Boston Celtics Blog – Page 36 – NBA Blog

Celtics sign Coty Clarke to 10-day contract

The Boston Celtics have signed Coty Clarke to a 10-day contract.

Clarke, a 6’7” forward, has appeared in 39 games for the Celtics’ NBA Development League affiliate Maine Red Claws this season and has averaged 16.1 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.2 steals in 26.0 minutes per game. Clarke, the 27th “call-up” from the D-League of the season, is currently shooting 50.8 percent from the floor, 38.8 percent from three and 79.2 percent from the free-throw line. Clarke was on the training camp roster for the Celtics prior to the start of the 2015-16 season and appeared in one game during the 2015-16 preseason.

Isaiah Thomas sits out practice with sore wrist

Here’s ESPN Boston reporting on pint-sized Celtics All-Star guard Isaiah Thomas:

Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas sat out Wednesday’s off-day practice because of soreness in his left (shooting) wrist, but said he expected to be in uniform for Thursday’s game against the visiting Milwaukee Bucks.

Thomas said his wrist swelled after he fell on it “a few times” during Monday’s loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Thomas didn’t seem himself during that game, struggling with his 3-point shot (2-for-7) and reluctant to drive at the basket (no free throw attempts). He finished with 18 points on 8-of-20 shooting overall.

The Celtics took Tuesday off and the team’s medical staff held Thomas out Wednesday as a precaution.

Celtics waive David Lee

The Boston Celtics have waived little-used forward/center David Lee.

“We thank David for his contributions to our organization and wish him nothing but the best in the future,” said President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge.

Lee has appeared in 30 contests for the Celtics during the 2015-16 season and averaged 7.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 15.7 minutes per game over that span. He recorded a season-high 14 points, to go along with one rebound and one assist, in 15 minutes on November 18, 2015 against the Dallas Mavericks.

The 6’9” forward/center was originally acquired by the Celtics on July 27, 2015 and owns career averages of 14.4 points, 9.2 rebounds and 2.3 assists over 725 regular season games.

Danny Ainge comments on Celtics, Al Horford rumor

Here’s MassLive reporting Danny Ainge’s comments from the 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Toucher & Rich program in response to a rumor involving the Celtics and Hawks center Al Horford:

The Celtics have been rumored as a possible destination for Atlanta Hawks center Al Horford, but Ainge threw a bit of cold water on that idea. Despite a batch of recent reports saying the Hawks could consider drastic changes, Ainge said he believes they will keep their core intact.

“I will just remind you that ‘according to reports’ is the key phrase there,” he said. “There’s a lot of motivations that teams have. Sometimes it’s just to see what the value of their players are, and by leaking things like that you can find maybe what people are willing to offer. Typically when you do that and you leak out that you’re willing to move your team or break up your team and start over, you don’t really get — people are looking for bargains. They’re not going to give you the best deal. So my feeling is Atlanta will stay intact. They may make a trade or two but I don’t think they’re going to lose their key guys.”

Celtics coach Stevens plays it cool with trade rumors

Here’s ESPN Boston reporting on the mindset of Celtics head coach Brad Stevens as trade possibilies are thrown around:

Former Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers calls it “silly season,” the time of year when trade rumors fly like 3-pointers at a Celtics game. Still two weeks out from this year’s deadline, the “quietly aggressive” Celtics have already found themselves linked to some big names, including Houston center Dwight Howard.

Current Celtics coach Brad Stevens admits that he occasionally checked with the team’s front-office staff to substantiate rumors during his first year on the job. Now a grizzled veteran — he’s an “elderly” 39 when you consider that recent in-season hires Tyronn Lue (38), J.B. Bickerstaff (36), and Earl Watson (36) are all younger — Stevens doesn’t pay much mind to the chatter.

“The guys that have been in the league longer probably feel a lot like I do. It’s like, we’re just all like listening and laughing and trying to figure out what’s real and what’s not, but not putting a lot of a stock into it until somebody knocks on our door,” Stevens said. “And that’s the way I feel about it. I probably followed up on every third rumor my first year. And I don’t think I’ve followed up on one yet. If [Celtics president of basketball operations] Danny [Ainge] wants to talk to me about something, he knows where to find me.”

Celtics G Isaiah Thomas makes All-Star team

Here’s the Boston Herald on yesterday’s announcement that one of the 2016 All-Star game reserves for the East squad is Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas, who is averaging 21.6 points, 3.0 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game this season:

Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas makes All-Star team

Isaiah Thomas’ so-called chip — the one that has driven the Celtics guard ever since he lasted until the final pick of the 2011 NBA draft — has carried him to a new level.

The 5-foot-9 Celtics guard was named as a reserve to the Eastern Conference All-Star team last night after a vote by the coaches.

A jubilant Thomas sent out a chain of tweets, including, “I am honored to be selected as an all star & represent the @Celtics, Joining the greatest of @Celtics who have played in the all star game.”

He also paid tribute to his teammates and Celtics fans, tweeting, “I’m VERY GRATEFUL for ALL the SUPPORT I have been given by the greatest fans in the world & of course the @celtics organization,” and, “This is a TEAM award, none of us succeed without our TEAMMATES & their support ON and OFF the court. So thanks to my TEAM and coaching staff.”

Celtics lose 4th straight game

The Boston Celtics lost 120-114 in New York to the Knicks last night. Here’s the Boston Herald reporting:

The Celtics weren’t able to win last night, despite the fact the Knicks were without Carmelo Anthony for virtually the entire second half and rookie star Kristaps Porzingis fouled out with the Celts ahead by one and 2:44 left in the game.

Anthony sprained his right ankle late in the first half when he stepped on referee Rodney Mott. He tried to start the second half, but the Knicks had to call a timeout to remove him 19 futile seconds in.

The Celts also weren’t able to win with Isaiah Thomas scoring 34 points. That gives him a combined 69 in the past two games.

“He’s playing awfully well,” Stevens said. “My concern is we’ve lost them both.

Avery Bradley set to return for Celtics

Celtics guard Avery Bradley (14.7 ppg, 2.4 rpg this season) is set to return for tomorrow’s game in Memphis against the Grizzlies. Here’s the Boston Herald reporting:

The Celtic offense has struggled of late, and Bradley believes the attack has tended too much toward individualism. He has the solution: “Just moving the ball; that’s the most important thing. You know, it’s not a bad thing, because we all want to win, but I feel like at times everybody wants to win the game so bad that they try to take the game over, take 3’s and taking shots that we can get at any time. It’s hard to figure that out sometimes when you’re a younger team or when things aren’t going well. Sometimes you play individual basketball. We need to play team basketball in order to be successful.”

Brad Stevens back after visiting Andrew Smith

Here’s ESPN Boston reporting on Celtics coach Brad Stevens, who paid a personal visit to a former player who is dealing with serious health issues:

Celtics coach Brad Stevens rejoined the team before its flight to Memphis on Saturday and led an afternoon practice at the University of Memphis.

Stevens traveled to Indiana on Thursday to visit with Andrew Smith, one of his former Butler players, who is battling cancer. Stevens missed the team’s loss to the Bulls.

Stevens told reporters in Memphis that the past few days have been, “Very challenging, certainly puts things in a lot of perspective.”

Brook Lopez puts up big game against Celtics

Brook Lopez’s size was too much for Boston’s smaller lineup.

The 7-footer scored a season-high 30 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, leading the Brooklyn Nets to a 100-97 victory over the Celtics on Saturday.

“I did my best to make the right play every time, realizing that, and just tried to read the double teams,” said Lopez, who scored seven of his points in a key 9-2 run when Boston was making its charge with a smaller, trapping lineup…

Joe Johnson added 20 points, Thaddeus Young 16 with 10 boards, and Bojan Bogdanovic 13 points for the Nets, who won for just the third time in 11 games.

— Associated Press