Celtics Rumors

Celtics’ Sam Hauser Remains Out For Game 3

May 10th, 2025 at 1:29pm CST by Luke Adams

Celtics forward Sam Hauser will miss a second consecutive game due to a right ankle sprain, the team announced ahead of Saturday’s Game 3 vs. the Knicks.

Hauser, who suffered the injury on Monday and exited TD Garden in a walking boot after Boston’s Game 1 loss, was initially listed as doubtful for Game 2 on Wednesday before being ruled out. He also had a doubtful designation on the injury report for this afternoon’s contest before he was downgraded.

While Hauser isn’t one of the Celtics’ most important contributors, he was the eighth man in the rotation for much of the season and played a regular role off the bench in the first round against Orlando, averaging 14.6 minutes per game across those five contests. During the regular season, he averaged 8.5 points and 3.2 rebounds in 21.7 minutes per game across 71 outings (19 starts), knocking down 41.6% of his three-pointers.

With Hauser unavailable and Kristaps Porzingis limited to 14 minutes due to an illness, head coach Joe Mazzulla leaned more heavily on his starters in Game 2 of Boston’s second-round series, with Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Derrick White each logging at least 40 minutes. It wasn’t enough for the Celtics, who dropped both home games and will be looking for their first win of the series in New York in Game 3.

Hauser is the only player listed on Saturday’s injury report for either team.

Al Horford Would Like To Re-Sign With Celtics

May 10th, 2025 at 12:02pm CST by Rory Maher

As Brian Windorst of ESPN.com writes, the defending-champion Celtics were always going to be faced with difficult financial decisions this offseason no matter how they fared in the playoffs. But if they’re unable to dig themselves out of the 0-2 hole they find themselves in after unexpectedly blowing a pair of 20-point second-half leads, then there will be new questions about the viability of the current roster.

Nearly all of Boston’s core is under contract for multiple seasons beyond 2024/25. Veteran forward/center Al Horford is the team’s biggest free agent, and he will be 39 years old next month.

Horford does not plan to retire after ’24/25 and would like to re-sign with the Celtics, sources tell Windhorst. Whether Boston is amenable to that idea may depend on the type of contract Horford is willing to accept, since the team’s payroll (including luxury tax penalties) is projected to exceed $500MM in ’25/26, per ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

Horford remained productive this season, averaging 9.0 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 60 games, including 42 starts (27.7 minutes per contest). While Horford was a mid-range maestro early in his career, he has extended his range over the years — 68.1% of his field goal attempts came behind the three-point line this season, and he converted 36.3% of those long-range looks.

According to Windhorst, president of basketball operations Brad Stevens and his staff have successfully been able to keep the players’ minds off the impending ownership change. The team also hasn’t discussed potential roster changes with player agents, Windhorst reports, though that obviously doesn’t mean that future moves won’t be in the cards.

Boston will face the Knicks in New York for Saturday’s pivotal Game 3.

Atlantic Notes: Tatum, Sixers Arena, Lottery, Knicks

May 8th, 2025 at 11:00pm CST by Earnest Marshall

The Celtics squandered 20-point leads in each of their first two playoff games, both of which came at home against the Knicks. Boston star Jayson Tatum took full accountability for the two losses, according to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.

“I take full ownership of the way that I’ve played in this series and can’t sugarcoat anything,” Tatum said. “I need to be better, and I expect to be a lot better.”

Tatum has missed 30 shots across the first two games of the series, shooting 28.6% from the floor in those outings. The Celtics as a whole have missed 75 three-pointers in their two games.

“Guys work really hard on their game and their craft and prepare to be in those moments to hit open shots, and it just hasn’t happened the last two games,” Tatum said. “But you can’t lose your confidence.”

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

The Sixers‘ arena will be known going forward as the Xfinity Mobile Arena, effective in September and running through the 2030/31 season, according to The Associated Press. Wells Fargo announced last year it would not renew its naming rights agreement for the building.
No NBA team has had better lottery luck over the years than the Sixers, who have moved up in eight of 18 lottery appearances, according to Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. As Pompey details, no other franchise during that time has matched Philadelphia’s success in terms of spots improved. Ahead of Monday’s lottery, the Sixers are hoping their lottery luck holds, at least enough for them to keep their top-six protected first-rounder.
The Knicks‘ experience has helped them build on a 2-0 lead over the Celtics in the playoffs, Steve Popper of Newsday writes. The team has now won a playoff series in three consecutive seasons and is getting more comfortable playing on this stage in the spring. “I don’t think we even know what we’re capable of,” Josh Hart said after Game 2. “We have to continue to build. We have to continue to put together a full game. I think that’s something that we haven’t done during the course of these playoffs. We get leads. We surrender leads. We come back from big leads. We’ve got to figure out a complete game and that can answer some of those questions.“

Celtics Notes: Game 2 Loss, Porzingis, Horford, Tatum, Holiday

May 8th, 2025 at 11:00am CST by Luke Adams

After going 4-0 against the Knicks during the regular season with an average margin of victory of 16.3 points per contest, the Celtics built 20-point leads in each of the first two games of their second-round playoff series vs. New York before improbably losing both of them.

“Two games we’re up 20 points somehow end up not with wins is inexcusable,” Celtics wing Jaylen Brown said after Wednesday’s Game 2 loss, per Brian Windhorst of ESPN. “Obviously being down two, it sucks.”

No NBA team had a better regular season record in “clutch” games than Boston’s 24-11 (.686) mark. However, the fourth quarter has been a disaster for the Celtics through two games of the conference semifinals. As Windhorst details, the team missed 14 of its final 15 field goal attempts and was outscored by a 23-6 margin in the final 8:30 on Wednesday. Boston has also made just 4-of-26 (15.4%) three-pointers in fourth quarters through two games.

The Celtics still had a chance to win both games, but didn’t do quite enough, losing in overtime by three points on Monday and by a single point on Wednesday.

“I don’t have the answer honestly, I don’t have the answer,” Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis said. “Just a little bit of execution here and there. There’s a couple missed shots here and there. A couple things go their way and it just adds up and it’s this result.”

Here’s more on the reeling Celtics as they prepare for the series to head to New York:

Porzingis continues to be plagued by the illness that cost him eight consecutive games in February and March and five additional games during the last few weeks of the regular season. He played just 14 minutes on Wednesday and wasn’t part of the Celtics’ starting or closing lineups. “I don’t know how to call it, but I’m just not feeling my best, not feeling my best at all,” he said after the game, according to Windhorst. “It just kills me inside that it’s happening in this moment. But who cares? Nobody feels sorry for us, sorry for me and we have to keep going.”
As Matt Ehalt of The New York Post writes, the Celtics had to overextend Al Horford in Porzingis’ absence — the veteran big man played the entire fourth quarter on Wednesday and had trouble handling Karl-Anthony Towns in the post over the course of the night, notes Brian Robb of MassLive. Horford was just 2-of-11 from the floor and the Celtics were a -11 when he was on the court.
Celtics All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum has struggled mightily with his shot through two games, making only 12-of-41 field goals (29.3%) and 5-of-20 three-pointers (25.0%) while committing eight turnovers, including one on the final possession of Game 2. According to Windhorst, Tatum didn’t speak to the media after Wednesday’s loss because the arena had to be evacuated due to a fire alarm.
Ahead of Game 2, Celtics guard Jrue Holiday earned another end-of-season honor, receiving the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Trophy as the NBA’s Social Justice Champion for 2024/25. The award recognizes a player who advances Abdul-Jabbar’s mission “to engage, empower and drive equality for individuals and groups who have been historically disadvantaged.” Holiday, who also won the NBA’s Sportsmanship award last week, beat out four other finalists for the Social Justice award, as detailed in a press release from the league.

Knicks Notes: Defense, Hart, Boston, Robinson

May 7th, 2025 at 6:45pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau made a major defensive adjustment during the first game of New York’s ongoing series against the Celtics, per Zach Braziller of The New York Post (subscriber link).

The Knicks opted to frequently switch on pick-and-rolls, a shift from their regular season approach to those coverages. It threw the reigning champs out of rhythm, as Braziller observes, and has the Celtics back on their heels as they look for their first home win of the series.

New York survived Game 1, in Boston, with a 108-105 upset in overtime.

The pick-and-roll change has led to All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns being consistently switched onto ball-handlers, write Fred Katz and Jared Weiss of The Athletic. The club’s stated plan with this approach was to combat the Celtics’ outside shooting.

“(When) switching, (you’re) trying to take away some of their threes: catch-and-shoot, pick-and-pop threes,” guard Josh Hart said. “(We are) making sure when we do switch that the guy is not on an island. He has two, three (teammates) behind him ready to help, ready to step up, and just make it difficult for them.”

It worked: Boston, the most prolific three-point shooting team of the regular season, shot just 15-for-60 from long range.

There’s more out of New York:

Hart was a major X-factor for the Knicks during that surprise Game 1 road win, notes Jared Schwartz of The New York Post. The veteran forward helped New York erase a 20-point early deficit by keying a critical 31-11 second quarter run. “I think for me it’s always how can I find a way to spark this team,” Hart said. “Whether that’s knocking down a shot, making a defensive play, a rebound, you know, pushing in transition, getting an offensive rebound for an extra shot… That’s just kind of what I’m trying to find throughout the game, especially when you go down by double digits, you go down by 20. You’re just trying to find something to spark that team.” The 6’4″ swingman notched a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double, while also recording three assists and two steals, in 45 minutes of action.
In Game 1, Boston frequently took to fouling Knicks center Mitchell Robinson in an effort to stop plays and reclaim the ball, figuring his career 52.2% free throw shooting was worth the risk. He went just 3-of-10 from the line in Game 1. According to James L. Edwards III of The Athletic, it represents the opposition’s respect for how dangerous Robinson can be when he’s not a foul-shooting liability. Robinson’s post defense and per-minute rebounding make him a lethal contributor for New York. “I think he was a plus-13 when on the floor,” Thibodeau said of Robinson. “The reason they’re doing it is to try and get him off the floor. He gives us the ability to switch more but also rim protect and rebound. If they’re not in the penalty, then we can lean on him and go from there.”
In case you missed it, Knicks wings OG Anunoby and Mikal Bridges helped justify the price the Knicks paid to re-sign and acquire them, respectively, with huge defensive nights in Game 1.

Celtics’ Hauser Out For Game 2; Porzingis Available

May 7th, 2025 at 5:26pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Celtics reserve forward Sam Hauser has been downgraded and will sit out Wednesday night’s Game 2 clash against the Knicks, while center Kristaps Porzingis has been upgraded to available and will play, per Keith Smith of Spotrac (Twitter link).

The updates don’t come as a major surprise. On Tuesday, Hauser was considered doubtful to suit up due to a sprained right ankle. Hauser had been spotted leaving TD Garden in a walking boot after Game 1, a 108-105 overtime New York road win on Monday. He had played for all of four minutes.

Hauser, 27, was a major three-point threat for Boston along the wing during the regular season, connecting on 41.6% of his 5.6 triples per night. However, even prior to the ankle injury, Hauser had been shifted into a more minimal role during the playoffs. In Boston’s five-game conference quarterfinal series against Orlando, Hauser averaged just 3.2 PPG and 1.6 RPG across 14.6 MPG.

Porzingis, meanwhile, departed Game 1 in the first half with an illness, and had been listed as probable to play for Wednesday against his former team. Porzingis was only on the court for 13 minutes in that contest. He went scoreless on four field goal tries, but did notch four rebounds and an assist.

According to Celtics play-by-play radio commentator Sean Grande of 98.5 FM Boston (Twitter link), Porzingis will come off the bench for the first time in the playoffs this year, with reserve big man Al Horford starting in his stead.

Hauser Listed As Doubtful For Game 2; Porzingis Probable

May 6th, 2025 at 5:28pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Celtics’ injury report for Game 2 of their second-round series with the Knicks on Wednesday offers a mixed bag.

Key reserve forward Sam Hauser is listed as doubtful due to a sprained right ankle, Ian Begley of SNY TV tweets. However, starting big man Kristaps Porzingis is listed as probable for Game 2 after departing Game 1 early with an illness.

According to Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com (Twitter link), Hauser limped out of the arena on Monday with a protective boot on his ankle. Hauser played just four minutes in Boston’s overtime loss, missing both of this shot attempts. He scored a combined 16 points in Games 4 and 5 of the Celtics’ first-round series against Orlando.

During the regular season, Hauser played in 71 games (19 starts), averaging 8.5 points and 3.2 rebounds in 21.7 minutes per night. He made 41.6% of his 3-point attempts, so Boston, which misfired on 45 of its three-point attempts in Game 1, will be down one of its best long-range shooters if Hauser is sidelined.

Porzingis departed Game 1 after going scoreless in 13 minutes. The Celtics missed his inside presence while giving away a double-digit lead in the second half.

He sat out eight games in February and March due to a viral illness and is apparently still feeling the effects, according to Brian Robb of MassLive.com.

“I think since he came back he’s kind of been dealing with it on and off,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said. “Fighting through it, working through it, doing the best that he can. And I think it was just too much for him in that game. So I didn’t know that was going to happen until I found about it in that game but he had been working through it since he’s gotten back. And he’s done a great job of being available and it was just tough for him to continue yesterday so we’ll see kind of how he handles that.”

Thunder’s Sam Presti Named Executive Of The Year

May 6th, 2025 at 11:43am CST by Luke Adams

Sam Presti, the Thunder‘s executive vice president of basketball operations and general manager, has been named the NBA’s Executive of the Year for 2024/25, the league announced today (via Twitter). It’s the first time that Presti, who has run the Thunder’s front office since 2007, has earned the honor.

Presti, who built the Thunder around a young core led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, and Jalen Williams, made two notable moves last offseason to fortify the roster. He traded Josh Giddey to the Bulls in exchange for defensive standout Alex Caruso and signed big man Isaiah Hartenstein away from the Knicks in free agency.

Despite some injury woes that prevented Hartenstein and Holmgren from suiting up together until after the trade deadline, the Thunder dominated the NBA’s regular season in 2024/25, racking up a league-high 68 wins and recording a net rating of +12.7, one of the best marks in league history.

Oklahoma City ranked third in the NBA in offensive rating (119.2) and led the league in defensive rating (106.6) by a comfortable margin.

The Thunder, viewed as the heavy favorites to come out of the West this spring, remain well positioned to contend for years to come due not only to the talent already under contract but to their collection of future draft picks.

The Executive of the Year award is voted on by fellow team executives rather than by media members.

According to the NBA, Presti received 10 of 30 possible first-place votes and showed up on 22 ballots overall, earning 74 total points. He narrowly beat out Koby Altman of the Cavaliers (six first-place votes; 58 points) and Trajan Langdon of the Pistons (six first-place votes; 52 points), with Rafael Stone of the Rockets (four first-place votes; 38 points) coming in fourth.

A total of 13 executives showed up on at least one ballot, with Lawrence Frank (Clippers), Rob Pelinka (Lakers), Sean Marks (Nets), and Brad Stevens (Celtics) earning the remaining first-place votes. The full results can be viewed here (Twitter link).

Celtics Notes: Shot Selection, Porzingis, Waitzkin, Mazzulla, Stevens

May 6th, 2025 at 10:37am CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics set an ignominious record on Monday in their loss to New York. As Brian Windhorst of ESPN writes, their 60 three-point attempts were the most ever taken by a team in a playoff game, but their 45 three-point misses also represented a new high-water mark for the NBA postseason.

Boston hasn’t been shy this season about firing away from beyond the three-point arc. The team’s 48.2 attempts per game during the regular season were nearly six more than that of second-place Golden State (42.4). After making just 25.0% of their outside shots in a Game 1 loss, they expressed mixed feelings about having attempted 60 three-pointers compared to just 37 two-point tries.

“I look at the process and the shot quality, (and) our shot quality was high,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said. “There were probably eight to 10 shots that could be better at for sure.”

ESPN’s data backs up Mazzulla’s assertion. According to ESPN Research, 45 of the Celtics’ three-point attempts were “uncontested,” but the team missed 32 of those shots. Celtics stars Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum suggested after the game that they probably should’ve tried to get to the rim more often as those misses piled up.

“In those moments when the other team got momentum you can’t just fire up threes to break up momentum,” Brown said, per Windhorst. “You got to get to the free throw line, get to the paint, get to the basket, maybe get an easy two. You hit some free throws and then maybe the next three-pointer feels a little bit better.”

Here’s more on the Celtics:

The Celtics essentially cruised to a title last season, never losing a Game 1 or more than a single game in any playoff series. However, as Jay King of The Athletic writes, Mazzulla predicted ahead of the second round that his team would have to overcome more adversity this time around if it hoped to repeat. “There’s been great teams that have gone down (in series), great teams that have blown leads, kept leads, all that stuff just kind of goes into the nature of the competitive arena that you’re in, and you have to take the good with the bad if you plan on being in it for a good amount of time,” Mazzulla said before the Game 1 loss. “So studying that gives you the perspective you need to get to where you want to get to.”
Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis exited Monday’s game with 7:34 left in the second quarter and didn’t return due to an illness, as Souichi Terada of MassLive.com writes. Mazzulla said after the game that he hadn’t had a chance to check on Porzingis, who went scoreless in 13 minutes of action. “Obviously it impacts the game with his ability on both ends of the floor, and it obviously changes sub patterns or changes the things that you’re able to do matchup-wise and play-call frequency wise, so yeah, I think we felt it,” the Celtics’ coach said of the big man’s absence. “But it’s no excuse. We had plenty of opportunities to do it, and hopefully he’s ready for Game 2.”
In an interesting story for The Boston Globe (subscription required), Adam Himmelsbach takes an in-depth look at the impact that former child chess prodigy Josh Waitzkin has had on Mazzulla. According to Himmelsbach, Waitzkin – who was featured in the 1993 film ‘Searching For Bobby Fischer’ – was quietly hired by the Celtics as a consultant for this season and has become one of Mazzulla’s “most trusted” confidants. “Josh is great at finding certain segments of the game where it either went really well or it didn’t go well and seeing it from a non-tactical perspective,” Mazzulla explained. “It’s more getting into the mind of an individual fighter or performer.”
In a feature story for The Athletic, Jay King explores how Brad Stevens‘ time at Butler helped provide a blueprint for him to build the roster that turned the Celtics into champions. “Brad understands the most important thing in any organization, whether it’s the business world or sports world, is people,” said Zach Hahn, a former Butler guard who played for Stevens. “And he surrounds himself and finds people that live by the same standards that he lives by.”

Community Shootaround: Are NBA’s Top Seeds In Trouble?

May 6th, 2025 at 8:27am CST by Luke Adams

The second round of the 2025 NBA playoffs are off to an unexpected start, with the league’s top three regular season teams all dropping the first game of their respective series.

The 64-win Cavaliers, the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, fell to the Pacers on Sunday, and the No. 2 Celtics followed suit on Monday by losing to the Knicks. In Monday’s late game, the Thunder, who led the league with 68 regular season wins and dominated Memphis in round one, blew a late-game lead to the Nuggets and lost Game 1.

None of the three games were one-sided. The Pacers and Cavaliers were neck-and-neck through three-and-a-half quarters before Indiana pulled away late in the game; the Knicks required overtime to sneak past the Celtics; and the Thunder fell to the Nuggets on an Aaron Gordon three-pointer in the game’s final seconds.

It’s also worth noting that the Pacers are unlikely to make nearly 53% of their three-point tries (19-of-36) on a regular basis, as they did in Game 1. The Celtics probably aren’t going to miss 45 three-point attempts (they went 15-of-60) very often. And the Thunder could have easily won Game 1 if not for some questionable fouling decisions in crunch time.

In other words, the higher seeds may have no reason to panic — it’s not as if their opponents found glaring weaknesses that can be exploited for the rest of the series. Still, the margin for error in a competitive matchup can be slim, and the fact that those three higher seeds have all given up home-court advantage already could come back to haunt them later in the series.

Of the three teams who trail 1-0 in their respective series, the Cavaliers appear to be in the most danger due in large part to their injury situation. Darius Garland has been out since Game 2 of the first round due to a toe injury and is considered questionable to play in Game 2 vs. Indiana. Evan Mobley (ankle) and De’Andre Hunter (thumb) have joined him on the injury report with the same questionable designation after suffering injuries in Game 1.

Still, oddsmakers don’t appear overly concerned about the top seeds just yet. Despite the fact that they’re trailing in their series, the Cavaliers (-230), Thunder (-325), and Celtics (-355) are listed as solid favorites to advance by BetOnline.ag at the time of this writing. By comparison, the Timberwolves are just a -200 favorite against the lower-seeded Warriors despite that series not yet getting underway.

We want to know what you think. Do you still expect the Cavaliers, Celtics, and Thunder to make it through to the conference finals, or have the Game 1 results of any of those three series made you more inclined to pick an underdog to advance?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts.

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