Category: Interviews

Takeaways: Jabari Smith Jr.’s career night not quite enough as Luka Doncic drops 50 for Mavs

#Rockets rookie Jabari Smith Jr. had a career night on strong efficiency, but it wasn’t quite enough versus the Mavericks and Luka Doncic, who had 50 points and 10 assists.

The Rockets wrapped up a seven-game homestand, the longest of the season, with Friday’s 112-106 loss (box score) to the in-state rival Mavericks. Houston (9-23) lost its fifth straight game while Dallas (17-16) broke above .500 thanks to perennial MVP candidate Luka Doncic.

Jabari Smith Jr. scored a career-high 24 points for the Rockets on 10-of-17 shooting (58.8%) and 3-of-8 on 3-pointers (37.5%). He grabbed 10 rebounds and dished 3 assists. But the effort wasn’t enough thanks to an other-worldly night by Doncic. He led the visiting Mavs with 50 points, 10 assists, and 8 rebounds on 17-of-30 shooting (56.7%) and 6-of-12 on 3-pointers (50.0%).

Jalen Green had 23 points and 8 rebounds but struggled with his shooting, making just 6-of-17 shots (35.3%) and 0-of-4 on 3-pointers. Backcourt mate Kevin Porter Jr. was similarly inefficient with 14 points on 5-of-13 shooting (38.5%) and 1-of-7 from 3-point range (14.3%).

Alperen Sengun had 19 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists on 6-of-9 shooting (66.7%), but two of his misses came on close-range shots late in the game, with Houston trailing by a small margin.

Scroll on for highlights, analysis and postgame interview reaction from Toyota Center. With the homestand finally complete, Houston hits the road for a three-game road trip, starting with Monday’s game at Chicago. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Central.

From DeFremery Park to the Garden: The Oakland roots of Boston Celtics greatness

A school, a park, and a home in Oakland California helped create a hotbed for Black excellence central to the Celtics’ success.

Under the light of an incandescent lightbulb illuminating the inky sky of Oakland, Califonia, a young Paul Silas played basketball with fellow future Celtics great Bill Russell, his brother Charlie, and his cousins Fritz and Aaron Pointer in the sweet heat of a late summer evening. On the sidelines, the Pointer sisters — still a decade away from being The Pointer Sisters — were enjoying the show.

Basketball played at 18th and Adeline’s DeFremery Park in the early 1960s was the axis their world revolved around. It was a quiet but poignant testimony of what the families who had migrated to Oakland in the 1940s built for themselves as they fled the brutal, institutionalized repression of Jim Crow in the southern United States.

From the bitter legacy of Jim Crow, the Silas, Russell, and Pointer families (and many others) created a community where greatness was more than a dream, and a space to simply enjoy the heat of a sultry summer evening with friends became possible.

ML Carr on his time playing for, coaching, and managing the Boston Celtics

The Celtic great recently spoke about how he found his way to play for Boston with a pit stop in Israel and through it a career built around the sport he loves.

Former Boston Celtics champion small forward ML Carr was an important part of two NBA titles won by the Celtics in 1981 and 1984 before making the leap to the other side of the sport by becoming a general manager and head coach for the Celtics — in the reverse order things tend to happen in for NBA executives, at that.

The Celtic great recently spoke about how he found his way to play for Boston with a pit stop in Israel and through it a career built around the sport he loves in an interview conducted while the North Carolina native was being honored at The Tradition.

Take a look at the clip embedded below to hear what Carr had to say about that era of his life with the Celtics courtesy of the NESN Youtube channel.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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Takeways: In fourth straight home loss, Rockets ground to halt by Magic zone

With eight fourth-quarter turnovers vs. Orlando’s zone defense and five in the last five minutes, Houston blew a 15-point lead in the second half and lost its fourth straight game at home.

After leading for most of the game and by 15 points in the third quarter, the Rockets collapsed late against Orlando’s zone defense in a deflating 116-110 loss (box score) on Wednesday at Toyota Center.

Houston (9-22) has dropped four straight home games and two to the Spurs and Magic, teams widely viewed as rebuilding rivals.

The Rockets committed 17 turnovers, including eight in the fourth quarter and five in the final five minutes.

In a battle of top 2022 rookies, Orlando’s Paulo Banchero (23 points, 45% FG, 13 rebounds) largely outplayed Houston’s Jabari Smith Jr. (10 points, 36.4% FG, 5 rebounds) as the Magic (12-21) won for the seventh time in their last eight overall games.

The Rockets were led by Kevin Porter Jr., who scored a game-high 31 points on 12-of-19 shooting (63.2%) and 5-of-9 on 3-pointers (55.6%). However, he had 5 assists compared to a game-high 5 turnovers, and those proved costly late as Houston struggled to counter Orlando’s zone. Jalen Green had 21 points (47.1% FG) and 8 rebounds, but he went scoreless in the fourth quarter and only shot once.

Second-year guard Franz Wagner — like Green, a first-round pick from the 2021 NBA draft — led the Magic with 25 points on 9-of-15 shooting (60.0%), including 4-of-8 on 3-pointers (50.0%).

KJ Martin added 18 points and 4 assists off the bench on 7-of-11 shooting (63.6%) and 2-of-4 on 3-pointers (50%), while Alperen Sengun had 13 points (62.5% FG), 12 rebounds and 6 assists at center.

Scroll on for highlights, analysis and postgame interview reaction from Wednesday’s loss to Orlando. Houston concludes its seven-game homestand, the longest of the season, at Toyota Center on Friday versus Dallas with tipoff set for 7 p.m. Central.

Pacers coach Rick Carlisle on Celtics alum Aaron Nesmith’s success sarting for Indiana at the 4

The Boston alum has started to find his way with the Pacers this season.

The Boston Celtics traded away Aaron Nesmith to the Indiana Pacers in search of some veteran depth the team needed to compete at the highest level, bringing on Pacers point guard Malcolm Brogdon for Nesmith, big man Daniel Theis, a handful of deep rotation players and a draft pick.

The results have been by and large positive, but the Celtics had to give up some value in the future to get their veteran presence in the present, and that meant giving up on Nesmith’s uneven development as a player. Since then, the Vanderbilt product has begun to come into his own with Indiana, catching the attention of head coach Rick Carlisle in the process.

Speaking to the press ahead of Boston’s Wednesday night tilt with the Pacers, Carlisle shared how the team saw his leap forward as a player as Nesmith has recently secured himself a spot as a starter with Indiana.

Rick Carlisle recounts Larry Bird’s inspiring return to Boston as new Pacers head coach

Larry Bird first returned to the Boston Garden as an opposing coach in January of 1998. Rick Carlisle was there for the extraordinary moment.

Current Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle has a number of connections to the city of Boston and the Boston Celtics. He began his playing career with the Celts, playing four seasons with the team. winning the 1986 NBA championship as a reserve in the process. He went to high school in Worcester, and Carlisle coached alongside Larry Bird as an assistant in the 1990s as well.

Back in the city to play the team that drafted him out of the University of Virginia as Boston faced Indiana, the now-head coach of the Pacers was asked by the Celtics Wire about the homecoming. He has previously said playing for Boston “changed his life.”

“I don’t know how many times I’ve been back” Carlisle said Wednesday before the game. “There have been a lot of memorable games, though.”

Miami Heat’s Bam Adebayo pokes fun at Jayson Tatum as both work to right ship in hardware hunt

As Tatum and Bam both work through a rough patch in the hunt for MVP and DPOY respectively, the Heat star can’t help but joke about his friend.

Star Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum has been a friend and competitor of Miami Heat big man Bam Adebayo for more than a decade. The two rib each other over their achievements over the years — most famously with Adebayo’s annual text of his block of the St. Louis native in the Orlando bubble every year on its anniversary.

The Celtics Wire caught up with Adebayo south of the border as his Heat took on the San Antonio Spurs in Mexico City last weekend, and asked if he and Tatum had spoken about their respective Defensive Player of the Year and Most Valuable Player campaigns.

“We haven’t,” replied the Heat big man. “This season has been so up and down for us.”

“We’ve been worried about our issues, our problems,” he added. “We usually talk about that stuff in an offseason.”

Then, a smile spread across Adebayo’s face as he replied, “But as you said, I might just text him a picture of the bubble moment, and just let him relive that moment again.”

“But, now he’s got one up (on me),” the Miami star was sure to note. “He got Eastern Conference MVP last year.”

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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Boston’s Jayson Tatum tells a trash talk story

Tatum has heard people make fun of his hair, his skin color, his face and even Deuce.

There is no greater joy for an NBA player than to take a trash talker to school on the court, according to star Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum.

In an interview recorded by the folks at CLNS Media earlier this season, the St. Louis native detailed some of the abuse hurled his way by opposing fans to try to throw him off his game.

Tatum has heard people make fun of his hair, his skin color, his face and even Deuce (yes, really), but he relishes the opportunity to make them eat their words by answering their taunts with elite play on the court.

Check out the clip embedded below to hear what the Duke alumnus had to say about the impact of trash talk by fans on his game.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra on Joe Mazzulla, Will Hardy’s early coaching success

Spoelstra shared his thoughts on two of the youngest head coaches in the league, Utah Jazz head coach (and former Boston Celtics assistant) Will Hardy and Boston interim head coach Joe Mazzulla.

Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra is among the longest-tenured coaches in the NBA and has learned much about the profession over the nearly 15 years he has been the Heat’s head honcho on the court.

Speaking with the Celtics Wire ahead of the 2022 NBA Mexico City game, Spoelstra shared his thoughts on two of the youngest head coaches in the league, Utah Jazz head coach (and former Boston Celtics assistant) Will Hardy and Boston interim head coach Joe Mazzulla.

“I think they are tremendous,” related the Miami head coach. “The coaching professionalism is in a great place in terms of innovation, creativity, coaching staffs that are willing to buck the trends and try different things.”

“I think that’s making all of us better,” Spoelstra added. “I’ve known Will for a while, but I really got to know him through USA Basketball. I was so impressed with him, and the way he could command the room. He has great emotional intelligence.

“The same thing with Joe,” he continued. “Joe is young, but he has an older spirit, and the way he views coaching and leadership, all of those things are impressive for somebody at that age.

“I know I certainly wasn’t ready for all of that when I was 33,” Spoelstra concluded. Given that at that age, the Miami coach was still a Heat assistant with nearly a half-decade ahead of him before he’d take of the reins as head coach, that’s high praise indeed.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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‘Let go of the rope’: Spurs dominate Rockets for second time in two weeks

Daishen Nix dished out a career-high 9 assists in just 24 minutes, but that wasn’t nearly enough for the #Rockets in a deflating home loss to the Spurs, another rebuilding franchise.

The sudden trend of poor 3-point shooting by the Rockets accelerated in Monday’s listless 124-105 home loss (box score) to in-state rival San Antonio.

Though the Spurs entered with an identical record to Houston and in a similar rebuilding place as a franchise, the on-court products at Toyota Center were quite different.

Devin Vassell had a game-high 26 points and 5 assists for the Spurs on 10-of-17 shooting (58.8%), including 5-of-8 on 3-pointers (62.5%). As a team, Gregg Popovich’s club hit 17-of-34 from 3-point range (50%), whereas Houston made 5-of-24 from distance (20.8%) and has connected on 8-of-53 over its last two games (15.1%).

Big man Alperen Sengun led Houston with 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting (80%), though he was inconsistent defensively and was limited to 24 minutes by head coach Stephen Silas.

Making matters worse, it marks the second time in less than two weeks the Rockets (9-21) have lost convincingly to their rebuilding rivals, even with the Spurs (10-20) missing Keldon Johnson this time due to injury.

Young prospects Jalen Green, Kevin Porter Jr., and Jabari Smith Jr. set the tone on a cold night with a 2-of-12 showing from 3-point range (16.7%). Second-year guard Daishen Nix showed promise off the bench with a career-high 9 assists and 3 steals in 24 minutes. But fittingly for the night, Nix missed all four of his 3-point attempts.

Scroll on for highlights, analysis and postgame interview reaction following Monday’s loss to San Antonio. Houston plays the sixth game of its longest homestand of the season (seven games in total) on Wednesday night versus Orlando, with tipoff set for 7 p.m. Central.