Tag: Daniel Theis

Daniel Theis has career night vs. Wolves with 25 points, 16 rebounds

While Boston Celtics center Daniel Theis is usually the quiet engine of the team’s success, against Minnesota, he showed he can step up his game when called.

No Kemba Walker? No problem — the Boston Celtics had Shaq in his prime against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Or at least that’s what the absent point guard himself joked about the performance Daniel Theis put up in his absence, the German logging career highs in both points and rebounds after going for 25 and 16, reports the Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach.

As the UConn product sat with a recently-drained knee bothering him, the Saltzigger native went off in his stead, joining teammates Gordon Hayward, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum in scoring at least 25 points.

But the night was as much Theis’ as anyone’s; even Hayward — who shot a sizzling 12-of-17 on the night — has been here before.

It was a novel experience to be a dominating force for the 27-year-old big man, and one he clearly relished.

Even on a night when his own offense was clicking, Theis’ teammates were effusive with praise for how the 6-foot-8 center helped their games as well.

“I get a lot of buckets off Theis setting screens and sealing and stuff like that,” said Tatum (via MassLive’s Tom Westerholm). “I always make sure I say thank you.”

“I think the way that he plays just fits the other guys perfect,” head coach Brad Stevens agreed.

After a bit of an awkward start, Theis refocused himself — and Friday night’s explosion was the result.

Several highlight-worthy dunks were unleashed, and teammate Marcus Smart was quick to note the importance of Theis using the pick-and-roll to his advantage at producing them, exhorting his teammate to take note of its impact.

“It was just a good game for rolling,” Theis explained. “Our team did a great job finding me on rolls and late passes, and I cut through.”

Hayward, who arguably had the sexiest performance of the night, was equally effusive.

“He’s really unselfish, and by that, it’s not always passes,” the Indiana native noted.

“He just gives up his body a lot with his cuts, with his screens, sealing guys, letting us get open looks. He’s got a great feel for the game so he knows where to be at different points in time whether that’s rolling to the rim, half-rolling, popping. He’s a really good basketball player. And that’s just on that end.”

“Defensively he’s been our anchor all year. He’s really good for us,” added the Butler product.

Theis, who has averaged just 8.7 points and 6.4 boards per contest this season, has quietly been the anchor of the team with his unselfish, consistently intense play.

To see him able to step it up when his number is called was uncategorically impressive against the Wolves.

While we shouldn’t expect this sort of performance on the regular from the German big man given his role tends to be more in the background doing the dirty work that makes space for his more offensively adept teammates to operate in, it’s also promising to see how well he can adapt to a bigger role.

The Celtics will need more from their core players in the postseason, and the team just got an impressive data point in their favor with the performance Theis revealed against Minnesota.

Look for more experimentation with Theis in a bigger role against weaker opponents during the remainder of the regular season.

Using the 27-year-old as an offensive tool outside of his usual role could be an effective weapon against faster teams like the Houston Rockets that are accustomed to defending Boston’s wings, as well as against slower, traditional bigs without the mobility to keep up with Theis.

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Daniel Theis doing the dirty work driving Boston’s 7-game streak

While he might not always get the credit he should or the stat lines to show it, Boston Celtics center Daniel Theis has quietly been crucial to the team’s success.

While he might not get the gawdy stat lines of accolades of his teammates most nights, Boston Celtics center Daniel Theis has been a crucial part of the team’s success this season.

Boston’s Feb. 10 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder was just the most recent example of the quiet intensity the German big man brings to the table in ways which have helped the Celtics exceed preseason expectations on a near-nightly basis.

You might expect the 6-foot-8 Theis to be overmatched against the Thunder’s mountain of a center Steven Adams, who, at seven feet tall and 265 pounds, outweighs the German by 20 pounds.

The 27-year-old managed to outmaneuver his less-fleet-of-foot opponent Sunday, however, instead of trying to take him on directly, and the results were impressive.

“He’s like a tree … you just can’t move him,” noted Theis (via team reporter Taylor Snow).

Instead, Salzgitter’s favorite son used his superior speed to his advantage as he helped the Celtics secure the 112-111 win.

Theis matched the New Zealander for 11 boards despite a clear height disadvantage, explaining “I just try to box him out early … I try to work him early so he doesn’t have position.”

The third-year big man wasn’t just battling Adams with success — he also had some critical plays when facing off with smaller, faster players against Oklahoma City, a point emphasized by Celtics head coach Brad Stevens.

“What he’s great at is covering for us all,” Stevens offered.

“He’ll guard those [bigs] as hard as he can, but it’s still hard to keep Adams from getting a bucket every now and then, or [Nerlens] Noel’s rolls, or the big guys that he guards night-in, night-out. But what he does is he sniffs out issues with everyone else and covers for us. He does so much that doesn’t go into the box score.”

Even on that last play, he had [Chris] Paul and guarded Paul on one of the last plays of the game,” added Stevens. “His length bothered the shot. He just does a lot of good things.”

Theis’ isn’t just a defensive anchor, though — he has been able to help facilitate crisp passes and setting up plays to make his teammates better with clockwork regularity, something he did five times against the Thunder Sunday.

He also put up 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting.

“Offensively, he’s just got a great feel for the game – screening, rolling, half-rolling, popping,” noted teammate Gordon Hayward. “Today, I think he did a good job of passing it as well. He’s been instrumental to our success.”

Even still, the German center doesn’t demand touches or get upset that his contributions aren’t lauded at the same rate as some of his teammates. It’s a quality that has made an impression with veteran point guard Kemba Walker as well.

“He just does so many things that don’t show up on the stat sheet, and he never complains,” Walker noted.

“He just wants to win and … battles every night, gets his butt kicked every night just because of the work he puts in. He’s a smart player. He’s fun to have around. He loves basketball, loves to compete.”

“You can’t ask for more than that,” added the UConn product.

It’s hard to argue that you could, when you put everything in context.

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Injury report: Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward return for matchup vs. Thunder

The Boston Celtics will be near full-health when they take on the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Boston Celtics will have most of their roster available for their road matchup against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday, which takes place at 3:30 p.m. EST on NBATV, as three players — Jaylen Brown (ankle), Gordon Hayward (knee) and Daniel Theis (ankle) — return to the court after missing Boston’s last game with various injuries.

Brown and Hayward, key starters for Boston, will be the most beneficial returns for the Celtics, who relied upon rookies Romeo Langford and Grant Williams in their absence.

Though Langford and Williams played reasonably well, Brown and Hayward — both having their best seasons of their Celtics career — are averaging a combined 37.5 points, 12.9 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game while both are shooting above 49 percent from the field and 37 percent from three.

The Thunder, sitting at sixth in the Western Conference standings with a 32-20 record, will understandably have a much tougher time taking down Boston with the returns of Brown and Hayward. Theis, an intelligent inside-outside presence for the Celtics at the pivot, is shooting just 31.7 percent and is undersized — especially against Thunder center Steven Adams — but his ability to space the floor and draw the Goliath-sized big man out of the paint will aid the efforts of Boston’s slashers.

Three OKC-Boston questions with the Celtics Wire’s Justin Quinn

Two of the hottest teams in the NBA put their winning streaks on the line Sunday. Boston has won 9-of-10 while OKC was won four in a row.

On Sunday afternoon the Thunder step out of Western Conference play to take on one of the best teams in the East, the Boston Celtics.

The Celts have won nine of their last 10 and come into Sunday riding a six-game winning streak.

Much like the Thunder, Boston chose not to make any moves at the trade deadline, with former OKC center, Enes Kanter telling ESPN, “I feel like we’ve got everything we need to just win a championship. And we’ve just got to go out there and prove it.”

With two of the hottest teams in the league tipping off inside Chesapeake Energy Arena at 2:30 p.m. CT, we caught up with Justin Quinn, the editor of our sister site Celtics Wire to see what’s been going on in Boston so far this year.

1 – What should Oklahoma City Thunder fans know about the Boston Celtics’ season so far?

First and foremost, this team runs on chemistry and each other’s energy. While it hasn’t been as much of an issue lately, Boston has had a tendency to try and get a feel for which of their four primary scoring threats has the hot hand, especially against lesser opponents in terms of wins and losses.

Those four threats are mostly on the wing — All-Star point guard Kemba Walker the sole exception — and create chaos in passing lanes on defense while creating something of a Sophie’s choice on offense. Once they get that action going, it’s really hard to stop, as their defense creates possessions that make it hard for opponents to get their defenses set, and only a handful of teams have the perimeter defense able to slow down Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Gordon Hayward as well as Walker.

However, when opponents can hit the Celtics hard and early, those emotional drivers have the opposite effect and have seen more than a few teams steal a win they shouldn’t have by capitalizing on that tendency.

 

2 – What will it take for each team to win?

The Oklahoma City Thunder are a much better team than almost any they have faced in January, save the Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks and perhaps Philadelphia 76ers. But they’ve also won six in a row since that month rolled into February, where the schedule gets both more relaxed in terms of frequency but tougher in terms of opponents, starting with OKC.

It’s hard to say whether their recent success will galvanize them against the murderer’s row of opponents they have to start the month, or if it will lull them into a false sense of security the Thunder can use to their advantage similar to how I described above. If they can, Oklahoma City should be able to win the meeting, especially considering center Robert Williams III (hip) will be out, and both center Daniel Theis and wing Jaylen Brown (right ankle sprain for each) are questionable.

Boston should win if they can field at least one of Theis or Brown and continue their more recent habit of Brown, Hayward, and Walker being aggressive early while the team as a whole executes down the stretch. Slow starts and third quarter lulls have not been the Celtics’ friend this season, so they’ll have to be diligent to avoid them against an opponent of the caliber the Thunder are.

 

3 – What else should we know about the Celtics?

Like OKC, they were mostly written off as in a retooling season if not a rebuild, and have surprised many analysts and opponents around the league. But they have long ago shed the plucky label and have been recognized as some of the better two teams in the NBA this season, and probably won’t sneak up on one another as a result.

We might be in for an epic battle as each tries to maintain their recent positive momentum with Boston on a six-game winning streak and the Thunder victors of their last four contests.

 

 

Kemba Walker, Marcus Smart set to return to court against Hawks

Kemba Walker and Marcus Smart are ready to return from their respective injuries but they’ll still be short-handed against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday.

The Boston Celtics will have two of their most important players back on the court when the Celtics face the Atlanta Hawks on Friday, with guards Kemba Walker and Marcus Smart set to return to the Gang Green.

Walker, who will be on a minutes restriction (according to ESPN’s Tim Bontemps), has missed Boston’s past three games with soreness (left knee) while Smart has missed their last two contests with a right quad contusion. However, the Celtics will have to manage against the Hawks — whom they defeated by eight points in their last matchup — without starters Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward and Daniel Theis. Big man Robert Williams III remains out as well.

Down three starters and with one-half of their All-Star duo on a minutes restriction, the Celtics will need players like Smart, Brad Wanamaker and Semi Ojeleye to step up and help replace some of their scoring punch.

Otherwise, Boston will be looking for a spectacular performance from All-Star forward Jayson Tatum, who scored 28 points (on 50.0 percent shooting from the field) when the two team’s last met and is averaging 21.9 points per game this season.

Tip-off will be at 7:30 p.m. EST as the Celtics try to bring their record to 36-15.

 

Report: Kemba Walker, Marcus Smart and Daniel Theis out against Magic

Three key Boston Celtics players will be sitting out due to injury Wednesday against the Orlando Magic.

The Boston Celtics have been in a groove, winning their past four games. But on Wednesday, that streak might be hard to maintain with some key players out.

Per the Celtics’ Twitter account, Kemba Walker (knee), Marcus Smart (quad) and Daniel Theis (ankle) all will be out for the team’s game against the Orlando Magic. Tip off is set for 7:30 p.m. EST.

According to NBC Sports Boston’s Chris Forsberg, Celtics coach Brad Stevens does not expect the team to have any “major activity” at the deadline, which is set for Thursday at 3 p.m.

Walker has missed the past two games with knee soreness. In the six games prior to missing time, Walker was averaging 21.5 points and 5.7 assists. A four-time All-Star, Walker has been important for the Celtics’ success, being the team’s leading scorer and leading the team in assists.

As one of the best wing defenders in the league, Smart’s presence will be missed on the perimeter, especially against players such as Aaron Gordon and Evan Fournier. An athletic forward, Gordon is able to take players off the dribble, and Fournier is one of the Magic’s best shooters, hitting at a 39.6% clip from deep.

A third-year big man, Theis is having the best season of his career to date, averaging a career-high 8.1 points and career-high 6.1 rebounds. Theis is also playing the most minutes of his career (22.6) and shooting a career-best 55.0% from the field.

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Poirier upgraded to ‘available’ vs. Bulls, Theis downgraded to OUT

Reserve center Vincent Poirier may be poised to return against the Chicago Bulls after being upgraded to available, but Daniel Theis will take his place on the bench with knee soreness.

The Boston Celtics continue to shuffle through their center-by-committee arrangement, as reserve center Vincent Poirier is poised to return to action while starting five Daniel Theis will sit with a balky knee.

Theis’ right knee has been a problem for the German big over the last few weeks, with the Salzgitter native often designated ‘questionable’ on the injury report as a result.

The third-year big man has played through the pain up until now, though, with half of the team’s center rotation out injured until today.

Second-year center Robert Williams III has missed nearly a month due to a carefully-managed left hip bone edema that will be re-evaluated in just over two weeks from today, but has not been available even to practice as his doctors have stressed caution for the Texas A&M product.

Poirier, who has missed roughly as much time as Williams, broke his finger in December and appears ready to return in tonight’s tilt with an injury-depleted Chicago.

The Bulls down several key players of their own from three to five, Boston may be viewing this more as a chance to get Theis some time off ahead of a key stretch this month.

With important games on the schedule looming against the league-leading Milwaukee Bucks (Jan. 16) and second-best Los Angeles Lakers (Jan. 20), any rest they can find for their core players will be a boon with two other contests to take care of in the interim.

In related news, the team is sending rookie shooting guard Carsen Edwards to play with the team’s G League affiliate, the Maine Red Claws.

The first-year bench scorer has had a little trouble getting his shot to fall at the NBA level despite success in the G League, so the thought is simply to get the Purdue prospect more minutes and live game action to get those confidence levels up.

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Boston’s Daniel Theis thriving despite calls for a big man upgrade

Third-year center Daniel Theis has quietly been having an excellent season with the Boston Celtics despite calls for a frontcourt upgrade.

If the Boston Celtics need to upgrade their frontcourt, it’s news to center Daniel Theis.

The German big man had the game-winning block in the final seconds of the 109-106 win over a pesky Atlanta Hawks outfit, and has quietly been an important part of the Celtics’ success in 2019-20.

Logging 7.2 points, 6.1 boards and 1.4 blocks per game in his third season with the team, the Saltzigger native’s low-usage, high-intensity game has been a near-perfect fit against Boston’s opponents save the NBA’s few mobile bigs.

With the league not exactly full of players like Joel Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo, Theis’ game is an excellent option for most matchups, and the Celtics 24-8 record is a testament to the wing-heavy philosophy used by head coach Brad Stevens against most opponents.

Friday night’s game-winning block against Trae Young might be the most palpable example of Theis’ value to the Celtics, but he’s been a constant, reliable anchor for the team in quieter ways.

Stevens had plenty of praise for the veteran move just the same, though.

“I thought the best play of the fourth quarter was clearly [Daniel] Theis’ block,” offered the former Butler coach (via the Boston Celtics).

“To have the wherewithal to take away the three-pointer when they had no time outs in a two-point game was outstanding … that’s a big-time basketball play … knowing that Trae is capable of getting to the rim on anybody, that’s a huge, huge play.”

The 27-year-old big man was ready for the tre — no pun intended — relating (via MassLive’s John Karalis) that he knew the team was up by two points in the crucial moment. “As soon as I switched on him, I knew he wanted to take the three to win the game, because he made a bunch in the game,” he added.

“He crossed over, he probably would have beat me for a layup,” Theis continued. “I was expecting him to go for the game-winner, to shoot the 3. So just be close. If he beats me to the rim, makes the layup, worst case we go to overtime.”

Boston avoided the extra period after a strange sequence where Marcus Smart tripped on Young and nearly got into a fight with center Alex Len as both teams collected themselves for the next play, but ultimately came away with the win in large part due to the German’s clutch defense.

“For him to be able to guard a guy like Trae Young in that situation, [with] no timeouts, they’re coming back at you … Theis [did] a good job of running him off the line,” Smart offered of his teammates performance.

While the 6-foot-8 center might not have the heft to deal with some of the league’s most difficult frontcourt covers, it doesn’t take away from what Theis has brought to this year’s iteration of the Celtics much, if at all.

The German big man may not always punctuate his value with game-winning rejections on a nightly basis, but his hard-nosed defense and low-error play have made him the ideal complement to Boston’s Jay Team.

While it’s not out of the question the Celtics might still trade for a frontcourt upgrade of some sort, it would be a surprise if it included Theis given his proven value to Boston’s preferred style of play.

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Injury report: Kemba Walker’s status upgraded, will play vs. Nets

The Boston Celtics will have their regular starting lineup available with Kemba Walker and Daniel Theis officially upgraded to available.

Just shortly before the Boston Celtics were set to play the Brooklyn Nets, the Celtics released an updated injury report that had nothing but good news for the guys in green:

Star point guard Kemba Walker and starting center Daniel Theis have had their statuses upgraded to available, giving Boston their full starting five and a decided advantage over the Kyrie Irving-less Nets.

Walker has averaged 21.1 points, 4.7 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 0.9 steals per game while shooting just 40.0% from the field but 38.9% from deep and 91.7% from the charity stripe.

His pace and pick-and-roll play have helped lift the Celtics’ offense to new heights while his leadership style has been magnetic, unifying an underrated Boston group whose locker room had shown plenty of cracks last season.

Theis, who emerged as the best candidate to start during the preseason with his awareness and defensive ability, will prevent Celtics head coach Brad Stevens from playing center Enes Kanter — a throwback big man with limited agility — extensively against Nets big men Jarrett Allen and Nic Claxton.

The third-year pro has averaged 6.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game this season but shot just 46.5% from the field and 16.7% from three; one of Boston’s many key players to have an underwhelming field goal percentage.

Injury report: Kemba Walker unsure he’ll play vs. Nets

Boston Celtics point guard Kemba Walker feels fine but still may not play against the Brooklyn Nets.

Boston Celtics point guard Kemba Walker is officially listed as probably on the team’s injury report after sustaining a (surprisingly) minor neck injury against the Denver Nuggets last Friday.

However, despite the three-time All-Star being physically able to play, Walker told reporters that he’s still unsure if he’ll be able to step on the court when they face the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday. This could be because he himself wants to be cautious or the team.

If Walker doesn’t suit up, sixth-year guard Marcus Smart will be the presumed starter after filling in for Walker in Monday’s win over the Sacramento Kings.

Boston could have be missing two starters against the Nets though, as center Daniel Theis was questionable heading into Wednesday’s shootaround. The versatile big man fell ill on Tuesday and its carried over into game day but he appears to have recovered.

That’s a big boost for Celtics head coach Brad Stevens who will need Theis against Brooklyn’s athletic centers.

The Nets, for all their offseason hype, stumbled out of the gates as players try to mesh and hold each other accountable on the offensive end. However, they’ve caught their stride as of late, winning five out of their last six games.

Former Celtics guard Kyrie Irving — who left the team as a free agent — won’t be able to play for Brooklyn as he continues to recover from a shoulder injury that’s kept him out of the team’s past six games but expect there to be plenty of emotion on both sides, which could make for a spirited game between two teams hoping to make a deep run in the playoffs.