Tag: 2022 nba playoffs

Boston’s Jayson Tatum reveals he was playing injured during 2021-22 season, 2022 NBA Playoffs

The Duke product avoided getting an MRI for some time out of fear he might be told he couldn’t play.

While star Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum usually stars each season gradually building up his level of intensity, the 2021-22 campaign and subsequent 2022 NBA Playoffs were the first instances in his career that he seemed to fall apart a bit at the end of the campaign as well.

Some of that was just the sheer amount of high-level basketball the St. Louis native had been playing, with Tatum on the court almost without a break since the league started back up in 2020 after a four-month pause due to the pandemic. But in a recent interview with Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks, the Celtics star shared he had also been playing injured since the weekend of the NFL’s Super Bowl LVI.

“I remember driving back to the house, and I had my watch on in the car,” recalled Tatum. “I kept looking at my wrist because it’s like something is weighing on it.”

Did Kevin Durant really believe the Nets would not beat the Boston Celtics in the 2022 playoffs?

Former Net and friend of KD Mike James heard from Durant himself that he did not expect to beat Boston.

In an odd twist, the Brooklyn Nets losing to the Boston Celtics may not have been as much a surprise to some as one might think. At the start of the 2021-22 NBA season, the Nets were presumptive favorites to win the title behind Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden.

While the Harden experiment did not go well and the vaccination status of Kyrie Irving compounded by injury to Kevin Durant threw a wrench in the Nets’ regular-season expectations, there was still optimism ahead of the 2022 NBA playoffs. Then, the Nets collided with a white-hot Celtics squad that had unexpectedly morphed into the most dangerous team in the league midway through the season.

In a recent interview discussed on the Fox show “Undisputed,” it seems Mike James, a former Net and friend of KD, heard from Durant himself that he did not expect to beat Boston.

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Celtics Lab 124: What options do the Boston Celtics have to improve their 2023 title odds?

With the 2021-22 season officially behind us, what can the Celtics do to make a 2023 title more likely?

The Boston Celtics lost Game 6 of their 2022 NBA Finals series with the Golden State Warriors to lose the NBA title to their West Coast rivals, but are already turning the page to the 2022-23 NBA season and how they can spruce up their roster and skills in order to not only make the Finals again but this time, come out on top.

They have a very good idea about what they need to improve on as a team and as individual players and will have plenty of tools at their disposal to add some key new faces. Don’t expect fireworks in terms of a splashy addition this offseason, but armed with a bevy of traded player exceptions (TPEs), draft assets, and young players, Boston could make some minor moves around the margins or even get aggressive should the right player become available.

There is a lot to cover on what the offseason might end up looking like, so we broke it into two chunks, with this episode covering free agents, trades, and internal improvements, and another coming soon that will focus on the 2022 NBA draft headed our way this Thursday.

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Join your usual hosts Justin Quinn, Cameron Tabatabaie, and Alex Goldberg as we say goodbye to 2021-22 while turning our attention toward what needs to happen to make 2022-23 a success.

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This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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The Boston Celtics’ best moments in the 2022 NBA Playoffs

Don’t be sad that ended — be happy that it happened!

It might not have ended with the kind of result fans of the Boston Celtics were hoping for, but the 2022 NBA Playoffs run the Celtics put together after a season they started as one of the more underwhelming clubs in the league has plenty of moments worth looking back on.

For starters, it was effectively the revenge tour of a lifetime, with Boston dispatching each of the teams that have ended their seasons in recent years as the team worked its way back into contention status as they defeated first the Brooklyn Nets, then the Milwaukee Bucks, and finally the Miami Heat. Add in the satisfaction of sending arch-heel Kyrie Irving fishing with a sweep to kick things off, and it was something of a Celtics masterpiece.

Check out the clip embedded below for a collection of the very best moments from the Celtics’ 2022 postseason run in this highlight reel assembled by YouTuber Tomasz Kordylewski.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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Grading the Boston Celtics’ postseason play from top to bottom

Boston may not have made it to the promised land, but they got pretty close in a season few expected even a deep run.

The Boston Celtics came up short in their 2022 NBA Finals series against a seasoned Golden State Warriors squad, losing in six games to end a postseason run even All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum’s father Justin wasn’t entirely sure was going to happen. 

Monday morning quarterbacking would be too easy in an assessment of that postseason run, inflected with the frustration that the Celtics couldn’t quite get the job done at their precocious average age of 25.9. But if one takes a longer view of how each player playing for Boston in the 2022 NBA Playoffs in the context of what was expected of them in the postseason, the Celtics acquitted themselves well for the most part.

Let’s take a stab at assessing the full playoff roster that saw the floor this postseason.

Jayson Tatum’s dad Justin reacts to his son’s Finals loss with touching message

To the elder Tatum, Jayson’s performance in the postseason was by far the greatest Father’s Day present anyone could ever hope for.

As far as Justin Tatum is concerned, his Father’s Day gift this year came early and was of the variety that simply cannot be bought in stores (no matter what anyone says about the Golden State Warriors‘ payroll), an accomplishment that can only be appreciated fully by a proud dad watching his child competing at the highest level of his chosen vocation.

In a touching Instagram post the elder Tatum penned to honor his son’s monumental season helping lead the Boston Celtics to within two games of winning the storied franchise’s 18th banner, All-NBA Celtics forward Jayson Tatum’s father explained to his son just how proud he was of his accomplishment.

“These past 2 months you gave me the best Fathers Day gift a dad can ask for,” said Tatum’s father in the post.

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Celtics, NBA Twitter react to Boston dropping Game 6 to end their season with a 103-90 loss

The season may be over, but this is what Boston and NBA Twitter had to say about Game 6 before it did.

Game 6 was a win-or-go-home contest for the Boston Celtics, and the Celtics did not in fact win. So, they are going home after an amazing run to close out the 2021-22 NBA season with an electric postseason to cap off several frustrating seasons.

And while it isn’t an NBA title, the success the Celtics found on this campaign is something to build on beyond the sting of an NBA Finals series loss, the highs and lows of Game 6 something to remember as they try to win Banner 18 in 2022-23. But those highs and lows of Game 6 were fresh in our memories as the buzzer sounded, and worth a second look as we wrap up the season with a bow.

This is what Boston Celtics and NBA Twitter had to say during Game 6 of the 2022 NBA Playoffs.

Warriors at Celtics: Boston falls to Warriors 103-90 in Game 6, see title hopes fizzle

Some of the best plays of the game captured in images from Game 6.

The Boston Celtics managed to find a way to motivate themselves to a win all postseason long in the 2022 NBA Playoffs until it stopped working against perhaps the most seasoned title contender in the NBA, falling to the Golden State Warriors 103-90 in Game 6.

The Celtics were clearly out of gas at the finish line but managed to cut the lead to 8 points in the fourth quarter before collapsing to their more seasoned opponent’s relentless pursuit of a title. Big games from star forward Jaylen Brown (34 points, 7 rebounds), veteran big man Al Horford (19 points, 4 boards), and All-NBA swingman Jayson Tatum (10 points, 7 rebounds, 5 blocks).

Let’s take a look at some of the best plays of the game captured in images from Game 6.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

Shams: Robert Williams III ‘pretty close to 100% healthy;’ expects Timelord to play big minutes in Game 6 vs. Warriors

This could be massive news for Boston.

It seems like nearly a week now without something substantive breaking the Boston Celtics’ way in their 2022 NBA Finals series with the Golden State Warriors, but according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, they might just have gotten potentially series-shifting news on the injury front.

Starting Boston big man Robert Williams III made a pregame appearance on the Pat McAfee show to talk all things Celtics-Dubs and let it be known that Timelord was feeling considerably better than he has of late in his surgically repaired knee on the mend since he tore his meniscus during the regular season in March.

“There is some good news,” related Charania. “I’m told he is pretty close to 100% healthy with that knee injury.”

“He’s feeling a lot better, he’s had to get his knee drained at different points, but he is, I’m told, feeling like he’s 100%” added the NBA insider. “He’s got that pop back in his knee.”

“They’re going to keep listing him as questionable, but he’s feeling good, he’s going to play tonight: continued Charania. “I would expect him to play big minutes, we’ll see what Ime Udoka does, but I expect an intense environment tonight in Boston.”

Oddly enough, so do we — especially after this news.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

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Golden State Warriors at Boston Celtics: 2022 NBA Finals Game 6 (6/16)

Everything you need to know about Thursday’s Game 5 matchup between Boston and Golden State.

The Boston Celtics have made the trip back to Massachusetts for what could very well be the last game of their 2021-22 NBA season as much as it could be the contest that puts them a single win away from hanging Banner 18. The Celtics take on the Golden State Warriors in Game 6 of their 2022 NBA Finals series against the Dubs down 3-2 in the best of seven series, meaning it is a win or go home tilt for Boston.

If you happen to be looking for a way to watch the action live on cable television or an online streaming service, keep reading while we get you up to speed on everything you need to know about the game.

Let’s begin with who ought to be available to play.

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