transition offence himself. Obviously, as long as Herro is aggressive, he’ll draw attention and open up shooters, but racking up those stats while only committing two turnovers was maybe the most impressive part. That said, Herro did space out a few times off the ball on some really basic actions; a simple flare screen for Aaron Nesmith had him lost.

Grade: A-

Jaime Jaquez Jr.

24 minutes, 8 points, 6 rebounds, 4/13 FG, 0/4 3P , -1

This was Jaquez’s first bad game of the year, a real come-down-to-earth performance. Nothing seemed to be working for him, and I’m not sure there’s much more to it. Jaquez wasn’t detrimental to the team or anything; it just wasn’t his night.

Grade: D

Kyle Kuzma

29 minutes, 17 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 turnovers, 6/10 FG, 4/6 3P, 0

Man, this was a funny game for Kuzma because, I’d say, 90% of his output was positive; he obviously made key threes to keep the team in it (plus hit the dagger at the end), and his shooting overall was very efficient. Plus, Kuz impacted in other areas of the game while keeping his turnovers to a minimum. However, there were still those 2-4 plays we seem to see every game from Kuzma that make you want to pull your hair out. Namely, him apparently being unable to throw a simple kick-ahead pass to a teammate streaking in for the layup. Or, better yet, when he ran into Jaime Jaquez as Jaquez tried to finish off Turner’s lob late in the game.

Grade: B+

Myles Turner

28 minutes, 6 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 blocks, 3 turnovers, 2/7 FG, 0/3 3P, +14

Without troubling the scoreboard much—which does need to change—Turner was impactful. Obviously, everyone will point to those back-to-back blocks in the fourth quarter, but he also had two key blocks in the first half. Turner was also huge on the boards, with three of his nine rebounds being offensive. I thought he played a good game that the stat sheet won’t fully reflect. Don’t get me wrong, Turner still had a few iffy plays, and I’d like him to let it fly more than he has been, but it was still a really solid outing for the big man.

Grade: B

Kel’el Ware

19 minutes, 16 points, 14 rebounds, 3 turnovers, 7/13 FG, 0/4 3P, -5

First off, what a funny stat line for Ware: shot 13 times in just 19 minutes, LOL. Jokes aside, another great game for the big man, who, like Turner, made a major impact as a rebounder (five of his 14 rebounds of the offensive variety). Overall, he’s just looked much more engaged in the last two games, which has been great to see. I also want to mention that Ware is giving the Bucks a legit vertical spacer like they haven’t had in a few years (maybe Giannis, but even he wasn’t really a consistent lob threat, per se). Like, you can legit throw it up anywhere near the rim, and Ware will cram that sucker in. Oh, and he shoots threes. Just. Needs. To. Put. It. All. Together.

Grade: B

Kasparas Jakucionis

21 minutes, 7 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 turnovers, 2/4 FG, 1/3 3P, -1

I sound like a broken record, but Jakucionis just comes in and plays solid on both ends. KJ has got great chemistry with Kel’el Ware in particular, and his ability to pass with both hands opens up so many angles. I mean, that left-handed wraparound pass to Ware was sick (see Bonus Bucks Bits).

Grade: B

Brayden Burries

16 minutes, 4 points, 2/5 FG, 0/2 3P, +6

Burries couldn’t find much offensive rhythm, but I thought he had some great defensive possessions guarding Haliburton in the pick-and-roll. More specifically, Haliburton likes to put his man “in jail” on pick-and-rolls, meaning he comes off the screen and then slows down to keep his man on his back (“in jail”). What Burries did well was pushing back, changing angles, etc., so Haliburton couldn’t get comfortable.

Grade: C

AJ Green

20 minutes, 3 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 1/6 FG, 1/6 3P, +5

This wasn’t Green’s night from a shooting perspective, but he made some nice playmaking reads, most notably his dime to Ament in open court for the dunk. Green let the numbers advantage tell him who was open, then zipped it inside to the rookie.

Grade: C-

Nate Ament

13 minutes, 7 points, 3 rebounds, 1 PF, 3/8 FG, 1/2 3P, +12

It was a rough first stint for Ament—who looked frazzled and rushed—and when Jenkins went to Ousmane Dieng for what would have been Ament’s second-quarter minutes, I wasn’t sure he’d get back on. However, Jenkins did go back to Ament in the second half and he looked considerably more comfortable, making better reads and running the floor hard; you could almost see the weight come off his shoulders as that first field goal went down. Crucially, Ament got only one foul and had some really solid possessions guarding Pascal Siakam. As I’ve said previously, Ament has all the tools to be a solid wing defender; he just needs to figure out how to use them.

Grade: C+

Taylor Jenkins

Jenkins finally got the team to play closer to a four-quarter effort last night, and it resulted in a great win. I thought the decision to close with Turner was smart, even though his offensive contributions were limited, because they needed a sturdier presence inside. Additionally, I liked Jenkins’ choice to close with a three-guard front of Herro, Rollins, and Jakucionis, which gave them more ball-handling to attack the pressing Pacers defence. Finally, he has clearly been working behind the scenes to get his guys to limit turnovers, and it paid off against Indiana, with the team throwing it away only 11 times—we’ll see if that continues. Great game.

Grade: B+

Limited minutes: Ousmane Dieng

DNP-CD: Caris LeVert, Bogoljub Markovic, Jericho Sims, Gary Trent Jr.

Inactive: Kam Jones, Cormac Ryan, Pete Nance

What We Learnt

Jenkins has talked a lot about defensive intensity—which has become a bit of a buzz term, frankly—but the fourth quarter showed exactly what he wanted. The way the Bucks guarded the ball, talked, and helped the helper was great to see. Now that they know what it looks like, hopefully they can recreate that moving forward.

Bonus Bucks Bits

• “We’ve been close,” Jenkins said. “Great execution down the stretch—timely shots, timely blocks, timely rebounds… We talked about owning the pace and owning the paint. I thought we did that in spurts in the first half, and did it way more in the second half. Still more to clean up, but really proud of the group.”
• Check out the postgame celebration:

• Once again, the Bucks won the paint battle (50-48); they also won bench points (37-32).
• Milwaukee had seven offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter.
• It was great to see Nate and Brayden get a long stretch on the court from late in the third to the middle of the fourth. Both stayed in the game and contributed to the decisive 17-4 run during that span.
• Minor note on Nate Ament: less is more at this stage of his career. Not sure whether it was because he wanted to get his first basket out of the way, but he was very focused on getting his own in the first half. In the second half, everything flowed more easily because, by and large, Ament let the game come to him.
• As Terrapin Revisited noted in the Rapid Recap comments, Fiserv did look pretty empty. I hope that was mostly because the Brewers were playing.
• The aforementioned wraparound pass from Jakucionis:

Up Next

The Bucks are back at home on Wednesday to host the Houston Rockets. Watch at 7:00 p.m. CDT on MY24.

INDIANAPOLIS — The needle drop hit in the Indiana Pacers’ starting lineup announcement, and the chorus of the “Welcome Back, Kotter” theme song played just long enough for the fans at Gainbridge Fieldhouse to fill their lungs with air for what was coming next. The audio flipped again to 50 Cent’s “Many Men,” and Tyrese Haliburton ran out for the home fans for the first time since he tore his Achilles in June 2025, though you couldn’t hear his name over the deafening sound of 17,000 people screaming in unison.

Unfortunately for the home crowd, that was the last time they really got to roar. By the second quarter, the only noise coming from the fans was boos condemning the Pacers for a totally flat performance in a game that was so eagerly anticipated for so long.

The Dallas Mavericks routed Indiana from the start, dropping 44 first quarter points on their way to a 37-point first half lead. The Pacers would rally back a bit in the second half after 19-year-old Dallas star Cooper Flagg exited the game with a shoulder injury, but this was a premium example of a game not being as close as the 16-point final margin would indicate.

“It was one of the best crowds I’ve ever seen here,” head coach Rick Carlisle said after the loss to Dallas. “But a great crowd doesn’t guarantee you anything if you don’t compete the way you need to compete.”

The Pacers needed a big fourth quarter comeback to win their opener against an uninspiring New Orleans Pelicans game a few days earlier. A few days later, the Pacers fully looked like the blitzkrieg offense we expected as they trounced the Nets in Brooklyn. On Monday night, Indiana gave the Milwaukee Bucks their first win of the season in the most jarring result of the new year so far.

“That’s what the NBA is,” Haliburton said after the game. “It’s not all fairytales, sunshine, and rainbows.”

Indiana’s roster remains similar to the one that went to the 2025 NBA Finals, but every year is different, and it leaves this team with new questions to answer from the last time it was whole. That’s especially the case in an Eastern Conference is significantly improved. The idea that the Pacers were going to hit the ground running this season was probably always unrealistic. It’s important to remember that they started 10-15 back in 2024-25 before eventually finding some special chemistry on the way to the Finals.

The challenge for the Pacers right now is using the regular season as a lab to figure out their most existential questions without losing too much ground in an ultra-competitive East. Like every team this early in the season, they have a few things that need deeper exploration.

How Ivica Zubac changes the dynamic

The biggest change from the team Haliburton left to the one he rejoined is the substitution at center. The Pacers let Myles Turner walk because they didn’t want to pay him. That looks like a wise move, but it also forced the team to put its best assets on the table to fill its void at center. Indiana shocked the league by trading for Ivica Zubac at last season’s trade deadline during a lost year, sending out two first-round picks to get him. One of those was top-4 protected for 2026 when Indiana entered the lottery tied for the best odds. When the pick fell to No. 5 and conveyed to the Clippers, it felt like a double loss for a team that just endured a 19-win season without Haliburton.

Ultimately, centers don’t come cheap, and the Pacers had to pay to play in the big man market. Zubac’s skill set is so much different than Turner’s in ways that are both obvious and less intuitive, and Indiana will spend this season tinkering with the best ways to leverage his talent within their system.

Everyone will notice the spacing component. Turner took 8.7 three-point attempts per 100 possessions during his last season in Indiana. Zubac is a total non-shooter who hasn’t attempted a three-pointer the last three seasons. While Turner would pop after setting his screens, Zubac is going to roll, and it takes away some of what made the 2025 Pacers special while giving him a new element with some real benefits.

Zubac is going to play with a lot more power than Turner ever did. His ability to add a component of smashmouth basketball will be welcomed for a team that felt built on finesse even at their best. While the offensive adjustment with Zubac is readily apparent, the defensive end will require some tinkering, too.

Zubac often played in a deeper drop with the Clippers. He was so good at walling off the paint in these coverages that he earned my (fake) vote for 2025 NBA Defensive Player of the Year. The Pacers want their bigs playing more at the level of the screen, which requires Zubac to get up to the touch on ball handlers to see if he can make plays with his hands before retreating back. The Pacers just don’t have the point of attack defenders to viably run a deep drop right now, and it’s going to require an adjustment period from everyone involved.

The reality is that Zubac didn’t look quite as nimble last season with the Clippers before the trade. Now he’s already suffered an ankle sprain against Brooklyn that should keep him out of the lineup in the short-term and could linger beyond that. How the Pacers integrate Zubac is the biggest question they need to answer in their 82-game season, and it’s likely to remain a work in progress for now.

Rick Carlisle is still searching for the right lineup combinations

Carlisle played 11 guys in the first half against Dallas. He played 12 players in the first half against Brooklyn, including a starting lineup switch that subbed out Jarace Walker for Aaron Nesmith. Nesmith was nursing a hamstring injury during the preseason, and his return to the lineup will go a long way toward answering some of Indiana’s biggest questions.

“It’s hard to run when you’re taking the ball under the net the whole game,” Haliburton said after the Dallas loss.

The Pacers can probably bank on a top-5 offense with Haliburton back. How they fix the defense is a much more pressing issue. Through three games, Indiana ranks No. 19 in defensive efficiency, which feels about right despite the small sample. Indiana needs Nesmith and Andrew Nembhard to get after it defensively the same way they were during the 2025 Finals run. They also need to figure out what the bench rotation looks like beyond Obi Toppin as their sixth man, and likely Kelly Oubre — the team’s only real free agent addition this summer — as their seventh man.

T.J. McConnell hasn’t played yet as he recovers from a hamstring strain, and Ben Sheppard is also out with a meniscus tear. Jalen Slawson was firmly on my too good for Summer League list, but his opportunities to add some downhill force and defensive playmaking will still be limited by his two-way contract. Quenton Jackson adds some similar elements as perhaps the most athletic player on the team on a standard contract, and Indiana would benefit from adding his quickness and defensive havoc if it can get around his shooting concerns. Jay Huff was impressive last season filling the center void on a bad team, but Carlisle doesn’t appear to really trust him yet. Every time it feels like Walker could take another step forward as a former lottery pick, he stagnates at both ends of the floor.

The Pacers should be able to count on their top-7, which is more than some teams can say. McConnell’s return will be big, but he took a noticeable step back last season and may be experiencing some age-related decline at 34 years old. Can anyone else on this roster help force more takeaways to get the offense out running? I’m not sure. If Jackson, Walker, Huff, or even Slawson can make it a viable 8- or 9-man rotation come playoff time, Carlisle should be pleased.

It’s still too early to say where the Pacers fit in in the East

Some will tell you the Pacers were a legitimate Finals threat coming into the season with Haliburton back. Others saw the defensive questions and wondered how this team would matchup against the Knicks, Celtics, and Raptors. I suppose I fall more on the latter end, putting the Pacers at No. 8 for Eastern Conference regular season predictions, and ranking them No. 13 in my league-wide championship picture entering the season.

The great thing about the East this season is that it really feels like every game matters with 10 teams realistically dreaming of making a Finals run. It’s just important to remember that 82 games is a long, long, long season. Don’t forget that a year ago, the Chicago Bulls started 5-0 before sputtering so much that they blew the team up at the deadline. The Pacers are 2-2 with the easiest schedule in the NBA so far.

The path for Indiana to get back to greatness starts with Haliburton leading this group to a top-5 offense while managing to get the defense into the top half of the league. This was a good-not-great team in 2024-25 before finding an unforeseen level of excellence in the playoffs, which is the exact same thing the Knicks did one year later on their way to a championship. Haliburton is back, but questions remain.

Watch starstruck Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg ask NBA legends for advice originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Through four games, Yaxel Lendeborg has been everything the Warriors could have asked for and more.

The 24-year-old rookie leads the team in minutes and rebounds per game, while ranking second in points and assists per game.

On Monday, Lendeborg led Golden State to its first win of the season in a 134-114 blowout against the Denver Nuggets.

His team-high 31 points set a new personal bar in his short NBA career, and he added 12 rebounds and six assists on the night.

After the game, Lendeborg was interviewed by a trio of NBA legends enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame: Tracy McGrady, Vince Carter and Carmelo Anthony.

While talking to the former NBA stars, Lendeborg was keen to ask for advice on how to improve his game.

“Lean on your vets, bro,” McGrady said. “You got two great Hall of Fame vets that (are) very intellectual in the game of basketball. So I would say lean on them as much as possible, man. Every day, just ask questions. You can never ask a dumb question, bro. Just lean on them two guys, and you’ll get a lot of information.”

Carter, who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2024, told Lendeborg to use his age to his advantage.

“Utilize your youth,” Carter said. “You have a motor. Continue to play with joy, and ask those questions. Like you said, you don’t get comfortable in the game without asking questions. When you get the answers to the questions, you go out there; it’s easier to take the test, meaning play the game.”

Anthony emphasized leaning on the Warriors’ experienced vets to make an immediate impact.

“Get ahead of the film game,” Anthony said. “Stay in the film. Watch that film. Be a student of film and you have two guys on your team, in Draymond (Green) and Steph (Curry), who’ve been through this for so long, and they’ve been winning … so now you have an opportunity to just learn the in-between game and little nuances of the game that’s going to help you and help the Warriors.”

Lendeborg is one of only six players in the NBA to average at least 20 points (21.8), nine rebounds (9.3) and four assists per game (4.5), in company with three former MVPs and two All-Stars.

The Michigan alumnus also leads the Warriors with 7.8 free-throw attempts per game, an area where Golden State struggled last season, ranking 27th in the NBA as a team.

Before letting Lendeborg go, McGrady invoked a message from legendary San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.

“He always said he wants to see some nasty,” McGrady said. “You’re coming in the league with that nasty. I love it. Do not lose that edge, bro.”

If the Warriors are to stay afloat until Jimmy Butler returns, they sure hope Lendeborg’s “nasty” will carry through the entirety of his rookie season.

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BOSTON — Payton Pritchard was glad the Celtics beat the New York Knicks for their first win of the season on Friday night. But he couldn’t stop thinking about his own lackluster performance — 4 points on 1-for-5 shooting in 30 minutes off the bench.

He wasn’t as aggressive as usual, and he didn’t attack the paint as decisively. It didn’t matter; thanks in large part to a masterful 36-point performance from Jayson Tatum, the Celtics came out on top.

Still, it didn’t feel great to know he didn’t play his best.

“But it’s a long season,” he said. “I try to give myself forgiveness of it, even though it ate away at me.”

On Monday night, in a 134-99 win against the Chicago Bulls, Pritchard bounced back, exploding for 28 points on 10-16 shooting. He did most of the damage in a 39-point Celtics third quarter, shooting 7-for-8 from the field, including 5-for-5 from three.

“It just feels good to catch the rhythm again, and just bounce back from the other night,” he said.

In Year 7, however, Pritchard doesn’t get rattled after a lackluster start to the year. Pritchard signed a 2-year, $44.2 million extension right before the season started, and he now knows he routinely recovers from slow starts.

Still, Payton Pritchard early-season struggles are an interesting phenomenon

In 22 career October games, Payton Pritchard has shot 38.7% from the field and 31% from three. It’s his least efficient month of the season, by far, and he’s not exactly sure why.

“I really couldn’t put my finger on it, but I think you could look at the last couple of years— like, I just have games where it’s very non-aggressive, just out of rhythm,” he said.

The difference between Pritchard’s efficiency in October and the rest of the year is stark; the 28-year-old shoots at least 44% from the field and 38% from three every other month. November typically brings a dramatic bounceback; after struggling to start the year, Pritchard has shot 45.3% from the field and 40.3% from three over 66 career November games.

At the start of the year, it looked like he could get off to a strong start; he poured in 17 points on 4-for-9 shooting in the opener against the Detroit Pistons.

But Pritchard’s individual performance against the Knicks nonetheless left a sour taste.

“We got the W, but I want to perform better and be better for our team,” he said. “So, tonight was me coming out with just an aggressive mindset — just kind of play free and just attack the paint.”

So why does it happen? Why does it seem like sometimes, the 6’1 guard just fades into the background?

Pritchard attributes nights when he creates fewer offensive advantages to his own approach — not to anything his teammates or opposing defenses are doing.

“It’s 100% my aggression,” Pritchard said. “And it’s not about just taking shots to me. Like, I’m fine with any amount of shots. It’s about, like: how do I attack, and am I touching the paint? Am I pushing the pace? Stuff like that — controllables.”

Sometimes, like on Friday, when Pritchard reviews the tape, he feels underwhelmed by his own approach. He’s eager to fix it immediately.

“When I don’t do it, I feel very disappointed in myself, and I feel like I’m hurting the team in that area,” he said. “So, I feel like it’s the main thing I can bring to the team — a sense of pace and attacking the paint and kicking out and just making plays.”

After a career season, opposing teams are no doubt paying extra attention to Pritchard’s offense. He acknowledged he might face extra defensive pressure on the heels of a career-best 17-points-per-game season, but wouldn’t concede that’s a justifiable reason for his early-season struggles.

“Honestly, that shouldn’t affect me,” Pritchard said. “You have reads for any way they defend you, and if it’s gonna be ball pressure, I don’t mind dribbling on any type of pressure. So, if they’re gonna pick me up, I should be able to attack the paint, make a play.”

On Monday, however, his October struggles appeared to be in the rearview.

“He’s another guy that impacts winning in different ways,” Joe Mazzulla said. “Tonight, you saw the scoreboard, which is obviously something that’s really important for us. But he’s been making plays defensively, his assists, his ability to make plays on both ends of the floor. So even if he’s not scoring, he still impacts winning at a high level. When he does what he does tonight, it makes us a better team.”

One Possession: “Coldest white boy” gets red-hot in Celtics' win originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

NBA Games don’t typically boil down to just one possession. But one possession can often tell the story of a game. This is “One Possession,” a recurring series where we highlight one notable sequence from every Celtics game during the 2026-27 season.

Payton Pritchard’s third-quarter outburst had TD Garden rocking on Monday night, but our favorite part was when our NBC Sports Boston cameras cut to the crowd and there, amid all the green-clad Celtics revelers, was a Bulls fans in a Zach LaVine jersey clapping his hands in appreciation, too.

Allen Iverson proved you don’t need to be a Celtics fan to marvel at how Pritchard can take over a game. And the “coldest white boy” certainly got red hot as part of a 19-point third-quarter outburst in Monday’s 134-99 thrashing of the Bulls.

Pritchard’s night crescendoed in the final two minutes of the third quarter. Neemias Queta and Sam Hauser fought to keep a possession alive and Pritchard walked into a 30-foot straightaway 3-pointer that put Boston up 98-73 with 1:48 to play in the frame.

The NBA’s tracking gave Pritchard a 37.6 percent expected field goal percentage on the deep attempt. We’re thinking that there’s only a select few like Pritchard and Steph Curry that can be pegged to shoot better than league average on a 30-foot bomb with a defender rushing out to contest.

But Pritchard sent the Garden into full delirium the next trip down. Everyone in the building knew the heat check was coming and Pritchard put Buddy Hield in the blender before stepping back on a 26-foot triple. The expected field goal percentage dipped to 31.7 percent on that attempt but it felt like 100 percent chance of going in with how hot Pritchard was at that point.

Pritchard finished 10-of-16 shooting overall, while connecting on 7 of 10 3-pointers. His expected field goal percentage overall pegged him at 40.5 percent, but he finished at 62.5 percent. It’s even more jarring when you look at expected effective field goal percentage, which jumped 32.7 percent from 51.7 expected to 84.4 percent actual.

Pritchard, fresh off inking a 2-year, $44.2 million extension before the start of the regular season, continued a familiar trend of being a little slow out of the gates to start the new campaign. Pritchard was quiet against two of the more physical teams in the league in Detroit and New York but got himself activated against the Bulls. 

Therein lies the challenge for Pritchard this season. While he’s most certainly left his imprint on the biggest stages, especially all those buzzer-beating heaves during Boston’s 2024 title run, he needs to be a more consistent presence against the best teams in the league. The departure of Jaylen Brown insists that Boston’s supporting cast elevate in those moments, and everyone from Pritchard to Paul George to Derrick White need to be secondary scoring options if the NBA’s best teams put much of their energy into slowing Jayson Tatum.

Pritchard, who averaged just two drives per game in Boston’s first two outings of the season, was much more aggressive against Chicago. Good things happen when he touches the paint. Three of Pritchard’s four assists on the night led to 3-pointers, and his 11 assist points generated were second on the team behind only Tatum (14 points generated on 6 total assists).

Boston’s bench unit can be a differentiator for the team throughout the season. Pritchard was a plus-22 in his 21 minutes on Monday. Hauser (team-best plus-36), Hugo Gonzalez (plus-34), and Queta (plus-32) were all super impactful in their floor time as well.

And even opposing fanbases clearly appreciate how Pritchard can impact winning.

The Wizards couldn’t keep Moussa Diabate from getting offensive rebounds or Brandon Miller from scoring from everywhere, so they lost to the Hornets in Charlotte despite solid games from Anthony Davis and Trae Young.

Diabate grabbed eight offensive boards in the first half and finished with 11 for the game — a new career high. After a few bad possessions early with Bilal Coulibaly on him, Miller torched the Wizards from all over the floor — at-rim, mid-range, and threes. He finished with 39 points — a new career high.

As for the Wizards, Davis was pretty good, notching 29 points and 10 rebounds on solid efficiency. He had trouble containing Diabate, and communicated effectively on defense.

Young was crafty and effective for the most part, though he turned down a few threes he’d normally take. His passing threat was significant — looking at a teammate had Charlotte defenders jumping out of his way and leaving him open for layups.

One highly annoying development: going for a rebound, Justin Champagnie landed on Naz Reid’s foot, and suffered what appeared to be a significant ankle or foot injury.

From the notebook

• It’s only four games, but I’m not sold on the Wizards shot selection.
• One play annoyed me — Davis turned down an open three with a late closeout. Instead of side-stepping into a truly wide open three (which is a fundamental in today’s game), Davis took a dribble and stepped in for a long two, which he missed.
• I have no data to back this up, but my impression from watching Bub Carrington for two full seasons and the start of his third is that he’s terrible at throwing lobs. He tried one to Coulibaly in the fourth quarter that would have been a simple turnover with any other teammate. Coulibaly skied to deflect the pass off the backboard, grabbed the carom, and threw it off a Charlotte player while falling out of bounds.
• The coaching staff’s decision to start doubling Miller in the final minutes of the game, helped stall Charlotte’s offensive attack and get Washington back in the game. The Hornets countered with Reid hitting an open three, and then countering by bring Grayson Allen one pass away. The Wizards couldn’t help off Allen (a superb three-point shooter), and Miller immediately scored.

Four Factors

Below are the four factors that decide wins and losses in basketball — shooting (efg), rebounding (offensive rebounds), ball handling (turnovers), fouling (free throws made).

The four factors are measured by:

• eFG% (effective field goal percentage, which accounts for the three-point shot)
• OREB% (offensive rebound percentage)
• TOV% (turnover percentage — turnovers divided by possessions)
• FTM/FGA (free throws made divided by field goal attempts)

Stats & Metrics

PPA is my overall production metric, which credits players for things they do that help a team win (scoring, rebounding, playmaking, defending) and dings them for things that hurt (missed shots, turnovers, bad defense, fouls).

PPA is a per possession metric designed for larger data sets. In small sample sizes, the numbers can get weird. In PPA, 100 is average, higher is better and replacement level is 45. For a single game, replacement level isn’t much use, and I reiterate the caution about small samples sometimes producing weird results.

POSS is the number of possessions each player was on the floor in this game.

ORTG = offensive rating, which is points produced per individual possessions x 100. League average so far this season is listed in the Four Factors table above. Points produced is not the same as points scored. It includes the value of assists and offensive rebounds, as well as sharing credit when receiving an assist.

USG = offensive usage rate. Average is 20%. Median so far this season is 17.7%.

ORTG and USG are versions of stats created by former Wizards assistant coach Dean Oliver and modified by me. ORTG is an efficiency measure that accounts for the value of shooting, offensive rebounds, assists and turnovers. USG includes shooting from the floor and free throw line, offensive rebounds, assists and turnovers.

+PTS = “Plus Points” is a measure of the points gained or lost by each player based on their efficiency in this game compared to league average efficiency on the same number of possessions. A player with an offensive rating (points produced per possession x 100) of 100 who uses 20 possessions would produce 20 points. If the league average efficiency is 115, the league — on average — would produced 23.0 points in the same 20 possessions. So, the player in this hypothetical would have a +PTS score of -3.0.

Players are sorted by total production in the game.

The Spurs are always out and about giving back to the community, and the latest example comes from Devin Vassell, who visited Harlandale High School yesterday to donate shoes to both the boys and girls basketball teams, specifically A’ja Wilsons for the girls and Devin Booker’s for the boys. He also included a $10,000 donation.

The kiddos were certainly excited to see one of their favorite Spurs! Afterwards, Vassell said, “The fans are amazing. The biggest thing is to be able to give back to them. It’s not just playing on the court and winning games. It’s them being able to see that we’re people just like them.”

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Our community guidelines apply which should remind everyone to be cool, avoid personal attacks, not to troll and to watch the language.

Pick your idiom. The Celtics took the Bulls by their horns. Boston was a bull in Chicago’s china shop. Jayson Tatum and Payton Pritchard bull-ied their visitors. Regardless, Boston enjoyed their first Gino Time win against Chicago on Monday night in a 134-99 running of the Bulls.

Why the Celtics won

Let’s be honest. Chicago is a rebuilding team trying to establish an identity under new head coach Tiago Splitter. With players like triple-double machine Josh Giddey and pogosticks rookie Caleb Wilson and Matas Buzelis, they want to fly up and down the court and get up a ton of shots. The Bulls press. The Bulls play zone defense and disrupt passing lanes. The more possessions, the more opportunities to see what they have with the sixth youngest roster.

Heading in last night’s game, the Bulls were first in pace and fourth in the league at three-point attempts at 41.3 a night at a 22.6% clip (worst in the NBA). Those are the telltale signs of a team in flux.

The Celtics, however, are the OG volume three-point shooting team and the rest of the league has now started to catch up.

Both teams got up the same number of triples in the blowout: 44. But as the 134-99 score suggests, the Celtics went old school with their possession maxxing. They grabbed more offensive rebounds (19-14) and turned 24 turnovers into a whopping 39 points, but it was Boston’s 27-point edge behind the arc that made the difference.

Nobody emulated that more than Payton Pritchard, the “coldest white boy,” against the Bulls. He scored 19 of 28 in the third quarter that included hitting 5-of-5 from three.

Numbers game: +34

Through the first two games of the season, Hugo Gonzalez only played fourteen minutes against the Pistons and Knicks, a disappointment development after, well, an offseason of promising development.

“I think he’s played well even in those two games, whether it’s two-and-a-half minutes or three minutes, he’s had a couple of offensive rebounds and done things that impacted winning,” Joe Mazzulla said of the young 20-year-old in this young season. “Tonight was louder. Tonight was the best version of him getting better, but those guys have a hard job, bringing it everyday. A lot of what they’re great at doesn’t show up on a score sheet, but tonight you did.”

After missing his only two shots and being a -17 to start, Gonzalez joined the rotation in a big way against the Bulls, posting 13 points, 5 rebounds, and two assists in nearly 24 minutes of play for a +34 on the night.

At halftime, Gonzalez told NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin that “everybody is ready. Everybody is meeting the challenge of the game.” That certainly applied to the second-year Spaniard who led his rookie class in plus-minus for the year.

Gonzalez was doing everything that has made him a fan favorite in his short time with the Celtics. Whether it’s grabbing offensive rebounds for an easy putback or driving the entire length of the floor for an and-1 layup, Hugo definitely made a case to Mazzulla for more minutes.

Must C’s

In a game muddled by 28 fouls apiece and 60 total free throws, there was little flow to the game, especially for two teams looking to ramp up activity on both sides of the ball.

But how’s that for a little flow? The Celtics outscored the Bulls 17-9 in fast break points that included that Derek White strip steal and coast-to-coast drive for a layup on the other end. Boston is a hair behind the Lakers for points off turnovers (26.3) and 4th at limiting them (15.3) — that’s an 11-point margin. Last season, it was only +1.2.

Who said what

“I don’t like it. He knows I don’t like it, but he’s got a little swagger with that. I also tried it the other day and it didn’t fit…that’s not for me. I’m not from Nebraska.” — Hugo Gonzalez on Baylor Scheierman’s headband

We’ll see Chicago again on Friday when the Bulls return for our first NBA Cup game. Tonight, the Celtics complete their first back-to-back hosting the visiting Brooklyn Nets at 7:30 pm EST. No word yet if it’s a headband night.

Like most Duke fans, we’re guessing, we’ve been excited to see how Cameron Boozer’s rookie season turns out.

Well, so far, so good.

Memphis is currently 4-0, which is even more impressive when you consider they’ve had to replace Ja Morant, and that Zach Edey is still on restricted minutes due to his ankle issue.

Somewhat surprisingly, Ty Jerome has emerged as an offensive force. In his first four games, he’s scored 45, 28, 31, and 15 points Monday night against the Utah Jazz.

This from a guy starting his eighth season and whose career scoring average is 9.7 points. Kind of wild.

But Boozer is a big part of the Grizzlies’ success. He’s being lauded by a lot of players as being advanced beyond his years, including Jerome. It’s probably not a coincidence that Jerome’s playing at an insane level. A journeyman guard, Jerome was leading the league in scoring at 34.7 points per game going into Monday night (his average is down to 29.8 now).

Boozer probably is making a lot of that possible since he’s drawing a lot of attention from defenses.

Against Utah, he finished with 13 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists. Most importantly, he finished with a win.

Again.

Among those who are impressed with Boozer is Golden State’s Draymond Green, who said this:

“So very impressed with Cam Boozer to start the season, but also just to go up against him for the first time, very strong, you know, doesn’t back down from a challenge. He talks out there on the floor. Like, I was very, very, very impressed with Cam Boozer. And so it’ll be interesting to see, you know, watch his progress as the season goes on to see how his career starts to play out, but I’m very impressed with Cam Boozer. Just, like I said, the thing that stood out most is he moves extremely well. He can handle the ball like he... that piece was shocking to me.”

“I thought he’d be a 20-10 guy anyway. I didn’t think it’d be like this though, like this type of 20-10, where it’s threes, it’s off the bounce, it’s off the post, offensive boards. Like I didn’t know it’d be all that. And so, yeah, very impressed with young Cam Boozer.”

• ‘That Piece Was Shocking to Me’: Draymond Green Did Not Have Answers for 19-Year-Old Rookie Who Gave Warriors an Embarrassing Loss
• ‘I had no clue’… Draymond Green shocked by how good Cam Boozer is after playing the Memphis Grizzlies
• Grizzlies’ Cameron Boozer is doing things as a rookie that haven’t been seen since Shaq, Elgin Baylor

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Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg joins three Hall of Famers in exclusive NBA club originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Yaxel Lendeborg’s NBA career is off to a historic start.

The Warriors rookie has been the team’s biggest bright spot early on in the 2026-27 NBA season, and he turned heads with a monster performance in Golden State’s 134-114 win over the Denver Nuggets on Monday at Ball Arena.

Lendeborg scored a career-high 31 points with 12 rebounds and six assists on 9-of-19 shooting from the field and 12 of 13 on free throws, becoming just the fourth player in NBA history (in the draft lottery era) to score 85-plus points with 35-plus rebounds in their first four games, per OptaSTATS, joining three Naismith Basketball Hall of Famers.

Lendeborg, through his first four games, also is outpacing Los Angeles Lakers superstar guard Luka Dončić through the first four games of his NBA career with the Dallas Mavericks.

Although the sample size is small, it’s clear the Warriors potentially have found something special in Lendeborg, who only will continue to make NBA history if he maintains his current trajectory.

His next test will be Wednesday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center.

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On Monday morning, ESPN’s Hallie Grossman profiled Payton Pritchard in a piece entitled, “How Payton Pritchard became Boston’s unlikely iso king.” In the introduction, Grossman recounted a story during Pritchard’s 15-point performance in Game 3 of the Celtics first round playoff series against the Philadelphia 76ers. He turned to the sideline to see 76ers legend Allen Iverson sitting courtside where AI uttered a sentence that was not only a reaction to the moment, but maybe just a proclamation of the future.

“You’re the coldest white boy I’ve ever seen,” Iverson said, high praise coming from one of the best undersized guards in NBA history.

It feels like divine intervention that this incredible quote dropped before Boston’s game against the Bulls because Pritchard made AI look like Nostradamus with his play. The “coldest white boy” finished with 28 points, 4 assists, and two steals on 10-16 shooting from the field and 7-10 shooting from three.

When asked about Payton Pritchard’s “heat checks” when he has things rolling, Joe Mazzulla decided to highlight his all-around game instead. “I don’t really consider those heat checks for him because he’s that good of an offensive player,” Mazzulla said. “He’s another guy that impacts winning in different ways. Tonight, you saw the scoreboard…But he’s been making plays defensively, his assists, his ability to make plays on both ends of the floor, so even if he’s not scoring, he’s still impacting winning at a high level.”

Pritchard was asked about Mazzulla’s reactions to his “heat checks” by saying, “I work on those shots, so it doesn’t really feel like a bad shot, and obviously it’s not if it goes in.” We know Pritchard practices these shots based on his offseason training routine, where he starts his day at 6:45 am at a local high school gym in Cape Cod with no air conditioning.

“There’s just something about a humid gym,” Pritchard said, as he talked about the gym he used to work out in back in West Linn, Oregon that could reach up to 120 degrees in the summer. Pritchard said he loved the muck and that includes his competition. He recruited Division 2 and Division 3 college basketball players, international players, and hometown friends to play against. He would pay for them to drive down or fly across the country to the gym because he wants them to be hungry and give him their best one-on-one defense.

For two hours three times a week, Pritchard and his practice squad will go at it during the summer. Pritchard allows them to take breaks, but he doesn’t and will even buy them all Chipotle if he shoots under 60% on the day. That is the level of training that gets him ready to put up big-time performances like he did on Monday against the Bulls.

Pritchard’s third quarter was an electric sight to behold as he took over as the Celtics number one option after Jayson Tatum picked up his fourth foul of the game. At the 7:15 mark of the third quarter when Tatum checked out, Pritchard led the Celtics on a 31-11 scoring run over the Bulls to end the quarter. His biggest highlight was an isolation step-back three over Buddy Hield, who he crossed out of his shoes. The Bulls called a timeout, the Boston bench was going crazy, the TD Garden crowd was alive.

Payton Pritchard reminded everyone that he is that guy. Pritchard finished the third quarter with 19 points on 7-8 shooting from the field and 5-5 from three before subbing out for the rest of the game.

Pritchard’s big third quarter gave us a chance to see new free agent signing Mike Conley make his Celtics debut to start the fourth quarter. Ever since Media Day, it feels like Mike Conley and Payton Pritchard have been linked together at the hip. Pritchard has spoken in the past about what it was like working with Conley this offseason. In the ESPN article, Conley was asked about his thoughts on Pritchard who he called “a menace.”

“He’s an absolute crazy person when it comes to trying to improve his game,” Conley said.

In his first minutes in green, Conley finishing with 6 points and 2 steals on 2-2 shooting from three in 7 minutes of play. When asked about Conley postgame, Pritchard joked by saying, “I was telling him, like one of the back taps he had, I’m like he looked like a DB still. He’s just a freak.” He also praised Conley for being a great veteran presence, saying, “Such a good vet to be around, and somebody I am always pulling for regardless…for me to have somebody like that in my corner, it’s big.”

The ESPN article finished with a quote from Pritchard that is a testament to all of the hard work that he has put in, “I can’t wake up and be Wemby.” It’s a simple quote but it’s a real quote. Pritchard is listed at 6’1” and has had to deal with a lot of different circumstances with the Celtics over his seven years in Boston.

He has gone from a reserve guy, to asking for a trade out of Boston, to NBA Finals buzzer beaters, to winning Sixth Man of the Year and to having a career season in 2025. Pritchard’s ability to outwork everyone else on the court at his size has led him to becoming the elite player that he is today and he is in store for what could be the best season of his NBA career.

On Monday, the White Noise Podcast hosted by Derrick White and Alex Welsh had Joe Mazzulla on the pod for the first time.

“My point guard knocks, I open the door so happy to be here” is how Mazzulla opened the podcast. He kicked off the podcast by saying how much he doesn’t like to be called “Coach” and Walsh recounted the time he called Mazzulla “Coach” and how Joe got upset.

They started off the conversation about how Joe spent his summer traveling around the world to spend time with the players and how Mazzulla went to Colorado to visit White last summer. He talked about how smart Derrick’s son Hendrix is, which got into how the team learns from different sports and how they can learn from it.

They then got into when White and Walsh went to the J. Cole concert and Joe told White to learn Cole’s breathing techniques from it.

“[J. Cole] said that he doesn’t have a breathing route, just being conscious of finding the time to take the breath,” White said. “As [Mazzulla] was talking about, sometimes we forgot to take the breath… Just finding the time to take that deep breath.”

They then got into their Division 2 beginnings and all the wild stories behind that— for example, how they used to share the bus with the women’s team and how they would fly out to games on game day, no matter how far it was.

Joe then proceeded to point out that on days he doesn’t want to practice, White won’t wear his leggings or tie his shoes in warmups. “We can’t get anything accomplished today cause this guy doesn’t want to tie his shoes. He’s too lazy to put his leggings on so we can’t go live cause you need your leggings.”

When he was asked for stories about D-White, Mazzulla jokingly said that Derrick has “zero self-control at team events” and “brings it no matter where he is.” Joe then talked about how Derrick lights up and room and helps him keep perspective during games.

They then talked about Joe’s Joker tattoo and Mazzulla had an interesting perspective on it: “I don’t think he was as bad as people made him out to be. I don’t think Batman was as good as we made him out to be.”

They then finished up with a game of ‘Are you smarter than at 5th grader’ and the results were very funny.

You can listen to the whole podcast on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.