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Kawhi Leonard, Jaylen Brown Named Players Of Week

December 29th, 2025 at 2:43pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard and Celtics forward Jaylen Brown have been named the Western and Eastern Conference Players of the Week, respectively, according to NBA Communications (Twitter links).

Leonard led the Clippers to three wins this past week while posting averages of 41.3 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.7 steals. Leonard erupted for a career-high 55 points against the Pistons on Sunday.

The Celtics went 2-1 last week with Brown averaging 32.7 points on 55.9 percent shooting from the field while also grabbing 6.3 rebounds per game.

Kevin Durant (Rockets), Keyonte George (Jazz), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder) and Nikola Jokic (Nuggets) were the other Western Conference nominees. LaMelo Ball (Hornets), Scottie Barnes (Raptors), Cade Cunningham (Pistons), Josh Giddey (Bulls), Michael Porter Jr. (Nets) and Karl-Anthony Towns (Knicks) were all nominated in the East.

Celtics Notes: Simons, Holiday, Brown, Gonzalez

December 29th, 2025 at 10:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Anfernee Simons said it was odd to find himself in the visitors’ locker room as he made his return to Portland Sunday night, writes Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. Simons spent the first seven years of his career with the Trail Blazers before the Celtics acquired him over the summer in a cost-cutting deal that sent Jrue Holiday to Portland.

“It kind of felt a little weird,” Simons said. “Being a visitor and going to the opposing locker room, coming out of the other tunnel. But it was fun to see everybody that you built strong relationships with in the organization. It was fun embracing the moment and embracing the love … knowing that you made some type of impact here.”

Along with a new team, Simons has been adjusting to a different role. After being a full-time starter with the Blazers for the past three seasons, he’s now a sixth man for Boston, averaging 12.8 points per game off the bench and playing just 23.5 minutes per night. He expected a long future in Portland after signing a $100MM extension three years ago, but he discovered that things can change quickly in the NBA.

“But, obviously, it’s a business at the end of the day,” Simons said. “And at any point you can be here and then somewhere else. So you just have to enjoy each and every moment that you spend. And I think I did that last year. I enjoyed all the moments I had with our whole team, organization, and I won’t regret anything for sure.”

There’s more on the Celtics:

Holiday wasn’t surprised that he was one of the players moved in Boston’s effort to escape the second apron, Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe states in a subscriber-only piece. Holiday recognized that his contract, which pays $32.4MM this season and $34.8MM next year, was too pricey for a team with major cost concerns. “I think we know basketball a little bit in terms of how the money is,” he said. “And how not everybody can stay and we knew there was going to be a change. You just don’t know what the change might be. But I don’t think I speculated or saw what was going to happen or where everybody was going to go. I think when you look at the business side of it, you kind of know that some changes are going to happen.”
Jaylen Brown scored 37 points on Sunday, matching Larry Bird’s franchise record of nine consecutive 30-point games, per Brian Robb of MassLive. Brown has taken over as the team’s primary scorer with Jayson Tatum sidelined by an Achilles injury and is averaging a career-high 29.7 PPG.
In a mailbag column, Robb examines the quick development of 19-year-old forward Hugo Gonzalez, who’s thriving in his rookie season with the Celtics after barely playing with Real Madrid last year. Robb also states that the team might be reluctant to commit big money to a center in the trade market with Neemias Queta playing so well. He cites Nets big man Day’Ron Sharpe as a potential low-cost option.

Celtics Notes: Hauser, Tatum, Brown, Walsh, Queta

December 20th, 2025 at 9:47pm CST by Arthur Hill

Sam Hauser rediscovering his long-distance shot could have a bigger impact on the Celtics than any potential trade before the deadline, writes Souichi Terada of MassLive. After struggling from three-point range for most of the season, Hauser drilled 5-of-6 attempts in Friday’s win over Miami.

“It’s great to see it go down,” Hauser said. “Always. It’s just kind of the way the year’s been so far, but I’ve started like this before in past seasons. So, I’m pretty confident on getting back to where I know I can get to.”

A 42% three-point shooter throughout his career, Hauser was languishing at 34% for the season coming into Friday. Terada points out that Hauser has experienced hot-and-cold stretches before, including a year ago when he shot poorly from beyond the arc for the first month and a half, then topped 42.6% each month for the rest of the season.

“I feel like sometimes shot-making is contagious,” Hauser said. “And once you see a couple guys make a couple, then you make a couple. Then it’s like you just feed off each other’s energy. And sometimes you have quarters like that where it’s just an explosion.”

There’s more from Boston:

Count Jaylen Brown among the believers that Jayson Tatum will return from his Achilles tear and play at some point this season. Brown expressed confidence in his teammate’s recuperative powers in a stream this week with DDG, Terada relays in a separate story. “JT just always recovers,” Brown said. “He always recovers. … He’ll probably break the record for fastest recovery in Achilles history or some (expletive). I wouldn’t put it past him.”
Brown was held out of Saturday’s game at Toronto with a non-COVID illness, per Brian Robb of MassLive. Brown had 30 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in 35 minutes on Friday, but he wasn’t available to talk to the media after the game.
Strong starts to the season by Jordan Walsh and Neemias Queta could cause the Celtics to consider extensions with both players, Robb states in a mailbag column. The team holds a $2.4MM option on Walsh for next season, but that could be declined in favor of a long-term deal that would prevent him from becoming an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2027. Queta won’t become eligible until next season, but Robb believes an extension is possible if he sustains his current level of play.
Walsh played fewer than 13 minutes on Saturday, but coach Joe Mazzulla explained that it was due to an illness he was experiencing before the game, tweets Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe.

Injury Notes: Poeltl, Barrett, Dante, Sixers, Bradley, Brown

December 20th, 2025 at 5:16pm CST by Luke Adams

Raptors center Jakob Poeltl, who has been dealing with a back issue this season, will miss a second straight game on Saturday as Toronto hosts the Celtics, tweets Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca.

“We have a long-term plan for him,” head coach Darko Rajakovic said, “which consists of managing this injury and which consists of building his strength, which consists of him playing through a certain level of discomfort.

“But we’re not concerned at all. It’s just something that we are dealing (with) in the middle of the season. If we were in the offseason and you shut him down for two weeks, he would be completely fine, but it’s something we’re really trying to manage day to day. At this point, it’s not to that point that we just need to shut him down. It’s not that serious.”

Meanwhile, Raptors forward RJ Barrett will miss a 12th consecutive game on Saturday due to his right knee sprain, but he’s making progress toward a return. According to Grange (Twitter link), Barrett has resumed on-court activities. The plan is for him to do live work against coaches in the coming days, then participate in practice and scrimmage with teammates.

Here are a few more injury-related updates from around the NBA:

Hawks center N’Faly Dante may have sustained a serious knee injury while playing in the G League for the College Park Skyhawks on Friday. According to John Hollinger (Bluesky links), Dante was in significant pain after awkwardly twisting his right knee following a rebound and had to be carried off the court. It was the big man’s first game since he entered the concussion protocol on December 2, tweets Kevin Chouinard of Hawks.com.
Sixers center Joel Embiid (illness and right knee injury management) will miss a second consecutive game on Saturday vs. Dallas, while forward Paul George (left knee injury management) has also been ruled out, tweets Marc Stein. George hasn’t played both ends of a back-to-back set yet this season, so his absence comes as no surprise after he suited up for Friday’s win over New York.
Pacers center Tony Bradley suffered a fracture on the tip of his thumb, according to head coach Rick Carlisle, who referred to the thumb as “partially functional” with a splint on it, per Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star (Twitter links). While it sounds like Bradley will remain active, the decision to sign James Wiseman to a 10-day contract was directly related to that injury, Carlisle said (Twitter link via Dopirak). While Wiseman will give the team some additional depth, he’s probably not in NBA game shape quite yet, Carlisle admitted.
The Celtics will be without top scorer Jaylen Brown when they take on the Raptors on Saturday night. Brown, who played in 26 of Boston’s first 27 games, has been ruled out due to an illness, per the team (Twitter link).

Celtics Notes: Chisholm, Brown, White, Christian

December 18th, 2025 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Bill Chisholm was something of an underdog when the Celtics unexpectedly put the franchise up for sale in the weeks following their 2024 NBA championship, Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe writes in an in-depth profile of the team’s new owner (subscription required).

As Himmelsbach outlines, there was initially hope within the organization that Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca, who already owned about 20% of the franchise, would take over majority control of the team, and there were doubts about Chisholm’s ability to raise the necessary capital. But when it became clear that the group of potential buyers didn’t include anyone who could easily outbid Chisholm, he became more confident about his odds.

“It felt like if there’s a unicorn out there, if a Jeff Bezos is in the mix, forget it,” Chisholm said. “But I just didn’t hear that. It was like, ‘I like my chances here.’ The (Pagliuca) thing was a wild card, obviously.”

Chisholm grew up as a Celtics fan and impressed governor Wyc Grousbeck and other team executives with his genuine passion for the team. More importantly, Chisholm’s bid for the franchise came in about $100MM higher than the next-closest offer. It was also $500MM above Pagliuca’s bid, though that offer was fully funded.

The Celtics ultimately decided to go with Chisholm and reached a deal in March of 2025, which included an agreement that he would have until December 31 to fully fund the transaction. Chisholm spent the next few months working the phones to bring in minority investors and raise the capital necessary to finalize the deal, which was officially approved by the NBA’s Board of Governors in August.

The new Celtics owner told Himmelsbach that he would have had to pay a break-up free worth “several hundred million dollars” if he hadn’t fully funded his bid — he’s relieved that it ultimately wasn’t an issue.

“That was my biggest calculated risk of the whole deal,” Chisholm said. “I wouldn’t say it was irresponsible, but it was a risk.”

We have more on the Celtics:

Celtics wing Jaylen Brown racked up 34 points on Monday vs. Detroit but also missed seven free throws in a game the team lost by seven points. He shouldered the blame for the defeat, as Jay King of The Athletic writes. “I’ve got to do better to get my team over the hump,” Brown said. “In my mind, I didn’t have my best game tonight, so that’s on me. Especially in the fourth quarter, just some mindset plays. Foul. Staying down on the shot fake. Had a turnover in the fourth and then just too many missed free throws. Just mentality-wise, mindset-wise, I needed to be more for my team. I wasn’t tonight.”
Informed of Brown’s post-game comments, guard Derrick White said his teammate was being too hard on himself, according to King. “I think that’s kind of what makes him special,” White said on Monday. “He had 30-something (points) and still wants to do better for us, and so that’s what makes him special. He’s probably his toughest critic, and we know that he’s going to bounce back and continue to do special things for us. And so, obviously, this loss isn’t on him. It’s on all of us, and we got his back, but that’s just kind of the guy he is in this and why we love playing with him.”
Jarell Christian, the general manager of the Celtics’ G League affiliate in Maine, is leaving the team to become an assistant coach for the WNBA’s Seattle Storm, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). Christian has past coaching experience, having held assistant positions at multiples colleges, in the G League, and with the Wizards. He also spent one year as the head coach of the Capital City Go-Go (2018/19) and another coaching the Maine Celtics (2021/22).
As the Celtics prepare for trade season, Brian Robb of MassLive.com takes a look at the assets available to the team, where Boston stands in relation to the tax and apron lines, and what the club’s goals should be. Finding another true center figures to be a top priority for the Celtics, who will also likely assess whether it makes sense to try to duck out of the tax, Robb writes.

Jaylen Brown, Jamal Murray Named Players Of The Week

December 8th, 2025 at 4:54pm CST by Rory Maher

Celtics wing Jaylen Brown and Nuggets guard Jamal Murray have been named the NBA’s Players of the Week, the league announced on Monday (via Twitter).

Brown won for the Eastern Conference, while Murray claimed the award in the Western Conference.

Brown, the 2024 Finals MVP, led Boston to an unblemished 3-0 record in games he played from December 1-7. He sat out the Dec. 4 contest at Washington, which the Celtics won by 45 points. The 29-year-old averaged 34.0 points, 6.7 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.0 steal on .538/.471/.889 shooting in three appearances last week (37.7 minutes per game).

A Georgia native who played one season of college ball for California, Brown is well on his way to making his fifth All-Star game in 2025/26. He’s averaging career highs of 29.1 PPG and 4.9 APG while also contributing 6.2 RPG and 1.1 SPG through 23 contests (33.7 MPG).

Murray, meanwhile, helped guide Denver to a 3-1 record last week. The 28-year-old Canadian averaged 29.8 PPG, 7.5 APG, 4.5 RPG and 1.3 SPG on .595/.621/.929 shooting in four appearances (33.8 MPG).

Murray is off to a fantastic start to the season himself and appears well-positioned to make his first All-Star appearance. Through 22 games (35.0 MPG), he’s averaging 25.0 PPG, 6.8 APG and 4.5 RPG — all career highs — with an elite shooting line of .506/.447/.898.

According to the NBA, De’Aaron Fox (Spurs), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams (Thunder), and Murray’s teammate Nikola Jokic were the other nominees in the West (Twitter link). Jalen Brunson (Knicks), Jalen Johnson (Hawks), Tyrese Maxey (Sixers), Michael Porter Jr. (Nets), and Brown’s teammate Derrick White were nominated in the East.

Nikola Jokic, Cade Cunningham Earn Player Of The Month Honors

December 2nd, 2025 at 2:46pm CST by Luke Adams

Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Pistons guard Cade Cunningham are the NBA’s Players of the Month for October/November, earning the honor for the Western and Eastern Conference, respectively, per an announcement from the league (Twitter link).

It’s the ninth time that Jokic has won a Player of the Month award over the course of his 11-year career. He earned it in this case with a superlative start to the season that saw him comfortably average a triple-double – 28.9 points, 12.4 rebounds, and 10.9 assists per game – while leading Denver to a 14-5 record.

Jokic’s shooting percentages were arguably even more remarkable than his per-game averages, as he shot 63.7% from the field and converted 45.3% of his three-point attempts.

The Nuggets star came out on top of a competitive field that included nominees like fellow MVP candidates Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Thunder and Luka Doncic of the Lakers. Clippers guard James Harden, Rockets center Alperen Sengun, Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija, Lakers guard Austin Reaves, and Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards were also nominated for Player of the Month in the West, according to the NBA (Twitter link).

In the East, meanwhile, Cunningham’s Pistons have been one of the most pleasant surprises of the season’s first six weeks. While Detroit was viewed as a strong playoff contender, few NBA observers expected the team to win 16 of its first 20 games and sit atop the Eastern Conference at the end of November.

Cunningham was the driving force behind the Pistons’ hot start, averaging 28.8 points, 9.4 assists, and 6.4 rebounds in 36.8 minutes per game across 17 outings, while shooting 45.6% from the floor and 81.5% from the free throw line.

Raptors forward Scottie Barnes, Celtics wing Jaylen Brown, Bulls guard Josh Giddey, Hawks forward Jalen Johnson, Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey, Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, Heat guard Norman Powell, Magic forward Franz Wagner, and Knicks teammates Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns were also nominated for Eastern Conference Player of the Month, which Cunningham won for the first time in his career.

Luka Doncic, Jalen Brunson Named Players Of Week

December 1st, 2025 at 2:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Lakers guard Luka Doncic and Knicks guard Jalen Brunson have been named the Western and Eastern Conference Players of the Week, respectively, according to the NBA (Twitter links).

Doncic led the Lakers to three wins during the week of November 24-30 while averaging 37.3 points, 10.3 assists and 8.7 rebounds per contest. Those performances, which included a 43-point outburst against the Clippers, increased his league-leading scoring average to 35.1 points per game.

Brunson lifted the Knicks to four wins by averaging 28.8 points and 4.5 assists per game while knocking down 40.7 percent of his three-point attempts. He matched his season high on Friday by racking up 37 points against Milwaukee.

Doncic and Brunson, of course, were backcourt partners in Dallas. Brunson has earned Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors seven times since joining the Knicks, while this is the first time Doncic has achieved the feat since becoming a Laker.

The other nominees in the West were Zach Edey (Grizzlies), Anthony Edwards (Timberwolves), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder), Jamal Murray (Nuggets) and Austin Reaves (Lakers).

Desmond Bane (Magic), Jaylen Brown (Celtics), Tyler Herro (Heat), Jalen Johnson (Hawks) and Pascal Siakam (Pacers) were also nominated in the East.

Celtics Notes: Pritchard, Queta, White, Brown, Tillman

December 1st, 2025 at 10:59am CST by Arthur Hill

After a subpar performance in Saturday’s loss at Minnesota, Celtics guard Payton Pritchard was thankful to have a chance to redeem himself the next day, writes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Pritchard responded with one of his best shooting nights of the season, finishing with 42 points while connecting at 15-of-22 from the field and sinking six three-pointers in a victory at Cleveland.

“I just wanted to come out tonight after a disappointing night before and kind of redeem myself and help the team win,” he said. “Hopefully I can continue this and catch a rhythm. I’m not saying every night’s going to be scoring, but be efficient and help the team win.”

Pritchard carried the offense despite being in foul trouble for much of the game. He made an early statement by drilling his first three-pointer nine seconds into the contest, then contributed 15 points in the fourth quarter as Boston held off a late Cavaliers rally. He helped to secure the 117-115 victory with a pair of late free throws.

“I’m a competitor and sitting in my room last night and this morning, you can either fold and give into it,” Pritchard told reporters before the game. “But for me, today I’m going to come out and give everything I’ve got and not second guess anything. I’m going to treat it like it’s a summer day in the gym, just me.”

There’s more on the Celtics:

Neemias Queta and Derrick White were both given the night off to recover from injuries with Boston playing the second game of a back-to-back and entering a busy part of its schedule, Washburn states in a separate story. Queta has a sprained left ankle, and White is dealing with a right calf contusion. The Celtics have games Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday, and coach Joe Mazzulla indicated that more rotation players could be rested during that stretch. “I think that’s where we talk about playing everybody comes into play and, you know, just relying on the depth of those, especially the young guys,” he said. “So that’s why I think it’s important everyone comes into the game ready to impact. And so that’s the case (Sunday). I think it will be over the next week or so, and points in time throughout the season. So trying to make that a strength of ours, just, you know, by the guys that we have available.”
Jaylen Brown has been frustrated by a lack of free throw attempts, Washburn adds. Brown entered Sunday’s game eighth in the league in scoring at 28.8 PPG, but he was 27th in free throw rate at 6.3 per night. Mazzulla said he supports Brown’s position, but won’t be submitting tape to the league to show examples of non-calls.
With Queta unavailable, Xavier Tillman delivered nine points, six rebounds, three steals and a block in his first start of the season, per Souichi Terada of MassLive. It was a rare appearance for Tillman, who had only played one five-minute stint during the previous 11 games. “X is the ultimate professional,” Mazzulla said. “Whether he plays every game or he misses 10 games, I have a level of trust that he’s going to go out there and he’s going to execute and he’s going to do exactly what we want. That’s really hard to do in this league. You can’t take a guy like that for granted. He works. He’s always ready.”

Injury Notes: Brown, Nembhard, Porzingis, MPJ, Pelicans

November 28th, 2025 at 6:32pm CST by Rory Maher

Star wing Jaylen Brown is questionable to suit up for the Celtics on Saturday in Minnesota, tweets Marc Stein of The Stein Line. Brown, who has appeared in all 18 of Boston’s games thus far in 2025/26, is dealing with lower back spasms.

The 29-year-old has taken on an increased offensive workload with Jayson Tatum out with a torn Achilles tendon. Brown is averaging a career-high 28.2 points per game this season while also contributing 5.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists per contest.

Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:

Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard has been ruled out of Friday’s game against Washington because of a right quad contusion, relays Dustin Dopirak of The Indianapolis Star. However, it doesn’t sound like Nembhard’s injury is serious — head coach Rick Carlisle hopes to have the team’s starting point guard back on Saturday vs. Chicago (Twitter link via Dopirak).
Hawks center Kristaps Porzingis is battling an illness and won’t play in Friday’s matchup vs. Cleveland, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN (Twitter link). While Porzingis has been productive in his first season with Atlanta, availability continues to be an issue — Friday will mark his eighth missed game in the Hawks’ first 20 games of the season.
Michael Porter Jr. has been a bright spot for the tanking Nets, posting career-best numbers in several statistical categories. However, the 27-year-old forward is out for Friday’s game against Philadelphia due to lower back tightness. Brian Lewis of The New York Post asked Friday evening whether Porter’s injury would result in a short- or long-term absence (Twitter link). “Obviously we’re never going to rush him. His health, body, is the No. 1 priority,” head coach Jordi Fernandez replied. “We’re not concerned…We’ll give an update after the game.”
In addition to Dejounte Murray (right Achilles rupture), Jordan Poole (left quad strain) and Herbert Jones (right calf strain), the Pelicans will also be without second-year big man Karlo Matkovic (right calf strain) and third-year guard Jordan Hawkins (illness) on Saturday at Golden State, per a team press release. Versatile wing Trey Murphy III, who is dealing with right elbow soreness, is questionable to suit up against the Warriors.