Boston Celtics Blog – Page 29 – NBA Blog

Marcus Smart struggling with shot

The Celtics are on a huge roll lately, winning 15 games in a row. Yet things can get even better. Here’s the Boston Herald reporting on guard Marcus Smart, whose shot has been missing in a big way lately:

The Celtics guard still tends to hit his biggest shots late, like his put-back for a 103-95 lead in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s win in Atlanta, and continues to make game-changing plays that have nothing to do with shooting the ball.

But Smart is admittedly bothered by his recent shooting drought. Including Saturday’s 3-for-8 performance, the Celtics guard has shot 13-for-60 (.216) over his last six games, and 27.3 percent both overall and from 3-point range this season.

“It does affect you, especially if you’ve been working all summer,” said Smart, who spent time working out with Chauncey Billups in Denver this summer. “At the same time, I don’t take as many shots. We got other guys out here, they’re playing very well, so my job is to get them the basketball and do whatever I can, go back down the court and play defense and get involved in the game.”

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Nets put up good fight vs Celtics

The Celtics came to Brooklyn Tuesday and left town with their NBA-leading 13th win in a row. Boston looked great in the first quarter, but then the Nets stepped up and made a game out of it. Here’s the New York Post with more:

Facing the hottest team in the NBA was going to be an uphill climb for the Nets under the best circumstances. But doing it without their two point guards — and arguably two best players — proved too much to handle.

With D’Angelo Russell out indefinitely with a knee injury and Jeremy Lin already sidelined for the season, also with a knee injury, the Nets were game, but woefully shorthanded against the Celtics. And scalding-hot Boston predictably proved to be too much, with the Nets falling 109-102 in a tightly contested affair Tuesday.

Hearing Boston fans take over the Barclays Center was just salt in the Nets’ various wounds, and listening to them serenade New Jersey-bred Celtics star Kyrie Irving with chants of “MVP!” as he took free throws with two minutes left was an added insult. But to be fair, Irving looked the part, dominating in his return from a facial fracture and then giving his shoes to some troops seated courtside.

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And for more on the “relationship” between these two teams, here’s ESPN Boston:

In the aftermath of that late-game alley-oop, the remaining Nets fans were left to watch Brown and Tatum engage in a celebratory body-bump near midcourt. It was a painful reminder of what could have been.

Both Brown and Tatum, along with Irving, were delivered to Boston by direct result of the draft picks the Nets sent the Celtics as part of the 2013 blockbuster that sent Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Jason Terry to Brooklyn.

This was the first time since 2013 that Boston played a game against Brooklyn that didn’t have implications on a future pick, and Celtics fans had often utilized the hashtag #Netspick while basking in Brooklyn’s recent struggles. On Tuesday, Celtics fans simply enjoyed watching the exploits of their past picks.

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Celtics TV ratings are up

The Celtics are winning both on the court and in the TV ratings world. Here is Boston.com reporting:

The Celtics aren’t just winning a lot of basketball games – nine in a row entering Wednesday’s matchup with the Lakers. They’re also winning over fans, who have gravitated to this thoroughly entertaining team rapidly and in large numbers despite the offseason trade of popular Isaiah Thomas and the injury to star free agent Gordon Hayward on opening night.

NBC Sports Boston carried nine of the Celtics’ 10 games before Wednesday. Compared to the same span a season ago, household viewership is up 139 percent overall. Among men, it is up 193 percent, and viewership among adults is up 188 percent over the same period in 2016-17.

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Jayson Tatum injury update

There’s relatively good news on the Celtics injury front. Here is NESN reporting:

Boston Celtics fans can exhale a bit. Celtics rookie forward Jayson Tatum, who’s played very well in a starting role through the first 12 games of the season, was ruled out for the second half of Wednesday night’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers because of right ankle soreness. The C’s announced Thursday night that MRI results came back negative.

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Al Horford enters concussion protocol

The Boston Celtics, who after losing the first two games of the regular season are on a nine-game winning streak, will be without Al Horford as they face the Lakers tonight.

The team announced today that Horford will be out tonight, after entering the NBA’s concussion protocol.

Horford’s first symptoms linking him to a possible concussion occurred this morning (Nov. 8). Initially struck in the head on a foul called in the second quarter of Boston’s Nov. 6 contest at Atlanta, Horford did not experience any concussion-like symptoms during the game nor immediately following.

He will continue to be monitored as he progresses through concussion protocol.

This season for the Celtics, Horford is averaging 14.6 points, 9.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game. His shooting has been outstanding: 53.1% FG, and 47.4% from three-point range.

Marcus Morris set to make Celtics season debut

Despite their loss of Gordon Hayward at the start of the season, the Celtics are off to an excellent start. And they’re about to get better as new addition Marcus Morris is ready to make his season debut. Here’s ESPN Boston reporting:

Boston Celtics forward Marcus Morris will make his 2017-18 season debut during Friday night’s visit to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Morris, acquired this summer in a swap that sent Avery Bradley to the Detroit Pistons, missed the start of Boston’s training camp while on trial for aggravated assault in Arizona. He played in only one exhibition game after being acquitted and the team held him out of game action at the start of the regular season while Morris both got himself in better shape and battled knee soreness.

“Very excited, man,” Morris said at Boston’s shootaround Friday morning. “This will be a good game for me to come back, anyway. I’m excited to come back.”

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Gordon Hayward speaks on injury

The Celtics began the season locked and loaded, then right away in Game 1 new small forward addition Gordon Hayward suffered a horrible injury. Here’s Boston.com with some of his written comments today about the entire ordeal:

On his thoughts immediately following the injury: “It was like once my brain figured out what had happened, I was hit with shots of pain. The training staff came running over to me super fast, but however long it was—three seconds, five seconds—I just remember sitting there, looking at my foot the wrong way, and it felt like an eternity. Dr. Rosneck, the Cavaliers doctor, braced me as he explained that they wanted to try and pop my ankle back into place. I held on, and the moment they did it, there was just a massive shot of pain, probably the most pain I’ve ever felt in my life.”

On the current state of the Celtics: “We have such a young, exciting team filled with incredible character guys. I owe it to all of them to find my way to contribute. Some of the younger players will have to grow up a little quicker than was planned. They’re going to be thrust into situations where they’ll have a lot more responsibility. But this will be terrific for their careers. There is nothing better than experience in the NBA, and they’re going to get a lot of it. I still believe that by the end of the season, we can be something truly special.”

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And here’s ESPN.com with more:

Hayward acknowledged that his surgery included both repairing the bone he fractured in his ankle and repairing torn ligaments. While some have wondered if he might be able to return this season, Hayward wrote that he does not expect to be back…

In detailing the moment of the injury in his blog, Hayward wrote, “Immediately, I knew something was off, but when I landed, it wasn’t a huge amount of pain. I rolled over and saw my foot, and it was pointed in completely the wrong direction. My first thought was, ‘Oh. This isn’t good. There’s something very wrong here.'”

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Celtics exercise options on Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier III

The Boston Celtics have exercised both the third-year rookie scale option on Jaylen Brown and the fourth-year rookie scale option on Terry Rozier III.

Selected by the Celtics with the third overall pick of the 2016 NBA Draft, Brown, 21, has averaged 7.3 points (44.9% FG, 33.9% 3-PT, 67.5% FT), 3.1 rebounds and 18.5 minutes in 85 career games (27 starts). Named to the NBA’s All-Rookie Second Team in 2016-17, Brown is currently producing 15.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.00 steal through the first seven games (all starts) of his second NBA season.

Now in his third NBA season after being selected by Boston with the 16th pick of the 2015 NBA Draft, Rozier III, 23, has averaged 4.6 points (35.1% FG, 31.1% 3-PT, 76.5% FT), 2.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 120 career games over two-plus NBA seasons. In seven games in 2017-18, Rozier III has recorded 9.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 24.6 minutes.

Brad Stevens facing tough coaching challenge

Having a star-filled team as the Celtics do is great, but when the bulk core of the team has changed, it’s a major challenge for the squad’s head coach to quickly transform them into a contender. It’s a nice problem to have — having talent — but it’s still a daunting task when the talent has little experience playing together. But things get even tougher when the team goes through training camp and preseason, then loses a key star to injury just as the regular season begins. Here’s ESPN Boston reporting:

Brad Stevens was already facing a unique challenge entering the 2017-18 season, when the Celtics brought back just four players from a 53-win team and essentially asked him to rebuild a puzzle that took four seasons of perpetual piece-shifting to construct.

Then six minutes into Boston’s season-opener last week in Cleveland, Hayward fractured his ankle as he landed awkwardly after going up for an alley-oop. The team is operating under the notion that Hayward will not play again this season as he begins what Stevens has suggested is at least a five-month recovery.

With new Celtic Marcus Morris still working his way into game shape after missing the start of training camp while on trial in Arizona and Marcus Smart sidelined early in the season with an ankle injury, Stevens found himself operating with a roster in which six of his 12 available bodies were rookies.

At one point late in Tuesday’s win over the New York Knicks, Stevens had a lineup of Jabari Bird (a rookie second-round pick on a G-League two-way contract), Shane Larkin (who played in Spain last season), Abdel Nader (a 2016 second-round draft pick and the G-League Rookie of the Year while stashed domestically last season), Semi Ojeleye (a 2017 second-round pick), and Daniel Theis (a 25-year-old German import this offseason) on the floor.

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Celtics hope to utilize Marcus Morris soon

The Celtics came into the season optimistic about their new stars. Then, right away, Gordon Hayward was lost, and Boston’s hopes were put into a tailspin. But at least some partial relief should soon be on the way. Here’s the Boston Herald reporting:

The Celtics are not going to find one player to replace Gordon Hayward, but they are a little closer to adding a big forward who can score.

Marcus Morris is hoping to get into the rotation this week after arriving late to training camp because of his legal matter in Arizona and then dealing with left knee soreness that cost him the club’s first three games. Brad Stevens said Morris will be reevaluated this week, but if he can participate in today’s practice, there is at least a chance that Morris could see time against the Knicks here tomorrow night.

As one would expect, the Celts are being cautious.

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