Four games into the second playoff round, Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis told reporters that he finally felt that his energy level had begun to recover from a mystery illness that sidelined him for nine games in March.

The Celtics have been tight-lipped about the specific nature of the disease, but Porzingis has been open about the long-term impacts of the upper-respiratory viral illness on his game.

“I’m dealing with some, I don’t know what to call it, but I’m just not feeling my best,” Porzingis said. “I’m not feeling my best at all, but it just kills me inside that it’s happening in this moment, and what I’m super appreciative about is about the support that I have on the inside, and also probably from the fans.”

ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that the illness affected Porzingis’ “stamina ebbs and flows,” which has kept him from playing his typical minutes. Porzingis played just 13, 14 and 19 minutes in Games 1-3 of the Celtics’ series against the New York Knicks, putting up a combined 13 points over those three games.

Following Game 4, where he played 24 minutes, Porzingis said that he felt much better.

“Tonight was the first time I felt decent, honestly,” he said. “Just everything. My energy, I was more like uplifted, and maybe didn’t have my best game, anyway. But my energy was good and I felt like I could go a bit more up and down, so that was a positive.”

But Boston also lost that game 113-121, dropping to 1-3 in a series where they had been prohibitive favorites. Even worse, Celtics star Jayson Tatum suffered an Achilles tendon rupture late in the game, taking him out for the remainder of the postseason and likely most, if not all, of next season.

It’s a good time for Porzingis to be recovering. But for the Celtics, who are facing elimination on Wednesday without their top star, that’s probably not going to be enough.

“We have a lot of talent,” Porzingis said. “Even with [Tatum] out, even me maybe playing 10-15 minutes, we have the guys and we’ve shown in the past that we can play still really good basketball. Obviously, there’s no replacement for this guy, no? Like, this is a big hit for us, 100%. But again, we have to play with the hand we’re dealt right now, and this is it.”

On Monday night, Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum was carried off the court late in the Celtics’ 121-113 loss to the New York Knicks with an apparent leg injury. He was put in a wheelchair after exiting the game.

On Tuesday, Tatum had Achilles surgery, which could mean he’s out all next season.

“The loss is the loss,” Celtics center Al Horford said. “It’s Jayson I’m worried about.”

Tatum, who has been heavily criticized for his performance throughout the series, was having arguably his best performance of the playoffs. Before his injury at the 2:58 mark of the fourth quarter, Tatum had 42 points on 16-28 shooting.

“He’s the type of guy that gets right up,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said.

Players across the league, including LeBron James, offered their prayers for Tatum. Knicks’ Jalen Brunson opened his post-game press conference by offering his prayers.

The loss brings the Celtics to a 3-1 deficit in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Game five is on Wednesday in Boston.

Jaylen Brown and Derrick White will have to make up for the production that’s lost without Tatum in the lineup.

The Celtics are 4.5-point favorites in game five. However, for the first time in the series, the Celtics are underdogs to advance to the Eastern Conference finals.

Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis is optimistic that he can return ahead of schedule from an ankle injury he sustained late in the 2023-24 season. Originally slated for a return in late December, the Celtics are hesitantly pushing up this timetable.

Porzingis underwent surgery in late June, which forced him to miss most of Boston’s run to the NBA Finals. While he was limited in the team’s championship pursuit, he was integral to a dominant 65-win regular season. Any acceleration in his recovery would be fantastic news for a Boston team intent on repeating in the 2024-25 season.

“The energy I’m feeling from the doctor, the surgeon, the medical staff is not to rush anything,” Porzingis said at a media day press conference earlier this week. “For myself, obviously, if you ask me and I had to do my own protocol, I would probably go quicker.”

For years, the Celtics were known as an underachieving superteam. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown were key stars and the team was always elite at the perimeter, but the team never managed to meet expectations in the postseason. Porzingis arrived in 2023, providing size as well as dynamic scoring ability, and the team finally achieved its potential as an all-time roster.

Even with Porzingis out for the first few months of the coming season, the Celtics are heavy favorites to win another NBA title. If the big man can return any sooner, however, Boston has the opportunity to replicate last season, when they took the 1-seed in the Eastern Conference by daylight and cruised through the playoffs.

Because Porzingis’ specific ailments, a torn retinaculum and dislocated posterior tibialis tendon, are so rare, it’s difficult to assess whether he can truly come back any sooner than December. The 29-year-old center has a vaguely concerning injury history anyway, and his potential production upon returning will likely lead the Celtics to remain patient with him.

For the second time in Paris, Golden State Warriors and U.S.A. men’s basketball head coach Steve Kerr decided to bench NBA champion and three-time first-team All-NBA small forward Jayston Tatum against Serbia on Thursday. The decision almost proved fatal as the Americans faced a double-digit deficit in the second half multiple times, but ten straight possessions that ended in points propelled the U.S. to the gold medal game.

Last week, Warriors veteran Draymond Green took to his podcast to voice his displeasure against his head coach for his handling of playing time with Tatum.

“We all know it was wrong. He should’ve played. He didn’t,” he said. “What I don’t like about it is, now, to me, it feels like a covering my tracks, proving a point type of thing to where, oh, now Joel [Embiid] is out of the lineup. And then today, Jrue [Holiday] didn’t play… From the outside looking in, it comes off as, ‘We made a mistake as a coaching staff.’”

Later, Green alluded to Kerr’s strange rotations in France. After not seeing the floor during the United States’ opening game, Tatum started the second matchup with South Sudan, played 17 minutes and recorded a double-double against Puerto Rico.

“I’m sure it’s part ‘We can rest the ankle a little bit,’ but it’s part we gotta not play somebody. And quite frankly, I don’t like it. Come out with a rotation and stick with it. These teams aren’t good enough to where we’re trying to match their lineup. They gotta match our lineup… We got the best players in the world. We’ll be fine.”

Green earned a spot on the U.S. Olympic teams in Rio and Tokyo, winning two consecutive gold medals.

The United States beat France on Saturday, winning their fifth straight gold medal against the Olympic hosts.

The Celtics made their intention clear: to run it back. On Monday, star forward Jayson Tatum was locked up to a record five-year, $314 million deal set to expire in the 2029-2030 season. A player option and trade kick were included in the contract. With the deal’s salary terms, Tatum will become the NBA’s first player to make $70 million in a season – he’s expected to make $71 million in the contract’s fifth year. Jaylen Brown was signed to a record deal last season, keeping the duo intact for four more seasons – Brown’s contract was renewed in 2023 for five years, worth $304 million.

The star recorded 22.2 points and 7.8 rebounds in game five against the Mavericks to clinch Boston’s 18th Larry O’Brien Trophy. The forward averaged 26.9 points this past season while averaging 8.1 rebounds per game. Tatum came in sixth place in MVP voting. He was picked third overall in the 2017 draft and developed into a top-three NBA forward. In addition, Tatum made five All-Star games while winning a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Derick White was also renewed Monday, making every starter under contract for at least the next two seasons. White resigned for $125.9 million over four years, while point guard Jrue Holiday signed a four-year $134.4 million extension in April. The Celtics are projected to pay almost $200 million to their starting five.

Boston’s majority owners intend to sell the team later this year or in 2025, as $600 million would need to go out to pay the Tatum and Brown tandem. The Celtics are currently worth $4.7 billion, according to Forbes, and over $5.1 billion, according to Sportico. The C’s could have their hands full financially as a plan to cut payroll needs to be implemented as big spenders face a penalty under the collective-bargaining agreement. Operating costs are increasing as Boston paid over $110 million in luxury taxes the past two seasons and is expected to pay $50 million this year.

“We did it!” screamed Jayson Tatum after winning his first NBA Finals, fighting back tears and being overcome with emotions. For a superstar and team that won the hard way and battled back from multiple heartbreaking seasons, they finally broke through Monday night and dispatched the Dallas Mavericks 106-88.

Jaylen Brown took home the NBA Finals MVP, although the way Boston played team basketball, three or four players could have been awarded it. Brown finished the series averaging 20.8 PPG, 5.4 RPG and 5.0 APG while guarding Luka Doncic most of the series and limiting the impact of the 1st team All-NBA SG. Brown, motivated by being snubbed from all three all-NBA teams at the beginning of the postseason, played the best two-way basketball of his career during the 2024 playoff en route to winning the MVP in the Eastern Conference and NBA Finals.

Blown out in game four, Boston returned the favor to Dallas in front of their home fans. The Mavericks never held the lead, as the Celtics won wire-to-wire, and Joe Mazzula’s men led by double digits for the entire second half. Once again, the green and white’s ability to smother a potent Maverick offense made the difference, as Dallas scored under 100 points for the fourth time in five games and turned the ball over 13 times, resulting in 17 Celtic points off turnovers.

Offensively, Boston finally shot the ball to its potential. They went 10-21 from beyond the arc in the first half, and 30 of their 67 in the first two quarters came from three. Seven different Celtics knocked down a long ball in the first two quarters, including a half-court buzzer-beater by Payton Pritchard that almost took the roof off T.D. Garden and deflated Dallas. Tatum and Brown combined for 31 points in the first half, compared to just 14 from the duo of Doncic and Kyrie Irving.

Each side struggled to score in the third quarter as the extended minutes and intensity began to wear out the star players. Boston only put up 19 points in the third stanza, but Dallas could fare no better, knocking down just 21 as the Celtics took a 19-point advantage into the fourth.

The Mavericks could not buy a bucket, going scoreless for the opening three minutes of the final frame with their season hanging in the balance. Seizing the moment, Tatum sealed the deal with 11 fourth-quarter points, all coming at the rim or free throw line, as he imposed his will on the Dallas defenders and put the game out of reach. Mazzula took out his starters one by one in a classy move to receive ovations from the raucous Garden crowd, except he brought Tatum and Brown out together. After years of heartbreak and divisiveness, the duo sit on the NBA mountain top, each winning their first title, proving they can succeed together.

Tatum teared up, holding his son at half-court with the confetti falling as it finally sunk in what he did as the buzzer sounded. Al Holford, who played the second most playoff games in NBA history without winning a title, did not stop smiling during the trophy ceremony as he won his first title at age 38. The Celtics said they wanted to win this championship for him, and after first signing with Boston eight years ago, they delivered on their promise. The party went late into the night in Beantown as downtown Boston flooded with green and white. This is the city’s title since 2019 and the first Celtic title in 16 years, and they savored the moment.

Winning a championship is never easy, and Boston played through pain to reach the pinnacle. Mazzula tore his meniscus in March, he told the media postgame, and the coach will need offseason surgery.

Kristaps Porzingis said he would “die on the court” if he needed to and somehow managed to play with his severe leg injury during game five. ESPN reported after the game that he would need surgery and months of rehab.

It had been seven years since the team with the best regular season record won the NBA title before Boston clinched last night. The Celtics dominated the entire season with a 64-18 regular season record and a 16-3 postseason mark on their way to the franchise’s 18th championship. The years of failure are forgotten now as Boston officially made it over the hump, winning the NBA title in five games.

No team in NBA history has ever come back from down three games to none.

But do not tell the Dallas Mavericks that.

On their home floor for the second straight game, Jason Kidd‘s club roared to life, putting together their best performance of the NBA Finals. While Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic combined a dismal 1-14 from three, they knocked down 50 points between the team and 11 assists. Along with the dynamic duo, the Dallas bench finally contributed for the first time all series. Tim Hardaway Jr. scored zero points in game three but went 5-7 from long-range Friday. Dereck Lively looked like the rookie who dominated the Minnesota series as he had 11 points and 12 rebounds, a double-double.

Meanwhile, Boston competed like a team up 3-0 and came out with no urgency or purpose. The Celtics jacked up difficult threes in the first quarter as their offense fell out of rhythm. Jayson Tatum led his team in scoring with 15 points, but no starter played over 31 minutes, rendering the contest uncompetitive by halftime.

Dallas executed every phase of the game from the jump, while Joe Mazzula‘s men played their worst game of the season. Boston led 11-10, but then Lively drained his first three of the Finals at the six-minute mark of the first quarter, and the burst of energy propelled the Mavs to finish the frame on a 21-10 run.

Up 34-21, Dallas kept its foot on the gas. An 11-0 run held Boston scoreless for four minutes as the Mavericks doubled up the Celtics 50-25. Doncic and Co. took a 61-35 blowout into the halftime break as they executed on both ends of the floor. Their defensive intensity stymied a Boston attack that went into the paint at will in the opening part of the series, and their offensive cohesion ripped apart the Celtic defense that held them under 100 for three straight games.

As Dallas learned in game three, a 24-point lead in these playoffs can evaporate instantly. They almost came back from 21 down in the fourth quarter. With that in mind, their lead ballooned to 34 after five minutes as the beatdown continued out of the break. As the game went further out of reach, Mazzula waved the white towel. The head coach pulled his starters with three minutes to go in the third down 38.

Dallas’ starters sat on the bench to begin the fourth, while the backups played the final quarter in a contest decided long ago. The Mavericks dismantled Boston 122-84 and forced a game five in the  T.D. Garden Monday night.

“That’s a good question. I don’t know. We’ll have to see,” answered Kristaps Porzingis when asked if he was 100%. The 7’3” big man returned last night for the Celtics after missing 38 days with a soleus strain.

As Mike Breen proclaimed last night, “I’m not sure the Porzingis family would have predicted this.”

After coming off the bench, the Latvian instantly made his impact felt, and the T.D. Garden crowd responded. He finished the first quarter with 11 points, three rebounds, three blocks and +16. He nailed a 29-foot three as part of a Boston barrage to end the first up 17. He scored 22 points in just 21 minutes of game action as both coaches pulled their starters with five minutes to go in the fourth. He played his best game of the season at the most critical time.

Along with Porzingis’ unicorn-like comeback, the Celtic defense stole the show. Boston held Dallas to 89 points, their lowest mark of the postseason, and 25% from three. The Celtic strategy focused on forcing Luka Doncic to play one one-on-one and making him win in isolation. The Slovenian still ended the game with 30 points but only one assist, his lowest mark of the playoffs. The Mavs only finished with nine helpers on the day, and Boston had as many blocks (9) as Dallas did assists. Kyrie Irving, the focal point of jeering from the Celtic fans, did not deliver the goods and let his co-star down. He went 0-5 from three and only knocked in 12 points as his record drops to 0-11 when playing his former team since he left them.

Dallas went up by four in the game’s first three minutes, but was the last of their lead. Instantly, the Celtics ripped off a 7-0 run to retake control, and after a few minutes of back-and-forth action, Boston buried the Mavericks. Over the final six minutes of the first, Joe Mazzula‘s men ripped off a 23-5 run to end the quarter, with Porzingis scoring 11 of the 23. The Celtics picked up their defensive intensity, making Dallas play through a crowd and full-court pressure that they melted under. On the offensive end, Boston knocked down five threes in five minutes, including three long balls in 40 seconds, setting the tone for the rest of the series.

The dominance continued in the second, and the Celtics doubled up the Mavs 58-29 with four minutes to play in the half after a 10-0 run. Doncic began to heat up to the end quarter, knocking down a signature step-back with nine seconds remaining to cap off a 7-0 sprint, but still were down 63-42 as the buzzer sounded.

The momentum they used to close the half stayed with Dallas during the opening minutes of the third. The Boston offense went stagnant as the Mavs chipped into the Celtic advantage. Doncic had ten points in eight minutes, including a 27-foot long-range bomb that cut the deficit to eight.

However, this is not the Celtics of old. Mazzula called a timeout to refocus his team, and the stoppage in play helped them slam the door for good.

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown did not have their best games offensively but took the game over when their team needed it. The duo scored or assisted on all 14 points of a back-breaking 14-0 run for the Celtics to end the third. After what the Mavs did to begin the quarter, they still only won the third 24-23.

Dallas dug themselves a hole too steep to climb out of, and except for a few nervous minutes in the third, Boston convincingly took care of business. Boston went up by 20 points heading into the fourth, 86-66, as their defensive dominance shut Dallas out.

The Mavs never got within more than 17 for the rest of the night and did not have any pushback left, scoring just nine points in the first seven minutes of the fourth. Jason Kidd waved the white flag with the Celtics up 100-75, and soon after, Boston’s stars checked out of game one for the final time.

Boston won 107-89 in a game that never felt that competitive. Dallas will surely make adjustments, but the Celtic spacing is a question few teams have had an answer for all season—seven players in green and white made multiple threes, an NBA Finals record.

Each team gets two days off instead of the usual one because it is the finals. Game two will be Sunday back in Boston.

Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis has confirmed that he will be available for Game 1 of the NBA Finals Thursday night against the Dallas Mavericks. Porzingis missed the Eastern Conference Finals with a calf injury, but Boston still managed to sweep the Pacers in that series.

“I have to feel confident to go out there and leave it all on the floor and expect that I’m going to be healthy and completely fine,” Porzingis said, according to CBS.

Even if he’s not fully healthy, Porzingis’ return to the starting lineup is a massive development for the Celtics, who were already favored to defeat Dallas and win the NBA Championship. Since acquiring Porzingis from the Wizards in a three-way trade last summer, Boston has become the unchallenged top team in the Eastern Conference.

In prior seasons, Boston has built teams around deadly perimeter shooting and solid defense, but the organization has gained a reputation of falling short in big series. With Porzingis on the team alongside stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the Celtics earned a 64-18 regular season record and crushed all opposition in their conference in the playoffs.

The Mavericks have overcome a difficult path through the Western Conference, relying heavily on star tandem Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving in series wins against the Clippers, Thunder and Timberwolves. The road only gets tougher, however, as Boston likely would have been favored against any team in the Western Conference — with or without Porzingis.

In this modern iteration of the Celtics, the team has only been to the NBA Finals once, in 2021. Led by a younger Tatum, Boston made a solid run that year but ultimately fell to the Golden State Warriors at the very end of their dynastic run.

This time around, there is no old guard. The Celtics have been the undisputed team to beat by any metric all season, and they have played the part to perfection in the postseason so far. With Porzingis returning, the team will be at full strength as it tries to earn a championship some might say is long overdue.

The Boston Celtics had seen this story before.

Last season, the Celtics were trailing 3-0 in the Eastern Conference Finals, but they knew one win was all they needed. Even though they fell in a seventh game, that experience gave them the urgency to close out the Indiana Pacers on their first attempt Monday night.

For the third time in four games, Indiana led in the fourth quarter, had a 90% winning percentage and was on the verge of making the Eastern Conference Finals a competitive series. However, like they did in games one and three, Boston turned it up as the minutes ticked down. Trailing 102-98 with 3:30 left, the Celtics suffocated a red-hot Pacer offense and did not allow another point. While sporadic, the offense made timely baskets, including the game-winning corner three by Derrick White off a one-handed Jaylen Brown assist, putting the Celtics up by three with 30 seconds left. Boston survived the remaining half-minute and booked their spot in the NBA Finals after coming up agonizingly short the last two seasons. Postgame, Brown took home ECF Finals MVP, the first of his career, averaging 29.8 PPG on 51% in the series. After the All-NBA snub, a grin went from ear-to-ear on Brown’s sweat-soaked face, finally displaying emotion after a challenging week. While every Celtic repeated, they still have one more series to go at the trophy presentation, and the comeback tour will continue.

However, in the first 12 minutes of the game, it seemed that the only thing continuing was the ECF. Boston knocked down four of its first five three-point shots, extending a streak of starting hot at the beginning of games while racing to an eight-point lead. However, it was their most significant advantage of the contest as the Pacers stormed back and controlled the pace of play for most of the night. As he has all season, T.J. McConnell came off the bench and provided an immediate spark. He quickly scored six points in 90 seconds, pulling the Pacers within three. As the buzzer sounded to end the first, his free-throw line runner found the bottom of the net and seized momentum for his men.

Without Tyrese Haliburton for the second straight game, Andrew Nembhard operated point guard duties, following up his career night in game three with another awe-inspiring performance in game four. The Gonzaga alum hit two threes on back-to-back possessions, giving Indiana their first lead, 33-32, at the ten-minute mark of the second. Nothing could separate these two sides as they fought between one possession of each other for the next eight minutes until a Brown three put Boston up 55-51 with two minutes left in the second. A Nembhard buzzer-beater, Indiana’s second of the day, cut the deficit to three heading into the break.

After being relatively quiet for the Pacers’ standards, the offense exploded in the third. Three triples in the first three minutes, two from Myles Turner and one from Nembhard, quickly put the home team up four. A quick Joe Mazzulatimeout slowed the pace down and brought the Celtics back into the game, but Obi Toppin’s contributions off the bench put the Pacers up by five multiple times late in the third quarter. The Celtics struggled all quarter long, shooting an abysmal 8-22 from the field with five turnovers. Another late three from Brown, his third of four on the night, kept the game at one possession, 83-80, going into the fourth.

Like the third, the Pacers’ offense dismantled the Boston defense. Six quick McConnell points put Indiana up by seven, forcing Mazzula to call another early timeout. Indiana pushed their lead to nine with eight minutes to go as Boston’s outside shooting dried up. The Celtics went 2-12 from long-range in the third and 4-18 since the end of the first quarter as the extended minutes started to wear on the starters. But, like they did all series, they stayed in the fight.

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Trailing 98-90 with six minutes remaining, the Jays, Jayson Tatum, and Brown took the game over. Brown’s free throws and a Tatum triple cut the lead to five before Jrue Holiday’s basket, plus the foul made it a one-possession game with four minutes on the clock. Tatum and Brown again scored back-to-back baskets a minute later and tied the game at 102. At that point, the intensity turned the game into a mess. The game went scoreless for over a minute as the sides traded turnovers and blocked shots. Brown made the defensive play of the game with a minute left, swatting a Nembhard drive before making the pass that led to the White GW triple.

After the dust settled and Holiday secured the offensive rebound on Tatum’s missed three, Boston survived 105-102. Brown knocked down 29 points on 11-22, and Tatum was right there with him, going 11-26 from the floor and scoring 26 points. The Celtics struggled in all four games with the Pacers’ spacing and prolific shot-making, but in the end, their experience and will drove them back to the NBA Finals after a year hiatus.

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No NBA superstar gets maligned by the media more than Jayson Tatum.

Instead of focusing on his third straight first-team All-NBA appearance, pundits put him through the wringer after game two, saying that he is a poor playoff performer even after the Celtics’ 9- 2 postseason record coming into Saturday.

What will they say now?

A Tatum Tornado tore through Gainbridge Fieldhouse Saturday night as the Duke alum dropped 36 points on 12-23 shooting while grabbing ten boards, dishing out eight assists with zero turnovers. Tatum only sat one minute in the second half, and it took until the final buzzer for the Celtics to secure game three. Boston fell behind by 18 in the third quarter and trailed by eight with 2:30 to go, but stingy defense and Al Horford’s career night from three brought Joe Mazzula’s men all the way back and put Indiana on the brink.

Facing a must-win situation and playing without All-NBA PG Tyrese Haliburton due to a hamstring injury, the Pacers fought valiantly. They put up an all-time first-half performance, scoring 69 points on 63% shooting. Brown said it best postgame: “Some of those guys turned into Michael Jordan.”

Yet, it was not enough.

Rick Carlisle’s club only mustered 21 points in the third and fourth quarters, respectively, as the offense ran dry. A swarming Celtics defense turned up the heat on Indiana, and Pacer turnovers and blocked shots followed. Ultimately, their poor late-game execution resulted in another excruciating loss, as the lack of experience continues to play a role at the worst possible time.

But Indiana tried its best to ensure no crunch time in the first half.

After Tatum dropped his 12th and 13th points of the first quarter at the four-minute mark, the Pacers ripped off a 40-20 run, turning a 26-19 deficit into a 59-46 point advantage over 12 minutes. With Boston down multiple bigs, Indiana made a concerted effort to smash the ball inside, and hyper-efficient offense followed. The Pacers finished the first half with a ridiculous 69% two-point percentage and 42 points in the paint. Filling in for Haliburton, Andrew Nembhard commanded the offense and had a career-high 21 points in the first half. The Celtics tried everything: new rotations, zone, and giving Xavier Tillman his first minutes of the series, but nothing worked. An 8-0 Boston run with a minute left in the first cut the lead to nine, but another miracle three at the end of the second, a Nembhard bomb from 31 feet, gave the Pacers a 69-57 lead heading into halftime.

Although it seemed that the Celtics could not play any worse and the Pacers any better, the two teams continued going in opposite directions to start the third. Boston fell behind 84-66 at the midway point of the quarter as its offense began to rush under the Pacer pressure, and it was unable to secure stops or rebounds. However, a Tatum lay-up plus the foul on the ensuing possession turned the tide.

The Celtics never ripped off a massive run like they did in games one or two, but slowly, they chipped down the Indiana lead. They picked up their defensive intensity, emphasizing active hands, resulting in blocks and steals. Their offense played off their defense as they turned turnovers into easy points in transition. Boston cut the lead in half by the end of the third and trailed 90-81 with 12 minutes to go.

However, Indiana kept Boston at arm’s length for most of the fourth. Every time the Celtics pulled within three, the Pacers knocked down another basket and pushed the advantage back out. A Derrick White long ball pulled the Celtics within four with five minutes remaining, but the Pacers scored on four straight possessions over the next three minutes and held a comfortable 109-101 lead with 2:38 left.

Once again, the game felt out of reach, and once again, the Celtics’ stars answered. Brown made a difficult fallaway jumper before a Tatum triple made it a one-possession game. After Nembhard made two free throws, Tatum made the pass of the playoffs, a no-look behind-the-back bounce pass to Horford in the corner, who canned his seventh triple. The Boston defense finally strung stops together, and a Jrue Holiday lay-up plus the foul put the Celtics in front for the first time since the first. Holiday’s heroics continued as he forced a turnover with three seconds remaining, and the Celtics led by one, before knocking down both foul shots. The former NBA champion has been invaluable to Boston in the postseason, and he made the play of the game while battling an illness.

For the second time in three games, the Celtics came from behind and stole a game from Indiana. It used to be that Boston found ways to blow winnable games, but now they are becoming the comeback kids. Even though Tatum took over, all five starters finished with double-figures as their talent became too much for the short-handed Pacers, winning game three 114-11.

117-114, ten seconds left, Indiana inbounding the ball.

Most NBA games are as good as gone at this point. Fans started to stream out of a sold-out T.D. Garden, the Pacers had a 97% chance of winning according to ESPN’s win probability and two free throws would seal the victory.

They never made it to the foul line.

Jaylen Brown forced a turnover on the inbounds, giving the Celtics a lifeline. Three seconds later, he tied the game with a corner three as Indiana elected not to foul. After Tyrese Haliburton missed a game-winning triple, game one became the third contest of the NBA playoffs to reach overtime. In OT, Jayson Tatum scored six points in 30 seconds to lift the Celtics to their first come-from-behind postseason win this year.

No team gets more scrutiny than Joe Mazzula’s men for how they finish games and play in clutch moments, but Tuesday felt like a turning point. The Celtics proved they could handle the ebbs and flows of a game while executing in the crucial moments. For a team known for blowing leads in big spots, Boston proved how valuable playoff experience can be at this time of the year, and they kept the door wedged open before kicking it down in the extra five-minute period.

At the beginning of the game, overtime seemed impossible. Like they did against the Heat, Tatum’s team burst out of the gates for an opening 12-0 run. Indiana turned the ball over multiple times in the first three minutes and looked like a team gassed from playing in game seven two nights before. The Celtics played at their peak and could not be stopped.

Luckily for the Pacers, the game does not end at the nine-minute mark in the first quarter. Slowly, they worked themselves back into the game, and seven straight points from Obi Toppin at the end of the first cut the deficit to only three.

However, like the first quarter, Boston rolled to start the second. The Celtics led 47-37 after the first four minutes of the frame and forced Indiana to call timeout after a 13-6 run.

But a new trend started to emerge from Rick Carlisle’s club and they battled back for the second time. Myles Turner scored ten of his 23 points in the second, as his ability to smash the ball inside and shoot the long ball broke the Boston defense, and a miracle Haliburton three at the buzzer tied the game at 64 heading into the break. The Pacers went 8-15 from long range in the first half, and their sharpshooting dug them out of the early hole.

After Indiana finally started a quarter on time and scored the first five points of the third, Boston looked like a team ready to put this one out of reach. The Celtics scored ten straight points after the Pacers took the lead for the first time and pushed the lead to 13 after a Jrue Holiday three with four minutes to go in the quarter. Holiday’s leadership, defensive acumen and timely scoring made him the best Celtic player on the floor last night. His play proved why Brad Stevens traded for him in the offseason.

Just as it seemed like the game was finally under control, the Pacers bench said not so fast. Indiana went on a 16-2 run to end the third, receiving scoring contributions from Toppin and T.J. McConnell as their reserves outscored Boston’s 30-13 on the night. Another Haliburton three at the end of a quarter, this time a bank shot from 30 feet, meant his team trailed by one, 94-93, entering the fourth.

The teams traded baskets for the beginning portion of the quarter, but Indiana led by four with four minutes to go as the Boston offense started to dry up. Two timely baskets from Derrick White and Al Horford kept the Celtics within reach, but an Andrew Nembhard step-back jumper with 1:57 to go, gave the Pacers a 115-110 lead as they started to pull away. However, Brown made two clutch free throws with less than a minute left, making it a one-possession game, and two Indiana turnovers in the final 30 seconds kept the game alive.

Then, Brown hit the shot, Haliburton missed a contested three and a game that looked over went to overtime tied at 117.

The Celtics told themselves in the huddle before the five-minute period that they had received an extra lease on life and could not waste it.

They did not.

Even though Brown and Tatum combined for seven turnovers on the night and made some careless plays throughout the game, they elevated their play in OT. The duo combined for 14 of the Celtics 16 points and a Brown steal on Pascal Siakam helped put the game out of reach. Tatum hit two clutch free throws up three with eight seconds left as Boston stole a victory from the jaws of defeat.

Heading into game two, the Celtics received the wake-up call. Indiana’s offense obliterated their defensive structure, and if they do not focus more on that end of the floor, Boston will continue to find themselves in danger of advancing to the NBA finals.

The Pacers, however, may struggle to find the same rhythm in the next game as they did yesterday. Indiana had won game one, and to throw it away makes it difficult to refocus with such a short turnaround. Carlisle knows his team will not receive many gifts, and his team’s poor late-game execution spoiled what should have been a party.

The Boston Celtics defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 113-98 in Game 5 Wednesday night to win the series and advance to the Eastern Conference Final. Boston has advanced this far in six of the last eight seasons and is heavily favored to go even further this year.

It would be a disservice to the Celtics’ performance in the first two rounds to say that they’ve had an easy road, but it can be said that the team has not wasted time on inferior opponents. The Miami Heat, an extremely familiar playoff rival for Boston, had to compete in the first round without star player Jimmy Butler. Meanwhile, the Cavaliers were heavy underdogs going into their series, eventually losing team leader Donovan Mitchell to injury. Both teams only lasted five games against Boston.

Boston has yet to be tested in their conference, but at this point, it would have been surprising if the team had met any resistance. With a staggering 64-18 record in the regular season, the Celtics towered over all their conference rivals by at least 14 games. They were presumed to be the best in the conference by a wide margin, and thus far, they have certainly looked the part.

Celtics lead scorer Jayson Tatum has played the superstar role on a star-studded team this postseason. The 26-year-old forward scored 20 points or more in eight-ten games while averaging 10.4 rebounds. Despite his performance, Tatum said Wednesday that it takes more than one person for a team to make it look this easy.

“People might think that it’s a given that we’re supposed to be here, but I give a lot of credit to everyone in the front office, the coaching staff, the trainers, the guys that hand out the equipment, the ball boys, the cooks, the chefs, the security team,” Tatum said. “We’re all in this together. I do, I mean that.”

Jaylen Brown has been Boston’s supporting star in name only this postseason, as he has also competed at an elite level alongside Tatum. He scored more than 20 points per game in both series and established himself well around the rim. 

Boston had to compete against Cleveland without big man Kristaps Porzingis, who sustained an injury in the first round. Porzingis has been a revelatory addition to the Celtics this season, providing much-needed paint presence for a team that was already lethal from beyond the arc. Getting an early series win over the Cavs could give him enough time to return for the Eastern Conference Final against the Knicks or Pacers.

In recent years, the Celtics have come to be known as postseason disappointments, as the team has consistently been labeled a contender before falling short. Despite those six conference final appearances since 2017, the team has just one Finals appearance. So far this year, however, Boston has steamrolled its conference rivals and only needs one more series win to finally clear that hurdle again.

Without star SG Donovan Mitchell, who did not play because of a calf injury, the Boston Celtics were expected to blow Cleveland out of the water.

They never got the memo, as for the first time in the series, the two teams played in crunch time. The Celtics attempted to throw away a playoff game as -12.5 favorites, according to ESPN Bet. But Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for 60 points as the Celtics’ stars fought tooth and nail to allow Boston a chance to close out on home court.

Early on, the Celtics did not mess around and tried to render the game uncompetitive. After the Cavs started on an 8-2 run, Boston answered with 12 straight points and finished the first quarter with a 37-30 lead. Tatum carried the offensive load in the opening frame, shooting 4-7 from the field and knocking down 16 points.

The second quarter played out much like the end of the first. Jrue Holiday knocked down back-to-back buckets. Cleveland called a timeout as they trailed 46-33. From that point on, the Cavs responded much to the delight of the booming Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

Max Strus shot 3-4 from beyond the arc in the second quarter alone and started the game 5-5 from long range. Cleveland stayed in the game because of their three-point shooting, as they finished the first half 44% from deep. After being held scoreless in the first, Mitchell’s running mate, Darius Garland, went 4-8 with 11 points as the Cavs cut the deficit to just five going into halftime.

Cleveland started the same way they finished the first half and took the lead, 65-64, with a formula of intensity, potent shooting and physical defense. Joe Mazzula elected to call a timeout just three minutes into the third as the game looked to be getting away from Boston. The stoppage in play proved the right decision, as the Celtics finished the quarter with poise and determination. Brown and Tatum would score nine of Boston’s following 11 points on points in the paint or free throws. The Celtics finished the third with a double-digit lead and seemed to be coasting to a game-four victory after a rocky start.

Cleveland had other ideas.

After Boston took their largest lead of the game with a 98-83 advantage, Cleveland threw their last, best punch. In just over a minute of game action, the Cavs cut the deficit to seven with two threes and a layup. At the same time, the Celtics offense went stagnant as Boston tried to play one-on-one instead of their drive-and-kick offense, which contributed heavily to their success throughout the season. Evan Mobley sealed inside position and sunk in a layup as the Cavaliers trailed 100-95 with just over three minutes to go. It seemed that Boston would blow this one, and Cleveland’s never-say-die attitude could push them over the line.

Tatum met the moment and turned out the lights in Northeast Ohio.

On the next possession, he drove hard to the rack and forced in a layup to stop the bleeding. A minute later, he gained inside position on his defender and forced the Cavs to help, which left Brown wide open on the wing. Tatum found his teammate as Brown splashed home three points, and the Celtics led by eight with just over a minute to go. Eventually, Boston would make their free throws and put the victory on ice, a hard-fought 109-102 win.

The Celtics do not like to make these games easy on themselves but credit the Cavs for not giving up and creating a contest when many thought the game was over before tip-off. Ultimately, the Celtics roster was too deep and talented for Cleveland to match up with for 48 minutes.

The Boston Celtics crushed the Miami Heat 118-84 in Game 5 Wednesday night to secure the 4-1 series win in the first round. Boston will play the winner of the series between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference Semifinal.

Following an unexpected Heat win in Game 2, some worried that the first-seeded Celtics would begin yet another postseason on the wrong foot after disappointments in prior years. Without star Jimmy Butler, the Heat was not expected to be in serious contention with Boston, let alone even the series. However, the underdog team’s hopes were short-lived as the Celtics went on to win the next three games and advance with time to spare.

Celtics star Jayson Tatum, who has been with Boston for several postseason series against Miami, admitted that he wanted to play against the familiar foe going into the playoffs. The Heat eliminated the Celtics in a massive upset in the Eastern Conference Final last year.

“I think it’s like my fourth time in five years playing them in the playoffs,” Tatum said. “So, I was thinking when the Play-In game was on, and you’re trying to figure out the standings, I just had my mind made up completely that we were gonna play Miami. And ​​I wanted to play Miami in a sense that, last year playing against Atlanta, we might’ve relaxed a little bit. But knowing the history with Miami, and how hard they play and how well-coached they are, that, for a first-round matchup, regardless of the seed, that we were gonna have to be ready to play and be ready to fight.”

Tatum scored 21.8 points per game with 10.4 rebounds throughout five games against Miami, contributing to several key victories allowing the team to rest before the second round. Small forward Jaylen Brown was also consistently strong throughout the series, while role player Derrick White scored 63 combined points in the final two games.

Regardless of whether the Cavaliers or Magic move on to play them in the second round, the Celtics will also be a massive favorite in that series. They are widely expected to breeze through the entire Eastern Conference, though they have yet to deliver on similar expectations in past years.

The Miami Heat shocked the Boston Celtics with a 111-101 victory in Game 2 of the first round Wednesday night, evening the series at one game apiece. The eighth-seeded Heat earned the upset without two top scorers, making 23 three-pointers in a stunningly efficient showing.

Celtics star Jayson Tatum, who scored 28 points in the contest, didn’t have much explanation for his team’s performance but vowed to make the necessary changes for Game 3 on Saturday.

“We gotta be more creative,” Tatum said after the game. The playoffs are about making adjustments game-to-game, and they did that. They’re not just going to let us catch the ball. Our job is to react in real-time as well as make our adjustments going game-to-game.”

While Tatum and fellow Celtics leader Jaylen Brown had solid individual performances, scoring 61 combined points, the two did not contribute to Boston’s strong overall performance. Star big man Kristaps Porzingis received limited looks down low and scored just six points.

Boston’s facilitating struggles were painfully apparent alongside the Heat, who played flawlessly despite taking the floor shorthanded. With Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier out with injuries, Miami shot 53.5% from beyond the arc and turned to center Bam Adebayo and guard Tyler Herro to lead the team instead.

Adebayo, a vital member of the team’s run to the Finals last season, limited Porzingis on defense and held his own at the rim, scoring 21 points with ten rebounds. Meanwhile, Herro stepped up to lead the team at guard, scoring 24 points with 14 assists.

As a result of these unlikely heroics in Game 2, the Heat are now better poised to spring a playoff upset on the first-seeded Celtics, one year after the team accomplished the same feat in the Eastern Conference Final. For all of the Celtics’ improvements in the 2023-24 season, the team proved Wednesday that it may still have some of the same postseason struggles.

In all likelihood, Boston will still defeat Miami in the first round, as Butler is unlikely to return, and the Heat had to play perfectly to get this far. Still, earning a predictable sweep and cruising to the next round would be far more encouraging for a team that dominated the Eastern Conference throughout the regular season. It is clear now that Miami does not intend to go so quietly.

The Boston Celtics locked down point guard Jrue Holiday with a four-year, $135 million extension. The team acquired Holiday in September in a trade with the Milwaukee Bucks.

On paper, Holiday’s production in Boston has dipped compared to his Milwaukee days, as he is scoring 12.5 points per game with 4.9 assists. In reality, however, the 33-year-old has taken a supporting role behind stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. He has performed very well in this sense, warranting the Celtics’ interest in extending him.

ESPN confirmed the deal with Holiday’s agent, Jason Glushon, who confirmed it is a guaranteed contract. Holiday will become the fourth player in NBA history over 30 to receive a guaranteed nine-digit deal, joining LeBron James, Steph Curry and Al Horford.

With Boston locking down its current core, one that has earned a league-best 62-17 record this season, it is clear that the team believes that it has assembled a dynastic roster. That will be tested this postseason, as the team will be the top seed in the Eastern Conference and overwhelming favorites to advance to the NBA Finals.

In addition to Tatum and Brown, who will remain with the team through the 2025-26 season, big man Kristaps Porzingis has also earned an extension with Boston. Holiday has produced behind these three all seasons, creating a juggernaut that could continue to flummox teams for years. 

“Once I knew I was getting traded here, this is a part of what I wanted or what I envisioned,” Holiday told reporters Thursday. “Being in a great organization. Being here for a lengthy amount of time and being able to play alongside people like [Tatum] and [Brown], and really try to get more banners and get more rings.”

The Boston Celtics defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder 135-100 Wednesday night, improving to a 60-16 record and clinching the first overall spot in the 2023-24 NBA season. The last time the Celtics earned this regular season honor, they went on to win the 2007-08 NBA Championship.

“It’s very hard to do. We may never be in this position again,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said after the game. “We talked about it as a team. We talked about it before the game, to try to treat this game as the clincher. To kind of put that on ourselves to be able to do that. I think it was important for us to simulate that. … We should enjoy it tonight, and when wake up tomorrow – nobody cares.”

Boston has been a powerhouse in the Eastern Conference for several seasons now, but the team ascended to new heights this year. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the team’s franchise duo, have consistently performed at an All-Star level, with Tatum even considering outside consideration for MVP honors. Meanwhile, newly acquired big man Kristaps Porzingis has been a massive difference maker, giving the team an elite third option to accompany lethal three-point shooting.

With six games remaining in the regular season, Boston will have plenty of time to prepare for the playoffs as the first seed in the Eastern Conference. However, a high seed did very little to help the team last year. As the second seed in the 2023 playoffs, the Celtics underperformed in back-to-back series against the Hawks and 76ers before they finally fell to the eighth-seeded Miami Heat in seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals.

“We’re not skipping any steps,” Brown said after the team’s win over the Thunder. “Sixty wins. I think we’re on track. When the playoffs start, it’s back to square one.”

Though the Celtics have earned a reputation for continually falling short in the past decade, they have finally transformed from a contender to the main threat in the 2023-24 season. The failed dynasty, as the Tatum-led franchise has often been called, may just be getting started.

If anyone had any remaining questions about the current favorites in the NBA, the Boston Celtics answered them emphatically Wednesday night. The team dominated the Brooklyn Nets 136-86 to take a six-game lead in the Eastern Conference.

In the second game of a back-to-back against the Nets, the Celtics had everything their way from the opening tip to the final buzzer. Boston outscored Brooklyn in every quarter, even after most of their starters checked out early. The 50-point margin of victory at the end is the 46th largest in NBA history.

With a 43-12 record, not only does Boston tower over its own conference, but the West as well. The Minnesota Timberwolves, currently out-dueling the Thunder, Nuggets and Clippers for first, only stand at 38-16. The Celtics are in a league of their own, with the playoffs fast approaching.

Guard Jaylen Brown has resumed his duties as the team’s star supporter, and newly acquired big man Kristaps Porzingis has been a revelation, scoring 20 points per game in his first season as a Celtic. But the key to Boston’s success this season has been team leader and MVP candidate Jayson Tatum.

Tatum has stepped into the ranks of superstardom in the last three or four seasons, steadily improving into a franchise-caliber player. With 27 points per game this season and a stellar reputation on defense, he is the difference-maker on the best team in the NBA. His versatility was on full display Wednesday; with the game well in hand from the beginning, he scored a modest 20 points while racking up nine assists and seven rebounds in 28 minutes on the floor.

After the Celtics’ first game against the Nets Tuesday, a 118-110 victory and 41-point night for Tatum, the 25-year-old forward told reporters that he does not feel pressure to perform in a typical superstar role. Surrounded by talented teammates, he claimed that he can be versatile because he has options.

“We’ve got a really good team where in any given possession we could have two, three advantages and it’s not always just going to be me,” Tatum said. “So just understanding that and knowing that I need my teammates. I need everybody, we all need each other.”

With just over a quarter of their schedule remaining, the Celtics will more than likely lock up the first seed in the NBA Playoffs with time to spare. This meant very little last season, however, as the eighth-seeded Miami Heat beat both first-seeded Bucks and second-seeded Celtics to advance to the NBA Finals. Despite several impressive regular seasons in recent years, Boston has not won a championship since 2008.