The Celtics blew out the rival 76ers on Tuesday by a score of 135-87 and now have the best net rating (+5.5) of any team in the Eastern Conference. Currently the No. 6 seed in the East, Boston is just 3.5 games back of the first-place Heat and Bulls.
However, Tuesday’s resounding win was marred slightly by the departure of Marcus Smart, who didn’t return to the game after spraining his right ankle in the second quarter, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN.
The Celtics are assessing the severity of the injury today, but head coach Ime Udoka said on Tuesday night that Smart “rolled his ankle pretty bad,” so it seems unlikely we’ll see him back on the court on Wednesday in the team’s last game before the All-Star break.
“We’ll check him out tonight, obviously tomorrow, see how he feels,” Udoka said after the win, per Bontemps. “Didn’t look very good walking out, but we’ll see.”
Here’s more on the Celtics:
- Speaking to reporters after being traded back to the Celtics following a brief stint with the Rockets, center Daniel Theis said it feels good to be back in a familiar spot. “I wouldn’t say (I was) shocked,” Theis said (Twitter link via Jared Weiss of The Athletic). “I was kind of relieved, happy. Houston just didn’t work out for me as I planned it. If I could’ve been traded, I wanted it to be here.”
- Sam Hauser‘s new contract with the Celtics is a minimum-salary deal that covers next season as well as the rest of 2021/22, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. Boston has a team option for the 2022/23 season and Hauser would be assured of a $300K partial guarantee if that option is exercised, Smith adds.
- The Celtics still have three open spots on their 15-man roster after promoting Hauser and signing Luke Kornet. However, Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston doesn’t think the club should be in a rush to fill them until confirming whether or not Jaylen Brown will be named an All-Star replacement, since Brown’s All-Star bonus would move team salary much closer to the luxury tax line. Even after that, Forsberg isn’t convinced Boston needs to scour the buyout market for more veterans, suggesting it might make more sense to call up a prospect or two from the G League. President of basketball operations Brad Stevens has acknowledged that’s a possibility.
I mean, if they want scoring I’d go Justin Anderson Carlik Jones, and Carsen Edwards, but I’d like to see them give Craig Randall a two-way at least
Call up Carsen!
Is Carson still on the Maine team? He doesn’t show up on their roster.
The process didn’t work. Last night was evidence. If you need Harden and Embiid on the floor for every single minute of the postseason YOU ARE IN TROUBLE.
It brings me joy to watch the Sixers suffer, but I’d prefer to watch good basketball. Last night was like watching someone take a sloppy, greasy, hot, messy dump (doo doo) when they have a hangover. I was apauled.
lol you must have a miserable life man… I don’t get joy from watching any team lose. Usually it’s joy from seeing a team win.
Process worked. What was Philly pre-process? That squad sucked. They made deals they drafted decent. They still sucked. They had one playoff series worth watching between 01 and 17. They are at least a contender every year now. Did anyone expect them to draft two complete headcases No 1 overall? No. Did they draft two traditional big men when the league was going away from that? Yes. They took a chance on Jimmy Butler. He didn’t give the Heat a championship either. Now they are taking a chance on Harden. You can’t get every draft pick right.
Detroit Pistons took Darko and Brown/Dumars would be said to know what they are doing when it comes to roster construction.
Hinkie was an extremist for assets. ColeAngelo tried his best to sabotage the whole thing. Brown had no business playing GM and Elton was a first timer.
Everyone wants a championship and if it’s championship or bust, usually it’s Bust. NBA has been dominated by the Lakers, Celtics, Piston, Bulls, Rockets, Spurs, Lakers, GSW, Heat/Cavs. You have outlier champions like the Mavs, Raptors, Bucks.
You just need to get as many bullets as you can get and hope it works and if you can pivot from a mistake to a better player you jump at it. Getting at least Joel Embiid out of that tank makes it worth it. No one since Iverson was any where near Embiids level.
I’m not a big James Harden guy and a year ago I was still all in with Ben. But he is a clear upgrade over Ben based on last years performance.
The Process worked so well the NBA had do step in and install Coleangelo to make the Sixers run like the other NBA franchises.
Sixers could not figure out how to compete so you gamed the system, lost, renamed losing to the Process, and now just went all in for a guy who has tanked to leave Houston and Brooklyn and who has an extensive record of caring about anyone but himself.
Good luck.
Not to nit pick here but if you’re getting joy from watching a team win, you have to get joy from watching at least one team lose. They are not mutually exclusive. That would be how competition works.
are mutually exclusive*, excuse me
Exactly. I get IMMENSE pleasure from watching Philly fans suffer, yet I LOVE my life too haha!!
Bring back Kris Dunn.. it’s simple. He’s an all defense contender when healthy and this team prides themselves on playmaking. Have him be your 4th or 5th guard
The one pickup that would help this team is a 3 and D wing. It would be a pleasant surprise if the Celtics were able to land a difference maker like this on the buyout market, but we shall see.