Category: NBA

These next two weeks could be a defining stretch for 2025-26 Celtics originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

We’re about to find out a whole bunch about the 2025-26 Boston Celtics.

On Thanksgiving Eve, the Celtics launch into a brutal seven-games-in-12-days stretch. That includes the second dreaded five-games-in-seven-nights span of the season, with five games in four different cities and travel before each tilt.

The next seven games will also feature:

• Matchups with four of the top five teams in the Eastern Conference (Detroit, Toronto, Cleveland, New York)
• Two games against teams with double-digit win totals in the West (Minnesota, LA Lakers)

Take away a pit stop in Washington on December 4 — the night before a rivalry showdown with the Lakers back in Boston — and the other six opponents in this seven-game stretch have a combined .702 winning percentage (73-31).

In the ’90s, the World Wrestling Federation often held an annual pay-per-view on the night before Thanksgiving. Now, the Celtics are about to launch into their own Survivor Series.

The Celtics are 4-6 this season against opponents with a record of .500 or better. Two of those wins came against Orlando, with the others against Cleveland and Philadelphia.

After a roller-coaster 9-8 start to the season, these new-look Celtics are either going to show that they can measure up against some of the NBA’s elite, or get a bit of a reality check about the ceiling of this team while hunting for their identity as Jayson Tatum rehabs from his ruptured Achilles.

The gauntlet starts Wednesday with a showdown against the streaking Pistons. How ironic that, as Boston was starting its title march two years ago, the Celtics handed Detroit their record-tying 28th consecutive loss (albeit needing overtime) as the Pistons matched their longest losing streak in league history.

This year? Detroit will be looking to set a new franchise record Wednesday night while hunting its 14th consecutive win. Life comes at you fast in the NBA.

Adding to the daunting nature of the upcoming schedule, the Celtics will start this stretch without center Neemias Queta, who owns the best net rating (+16.4) and on/off differential (+21.0) on the team. The Celtics defense is 21.3 points per 100 possessions better with Queta on the floor and the team is severely undersized without him.

Yes, Boston starts this tall task without its tallest player (and the only 7-footer on the roster).

After kicking away some wins earlier in the season, the Celtics have won five of their last seven. As part of that stretch, they let a win slip away in Philadelphia, then played down against an inferior Brooklyn team on Sunday.

Despite some early bumps in the road, the 2025-26 Celtics sit a game above .500. There have been a lot of positives, though they’ve sometimes been masked by consistency woes.

The next two weeks ought to tell us a lot more than the first four weeks did.

Is the glass half full for the Celtics? Boston owns the fifth-best offensive rating in the league and sits inside the top 10 in net rating (tied for ninth, +4.8). Boston ranks in the top five in half-court defense and has been slowly tightening up its early-season rebounding woes.

Still, navigating even a short stretch without Queta could be daunting. Can the Celtics survive going small with Josh Minott or Chris Boucher eating the majority of center minutes? Can the team confidently lean on Luka Garza, who logged a rare DNP even after Queta limped off on Sunday night? Can rookie two-way center Amari Williams hold up if thrown into the NBA spotlight the next two weeks?

The next two weeks could answer a lot of the lingering questions about the Celtics, and it might dictate a whole new batch of questions about where the season goes from there.

Luka Doncic drilled a three-pointer right in front of the Clippers’ bench late in the first quarter and then glared at them, shaking his head as he ran back down court to play defense for the Lakers, just one of the many piercing stares he sent their way after delivering one of his three-point bombs.

It seems as if Doncic has his own personal rivalry against the Clippers and it just simply folded into the inter-city rivalry.

And once again, Doncic overwhelmed the Clippers in directing the Lakers to a 135-118 win Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena.

He came up one rebound shy of a triple-double, dropping 43 points, 13 assists and nine rebounds. He was 14 for 28 from the field, seven for 12 from three-point range and eight for 11 from the free-throw line.

Read more:'Legend': Claire Rothman, Forum president during Lakers' 'Showtime' dynasty, dies at 97

In leading the Lakers to their fifth straight win, Doncic now has recorded 39 double-double games of at least 40 points, which moved him past Anthony Davis for the fourth most among active players and tying Magic Johnson for the sixth most 40-point double-doubles as a Laker.

Doncic also tied Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal for the most 40-point double-doubles as a Laker before the age of 27 since the NBA/ABA merger (five).

"I think we played a great game,” Doncic said. “I think they were getting a lot of shots, especially in the first half.”

Late in the fourth quarter, the game turned physical, and Doncic was in the middle of it.

Kris Dunn pushed Doncic in the back, and Doncic confronted Dunn, who then put the basketball in Doncic’s chest. Jaxson Hayes then stepped in and pushed Dunn.

In the end, Dunn was assessed two technical fouls and ejected from the game and Hayes was assessed a technical foul. Doncic shot a technical foul free throw with 3:33 left in the game.

“Of course, I appreciate it,” Doncic said about Hayes stepping in to help him. “I told him right away, ‘Thanks for having my back.’ And that says a lot about him. That says a lot about this team. Everybody has got each other's back.”

Doncic scored 24 points against the Clippers in the first quarter alone, making his first five three-pointers before finishing the quarter five for eight from three, nine for 14 from the field, many of the baskets punctuated by a stare down at the Clippers’ bench.

By the half, Doncic had posted 32 points on 11-for-17 shooting and six for 10 on three-pointers and six assists.

Over the course of his career with the Lakers and the Dallas Mavericks, Doncic, who is averaging 12.5 free-throw attempts per game, has torn the Clippers apart.

Entering Tuesday night’s game, he had averaged 32.2 points per game over 20 games, his highest against any Western Conference foe. He had produced 7.9 rebounds, 7.4 assists and shot 48% from the field, 36% from the three-point line.

When asked why he has performed so well against the Clippers, Doncic shrugged.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I think we just met a lot of times in the playoffs. They beat me the first two times, so I don't know what it is. I guess I like it.”

Read more:Shooters shoot: How the Lakers are handling their early three-point slump

With Deandre Ayton (right knee contusion) out and Hayes starting in his place, Austin Reaves (31 points) and LeBron James (25), did their part to help the Lakers clinch Group B of the NBA cup with a 3-0 record.

The Lakers finish group play against the Dallas Mavericks here Friday night and the Clippers complete their group play against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night at Intuit Dome.

Etc.

Lakers coach JJ Redick said that Ayton got an MRI exam on his knee that “was clean other than just some swelling, a little bit of a bruise.” Ayton was injured in the first half against the Jazz Sunday. “Don’t think it’s going to be a long-term thing,” Redick said. “Hopefully it’s a game-to-game thing and he’s back at some point by the end of the week.”...The Lakers announced that they signed forward Drew Timme to a two-way contract and waived two-way center Christian Koloko. Timme has played for the Lakers’ G League team, the South Bay Lakers, and posted averages of 25.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists in 25.5 minutes over six games. The 6-foot-10 Timme played his college basketball at Gonzaga.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Observations after Sixers get crushed by 41 points and injury list grows  originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

By an enormous margin, the shorthanded Sixers fell to their worst loss so far this season on Tuesday night.

Going into their meeting with the Magic, the Sixers’ largest margin of defeat was 11 points. They trailed by as many as 46 against Orlando and lost by a 144-103 score. 

The 9-8 Sixers’ top scorer was Tyrese Maxey with 20 points. Anthony Black scored a career-high 31 for the 11-8 Magic. 

The Sixers were missing the following players: 

• Joel Embiid (right knee injury management)
• Paul George (right ankle sprain)
• VJ Edgecombe (left calf tightness) 
• Kelly Oubre Jr. (left knee LCL sprain)
• Adem. Bona (right ankle sprain)

Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said pregame that Embiid had been “trending toward playing” Tuesday and participated in some of the team’s morning shootaround, but he’s “not quite there yet.”

Nurse said Edgecombe’s calf is “improving” and that George reported ankle soreness after the Sixers’ loss Sunday to the Heat. He was unsure whether the 35-year-old forward would need to be sidelined for multiple games. 

Tuesday’s game was an NBA Cup contest. The Sixers are now 0-3 in East Group B and Orlando is 3-0.

The Sixers’ final Cup game will be Friday night in Brooklyn against the Nets. Here are observations on their blowout loss to the Magic:

Sixers’ injury list grows

The Sixers went to their bench early, bringing in Jared McCain and Trendon Watford to replace Justin Edwards and Dominick Barlow.

Both Watford and McCain were strong in their first stint. McCain nailed a catch-and-shoot three-pointer on his first shot. Watford had a couple of driving baskets around the midpoint of the first quarter. He also drew and made four free throws later in the period. 

McCain celebrated with Maxey and Watford after drilling another long-range jumper in transition, giving the Sixers a 21-17 edge and prompting an Orlando timeout.  As a duo, McCain and Watford posted 15 points in the first quarter on 4-for-4 shooting.

Unfortunately for Watford, his night ended abruptly in the second quarter.

While he was handling the ball on a fast break, Watford fell awkwardly to the floor. He was helped back to the locker room with 4:07 left in the second and ruled out at halftime with a left adductor strain. 

Justin Edwards also went to the locker room at the 10:24 mark of the third quarter. Whatever Edwards’ issue, he got the green light to return to the game late in the third.

Woeful defensive night 

The Sixers turned to a zone defense early in the first quarter. Orlando was unable to knock down jumpers in the opening minutes, starting 0 for 8 from three-point range, which allowed the Sixers to sit in the zone for an extended stretch. 

Finally, the Magic saw a few deep shots drop late in the first quarter. A Tyus Jones three with 2.5 seconds left in the first tied the game up at 35 apiece. 

Defensive rebounding was a predictable, major challenge for the Sixers in their zone. The Magic scored 15 second-chance points in the first half to the Sixers’ zero.

Orlando’s offense stayed hot to begin the second quarter and the Sixers’ relative lack of size became a more glaring problem. Multiple Sixers also had very porous moments individually, allowing just about everyone on the Magic to coast to the rim.

Black was a giant standout off of Orlando’s bench. His second straight corner three extended the Magic’s lead to 57-43. In animated fashion, Maxey appeared to ask Andre Drummond why he hadn’t closed out on the player torching the Sixers. Fair question. 

The Sixers’ deficit ballooned to 80-54 on a Wendell Carter Jr. alley-oop slam late in the second quarter and they heard boos from the home crowd.

Black scored 27 points in the first half. Before Tuesday, his career high for a game was 23. 

Dust-up adds a bit of drama

Drummond was at the center of a dust-up in the final minute of the first half. 

He fouled Carter on the perimeter and then squared up to the Magic big man with a boxing-style stance. Drummond didn’t throw any punches, but the situation escalated when Jalen Suggs shoved him. Jabari Walker joined the fray, too.

After the dust settled, officials assessed technical fouls to Drummond, Carter, Desmond Bane and Walker. Suggs received two technicals, which resulted in his ejection. 

Nothing about the second half was nearly as interesting. Johni Broome checked in with 5:09 to go in the third quarter and finished with four points on 2-for-9 shooting and six rebounds. Fellow rookie Hunter Sallis played most of the fourth quarter.

Kyle Lowry was the one active Sixer who didn’t see any action, although “We want Kyle” chants popped up. Maxey logged a season-low 32 minutes and watched the whole fourth.

Nick Young sticks up for Warriors' Draymond Green, epically trolls Kenyon Martin originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The ongoing beef between Warriors star Draymond Green and former NBA star Kenyon Martin took another odd turn on Tuesday.

Before the latest episode of Gilbert Arenas’ “Gil’s Arena” show, former Warriors guard Nick Young wore a No. 23 Golden State jersey into the studio in an attempt to rile up Martin.

While it’s possible Young is wearing Green’s jersey, the official “Gil’s Arena” social media accounts allude to the 2018 NBA champion donning the wrong jersey.

Whether it actually is a Green jersey or possibly a Jason Richardson No. 23 jersey, Young’s intention was clear: Get under Martin’s skin and stir the pot.

It worked.

The beef between Green and Martin came up again during Tuesday’s episode of “Gil’s Arena,” and 2000 No. 1 overall draft pick again took shots at the four-time NBA champion.

Martin rekindled the feud when he addressed Green’s on-court antics.

Green used last week’s “The Draymond Green Show” podcast to respond to Martin’s slight.

“The constant shots have been a little confusing to me because I don’t quite know where they came from,” Green said. “And you think someone who was the No. 1 pick that didn’t quite have the career that I’ve had, but playing similar roles in a sense, would appreciate it, would show more love — especially when you go back to a kid born and raised in Saginaw, you think it’ll be a little more love. So it’s a little disappointing to see the constant shots. I just always thought it would be a little more love than that.

“But when you were the No. 1 pick and effectively underachieved, I guess that would be the reason why. To be the No. 1 pick and make the All-Star Game one time, most would say it’s probably an underachievement. Being that I was the 35th pick and made the All-Star Game four times. Defensive Player of the Year. Kenyon Martin was a defender. I think he would consider himself a good defender, [but] never quite reached the pinnacle of that when you talk Defensive Player of the Years, or the nine All-Defensive Teams that I have, and he has zero.

“It’s tough to sit in a space of like continuing to speak on my name and call my name out as if I underachieved or am underachieving. When I was just simply the 35th pick in the NBA draft, and somebody took a swing on me the second round and it just happened to work out to become one of the greatest players in franchise history.”

Green and Martin, both born in Saginaw, Mich., clearly don’t like each other, and time will tell how long they plan to keep taking shots at each other.

But while Young regularly appears on “Gil’s Arena” with Martin, it’s evident he has taken Green’s side in this argument.

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The Lakers made two announcements Tuesday, saying that center Deandre Ayton was out for the game against the Clippers at Cyrpto.com Arena because of a bruised right knee and that they had signed forward Drew Timme to a two-way contract.

The team also announced that it had waived two-way center Christian Koloko.

Timme had played for the Lakers’ G League team, the South Bay Lakers, and posted averages of 25.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.0 assists in 25.5 minutes during six games.

The 6-10 Timme played his college basketball at Gonzaga.

“I talked to [Lakers president of basketball operations] Rob [Pelinka] and everyone yesterday, last night and they told me,” Timme said after the Lakers’ shootaround Tuesday. “I was just super excited. It’s super cool.”

Jaxson Hayes will start at center in place of Ayton in the NBA Cup game.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Warriors use practice to lean into game-plan discipline before Rockets showdown originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO – After multiple glaring defensive lapses in the first quarter on Monday against the Utah Jazz, the Warriors are reinforcing the emphasis on game-plan discipline.

At the top of the list for any defense is knowing your (opposing) personnel, generally referred to by the acronym KYP.

The Warriors took a 9-9 record into Monday’s game, a clear sign of struggle, and immediately failed the KYP test. Atop the defensive game plan for Utah were 7-foot-1 forward Lauri Markkanen, averaging 29.2 points per game and 6-foot-4 guard Keyonte George at 23.1.

George lit up the Warriors for 15 points in the opening quarter, making all four of his 3-point attempts, perhaps because defenders were otherwise occupied.

“That shouldn’t happen in this league,” Stephen Curry said after the game.

So, the Warriors, on Tuesday, watched video of their 134-117 victory that was built on the corrective action taken over the final three quarters. They muted the Jazz in the second quarter, with a 41-20 advantage, and rode the momentum to a rout.

“What I saw as that first quarter went on was a lack of focus defensively, in terms of knowing the game plan, trying to take out George and Markkanen and really be focused on them,” Kerr said after video review and practice at Chase Center. “And we let George get four open 3s in the first quarter.”

Kerr, who late in the first quarter lit into the team for its negligence, pointed out that the game shifted toward the Warriors behind the energy and focus of Pat Spencer and Will Richard, who came off the bench and provided an immediate spark that carried the team through the pivotal quarter.

Brandin Podziemski was guilty of KYP errors, posting a team-worst minus-10 in six first-quarter minutes, but Kerr didn’t point a finger. It was notable, though, that the third-year guard remained on the bench for the pivotal quarter.

Asked specifically about Podziemski, Kerr addressed his inconsistent offense but not his inconsistent defense.

But it was clear that the team’s session on Tuesday was about understanding game plans and making the effort to follow them.

“It’s all about having accountability, and that goes from No. 1 on the roster to No. 15,” Quinten Post said. “Before the game, you agree upon a game plan, and everybody has to be held accountable. Steve was on our ass somewhere in the first quarter, and we deserved it, where we just didn’t follow the game plan. People lost their assignments.

“But it’s never one individual. It’s always as a group.”

It’s one thing to adjust on the fly and put together a stirring comeback against perpetually rebuilding Utah, which came into the Chase on the second night of a back-to-back set with a 5-11 record.

It’s another thing altogether to put together four quarters good enough to take down the Houston Rockets, who haven’t played on back-to-back dates all season and come to the Bay Area on Wednesday having won 11 of their last 13 games. They’re without Kevin Durant, but they lead the NBA in offensive rating, rank fifth in defensive rating and first in rebounding.

And their coach, Ime Udoka, ranks first in cold, hard stares.

“They are an incredible team this year,” Kerr said. “Ime has done a great job there in the last couple of years, just kind of building an identity. The size, the physicality, the defense, and what they’ve added this year, obviously, is kind of picking up off that seven-game series we had where they just pummeled us on the glass.”

Golden State prevailed in that first-round playoff series last season, and Draymond Green was a big part of the formula. There is a chance, Kerr said, that he could be available after missing the Jazz game with a slight foot sprain.

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Jonathan Kuminga out vs. Rockets, but Steve Kerr gives encouraging injury update originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Warriors coach Steve Kerr had a more positive update on Jonathan Kuminga on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old forward, who will miss his seventh consecutive game on Wednesday due to bilateral knee tendinitis, got back on the court and is making progress.

“He did 3-on-3 before practice and that went well,” Kerr told reporters after practice on Tuesday. “And then he took part in all of practice. Tomorrow, he will scrimmage. He won’t play in the game tomorrow but he will take part in a 5-on-5 scrimmage tomorrow evening before our game. And that will give us a good gauge for where he is.”

For the Warriors, a 5-on-5 scrimmage typically is the last hurdle before a player is cleared to return to game action.

Kerr said Warriors’ director of sports medicine and performance, Rick Celebrini, will watch Kuminga scrimmage and they will talk afterward to see how he feels.

Kuminga already has had a rollercoaster 2025-26 NBA season. He started the first 12 games of the season and averaged 17.2 points during that span. But his production tailed off in the last four games he played before being sidelined with the knee injury, as he averaged just 6.0 points in those contests.

Kerr’s previous comments regarding Kuminga’s status raised some eyebrows.

“He’s got to tell you where he is,” Kerr told reporters when asked about Kuminga’s activity on Sunday (h/t ClutchPoints’ Kenzo Fukuda). “He didn’t do anything. We didn’t do scrimmages, but we did live drill work, and he barely did any of that. So, [he’s] not moving well, so the training staff [is] working with him. I have no idea what he’s doing.”

But after a couple of days and a productive day of practice, it appears Kuminga is on the right track.

As for Draymond Green, the veteran forward also practiced Tuesday after missing Monday’s game because of a foot injury.

“He said he’s feeling better,” Kerr told reporters. “We’ll list him as questionable for tomorrow but he’s definitely trending upward.”

The Warriors could use Green against the 11-4 Rockets, who have one of the biggest lineups in the NBA, even without Kevin Durant, who will miss Wednesday’s game to attend to a family matter.

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Mazzulla gives curious update on Neemias Queta's ankle injury originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

If you’re looking for the latest on Neemias Queta’s injured ankle, Joe Mazzulla apparently is the wrong person to ask.

Queta suffered a sprained left ankle in the first quarter of the Boston Celtics’ win over the Orlando Magic on Sunday and didn’t return. Since the Celtics don’t play again until Wednesday against the Detroit Pistons and didn’t practice Monday, we hadn’t received many updates on the 7-foot big man since Sunday.

And when Mazzulla was asked about Queta’s status after Tuesday’s practice at the Auerbach Center, he played mysteriously coy.

“I haven’t seen him,” Mazzulla told reporters, before repeating that phrase when asked if Queta had gone through practice. When asked a third time if he had any update on Queta’s outlook, the Celtics head coach responded:

“I haven’t seen him or spoken to him.”

Less than an hour after Mazzulla spoke, however, Queta strolled through the Auerbach Center court.

What seems likely is that Queta didn’t participate in practice, and could have been getting treatment on his ankle while the Celtics were practicing. But it’s still a bit odd that Mazzulla claimed he had no communication with Queta before or during practice.

The C’s will put out an injury report later in the day Tuesday, so we should have more clarity on Queta’s status shortly.

Queta has made an outsized impact on winning for Boston this season, averaging 9.3 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game as the Celtics’ starting center. The C’s are outscoring opponents by an average of 16.4 points per 100 possessions when Queta is on the floor, which is the best mark on the team.

If Queta can’t play Wednesday against the 15-2 Pistons, Mazzulla could insert backup big man Luka Garza into the starting lineup to contend with Jalen Duren, Isaiah Stewart and a physical Detroit frontcourt. Mazzulla also could opt for a “small ball” lineup that features Josh Minott as a big, or lean on depth options Xavier Tillman and Chris Boucher.

Tip-off for Celtics-Pistons is set for 5 p.m. ET on Wednesday.