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Draymond roasts Eason for Warriors taunt that aged like ‘spoiled milk' originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Perhaps nobody keeps receipts better than Draymond Green.

After the Warriors’ 103-89 win over the Houston Rockets in Game 7 of the first-round NBA playoff series on Sunday at Toyota Center, Green not only brought up comments Rockets guard Fred VanVleet made prior to the series, but also came for young forward Tari Eason on social media.

Eason famously taunted the Warriors, who, at one point during the 2023-24 NBA season were directly ahead of the red-hot Rockets in the Western Conference standings, with a social media video where he told Golden State to “come out and play.”

The Rockets forward was quoting the classic 1979 film, “The Warriors,” citing a line where actor David Patrick Kelly famously challenges: “Warriors, come out to play.”

Green responded on multiple occasions last season, and after the Warriors ended the Rockets’ 2024-25 season on Sunday, resurfaced the video with a repost on X, formerly known as Twitter, with a caption describing how terribly the video aged.

Green, when Eason initially posted the video last season, was confused why the then-injured wing was taunting Golden State.

“I wasn’t surprised at all [when he said it], I am a little surprised that he hasn’t played in a game since January 1 so it’s kind of tough to yell ‘come out and play’ and you’re not going to play, it puts a lot of strain on your guys, when you can’t get out there and help them,” Green said in March 2024.

The Rockets (41-41) finished 11th in the Western Conference last season, five games behind the No. 10 seed Warriors (46-36). However, Houston broke out this season, surging all the way up to the No. 2 seed in the West, where they faced off against Green and the No. 7 seed Warriors in the first round. Eason, perhaps inevitably, found himself in the middle of an altercation with Green and other members of the Warriors.

Eason, in seven games against Golden State this postseason, averaged 7.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, 0.7 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.0 blocks per game in 18.9 minutes per contest.

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The Knicks are fresh off a 4-2 first round win against the Detroit Pistons and are gearing up for an Eastern Conference semifinals duel with the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics starting Monday night.

Overwhelming favorites in the series, the Celtics present a host of challenges for the Knicks, including outstanding three-point shooting and elite defense. Here are four aspects of the series to focus on...

Three-point shooting looms large

It’s almost a given that the Knicks are going to lose the three-point battle. New York is 15th in three-point attempt rate among the 16 playoff teams and was 28th in the category during the regular season. Boston’s offense revolves around the three-point line. The Celtics were first in three-point attempt rate, with more than half of their field goal attempts coming from beyond the arc.

There are several ways the Celtics can generate threes. Center Kristaps Porzingis has rained from three as a floor spacer. Jayson Tatum can wreak havoc as a shooter off the dribble, and the team has a plethora of deep ball threats like Derrick White and Payton Pritchard.

For the Knicks, the focus will have to be getting out in transition to create clean outside looks and playing faster in the half-court. That can help get Karl-Anthony Towns going from deep. Also, having a high volume shooter like Miles McBride on the floor more often could be an adjustment head coach Tom Thibodeau can go to. The three-point gap can exist, but it can’t be too severe, or the series will end quickly.

Defense of the stars

Knicks offensive hubs Jalen Brunson and Towns will carry a heavy responsibility on offense. In the first round, Brunson averaged 31.5 points and 8.2 assists while Towns was a near 20-10 performer. The defensive end will be important as well. Both stars are weak points in the Knicks defense that Boston can attack. Look for Tatum and Jaylen Brown to work to get Brunson and Towns switched onto them.

The Knicks are going to try to avoid switching, but that could open up good looks for Boston’s other players. This was always going to be a concern when the Knicks acquired Towns in the offseason. Having two defensive liabilities on the court for extended portions of the game will be a problem the Knicks have to solve.

Creating extra shot opportunities

One way for the Knicks to attack the Celtics will be the possession game. New York needs to control the boards and minimize turnovers to have a chance. The last of the four regular season matchups was the most competitive and offered a blueprint of how the Knicks can compete with Boston.

New York was able to win the possession battle. The Knicks had 17 offensive rebounds and four fewer turnovers than the Celtics. It led the Knicks to attempt 14 more shots than Boston. It was the only game that center Mitchell Robinson played in.

The Knicks rebound better with Robinson on the floor. In the Pistons series, the Knicks had an offensive rebound rate of 38.3 percent in Robinson’s 99 minutes, according to NBA Stats. The club’s offensive rebound rate plunged to 24.9 percent when he was off the floor. Could Robinson see an increase in playing time? It’s a legitimate possibility. After playing just 47 minutes with Towns in the regular season, the two shared the floor for 40 minutes in the opening round.

Wings need to deliver

Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby carry heavy responsibility on both ends of the floor. Both are expected to contribute on offense while guarding the opposition’s top scoring options. In the first round, Anunoby and Bridges saw time guarding Pistons All-Star Cade Cunningham. Now, expect both to hawk Boston’s star wings Tatum and Brown. Both are tough matchups, and New York’s defenders will have to navigate several screens while having to keep Tatum and Brown in check.

With so much attention commanded by Brunson and Towns on offense, there will be opportunities to attack for Bridges and Anunoby. In the season series against Boston, Anunoby (9.0 points) and Bridges (13.7 points) were both quiet. That can’t happen in the second round.

Both players are capable cutters off the ball and are adequate corner three-point shooters. New York traded five first-round picks to the Nets for Bridges and signed Anunoby to a five-year, $212.5 million contract for these moments. We’ll see if they are up to the challenge.

Scouting the Knicks: What the numbers tell us about Boston-New York showdown originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Celtics dominated the New York Knicks during the 2024-25 regular season, piling up three double-digit wins and outscoring their Atlantic Division rivals by 65 points overall. 

Will it be more of the same when these two teams meet in the playoffs for the first time since 2013? In the long ramp to Monday’s Game 1, Knicks forward Josh Hart was quick to note that “there are bits and pieces you take from [the regular season] … but the series is 0-0.”

He’s not wrong. But the regular-season data only seems to highlight the advantages that Boston potentially could generate against this Knicks team, so it’s understandable if New York would prefer to ignore those numbers. The Celtics would be wise to take some guidance from the numbers, but not be overconfident from them. 

Here are five storylines — beyond the Jaylen vs. Jalen marquee matchup we spotlighted earlier — that could dictate whether this series is as lopsided as the first four meetings this season:

1. The KP Effect

The last time we saw Kristaps Porzingis against the New York Knicks, he was tongue-wagging all over center court at Madison Square Garden after piling up 34 points on 11-of-19 shooting and hitting a bunch of deep 3s from New Rochelle to help Boston escape with an overtime triumph to sweep the regular-season series. 

Porzingis, by his own admission, did not play up to his own standards in Round 1 against the Magic. Their size and physicality bothered him.

Porzingis produced a much-needed 20-point, 10-rebound effort when the team was without Jayson Tatum in Game 2 against the Magic. But Porzingis shot just 35.2 percent from the floor overall (19 of 54) and missed 15 of the 17 3-pointers he attempted against Orlando. The Magic were fearless attacking him defensively, too, and Porzingis will need to be better on both ends in Round 2.

But he won’t lack for motivation.

Drafted No. 4 overall by the Knicks a decade ago, Porzingis battled injury woes in New York before being unceremoniously dealt to the Dallas Mavericks in 2019. He’s spoken with great appreciation for all the stops on his NBA journey, but Porzingis almost certainly will get a jolt of extra adrenaline when he hits the floor, espresso in hand, for pregame warmups in front of blue and orange-clad Knicks fans at MSG later this week.

The Knicks dispatched Karl-Anthony Towns as their primary defender against Porzingis in two regular-season matchups, and Porzingis generated 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting while connecting on 4 of 8 attempts beyond the 3-point arc.

Perhaps more intriguing will be how the Celtics deploy Porzingis defensively. Al Horford has been an elite KAT defender, and it’s no surprise the Knicks big man had his best game against Boston without Horford available for the final regular-season meeting.

The Celtics would prefer to match Porzingis on Josh Hart, giving the team the ability to send two bodies at Towns or Brunson when needed. That could give Hart some open perimeter looks at times, but he made just 1 of 9 3-pointers against Boston in the four meetings this season.

Porzingis will need to be ready to joust with Towns, and defending without fouling will be a priority. But Porzingis’ presence on the offensive end could put the Knicks in a lot of binds and he must be ready to punish them the way he did in the final meeting of the regular season.

2. Checking in on Knicks’ moves to stop the Jays…

The Knicks have made two major trades in the past 18 months to add defensive-minded wings who were supposed to slow down Boston’s superstar tandem of Tatum and Brown. Alas, even with both OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges, the Knicks haven’t quite been able to corral the Celtics’ offense.

Tatum shredded the Knicks for 33.5 points per game this season while shooting 53.3 percent from the floor and 47.8 percent beyond the 3-point arc. Boston outscored the Knicks by 58 points in Tatum’s 151 minutes of floor time this season.

Brown’s knee hindered him in the fourth meeting, but the Celtics offense still hummed whenever he was on the court.

A look at how the Knicks’ primary options fared defending Tatum and Brown this season:

Anunoby had excellent individual numbers against both the Jays and often forced them to move the ball. The Celtics should hunt more advantageous matchup against the Knicks. 

Bridges didn’t bother Tatum in the least, with Boston’s star shooting 68.4 percent from the floor against him, including 57.1 percent on 3s. Bridges didn’t spend much time against Brown and logged the majority on his non-Tatum minutes against Derrick White, who also thrived at a Tatum-like level (62.5 percent shooting overall; 66.7 percent on 3s). 

Sending help didn’t make it any easier to corral Tatum, who seemed to light up when he got matched on Towns.

Tatum put up 25 shots on Towns in the 27.7 defensive possessions logged by the NBA tracking, generating a staggering 43 points on 16-of-25 shooting (64 percent) while making 6-of-12 3-pointers.

3. Can Robinson be a game-changer?

After the Celtics dominated the first three matchups against the Knicks, it was often suggested that things might be different if Mitchell Robinson was available. The 7-foot big man played 16 minutes in the final meeting of the regular season and left his mark on the glass with more offensive rebounds (four) than defensive boards (seven) in his floor time.

Rebounding will be a priority for Boston this series. The Magic were able to hang around with an anemic offense because they generated extra possessions on the glass, and the Knicks are too good offensively to allow second chances.

As for Robinson’s potential impact, the Knicks had a minus-2.9 net rating in his 99 minutes during the Round 1 slugfest with the Pistons. They were 9.4 points better defensively with him but the offense ground to a halt (97.1 offensive rating, 12.7 points worse than the team’s series average).

Robinson certainly helps a team that basically only goes eight players deep, but as long as Luke Kornet and Co. are finishing rebounds for Boston’s reserve units, the suggestion that Mitchell’s presence could alter Boston’s regular-season dominance feels a bit overstated.

4. Will Knicks sell out to stop the 3?

While no team in the NBA ran opponents off the 3-point line like the Magic, the Knicks did finish fifth in the NBA in opponent 3-point attempts, allowing just 35.7 per game. The bad news for New York: Opponents shot 36.7 percent on them, the fifth-worst mark in the NBA. 

The Celtics were unfazed by New York’s attempts to limit 3s during the regular season, averaging 48.3 3-point attempts per game versus the Knicks.

That number is slightly juiced from opening night, when Boston tied an NBA record with 29 makes on a ridiculous 61 attempts. But the Celtics shot 43.5 percent on their 193 total 3s against New York this season. Boston’s 130.2 offensive rating vs. the Knicks was its highest mark against any East opponent. 

Will the floodgates open for the Celtics after the Magic did everything they could to take away the 3 last round? Will the Knicks modify their approach and try to match Orlando’s blueprint? New York doesn’t have the defensive versatility to switch as frequently as Orlando did without Boston taking advantage of matchups.

The Knicks limited the Pistons to 32.4 percent shooting beyond the arc on just 31.3 3-point attempts per game in Round 1. They also gave up the second most free-throw attempts per game (27.8) and Boston needs to continue to be aggressive if teams take away the 3.

5. How much will Celtics lean on double-big lineups?

With Porzingis and Horford sitting out various games during the regular season, the Celtics logged only 11 minutes with that particular double-big grouping. Boston was +14 in their time together while shooting 57.1 percent from the floor and 50 percent beyond the 3-point arc in that span. 

Defensively, the double-big lineup has the potential to challenge the Knicks’ offense. Horford has been solid against Towns, limiting him to eight points on 3-of-8 shooting with a block and a turnover in 8:37 of matchup time. Putting Porzingis on Hart gives the Celtics an ability to have multiple big bodies to swarm Towns or Brunson near the basket.

Even if the Celtics elect to go small, the Celtics have routinely dispatched Jrue Holiday to defend Towns. This feels like a big Holiday series if his hamstring is healthy again. The Celtics will ask him to chase the shifty Brunson through endless screens on one possession, then go joust with Towns the next. 

The Celtics will have to balance how much they are willing to live with Brunson getting his points. The Knicks were 26-22 when Brunson scored 21+ points this season but 14-3 when he scored 20 or fewer.

There’s some flukiness with blowouts and a 9-3 record when Brunson went for 35+, which suggests there are limitations on just how much you’re willing to concede to reel in Towns and the rest of the supporting cast.

Christie explains why he's ‘humbled' to be Kings' new coach originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Doug Christie is proud to formally be the Kings’ new coach after holding the position in the interim period following the firing of Mike Brown in late December during the 2024-25 NBA season.

On Friday, the new Kings coach sat down and shared the reasoning for his humility in an exclusive interview with NBC Sports California’s Deuce Mason.

“[I’m] humbled, man,” Christie told Mason. “It’s hard to put into words, to be honest with you. A long journey, but there’s a love, a passion, a respect for what I consider to be an incredible jewel here in Sacramento. And for the organization, for our fan base, for all of them to trust me with that is humbling.”

Christie doesn’t take for granted the support he feels in California’s capital city. 

After spending five seasons in Sacramento as a player, a season at Golden 1 Center as an NBC Sports California broadcaster and the last four seasons with the Kings as an assistant coach, Christie is honored to now lead the franchise he speaks about and treats like family.

“I think that any time you have the ability to have more of a full view of anything, it helps the process of what you’re going through,” Christie told Mason about how his longstanding ties to the Kings help him as a coach. “I think you understand it from different angles, you have a greater respect for what you’re dealing with, and being in all those different areas, I’ve seen it from a lot of different aspects. And it just gains a respect of what I’m dealing with and a love for where I would like to go.”

Sacramento has plenty to address after finishing 40-42 during the 2024-25 season. But there remains some optimism after the team finished with a 27-24 record after Christie took over; some of it comes from the arrival of new Sacramento general manager Scott Perry, whom Christie is excited to work with.

“More than anything, it’s to really sit down with Scott and lay out the map of what he sees, what I see, bring that together and sharpen the knife and begin to cut,” Christie told Mason about what his first order of business will be as coach.

Christie endured a long journey to reach this point in his NBA career with the Kings – one that left him ringless since entering the league as a player in 1992-93. 

But Sacramento’s new coach is focused on bringing the organization, city and the gritty fans the NBA championship that all parties want so desperately, with, of course, how close the Kings came during the 2002 playoffs in the background. 

Christie is thankful for his new opportunity. And he is adamant about leaving everything he has on the court.

“I will die trying, my friend,” Christie told Mason.

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Draymond slyly torches Rockets organization after Warriors' win originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Draymond Green gave a young Rockets team their flowers after the Warriors’ Game 7 win over Houston on Sunday at Toyota Center.

But had a brutal parting message for the organization.

Green initially shared his respect for the Rockets’ team in his postgame press conference, admitting the first-round playoff series was one of the more difficult ones of his 13-year NBA career. Then, he was asked about playing in a hostile environment like Houston, in front of a Rockets crowd that he and longtime teammate Steph Curry have plenty of experience with.

“It’s always fun winning in this city and winning in this arena,” Green said. “I saw Fred [VanVleet] had made a comment earlier in the series and said, ‘This ain’t that team’ … It’s that organization, though. And we like coming to this city and playing in these situations. It’s been good to us.”

VanVleet’s comment that Green is referencing was made prior to Game 1 of the series, when the Rockets guard was asked about Houston’s playoff history against Golden State, which includes five consecutive postseason series losses.

“No. This ain’t that team and that ain’t that team. It’s a different team,” VanVleet told reporters after practice on April 16. “We’re a different team, they’re a different team, it’s a new year.”

VanVleet’s comments, both in that moment and in hindsight, certainly are fair, but Green took note of them nonetheless.

Curry was asked after the game what he perceives his reputation to be in Houston after winning another playoff series against the Rockets.

“I’m a winner,” Curry bluntly said with a smile.

That just about sums it up.

Curry, Green and the Warriors have broken the hearts of many fan bases throughout their dynastic run, and perhaps none worse than Houston’s.

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