Category: NBA News Blog

NBA news blog

Celtics win Game 5 at home, extend series with Heat

Via Boston.com:

The Celtics have been staring at improbable odds for close to a week now.

But their messaging hasn’t wavered since falling into an 0-3 hole against the Miami Heat.

“Don’t let us win one,” was the mantra echoed by both Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown on Tuesday — just hours before Boston kept its season alive with a Game 4 victory down at Kaseya Center.

And minutes after the Celtics became just the 13th team to force a Game 6 after three straight losses, Brown stuck to a familiar and focused script.

“They let us get two, so don’t let us get another one,” Brown said on TNT’s broadcast following Boston’s Game 5 win in the Eastern Conference Finals on Thursday.

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Jimmy Butler shares preparation plan for Heat at Celtics Game 5

Via Boston.com:

Now, as the series heads back to Boston for Game 5, Heat guard Jimmy Butler says Miami has to play like its backs are against the wall.

A Celtics win on Thursday night would give Boston a two-game winning streak heading into Game 6. If a Game 7 is needed, it will be in Boston.

So, how does Butler plan to stay loose ahead of Thursday’s game?

“Just stay consistent,” Butler said. “Do the same things that I do, that we do after every game. We’re going to listen to some music, you know. Going to drink some beers back there. Going to have some wine. I don’t think you can just focus on basketball at times. You have to be able to get away from the game a little bit.”

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History still on side of Heat, up 3-1 on Celtics

Via the South Florida Sun Sentinel:

The Miami Heat still have the math on their side, even after Tuesday night’s 116-99 loss to the Boston Celtics at Kaseya Center that trimmed their lead in the Eastern Conference finals to 3-1.

Of the previous 150 teams that have started a best-of-seven NBA playoff series up 3-0:

— 44 have managed to force a Game 5, as the Celtics have with Thursday night’s 8:30 p.m. matchup at TD Garden.

— 11 have made it to a Game 6, which in this case would be, if needed, 8:30 p.m. Saturday at Kaseya Center.

— 3 have made it to a Game 7

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Nikola Jokic named MVP of 2023 NBA Western Conference Finals

Via the Denver Post:

What LeBron can do, Joker can do crazier.

A 38-year-old LeBron James highlighted his 31-point first half Monday with a circus 3-pointer that wasn’t even a shot. It was an attempted pass toward the rim.

So how did Nikola Jokic respond? With a pair of high-arcing, clumsy yet graceful, ugly yet acrobatic 3s with hands in his face throughout the remainder of Game 4. It helped the Nuggets earn their first-ever playoff series sweep and the franchise’s first-ever trip to the NBA Finals.

Jokic, already a two-time league MVP, was named MVP of the Western Conference Finals after Game 4. It was a fitting coronation after Jokic broke Wilt Chamberlain’s all-time record with his eighth triple-double of this postseason: 30 points, 14 rebounds, 13 assists.

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Nikola Jokic leads Denver Nuggets to their first-ever NBA Finals trip

Via the Denver Post:

Nikola Jokic stood near halfcourt and unleashed a roar that had been years in the making.

Late in the fourth quarter of Monday’s gripping Game 4, after one of Jokic’s sublime dimes found Aaron Gordon for a dunk, Jokic screamed at the history he and the Nuggets were approaching. Not four minutes later, in front of championship banners that Denver had only been allowed to dream about, the Nuggets seized the Western Conference crown over LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, 113-111.

Their victory punched Denver’s first-ever trip to the NBA Finals by virtue of its first-ever playoff sweep in franchise history.

As James drove to the hoop in the final seconds, Jamal Murray got his hands on the ball in an attempt to thwart James. At the same time, Aaron Gordon soared over and blocked the ball. Game over, and Denver’s reserves stormed the court.

“We got four more wins to go,” Murray said.

Jokic, named the Western Conference Finals MVP, finished with a 30-point, 14-rebound, 13-assist triple-double, setting an NBA record with his eighth in the postseason.

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Lakers change starting lineup but lose Game 4 and series to Nuggets

Via the Los Angeles Times:

In the end, Lakers big man Anthony Davis was outdueled by Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic, and that made the difference in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals Monday night.

In the end, changing the lineup and starting forward Rui Hachimura and point guard Dennis Schroder in place of forward Jarred Vanderbilt and point guard D’Angelo Russell didn’t make enough of a difference for the Lakers in a 113-111 loss.

In the end, even though the Lakers showed how much fight they had, it wasn’t enough to prevent them from getting swept in the best-of-seven series and seeing their season end.

Jokic was simply the best player in the series, producing his third triple-double in four games. He had 30 points, 14 rebounds and 13 assists despite committing five fouls and allowed the Nuggets to pull out the win after trailing by 15.

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LeBron James’ 40 points can’t carry Lakers over Nuggets

Via the Los Angeles Times:

LeBron James would yawn, often, when the cameras were, and weren’t, aimed at him. From early in the season, when the Lakers were still trying to tackle to unsolvable problems of last year, until deep into this playoff push, it never was much of a secret.

He was tired.

This was the best argument among plenty of credible ones why Monday evening would be it, the end to Year 20, the conclusion to a season in which he made history and improbably got his team to the conference finals.

The year was so long, so mentally exhausting, so physically demanding, that the Lakers and James wouldn’t be able to fight to extend it any longer.

Yet Monday night, James gave everything, all of the energy that was left in his 38-year-old body. He got his team close. He couldn’t get them any further than that.

Nikola Jokic hit the game’s biggest shot while two chances for James couldn’t get converted pushed Denver to the NBA Finals after a 113-111 win to sweep the Lakers.

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NBA Con will debut at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas July 7-9, 2023

The National Basketball Association (NBA) today announced that NBA Con, a first-of-its-kind event that blends the interests of NBA players and fans into a celebration of the best of hoops culture, will debut at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas from July 7-9, 2023. Tickets for NBA Con are on sale now at NBACon.com.

NBA Con will bring together the fashion, music, cuisine, art and technology that make the NBA a cultural phenomenon into a three-day event, highlighted by the game’s brightest stars and biggest personalities. Appearances will include legends and current NBA stars like six-time NBA champion and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Minnesota Timberwolves’ Mike Conley, Indiana Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton, New Orleans Pelicans’ CJ McCollum, Atlanta Hawks’ Trae Young, and 2023 NBA Draft prospects Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson, among many other names to be announced.

NBA Con tips off the opening weekend of NBA Summer League which begins 10 days of NBA action on Friday, July 7. NBA Summer League will showcase the league’s top young players, many of whom are taking the floor for the first time in an NBA uniform. The event features a footprint at Mandalay Bay that is nearly 400,000 square feet and is twice the size of the NBA Crossover fan event held during NBA All-Star 2023 that welcomed more than 50,000 fans.

“NBA Con is for every fan,” said Joey Graziano, Head of Event Strategy and Development, NBA. “It combines our players’ and fans’ passion for the game with their authentic off-court interests to create unique experiences that could only come to life through NBA fandom.”

At NBA Con, fans will be able to transcend the boundaries of the court with a variety of exclusive live experiences that align with their own personal interests, including through:

– The latest trends in NBA fashion and sneakers.

– Live entertainment performances.

– Exclusive shoppable NBA Con and NBA product drops.

– Interactive brand experiences that unite the worlds of basketball and technology.

– Live podcasts, conversations, and creator studios featuring athletes, creators, artists and media personalities sharing a stage.

– The Park, a basketball-centric exhibition with various courts where fans can shoot around, watch open practices, or participate in open runs.

Stephen Curry wins 2022-23 J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award

Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors has won the 2022-23 J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award, as administered and selected by the Professional Basketball Writers Association (PBWA). Named after the NBA’s second commissioner, the honor is presented annually by the PBWA to a player, coach or athletic trainer who shows outstanding service and dedication to the community.

Curry, a four-time NBA champion and two-time MVP, was one of four finalists for the 2022-23 award, along with Los Angeles Lakers center Wenyen Gabriel, LA Clippers forward Paul George and Boston Celtics forward Grant Williams.

The finalists were chosen by a committee of PBWA members from nominees submitted by NBA teams. The winner was determined by a vote of the entire PBWA, which is composed of more than 200 writers and editors who cover the NBA regularly for newspapers, magazines and online news outlets.

“Few athletes have as great a reach or as powerful a platform as Steph Curry, and he has used it to the fullest to benefit others,” said PBWA President Howard Beck. “The members of the Professional Basketball Writers Association salute him and the other nominees for their exemplary work.”

On the Celtics offense in Game 1 loss to Heat

Via Boston.com:

Before they got blitzed by a 46-25 Miami run in the third quarter, the Celtics looked like they were in sync offensively.

Marcus Smart dished out 10 assists in the first half, during which the Celtics scored 40 points in the paint. They were enough of a threat from outside to keep Miami on its toes.
But that all came to a rather abrupt stop in the second half. The Celtics began the third quarter leading by nine and were down 12 at the end of it.

Obviously getting outscored by 21 points in a quarter has much to do with a loss of defensive intensity. But the fact is they weren’t able to keep up the pace offensively, either.