Category: Basketball

How playing hard, coaching hard is fueling Celtics' recent success originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Celtics do not have as much talent as they did last season.

That’s what happens when you lose Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford and Luke Kornet in one offseason. And they also have had to deal with losing a perennial first team All-NBA player in Jayson Tatum to an Achilles injury.

When you don’t have as much talent as some of the opponents you play, the work ethic has to increase. You have to outwork and outhustle the other team. You need to win every 50-50 ball, set good screens, rebound well, commit to tough defense, get to the free throw line, etc.

Playing hard means doing the little things well. For example, Boston leads the league with 9.2 screen assists per game. The C’s also rank No. 4 in box outs, No. 6 in defensive loose balls recovered and No. 10 in charges drawn.

The Celtics have been one of the hardest-working teams in the league, and it’s one of many reasons why they are 10-2 in their last 12 games — a run that has seen them rise up from the play-in tournament spots to sole possession of third place in the Eastern Conference standings.

“(Head coach Joe Mazzulla) just wants our guys to be the hardest playing team every night,” Celtics assistant coach Sam Cassell said on the latest episode of NBC Sports Boston’s Celtics Talk Podcast. “And sometimes it may not happen, but we have enough depth on our team that we — Joe’s going to find the pieces to play hard. It may not be for 48 straight minutes, and no team does that, but we want to get like 40 minutes or 42 minutes of hard-playing basketball.

“If we can do that, we don’t worry about guys making shots or missing shots. We worry about how hard we’re playing and if we’re competing. Joe just wants guys who can compete at a high level and bring some force. If you’re out there, make an impact doing something.”

Not only do the Celtics play hard, but the players are coached hard. Mazzulla and his staff are pretty demanding.

“If Joe Mazzulla is yelling at you, that means he really cares about you,” Cassell said. “He wants you to be better. He’s taking this time out to give you instruction and direction.”

This style of coaching has produced fantastic individual results, especially in regards to Jordan Walsh and Josh Minott — two key bench players for Boston.

Walsh has been a breakout star for the Celtics. The C’s are 10-2 since he entered the starting lineup, and he’s making a tremendous impact on both ends of the floor. Walsh is averaging 14 points on 76.5 percent shooting (63.6 percent from 3-point range) over the last five games. 

“He just needed the opportunity,” Cassell said of Walsh. “He’s been in our system for three years now, and it hasn’t been easy for him at all. We coach him hard, and the thing I like about our team this year is they allow us to coach them hard.

“They allow us to get in their face and tell them they aren’t doing A, B or C. But when they do do things right we always congratulate them and we praise them. But the praise isn’t a lot. It’s like a second or two and then we gotta get back to work.”

Minott is an interesting case because Mazzulla seems to have taken a particular interest in coaching him hard during games. He is often seen giving detailed feedback and instruction to Minott during timeouts.

“He plays a tough role because of his versatility. He’s defending ball handlers, he’s defending screeners,” Mazzulla said after last Friday’s win over the Los Angeles Lakers. “They’re changing matchups on him. Just continuing to grow and execute, and he has a willingness to learn. He has an open-mindedness, and he wants to get better.

“I think he’s gotten a lot better. It’s just a credit to him. He cares about the details. He cares about wanting to get it right, but he plays a unique role for us, where he’s seeing a bunch of different reads over the course of the game on both ends of the floor. The growth of him is to get to the point where he can just make those on his own consistently.

“He does a great job studying those things, but it’s just a communication and teaching. I really enjoy coaching him.”

Minott clearly enjoys the hard coaching from Mazzulla.

“I love it. You know why? Because it means he’s thinking about me,” Minott said after the Lakers game, per John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal. “Every time Joe yells at me, I love it because it’s like, I’m a priority in that moment … I’ll yell back. We love each other.”

Not every player likes or responds well to hard coaching. It’s up to the coaches to determine how best to reach their players and maximize their on-court production. It’s something that Mazzulla and his staff have done very well over the last few years, and the results speak for themselves.

Boston has developed a lot of good players in the three-plus years since Mazzulla took over as head coach.

Also in this episode:

• Sam Cassell on his expectations heading into this season.
• Cassell on the leadership of Jaylen Brown.
• Cassell on watching Jayson Tatum work his way back to the court.

LeBron James’ emphatic one-handed dunk brought the crowd at Crypto.com Arena to its feet. It left Luke Kornet shrinking under James’ intense glare and scream. It will live on in the soon-to-be 41-year-old’s highlight reel, but for this night, James wanted it to fade into the background.

Because even though the moment left his teammates jumping on the bench and gasping for air, it did nothing to stave off a Lakers loss.

“It was just a play,” James said after the Lakers lost 132-119 to the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday, getting eliminated from NBA Cup play and setting up a regular-season matchup at Phoenix on Sunday at 5 p.m. PST.

The Lakers (17-7) went 2-3 during a revealing five-game stretch against teams with winning records, and needed fourth-quarter heroics to squeeze out both of their wins that came by a combined seven points. The Lakers’ plus-1.5 scoring margin ranks 15th in the NBA after their last three losses came by an average of 16.3 points.

“We really got to look ourselves in the mirror and figure out what we're gonna do,” guard Marcus Smart said. “We're going to lay down and get punked or we're going to fight back. And I'm not the one that's going to lay down and get punked.”

Here are three takeaways from the loss:

Marcus Smart adds a spark

After missing six games because of a back injury, Smart returned to score a season-high 26 points in 27 minutes, going eight for 13 from three-point range with three rebounds and one assist.

Smart struggled with injuries while with Memphis and Washington after getting traded from Boston in 2023. He hoped that coming to the Lakers, with their eternal championship ambitions, could help him revitalize his career. He got off to an uneven start, missing two of the first five games while shooting only 25.4% from three-point range.

Read more:LeBron James is just focused on the now as Lakers fall to Spurs in the NBA Cup

Then he hit his highest three-point total in a game since Jan. 5, 2024, on Wednesday.

“All I can do is control how I prepare, and that's to make the shot,” Smart said. “I've been doing it — everything right. Tonight was the night for me, and hopefully that starts a trend for me to start making some shots consistently.”

Playing his highest minute total since Nov. 14 against New Orleans, Smart said his back “felt good” during the game. His only physical shortcoming was getting his wind back after being sidelined for two weeks. Coach JJ Redick, who called Smart the team’s tone-setter on defense, commended Smart’s “care factor," even when the Lakers fell behind by 18 in the second quarter.

Smart didn’t score any points during a late second-quarter run that cut the Spurs lead from 17 to eight, but he played key roles on both ends of the court. His block on De’Aaron Fox's shot led to a Jaxson Hayes alley-oop dunk. Smart screened two Spurs players to clear the way for Luka Doncic on a driving layup with 1:51 remaining in the second quarter. Doncic immediately turned and pointed to Smart in appreciation.

“When he guards, when he talks to us, we listen,” said Doncic who finished with 35 points and eight assists, including three on Smart three-pointers in the third quarter. “Just got to be a little bit more of what he’s doing.”

Bench falls flat 

Outside of Smart’s 26 points, the Lakers bench produced only five points. Three came from Dalton Knecht on a garbage time three-pointer.

The Lakers have prolific scorers on their bench. Jake LaRavia’s 27-point outburst in Minnesota made him a viral sensation and earned him a custom “Who is No. 12?” T-shirt designed by general manager Rob Pelinka. Gabe Vincent shot a sizzling 55.6% from three-point range during the preseason before he suffered a sprained ankle in the third game of the regular season.

But LaRavia and Vincent combined for only two shots Wednesday. The only other regular rotation player who scored off the bench was Hayes.

Redick credited some of the bench struggles to San Antonio’s defensive coverages. Despite not having Victor Wembanyama (calf), the Spurs used center Luke Kornet similarly to how Phoenix used Mark Williams to dare Doncic and Austin Reaves to shoot shots in the paint instead of letting the star guards play-make for others.

Reaves struggled offensively for the second consecutive game, shooting six for 16 from the field for 15 points. Reaves, who leads the team in total minutes while also ranking second in points per game with 28.4, has made nine of 32 shots in the last two games.

Even Rui Hachimura, who had scored in double figures in each of the previous three games and made the game-winning shot in Toronto, had just two shot attempts in the first three quarters Wednesday. He finished with a quiet eight points.

Redick has marveled at the way Hachimura can go long stretches of games without touching the ball then still make crucial shots. Teammates have asked him for his advice on how to stay ready when coming off the bench.

“[The ball is] gonna come eventually,” Hachimura said before Wednesday's game. “And then that time comes, you have to make some moves. You have to do something about it, so you don't want to be surprised when it gets [to you].”

No strings attached 

The Lakers entered Wednesday’s game ranked 21st in defensive rating. They were the fifth-worst team in opponent three-point shooting percentage, allowing teams to shoot 38.2% from three. The percentage will get even worse after San Antonio (17-7) shot 44.7% from three on Wednesday.

Opponents have shot better than 40% from beyond the arc in six of the last seven games against the Lakers. The Pelicans and Celtics both shot better than 50% from three.

Without Wembanyama, the Spurs showcased their dynamic backcourt, led by Fox. The speedy guard who missed the last matchup against the Lakers had 20 points while Stephon Castle, last year’s rookie of the year, dropped 30 points to go along with 10 rebounds and six assists on the Lakers, who simply had no answers for the quick, athletic guards.

“Being able to contain the basketball is probably the most difficult thing for our team right now,” Redick said.

Doncic and Reaves have become the highest scoring duo in the league, but the guards will never be known for their defensive prowess. The soon-to-be 41-year-old James is well past his time of being a regular defensive standout. If the Lakers can compete defensively, it has to be as a unit, James stressed.

“Five guys being on a string,” James said. “Obviously, you can't do it individually by yourself. It has to be five guys on a string, communication, always at an all-time high.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Celtics owner seemingly disses Warriors fans in odd comparison to Boston fanbase originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

It is no secret that Boston sports fans are a different breed.

Celtics owner Bill Chisholm recently tried to get that point across by comparing Celtics fans to Warriors fans and seemingly dissing Dub Nation.

“I love the slogan, ‘It’s different here,’ because if you don’t live here or you didn’t grow up here, I don’t think people understand,” Chisholm said on Celtics guard Derrick White’s “White Noise Podcast with Derrick & Welsh.” “I’ve spent a lot of time in California and the Warriors are great. I don’t like the Warriors, but the Warriors for people that live there are great.

“But people go to the game, they go home and they have their dinner. The Warriors win [or] lose, yeah, it’s fine. There’s other things. You go to the beach, you go up to Tahoe. The Celtics lose and people are depressed. … People really internalize it here.”

Bay Area sports fans might disagree.

Between the Warriors, San Francisco 49ers, San Francisco Giants, San Jose Sharks and others, Bay Area residents have had their fair share of ups and downs supporting their favorite sports teams.

And just because they might not display their emotions the way Boston and East Coast fanbases do, certainly doesn’t mean they don’t care.

Still, Chisholm has his own perspective.

“It’s different here,” he said. “Other places, they got to put it up on the jumbotron, like, ‘Let’s cheer’ or ‘Make it louder,’ the fans here, they just get it. And to your point, this is the Boston Celtics. There’s a standard here.”

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Steve Kerr states ‘nobody knows' what will happen with Jonathan Kuminga originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

No one knows what the future holds for Jonathan Kuminga, not even his own coach.

Fresh off a DNP-CD (Did Not Play – Coach’s Decision) in the Warriors’ win over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday, Kuminga’s role with Golden State — once again — is in question moving forward. A two-year, $48.5 million contract resolved a months-long standoff this past offseason between Kuminga’s camp and the Warriors. However, his fluctuating minutes and being in and out of Kerr’s rotations — as he has been over the last four years with Golden State — reintroduce some questions and concerns.

Kerr, speaking to reporters after practice Wednesday, shared that the offseason contract saga isn’t affecting things on his end, but the coach could see it lingering over Kuminga.

“It’s not impacting anything for us. So you’d have to ask him. I can imagine it’s not easy for him, and we’ve talked about the situation. My desire for JK is to become the best player he can possibly be, regardless of where he ends up, whether it’s here or elsewhere.

“I tell my guys a lot, there’s so few players who end up playing for one team their entire career. It rarely happens. I played for six different teams. None of us know what’s going to happen with JK or pretty much any of our guys, although I would advise Mike [Dunleavy] not to trade Steph [Curry].”

Kuminga’s DNP-CD in Chicago was his first of the 2025-26 season, and just the latest bump of his up-and-down Warriors tenure.

Kerr later explained the reasoning behind his decision to bench Kuminga, frankly stating that the young wing hadn’t been playing well at that time.

Almost instantly, trade rumors began to fly as ESPN’s Anthony Slater reported that the Warriors are expected to explore Kuminga’s trade market in the coming weeks, with the possibility of a divorce before the NBA’s Feb. 5 trade deadline remaining “strong.” One of Kuminga’s offseason trade interests, the Sacramento Kings, reportedly still are open to continuing negotiations with Golden State.

“But this is part of being in the league,” Kerr told reporters. “I’ve talked to Moses [Moody] about this, I’ve talked to JK about it. I’ve talked to most of our guys, really. It’s a really weird league. It’s a weird business to be in because you have to fully commit to the team that you’re playing for, knowing full well that that team may trade you or cut you. And that’s a really hard thing to reconcile as a player. But the sooner guys can recognize it, the better. The guys who end up playing for a long time figure that out, and they understand that you can’t just say, ‘Fine, I’ll be a mercenary’ either.

“You really do have to commit to whatever group you’re with. But if you’re getting moved around, it’s not easy to deal with, especially if you’ve never been traded. That first one is weird and difficult. And I can speak from experience. It’s not an easy situation, but nobody knows what’s going to happen. My goal is to get JK to play at the highest level that’ll help us win that he can.”

The Warriors host the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday, and it’s evident there will be extra eyes on how — and if — Kerr plugs Kuminga back into his rotation or not.

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The Oklahoma City Thunder equalled the best 25-game start to a season in NBA history as they overpowered the Phoenix Suns 138-89 in the NBA Cup quarter-finals.

Defending champions the Thunder have won 24 of their first 25 games, equalling the Golden State Warriors' record from 2015-16.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, last season's Most Valuable Player, scored 28 points at Paycom Center, hitting the 20-point mark for a 96th straight game.

It was a franchise record 16th straight win for the Thunder, who face the San Antonio Spurs in the semi-finals in Las Vegas on Saturday.

"Winning is never boring," said Thunder forward Jalen Williams.

The Thunder have won 92 of their 107 regular-season games since the start of 2024-25, having topped last season's Western Conference with a 68-14 record.

The record for most wins in an NBA season is 73, achieved by the Warriors in 2015-16.

The Spurs reached the semi-finals by beating the Los Angeles Lakers 132-119 at Crypto.com Arena.

The NBA Cup is the competition's annual in-season tournament, with all matches except the final counting towards the regular-season standings.

The Thunder were beaten in last year's final by the Milwaukee Bucks.

• NBA scores & fixtures

With the NBA Cup creating an unusual schedule, this is an ideal moment to reassess your roster and dig into the latest fantasy basketball news. Evolving NBA depth charts and unexpected injuries are reshaping roles across the league, creating new opportunities to add impact players before the rest of your league reacts. Let's break down six widely available options worth consideration.

Top Fantasy Basketball Waiver Wire Picks

Derik Queen, New Orleans Pelicans (48% rostered)

Queen made history Monday when he recorded 33 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists and four blocks in a loss to the Spurs. He became one of five players ever to post a 30-point triple-double before turning 21 years old. The other four on that list are big names in LeBron James, Luka Dončić, Victor Wembanyama and De'Aaron Fox.

Zion Williamson (adductor) is out for at least the next three weeks. Given his checkered injury history, it's difficult to have much faith in him staying on the floor, even when he does return from his most recent ailment. With their 3-22 record, the Pelicans aren't likely to push Williamson to play if he's not completely healthy. Queen has the potential to be a fantasy difference maker from here on out.

Neemias Queta, Boston Celtics (38% rostered)

Queta is logging 24 minutes per game as the starting center for the Celtics. That's not exactly a hefty workload, but it has still enabled him to average 10.1 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game. He has also shot 65.8% from the field. Although his 62.8% shooting from the free-throw line isn't great, he's not tanking fantasy managers in that department because he has only averaged 2.0 free-throw attempts per game.

Despite the moves that the Celtics made to weaken their roster during the offseason, they are 15-9 out of the gate. It would be a shock if they didn't at least make the Play-In Tournament at this point. If Jayson Tatum (Achilles) comes back, they could really make some noise in the Eastern Conference. They are still thin at center, though, so unless they make a trade, Queta is in line to play a prominent role in their playoff push.

Jay Huff, Indiana Pacers (30% rostered)

The writing was on the wall with Huff when he averaged 0.9 blocks in just 12 minutes per game with the Grizzlies last season. It took him some time to work his way into a prominent role with the Pacers, but he has now started six straight games. During that span, he averaged 10.5 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.8 three-pointers and 3.7 blocks. The key is, he logged 25 minutes per game.

The Pacers are 4-2 since moving Huff into their starting lineup. Given his contributions on the defensive end, he has a great opportunity to remain in the role moving forward. His only real competition for minutes right now is Isaiah Jackson, who has played just 18 minutes a game since Huff became a starter. Fantasy managers who need blocks should make adding Huff a priority.

Jeremiah Fears, New Orleans Pelicans (29% rostered)

Queen isn't the only exciting rookie on the Pelicans. They didn't waste much time putting Fears in a prominent role, moving him into the starting lineup in their third game of the season. He hasn't relinquished the job. As a starter, he has averaged 15.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.3 three-pointers. The downside has been him shooting 42.3% from the field.

Jordan Poole (quadriceps) is nearing a return, but even when he does come back, it's not likely that he removes Fears from the starting five. If anything, the Pelicans might be looking to trade Poole. The long-term concern with Fears is that Dejounte Murray (Achilles) is aiming to return in January. Still, when he does come back, he could be on a minutes restriction for a while. We could get at least another month of Fears being a significant fantasy contributor, and possibly longer.

Ryan Nembhard, Dallas Mavericks (23% rostered)

After being inserted into the Mavericks' starting lineup, Nembhard immediately provided some juicy fantasy stat lines. He was then tested in his last two games with difficult matchups against the Thunder and Rockets, who are the top two teams in the league in defensive rating. First, he produced 10 points, four assists and two three-pointers against the Thunder. He followed that up with 11 points, seven assists and a steal against the Rockets.

Nembhard playing well against the best defensive teams in the league is certainly encouraging for his fantasy outlook moving forward. The Mavericks lost to the Thunder (who doesn't?), but they pulled off the upset over the Rockets. With Nembhard as a starter, they have a 4-2 record. That should help him retain his starting job moving forward.

Maxime Raynaud, Sacramento Kings (22% rostered)

Domantas Sabonis has played at least 70 games in each of the last three seasons. That won't happen this season, as he is currently out with a partially torn meniscus in his left knee. Drew Eubanks was provided an opportunity to start when Sabonis got hurt, but he wasn't able to make much of an impact. That has resulted in Raynaud surpassing him on the Kings depth chart. Across the last five games, the rookie center has averaged 15.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 blocks.

The Kings can make some odd lineup decisions, but with how well Raynaud has played, it would be shocking if he lost minutes to Eubanks moving forward. Those in deeper formats who need a big man should look for Raynaud on their waiver wire.

LeBron James refused to look too far into the future to say what kind of team the Lakers might be when the playoffs arrive in April while they are still playing games in December.

Even though it was the NBA Cup quarterfinal game the Lakers lost to the San Antonio Spurs, 132-119, James didn’t want to venture into how things would unfold.

Two years ago, when the Lakers went to Las Vegas and won the inaugural NBA Cup championship, James cautioned then that they had a long way to go and that that wasn’t an indicator or what that team could accomplish.

Not making it to Las Vegas this time and instead now having to play the Suns in Phoenix on Sunday, James was asked where the Lakers stand long term when it comes to competing for the playoffs.

"It's December what?" James responded.

He was told it was December 10.

“And you're talking about the playoffs? Nah, can't do that. It's not OK. Not my mindset,” James said. “I don't. I can't think about what we can do in the playoffs in December. What I can say is that the habits that we built throughout the regular season each month, if we are in a position to make it to the postseason and be able to get to that point, well, we have to build it now. But as far as talking about what type of damage we're gonna do in the postseason in December, that's not right for the basketball gods, not for me."

Read more:Lakers' Luka Doncic channels his girl dad strength for triple-double against 76ers

James’ team showed they still have so many holes to fill on defense, a sign of how far they have to go to be a championship-quality team.

The Lakers allowed the Spurs to shoot 50% from the field, 44.7% from three-point range, seemingly being unable to slow down the faster and more athletic young Spurs who were playing without their best player, center Victor Wembanyama (left calf strain).

Still, the Spurs had seven players score in double figures, led by Stephon Castle’s 30 points and De’Aaron Fox’s 20.

They will face the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the semifinals in Las Vegas on Saturday.

“Obviously, it's a unique team. They got six guys that can literally, six or seven guys that can break you down off the dribble,” James said about the Spurs. “Super fast, super quick. Some of them are stronger, some of them are faster, some are quicker ball-handlers. Unique team and they definitely got the best of us."

For the 17-7 Lakers, they will improve on defense.

“I think it was more defensively tonight,” said Luka Doncic, who had 35 points and eight assists. “ They were just dragging us. We scored (119) points. So, I think it’s enough to win. We just got to be better (on defense).”

The Lakers got down by as much as 24 points in the fourth and made a run to get to within eight points late in the fourth quarter.

Marcus Smart came off the bench to score 26 and James had 19 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists.

When the Lakers needed someone to lift them when they got down by 18 points in the second, they got it from the oldest player on the court, 40-year-old James.

James drove down the lane and threw down a thunderous dunk over Spurs 7-1 center Luke Kornet, bringing the Lakers to within eight points and charging up the crowd in the process.

James growled and yelled in the face of the reeling Kornet. The crowd stood and cheered, now happy that there was a Lakers’ awakening.

But the Lakers couldn’t hold on to that momentum, falling behind 70-58 at the half.

And then when the third quarter started, the Lakers came out flat, giving up back-to-back threes and two more easy baskets for the Spurs to fall into an 80-60 hole early in the third.

“It was just a play. You always wish, you hope that momentum plays would carry over,” James said. “And that was a moment where we had an opportunity. We had two straight turnovers after that. It went from an eight-point game to a 12-point game to end the half. So we did have some momentum going into the halftime and then started the third, we went back down 20.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.