Category: Basketball

Numbers don't lie: Fourth Quarter Derrick is vital to Celtics' success originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Every season, we tie ourselves is knots trying to figure out if there are any not-so obvious bellwethers for the success of the Boston Celtics.

Give us a small enough sample size and we can convince ourselves that the presence of Kelly Olynyk’s headband or the color of Jayson Tatum’s shoes can, on their own, predict the success of those individual players on a night-to-night basis. Sometimes it feels as if the color of the Celtics jersey is enough to determine the final result. 

It is, of course, deeper than that. Crunch the numbers over a larger sample and most of these sartorial predictors get exposed.

But over the past three seasons, there is one very telling, non-apparel-related indicator of Boston’s success: Did the Celtics outscore their opponent during Derrick White’s fourth-quarter floor time? If so, there’s a good chance they won that night.

You see, “Fourth Quarter Derrick” and his knack for winning plays on both ends of the court is a very real thing.

On Tuesday night in Brooklyn, as the Celtics stumbled their way through a turnover-plagued outing against the lowly Nets at the Barclays Center, White channeled some of his familiar fourth-quarter heroics. He knocked down two timely 3-pointers. He drew a charge. He swatted Michael Porter Jr. to force a 24-second violation.

White finished with a team-high eight points in the fourth quarter as the Celtics outscored the Nets by 10 and emerged with a 113-99 triumph.

The Celtics are now 67-7 over the past three seasons when they outscore opponents during White’s fourth-quarter floor time. That’s a .905 winning percentage. Boston was 33-1 last season when the team won White’s fourth-quarter time. The C’s are 6-2 this season.

On the flip side, when the Celtics either tie or are outscored during White’s fourth-quarter floor time, they are 40-27 over the past three seasons (.597 winning percentage). That includes a 2-4 mark this season, as White has struggled to have his familiar fourth-quarter impact in the infancy of this new campaign.

Balk if you’d like. We wouldn’t blame you for saying, “Thanks, Captain Obvious: If the Celtics’ starters outscore their opponent in the fourth quarter, there is a very good chance the team wins.” But we ought to know by now: As goes Derrick, so go the Celtics. And his fingerprints were all over getting Boston to the finish line of an otherwise sloppy night in Brooklyn.

Like everything White does, the numbers don’t leap off the page. He didn’t even rank in the top 30 last season for fourth-quarter scoring. But he simply had a knack for big plays in big spots, especially on the road. White did rank fifth in the NBA in fourth-quarter 3-pointers made last season, with 66. Only Stephen Curry, Malik Beasley, Anthony Edwards, and Zach LaVine made more. 

This season, White ranks 21st in the NBA in fourth-quarter points (26). He easily leads the NBA with 43 fourth-quarter 3-point attempts (eight more than second-place Grayson Allen), but has only connected on 30.2 percent of those shots. On the bright side, White is sixth in the NBA in fourth-quarter assists with 21 final-frame helpers (with only four turnovers in 139 minutes of floor time). 

In an eyesore of a game in Brooklyn on Tuesday night, a rare glimpse of Fourth Quarter Derrick was an encouraging sign, especially as he pulls himself out of an-early season shooting funk. We have a lot of data now, and all signs point to the Celtics’ success when White is at his best in the final frame.

LeBron James reflects on ‘rise to the top' of NBA mountain alongside Steph Curry originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

From NBA archnemeses to friends to teammates on the global stage, LeBron James and Steph Curry have come a long way.

If you told the NBA superstars 10 years ago that they’d be sitting side-by-side doing a podcast together, they probably wouldn’t have believed you. But growing in the game over the last two decades has made James and Curry as close as ever, and it’s something James is deeply appreciative of.

“When you’re trying to rise to the top of the mountain, you have guys that’s trying to stop me from getting there and vice versa,” James said after making his 2025-26 season debut Tuesday night. “Steph has been one of those guys throughout our career, we’ve been trying to get to the mountaintop, and we’re trying to knock each other off of it. That competition was brewing for a long time and every time we play against each other, it still brews.

“When you get to a certain age and you get to a certain level and you understand that appreciating greatness and appreciating things that you won’t be able to have for a long time ever after, when you’re done. You can look back on those moments, you don’t want to waste an opportunity to be able to build a relationship with somebody that you kind of share some of the same, I guess, goals in life. Our families. The way we go about our profession. The way we go about our everyday, trying to uplift people, inspire.”

James recently had Curry as a guest on his “Mind the Game” podcast that he co-hosts with NBA great Steve Nash.

The three discussed a variety of topics, including a nearly 10-minute segment where they broke down and analyzed their NBA Finals film from their many championship clashes.

Two of the greatest to play the game, breaking down film — it’s like being a kid in a candy shop for basketball lovers around the world.

“There’s so much mutual respect,” James shared, “and now it’s just even more respect just out of the simple fact that we can hop on a phone call or text or whatever. It was great [for] us to talk basketball in just the most easy, organic way with the two episodes and have that time, so it’s been cool.”

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A month past your fantasy basketball draft, initial fantasy basketball rankings matter less than analyzing real-time production. With the injury report constantly shuffling NBA starting lineups, impacting stars like Giannis Antetokounmpo and Paolo Banchero, values are shifting rapidly. This week, we'll be talking about buying low on Desmond Bane, selling high on Michael Porter Jr., or holding VJ Edgecombe. Use our updated NBA player projections and the latest fantasy basketball news to capitalize on these opportunities.

Fantasy Basketball Trade Tips in Week 5

Buy

Desmond Bane, Orlando Magic

Bane began his career with the Magic on a rough note, crashing his value in fantasy basketball rankings. Over his first 10 games, he averaged just 14.2 points and 1.2 three-pointers. He shot 43.1% from the field during that span, including 29.3% from behind the arc. The only saving grace was that he still provided 4.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists during that span.

Bane has shown signs of turning things around lately, shooting 44.3% from the field and 34.4% from behind the arc over his last five games. During that stretch, he averaged 22.4 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 2.2 three-pointers. While he has been given more shot attempts with Paolo Banchero (groin) out, it's his improved efficiency from behind the arc, which should excite fantasy managers. His buy-low window might be closing.

Myles Turner, Milwaukee Bucks

In his first eight games since signing a big contract with the Bucks, Turner averaged just 9.8 points and 6.5 rebounds. His minutes were down a bit at 28 per game, and he shot just 40.0% from the field. Since then, Turner has averaged 15.3 points and 32 minutes across his last seven games. He shot 47.9% from the field during that span, while also averaging 6.0 rebounds, 1.9 steals, 1.3 blocks and 3.0 three-pointers.

Turner seems to be getting more comfortable in his new surroundings. His efficiency should continue to improve as the season moves along, given that he has shot at least 48.1% from the field in each of the last four seasons. Another reason to consider buying low on him is that Giannis Antetokounmpo landed on the NBA injury report with a groin strain Monday that is expected to sideline him for at least 1-2 weeks. Turner could see significantly more shot attempts during that stretch.

Sell

Michael Porter Jr., Brooklyn Nets

Porter has been nothing short of dominant with the Nets. He is currently on pace to set new career highs in points (24.2), rebounds (7.7), assists (3.2) and three-pointers (3.2) per game. His usage rate is up to 29.0%, which is more than seven percentage points higher than his career mark. With Cam Thomas (hamstring) sidelined, Porter should continue to receive all of the shot attempts that he can handle.

As good as Porter has been, the Nets are 2-12 and barreling towards another dreadful season. Amazingly, the Pacers and Wizards have fewer wins, while the Pelicans have equaled the Nets with two victories. Since the Nets are in the early stages of a rebuild, we might not see much of Porter down the stretch as they try to improve their lottery odds. Porter is at his peak right now, so start shopping him to see if someone will take the risk of rostering him off your hands.

Andrew Wiggins, Miami Heat

Before his 3-for-15 shooting performance against the Knicks on Monday, Wiggins was playing well for the Heat. Even with that line factored in, he is shooting 48.4% from the field for the season. That has helped him average 16.7 points and 1.8 three-pointers, to go along with 4.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

Wiggins' improved efficiency is masking the fact that his usage rate has fallen from 26.7% with the Heat last season to 20.9% this season. That's with Tyler Herro (ankle) yet to play and Bam Adebayo (toe) having missed six games. When those two get healthy, they will combine with Norman Powell to lead the Heat's scoring attack. With even fewer shots possibly coming for Wiggins, now is the time to try and trade him.

Hold

VJ Edgecombe, Philadelphia 76ers

Edgecombe provided 19.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 1.6 steals and 2.6 three-pointers over his first seven games. Since the 76ers were missing so many players because of injuries, Edgecombe was immediately put in a prominent role. As the team's health situation has improved, the rookie has started to see his production slide. Over their last six games, he has averaged 11.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 0.8 steals and 1.5 three-pointers.

It was too much to expect Edgecombe to continue producing at the rate that he did out of the gate. It's also not a good thing for him that Paul George made his season debut Monday against the Clippers. However, George and Joel Embiid have a checkered injury history, so they could be in and out of the lineup for much of the season. Even with George back in the fold, Edgecombe isn't going to relinquish his starting role. Don't let George's return force you into a panic move. Hang onto Edgecombe for the long haul.

Devin Vassell, San Antonio Spurs

A deep Spurs team has suddenly become very thin. De'Aaron Fox is back, but Victor Wembanyama (calf), Stephon Castle (hip) and Dylan Harper (calf) are all currently sidelined. With that trio out Tuesday, Vassell played 35 minutes versus the Grizzlies. He finished the game with 10 points, three rebounds, five assists, two steals, two blocks and two three-pointers.

Although he is only averaging 13.6 points per game right now, Vassell had averaged at least 16.3 points in each of the last three seasons. Wembanyama, Castle and Harper could be out for at least a couple of more weeks, so the Spurs are going to need more scoring and minutes from Vassell. We could be getting at least a couple of weeks of improved production from him, so don't look to sell low on him right now while he could provide fantasy basketball sleeper value. 

LeBron James became the first player to take part in 23 consecutive NBA seasons when he stepped onto the court for the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday.

The 40-year-old, who missed his side's opening 14 games of the season because of sciatica, contributed 11 points, 12 assists and three rebounds in 30 minutes of a 140-126 home win over the Utah Jazz.

James - the NBA's record scorer - overtook Vince Carter's mark of having played in 22 successive NBA seasons, while his two three-pointers also moved him above Reggie Miller into sixth place in the NBA's all-time list of most three-pointers made.

"It's been a long time since he played basketball, so I think for the first game back, he looked amazing," said Lakers team-mate Luka Doncic.

"He's going to keep getting his rhythm, and help us a lot."

Doncic had a game high 37 points and four steals in the win against the Jazz as he also contributed 10 assists and five rebounds.

Austin Reaves scored 26 points for the Lakers, while Keyonte George and Lauri Markkanen scored 34 and 31 points respectively for Utah.

The win puts the Lakers fourth in the Western Conference, with the Jazz in 10th place.