C's Trade Marcus Smart To Grizzlies & Get Kristaps Porzingis From Wizards In Three Team Deal

 

        It has been a rather bizarre few days for the Boston Celtics but with the 2023 NBA Draft just completed a few hours ago, we can officially say that guard Marcus Smart is now on the Memphis Grizzlies while power forward/center Kristaps Porzingis is a Celtic. I won't bore you with all the details of the three-way (hey now!) deal between Boston, Memphis and Washington but the most important part is that the longest tenured Celtic is out of here, the former Knicks All-Star/savior Porzingis comes to his fourth NBA team (NY, Dallas, Washington & Boston) and then point guard Tyus Jones goes from Memphis to Washington along with forwards Danilo Gallinari and Mike Muscala who will join him in DC from Boston. On Wednesday, it looked like another Celtics guard-Malcolm Brogdon-would be included instead of Smart in a three-way deal involving the Clippers and not the Grizzlies to acquire Porzingis but it fell apart at the last moment (the teams faced a midnight deadline for Kristaps to opt-in to his player option for next season) since Brogdon's forearm apparently is in rough shape. Brad Stevens stuck with it though and ended up making a huge move that his club so desperately needed. 

    After going to five of the last seven Eastern Conference Finals (but only winning one of them!), it was clear that the C's needed a real shake up in terms of its roster. Star wings Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are both very good but something always seemed to trip up Boston before they could get that elusive first NBA title since 2008. For his Celtics career, Smart averaged 10.6 points per game, 4.6 assists per game and 1.6 steals per game. Part of why he became so overrated was that certain local announcers and media members would focus on what they called "winning plays," ignoring the fact that he also did a bunch of dumb stuff that constantly hurt his team both on and off the court. Along with being the longest tenured Celtic-he was the sixth overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft-Smart was the unofficial captain of the team and easily the most polarizing Boston athlete this side of former Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask. 

    Much like the sad state of politics in the United States these days, Celtics fans either loved Smart or hated him, there was no in between. Always a solid defensive player (he was on the All-Defensive first team three times), Smart was named the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year in 2022. For whatever reason (no Ime Udoka?), the Celts lost their way defensively this past season with Joe Mazzulla in his first year as head coach. Additionally, Smart's overinflated sense of self became comical over the last few years as he talked down to both Tatum & Brown publicly along with Mazzulla which while warranted is still a no-no. He also flops incessantly and whines constantly to the refs which really starts to wear on you when you have to watch it over and over again for nine years. Oh and he was never a great 3-point shooter to begin with but somehow the ball would always seem to find him late in games and he has the confidence of Stephen Curry so he did not hesitate to let it fly.  

    Straight out of Latvia, Porzingis took the league by storm shortly after being drafted fourth overall in 2015 by New York. He was an All-Star in 2018-ironically his last season as a Knick-but not surprisingly for a guy that is 7-foot-3 and only 240 pounds, he has battled numerous injuries since then that have caused him to bounce around to a few other middling clubs. There is no question that coming to Boston should motivate him immensely since he has only appeared in 10 career NBA playoff games (all with Dallas). For his NBA career, Kristaps has averaged 19.6 points per game, 7.9 rebounds per game and 1.8 blocks per game. Especially under Mazzulla, Boston became way too reliant on the 3-pointer and while Porzingis shoots plenty of 3s, at least he makes them at a better clip (36%) than Smart (32%). His health is by far the biggest question mark although he did appear in 65 games last season with the Wizards-his most since his second year as a Knick. He also averaged 23.2 points per game in 2022-23 which was a new career-high. 

    The bottom line is that Porzingis gives Tatum and Brown another guy that can carry the load offensively when either of them has a bad game or series (see Tatum in the 2022 NBA Finals or Brown in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals). The term Big 3 is so played out these days in basketball but at least on paper, this is by far the best running mate that they have had since they were too young when Kyrie Irving (yuck!) was here and Kemba Walker was about to go off a cliff when he was a Celtic. Kristaps will turn 28 in August so theoretically, he should be in his prime. After Smart gets over the shock of going to a new team, he will quickly realize that he is lucky to be in Memphis rather than on some rebuilding crap team like Washington. With Grizzlies star point guard Ja Morant suspended for the first 25 games of the season, Smart will be their starting point guard to begin the year on what was one of the best teams in the Western Conference last season. 

    This could be the rare trade that truly helps both teams. Porzingis gives the Celtics a uniquely skilled player that is much different from their other big guys-the ancient Al Horford and an injury-prone Robert Williams. Smart brings toughness and playoff experience to a Grizzlies team that showed this past postseason that they were not quite ready for prime time yet. Since they lost Game 7 to Miami, Boston had made its coaching staff way stronger by hiring Sam Cassell, Charles Lee, Amile Jefferson (Tatum's buddy from Duke) and former Celtics great Phil Pressey to be assistant coaches. However, those moves mean very little when they are compared to getting Kristaps and saying goodbye to their loudest/most divisive voice in Smart. We wish Marcus well in Memphis but it was time to make a real change and credit to Stevens for having the guts to get it done.

There Is No Other Way To Say It: Right Now, The Celtics Are A Disgrace In Every Possible Fashion

 

    We are still in a global pandemic so I cannot say with a straight face that the trials and tribulations of the Celtics (15-17 overall, 7-12 away) really seems all that important at this juncture. However, this is a Boston sports blog so I'd much rather complain here about our local teams instead of identifying the scary realities of our messed up world. With that said, what the hell has happened to the C's? Tonight, they lost their third straight game, 127-112 to the Hawks (14-18 overall, 8-9 home) at State Farm Arena. To say that Boston was a no-show for the contest would be far too kind. They gave up 72 points in the first half and trailed by as many as 27 points while Atlanta's veteran power forward Danilo Gallinari came off the bench to drill a career-high ten (!!!) 3-pointers as he scored a game-high 38 points. 

    The Hawks finished the season series 2-1 vs. the Celtics and if the playoffs started today, Boston would have to be in the play-in round (two playoff berths for the teams #7-#10 in each conference) since they've dropped to ninth-place in the Eastern Conference. This is the first time that they have been two games under .500 since the start of the 2017-18 season when they lost their first two contests. Since the Celts opened 8-3 in this campaign, they have gone 7-14 in their last 21 games. Is that bad? The team is completely lifeless and nobody besides the fans seems to really care that things have taken such a terrible turn for the worst. 

    I honestly don't know how this will be fixed anytime soon. Their defense is wretched, point guard Kemba Walker can't play back-to-back games (and he is a shell of himself when he does suit up), nobody besides their pair of All-Star swingmen Jaylen Brown (17 points, 5 assists) and Jayson Tatum (13 points on 4-of-20 shooting, 2 steals) can be counted on to do much of anything, the bench is a joke, head coach Brad Stevens' appears to have been tuned out by much of the team, GM Danny Ainge is petrified to shake this up and most of his draft picks lately except for Brown and Tatum have been useless. What else? There is no real accountability on the team and it is sorely lacking in leadership in terms of the players. I really couldn't tell you how a team that has gone to three of the last four Eastern Conference Finals could be in shambles like this. It is stunning to say the least although maybe not when you read the myriad reasons for their struggles that I just listed. 

    Atlanta also entered after playing last night but they weren't fazed by that. Point guard Trae Young (game-high 33 points, 7 assists) boosted his resume in case the All-Star Game needs a replacement player for the East, power forward John Collins had a double-double (14 points, 11 rebounds) while shooting guard Tony Snell added 12 points. Seven Celtics scored in double-digits which is only an indicator that everyone played since there was extended garbage time like you read about. Power forward Tristan Thompson had a double-double (13 points, 13 rebounds) and point guard Jeff Teague (14 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists) made perhaps his final start in the NBA in his old home. Rookie small forward Aaron Nesmith scored 13 points off the bench while point guards Carsen Edwards and Tremont Waters each notched 11 points. 

    Boston has a four-game homestand leading into the All-Star break to try to turn this sinking ship around. They are 8-5 at the Garden as they host the Pacers (15-15 overall, 8-5 road) on Friday (7:30, NBC Sports Boston), the Wizards (11-18 overall, 6-9 road) on Sunday night (7, NBC Sports Boston), the Clippers (23-10 overall, 11-4 road) on Tuesday (7:30, TNT) and closing with the Raptors (16-17 overall, 9-10 road) next Thursday (7, NBC Sports Boston). With the way that the C's have gone down in flames lately, I expect them to go 0-4 in that stretch or maybe 1-3 if they are lucky. Ugh, this terrible team is so depressing these days. How has it come to this? 

In 1st Game After All-Star Break, Celtics Fall To Nuggets 97-90 In Denver

After watching two Celtics-Nuggets games in the last 10 days, one thing is clear: they are very evenly matched and they play entertaining games. Last night, Boston (28-25, 8-16 away) began their five-game road trip after the All-Star Game with a 97-90 loss at the Pepsi Center. The Celts fell to 0-6 on the road this season against Western Conference teams, ouch. Denver (34-21, 23-3 home) avenged the epic 118-114 triple OT loss in Boston on February 10.

The two guys that did by far the most damage for the Nuggets were Ty Lawson (26 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists) and Danilo Gallinari (26 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists). Kenneth Faried grabbed 16 rebounds, Kosta Koufos added 11 points while Andre Miller (11 points) and Corey Brewer (10 points) had double figures off the bench.

Jeff Green led the Celts with a season-high 20 points off the bench. Avery Bradley had 17 points, Courtney Lee scored 15 points, Kevin Garnett put up 12 points and nine rebounds while Paul Pierce was held to 10 points, six rebounds and six assists.

It was a back and forth game, Boston led 22-21 after one quarter and 50-49 at halftime. Denver's strong third quarter (29-20) propelled them to the win as Boston outscored them 20-19 in the fourth quarter.

There are three statistics that show why the Nuggets won this game: they attempted 20 more free throws and hit 11 more than the Celtics, they had six more rebounds (45-39) and scored 10 more points in the paint (42-32). If you asked basketball coaches what are the three biggest indicators of hustle, those would be it.

Hopefully the C's got plenty of rest over the break because they are back in action tonight in Los Angeles (10:30 p.m., CSN) against the Lakers (25-29). Boston beat LA 116-95 at TD Garden on February 7 in a blowout that wasn't nearly that close. The additional storyline here is that this is the final game before tomorrow's NBA Trade Deadline when mercifully all the trade rumors will end. Like everyone else, I have absolutely no idea if Boston will stand pat or make some wild deals.

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This Is Getting Silly: Celtics Pick Up 7th Straight Win, In 3OT Vs. Denver (NBA's Hottest Team)

Two weeks ago when Rajon Rondo was declared out for the season, who could have predicted how these next seven games would turn out for the Celtics? Boston (27-23, 19-9 home) picked up their seventh straight win tonight, 118-114 in triple overtime against Denver (33-19, 11-16 away) at TD Garden in what was the best game of the regular season so far not only for the C's but the NBA as a whole.

Boston hadn't won a triple overtime game since 1999 and what made this extra sweet was that it was against the NBA's hottest team: the Nuggets entered with nine wins in a row. Paul Pierce (27 points, 14 rebounds, 14 assists) notched his eighth career triple-double (second in two weeks) while playing 54 minutes. Kevin Garnett was also excellent with 20 points, 18 rebounds, six assists, three blocks and two steals in 47 minutes. Avery Bradley added 13 points, five rebounds and three steals. The unexpected hero for the Celts was Jason Terry who had a season-high 26 points and three steals off the bench. Jeff Green continues to play well and shut up his early season critics (myself included) with 17 points, three blocks and two steals.

Ty Lawson paced Denver with 29 points, nine assists and six rebounds. Former Knick Danilo Gallinari had 18 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and two blocks, Kenneth Faried added 14 points, 12 rebounds and three steals while Andre Miller (15 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds) and Corey Brewer (13 points, 3 steals) were in double figures off the bench.

Other than Boston starting the game on a wacky 12-0 run, this game was back and forth the whole way as it should be. Lawson tied it at 92 with less than a second left in regulation after driving the lane and getting a floater off the glass. With 23 seconds left in the first overtime, Green tied it at 99 with a 3-ball then Lawson missed a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer. Down three with five seconds left, Pierce tied it at 107 with a 3-pointer in the second overtime. Gallinari missed a layup with one second left. Terry hit the go-ahead three in the second overtime then he laid it in at the buzzer so technically he scored Boston's last five points.

I can't even imagine how tired Pierce, Garnett and the rest of the team are after this marathon (game-time: 3 hours, 4 minutes). There are only two games left before the 2013 All-Star break: tomorrow (7 p.m., CSN) in Charlotte (11-39, 5th in Southeast Division) then against Chicago (30-20, 2nd in Central Division) on Wednesday (7:30 p.m., CSN) at the Garden. He's never done it before but I wouldn't be surprised to see Doc Rivers pull a Gregg Popovich and sit KG and Pierce against the Bobcats. There is no reason to push them hard after tonight's grueling task. Likewise, they should still be able to beat hopeless Charlotte even without them.

UPDATE 2/12: Guard Leandro Barbosa is out for the season after tearing his left ACL in last night's loss to the Bobcats. Ugh, he's the third Celtic to go down in the last three weeks with a season-ending injury. It's a shame too because he had been playing well with more minutes since Rajon Rondo tore his ACL. Boston will need to get another guard to take his spot.

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No St. Patrick's Day Magic For The Celts As Their Comeback Falls Short In Denver

These days it's hard to figure out the Boston Celtics let alone predict what they'll do from game to game. After starting out 2-1 on their eight-game road trip and playing some of their best basketball in weeks, they got blown out last night in Sacramento and then they lost tonight in Denver.

The Nuggets (25-20, 15-11 home) held on for a 98-91 win at the Pepsi Center over the Celtics (23-21, 7-13 road). Let it be noted that on St. Patrick's Day, the crowd was filled with Green of the Boston variety.

You would think that the pressure would be off the C's since the trade deadline was hanging over their heads for months but Celtics GM Danny Ainge decided not to do anything.

Losing to a terrible Kings team, after they had a day of rest, made little sense but falling to the Nuggets-a fringe playoff contender in the Western Conference-on the second night of a back-to-back in high altitude and after a long plane ride were understandable.

Denver doesn't have a go-to guy per se but they get it done with a deep, mostly young roster that plays with energy and emotion. Danilo Gallinari led the Nuggets with 20 points while rookie Kenneth Faried put up a career-high 18 points and 16 rebounds. Arron Afflalo added 15 points and Ty Lawson had 10 assists. Fat Al Harrington scored 11 points off the bench.

Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett (9 rebounds) both had 22 points for the Celtics but Ray Allen (7 points) was invisible. Rajon Rondo (12 points, 16 assists) won the point guard battle against his fellow Oak Hill Academy alum Lawson. Marquis Daniels played 20 minutes (which has to be a season-high) and he looked good with eight points. Avery Bradley also scored eight off the bench.

I actually give Boston credit since they were down 16 points in the third quarter and trailed by 14 (82-68) heading into the fourth before they rallied. Believe me when I say that Denver tried really hard to gag it away. The Celtics cut it to two (87-85) and Allen had a chance to tie it (94-91 with 55 seconds left) with a three but he missed and that was it.

Looking at the numbers, I can't comprehend how this was that close. Denver hit four more 3-pointers (7-3), made seven more free throws (23-16), they grabbed 19 more rebounds (46-27), had three more steals (10-7), 15 more fast break points (21-6) and eight more points in the paint (48-40).

Boston mercifully has three more games (Hawks, Bucks and Sixers) on this neverending trip. Those are all Eastern Conference playoff teams or contenders so they will be tough for the C's. First up is in Atlanta on Monday. In a weird scheduling quirk (crazy I know in this great season), the Celtics haven't played the Hawks yet but then they see them three times in a month. Sweet.

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This is why the Celtics are damn good

There were a million reasons why the Boston Celtics should have lost to the New York Knicks last night at Madison Square Garden.

Shaq and Jermaine O'Neal were out, Rajon Rondo sprained his ankle badly and oh by the way, with Amar'e Stoudemire (39 points, 10 rebounds, 3 blocks) the Knicks (16-10) are a legitimate team for the first time in more than a decade.

New York showed why they came in riding an 8-game winning steak as they led virtually the entire game. However, when it counted (are you listening Bruins?) Paul Pierce (32 points, 10 rebounds) hit a patented jumper over Stoudemire with 0.4 seconds left giving Boston (20-4) a 118-116 win, their 11th straight victory.

Sure Stoudemire hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer but even Spike Lee (who has suddenly reappeared now that the Knicks are relevant again) couldn't possibly believe his new boy could hoist a shot in 0.4 seconds, it's impossible!

So there we go, the Celtics survived and it was thanks to their veteran moxie oozing from Kevin Garnett (20 points, 13 rebounds), Ray Allen (26 points), Rondo (10 points, 14 assists) and Glen Davis (11 points). Even Nate Robinson (9 points) made some plays in his return to MSG, but undoubtedly his most lasting contribution will be the face plant he took after he jumped on Pierce following the Truth's game-winner.

Since they've been down for so long, it is honestly nice to see the Knicks be important again in the NBA. New York is a great basketball city and they deserve a worthy franchise, not the smoldering wreck they've been for the last decade.

Stoudemire's MVP caliber play has led to the emergence of Raymond Felton (26 points, 14 assists) and Wilson Chandler (18 points, 12 rebounds). Danillo Gallinari is also a budding star, dropping all 20 of his points in the second half.

New York led 32-24 after one quarter after a hot start and 58-51 at halftime after Felton's running 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Both teams scored 32 points in the third quarter and the Celts got it done in the fourth quarter (35-26).

The Knicks shot 53.1% to the Celtics' 52.3%. New York hit more 3-pointers (9-7) and they each hit 21 free throws. Boston had four more rebounds (39-35), seven more assists (26-19) and six more steals (11-5).

The only thing that will hold New York back is their allergy to defense. Sure Mike Dantoni's style is fun to watch but when they get to the playoffs, it's been proven time and again that tempo doesn't work (Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors).

Bad news today that Rondo could be out for weeks with the ankle sprain. The Celts host the Hawks tonight in a TNT game.