Category: Basketball

Celtics-Suns takeaways: Porzingis leads 132-102 rout without Tatum originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Celtics outscorched the Suns in Phoenix to make it seven straight wins after a 132-102 result Wednesday night.

Without Jayson Tatum (ankle), the Celtics jumped off to a hot start, leading 21-9 before taking a 42-38 lead after one. Boston drilled its triples early on, nailing 10 of 17 with seven of the eight players who played making at least one. Kristaps Porzingis went 3-for-3 from deep while Jrue Holiday also added nine points, but not all via distance.

Keeping Phoenix in it was Kevin Durant, who led all scorers after one with 16 points on 6 of 8 shooting. No other Sun recorded more than five points (Devin Booker, Collin Gillespie).

Boston then turned it up multiple notches in the second, leading by as much as 25 points with the 3-point disparity continuing to show. The Celtics increased its made triples to 14, while the Suns went a cold 0-for-9 from beyond the arc in the period. Four Boston starters eclipsed double-digit points, led by Porzingis’ 17. Durant pushed his point total to 20, but no other Sun had more than nine (Booker) as Boston led 73-54.

A few notches later in the third, Boston bumped its largest lead to 34 as its stellar shooting continued. Porzingis moved to 30 points while Jaylen Brown followed with 24. Durant still carried Phoenix with 30, but Booker’s 13 remained the second most as the side’s 3-point woes persisted.

The final quarter was just about getting through unscathed without injuries, and Boston did just that as Sam Hauser and Payton Pritchard got to add to their stats, as did Neemias Queta.

With the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday, here are three takeaways from the Celtics’ blowout win over the Suns:

Kristaps Porzingis exhibits his best version

Porzingis’ health has been a frequent question mark, but tonight was one of those games where he exhibited his best version. The 29-year-old finished tied for a game-high 30 points on a hot 10 of 15 clip overall, including making 4 of 5 triples.

He added eight rebounds, two assists and two blocks to his stat line in 29 minutes, not playing in the fourth quarter with the game wrapped up. If Joe Mazzulla can continue to manage Porzingis’ minutes properly, he can win the team some playoff games singlehandedly.

Jaylen Brown bounces back

After a quiet game against the Sacramento Kings on Monday despite 4 of 5 shooting, Brown made sure to step up in Tatum’s absence.

The 28-year-old recorded 24 points, second on the team, with a 7 of 15 clip from the field (4 of 9 from deep) while converting all six free-throw attempts. He added five assists, three rebounds and a steal to his stat sheet in 28 minutes, also not needing to play in the fourth.

C’s outscorch Phoenix from distance

Sometimes the modern NBA is simple: Just make more 3-pointers than your opponent. Boston found a rhythm early with 10 first-quarter triples made. Phoenix kept within distance with four, but missed nine attempts in the second quarter without a make and fell behind permanently.

Boston finished the game making 22 of 52 3-point attempts, a clip good for 42.3% on extremely high volume. Phoenix, on the other hand, ended up 13 of 41 from distance, only 31.7%. While Durant went 3 of 4, Booker went 1 of 6 and Cody Martin went 1 of 7, to name a few.

It was a stark difference to the Celtics, with Al Horford being the worst starter from distance (2 of 7). Porzingis, Brown and Derrick White all made at least four triples, with Sam Hauser going 3 of 4 off the bench. Pritchard struggled, however, mustering just a 1 of 8 clip on the night. Still, he totaled seven points, six rebounds, four assists and a steal to help see off the game in the fourth.

Boston’s second and final regular-season matchup vs. Phoenix will be at home on Friday, April 4. Tip-off time is slated for 7:30 p.m. ET.

The LeBron James-Stephen A. Smith feud doesn't look like it will be ending anytime soon, as the Lakers superstar trashed Smith on the network that employs the "First Take" host.

Appearing on Wednesday's episode of ESPN's "The Pat McAfee Show," James talked about his confrontation with Smith during a timeout at a Lakers game this month and how Smith has addressed the incident multiple times.

“He’s like on a Taylor Swift tour run right now," James said. "It started off with [Smith saying], ‘I didn’t want to address it. I didn’t want to address it. I wasn’t going to address it, but since the video came out, I feel the need to address it.’ Mother— are you kidding me? If there’s one person that couldn’t wait until the video had dropped so you could address it, it was your a—. Like, seriously?"

Smith has characterized the interaction as James "making sure I mind what I say about his son,” a reference to James' oldest son and Lakers teammate Bronny James. Smith previously said on air that Bronny should play in the G League this year rather than split time with the NBA.

“I am pleading with LeBron James as a father: Stop this,” Smith said on the Jan. 29 episode of "First Take." “Stop this. We all know that Bronny James is in the NBA because of his dad.”

Read more:Lakers' Bronny James scores career-high 39 points in G League game: ‘I belong out there'

Smith walked back his criticism a bit after Bronny had a good game. But James told McAfee that Smith had "completely missed the whole point."

"Never would I ever not allow people to talk about the sport, criticize players about what they do on the court," James said. "That is your job to criticize or be in a position where if a guy’s not performing, that’s all part of the game."

But, James added, “when you take it and you get personal with it, it’s my job to not only protect my damn household but protect the players. ... And I know he’s gonna be happy as hell. He’s gonna be smiling from ear to ear when he hears me talking about him again. Oh my God. He’s gonna get home and get some ice cream out of his f— freezer and sit in his chair in his tighty whities on the couch.”

Oddly enough, Smith already responded to a different part of the James interview before the show even aired. A clip from the prerecorded interview was released ahead of the full show. In it, James proclaimed Milwaukee Bucks star "Giannis Antetokounmpo would have 250 points in a game in the ‘70s."

Read more:Stephen A. Smith says LeBron James confronting him was 'weak': 'I was talking about you,' not Bronny

Smith addressed the comment Wednesday on "First Take" before the entire James interview aired.

"Here’s the problem with what LeBron James did. It's still disrespectful to the previous eras. And there's no call for it," Smith said. "And so when he does what he does on that level, that's him passive-aggressively, yet again, finding a way to take shots because inherently he has a problem with himself being compared to dudes from previous eras.”

Even though he had no way of knowing Smith would say any of that, James told McAfee after making his comment about Antetokounmpo: "I would be able to play in any era."

Smith has yet to publicly respond to anything else from the James interview.

Read more:Stephen A. Smith: 'I might have been wrong' about Bronny James' NBA readiness

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

LeBron James has opened up about his relationship with Michael Jordan, the man who he often finds his NBA career measured against.

The question of which of the players is the greatest has become such a staple of sports talkshows that it is almost a cliche. In an interview with the the Pat McAfee Show broadcast on Wednesday, James said he has little interaction with Jordan.

“We don’t talk,” James said. “Because I’m still playing. I’m still playing, I’m still focused on my craft right now.”

Related: LeBron James at 40: NBA’s brightest star stares down the dying of the light

James said much of the distance is due to the pair’s competitiveness. James has four NBA titles and is a four-time Most Valuable Player. Jordan was a six-time champion and a five-time MVP.

“I think it’s because I’m still playing,” James said. “And MJ, we all know MJ. Even if you don’t know him personally, he is one of the most ruthless competitors there is and until I’m done and he doesn’t have to look at me running up and down wearing the No 23 and every time my name is mentioned, it’s mentioned with his.”

The 40-year-old said he has “hope” he will become closer to Jordan when he retires, saying something similar happened with Kobe Bryant. James said there was some competitive friction between the pair but that softened when Bryant had retired and James joined the Lakers.

“That’s when our relationship became really, really good,” James said. “He welcomed me. He called me, like, ‘Bro, anything you need in LA, I got you. You’re a Laker now. You’re family.’ And we would have multiple conversations. Obviously, you guys saw him coming to a lot of games ... And when I passed him for the scoring record in Philly, he had a tweet out there like, ‘Keep on going.’ Like, ‘Keep transcending the game. Keep going.’ And that shit meant so much to me.”

James also spoke about his son and Lakers teammate, Bronny. Bronny was drafted by the Lakers last year, amid some accusations of nepotism. He has struggled in early NBA appearances but has spent time in the G-League and scored a career-high 17 points for the Lakers earlier this month.

“For me as a dad, it doesn’t matter if he never scores, ever. For me as a dad, I’m just super proud of him, period, as a young man,” said James. “For me as a mentor and as a teammate of his that wants to see him thrive because I have seen the work he’s put into the game, I am super proud of his development to where he is now. From the moment that he was drafted ... to now ... his development has skyrocketed.”

Bronny suffered a cardiac arrest in college, and James described the joy of seeing him recover and make his debut for the Lakers this season.

“Us going out on the floor and having that moment, physically I wasn’t even there,” James said. “I wasn’t even there. I’m floating. I could only imagine where Bronny was. We haven’t even talked about it yet. At some point we will. But I wasn’t even there. I was so [happy], I might have been in the rafters. I might have been at home – my body might have been at home watching the game and watching the moment. I completely was not there.”

James was also asked about extending his playing career so that his youngest son, 17-year-old Bryce, could play alongside his father and Bronny on the Lakers.

“Don’t do that to me,” James said with a smile.

3 observations after Sixers reach 50 losses with defeat to cellar-dwelling Wizards  originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Sixers reached the 50-loss mark and dropped their sixth consecutive game Wednesday night at Wells Fargo Center.

They fell to 23-50 on the season with a 119-114 defeat to the Wizards. Washington moved to 16-56. Both teams will obviously be hoping for the best on NBA draft lottery night.

The Sixers’ top scorers were Quentin Grimes (22 points) and Guerschon Yabusele (21 points).

Justin Edwards had 19 points, 10 rebounds and five steals.

Alex Sarr led the Wizards with 24 points. Justin Champagnie tallied 18 points and 10 rebounds.

Both the Sixers and Wizards had a long list of sidelined players. Nine Sixers were out with injuries and Jalen Hood-Schifino missed the game because of an illness.

Tyrese Maxey (right finger sprain) and Kyle Lowry (right hip injury) worked out on the floor pregame. Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said that he expects a decision will come soon on the path forward with Joel Embiid’s season-ending left knee injury.

The Sixers will host the Heat on Saturday night. Here are observations on their loss to the Wizards: 

Wizards pile up the points  

Yabusele scored the night’s first hoop with a post-up bucket on fellow Frenchman Sarr. He continued getting up shots every time he could and posted the Sixers’ first nine points. 

Defensively, the Sixers were highly ineffective early in both half court and transition. 

Washington began 8 for 10 from three-point range. Even when Adem Bona rejected Jordan Poole’s layup attempt, the ball found Sarr’s shooting pocket and the No. 2 overall pick nailed a top-of-the-key jumper. Though the Sixers only committed one first-half turnover, the Wizards had almost no trouble generating good shots. 

Nurse burned his second timeout after a fast-break Champagnie layup put the Wizards up 16 points. The Sixers’ defense did not dramatically improve from there. Colby Jones capped the first quarter with a buzzer-beating three that gave Washington a 45-29 lead. 

Another NBA debut 

The Sixers used four men off the bench Wednesday in Jared Butler, Bona, Marcus Bagley and Phillip Wheeler.

That second unit was certainly not veteran-heavy. Butler is the eldest of the group at 24 years old. Bona’s a rookie center. Bagley now has two games of NBA experience.

Wheeler, a 6-foot-8 forward on a 10-day contract, made his NBA debut. He got on the scoreboard early in the second quarter when he grabbed a defensive rebound and converted a coast-to-coast layup. 

Wheeler finished with four points on 2-for-9 shooting, four rebounds and two assists in 15 minutes. The New Jersey native played a part in one of the night’s better highlights, connecting with Ricky Council IV on a third-quarter alley-oop. 

Not a winning formula

Grimes started cold but got cooking late in the second quarter. He fell just short of his ninth consecutive game with 25 or more points.

Edwards recorded his sixth straight game with at least 18 points. The rookie was sharp and decisive as a driver, recognizing when he could attack the rim and often doing so in no-nonsense fashion. 

Of course, even with those individual performances, it’s awfully difficult to wipe out big deficits without high-level defense and hot shooting. Poole hit back-to-back threes in the third quarter to extend the Wizards’ lead to 89-71.

Washington never had any serious scoring droughts and the Sixers’ outside shooting was subpar. They went 14 for 46 from three-point range (30.4 percent) in their 50th defeat of this sour season.

The Sixers did compete until the final buzzer and, with assistance from some youthful Washington mistakes, made the Wizards sweat down the stretch. A Jeff Dowtin Jr. layup cut Washington’s advantage to 117-113 with 38.3 seconds left.

However, Sarr quieted the crowd by sinking a runner and the Wizards ultimately managed to snap their five-game losing skid.

Doc Rivers is one of the winningest coaches in NBA history.

The current Milwaukee Bucks coach has 1,154 career regular-season wins and can tie former Lakers and Chicago Bulls coach Phil Jackson for seventh on the all-time list with a victory Wednesday against the Denver Nuggets.

He also led the Boston Celtics to an NBA title in 2008 and back to the finals in 2010 during a 26-year coaching career that also included seven seasons with the Clippers and stints with the Orlando Magic and Philadelphia 76ers.

But Rivers also might forever be known as the coach who has trouble holding onto 3-1 series leads in the playoffs.

Some fans don't seem willing to forget that Rivers blew such advantages three times — with the Magic in 2003 (to the Detroit Pistons in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs) and with the Clippers in 2015 (to the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference semifinals) and also with the Clippers in 2020 (to the Nuggets in the conference semifinals).

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Rivers thinks the criticism he receives for those collapses is "unfair in some ways."

"I don’t get enough credit for getting the three wins," Rivers recently told Andscape. "I get credit for losing. I always say, ‘What if we had lost to Houston in six?’ No one cares. One of the things that I’m proud of is we’ve never been swept. All the coaches have been swept in the playoffs. My teams achieve. A lot of them overachieve and I’m very proud of that."

The 2002-03 Magic team was an eighth seed that pushed the top-seeded Pistons to the brink of elimination. The 2014-15 Clippers finished the regular season at 56-26 and earned the third seed in the West. After defeating the defending champion San Antonio Spurs in the first round, the Clippers went on to face the second-seeded Rockets, who also finished the regular season at 56-26.

Rivers calls that postseason series "the only one that got away."

"But people don’t realize that Chris Paul was running on one leg and we were also the underdog in that series," Rivers said. "When you think about it, Houston had home court, not us."

Read more:Lakers' JJ Redick says he and Doc Rivers have no bad feelings for one another

The 2019-20 season was shortened because of the COVID-19 pandemic and finished in an isolated Orlando "bubble" during the late summer and early fall. The Clippers ended the regular season at 49-23 and earned the No. 2 seed in the West. Rivers said the team's playoff letdown that year doesn't bother him because he knows the players' hearts weren't in it.

"In the bubble, I had a group of guys that didn’t want to be there," said Rivers, referring to comments made by former Clipper Lou Williams about the players' mindset at the time. "I felt that. I knew that."

Rivers added: "What bugs me about the bubble is I couldn’t get them to understand that we had a chance to win [a title]. That’s what bugs me. They wanted to go home more than they wanted to win. And I still don’t understand that. I’m too competitive. And I really thought that team had enough."

Rivers acknowledged that all those playoff disappointments are "part of my legacy."

"There’s nothing I can do about it," he said.

Read more:Clippers' five-game winning streak ends in loss to NBA-leading Thunder

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.