The Boston Celtics expected to have a three-headed monster entering the 2017-18 NBA campaign. And while the injury to Gordon Hayward altered that outlook, Thursday night showed the Celtics’ dynamic duo still is plenty lethal. Kyrie Irving and Al Horford always were going to need some time to develop chemistry, but it appears the two stars are well ahead of schedule after they combined for 51 points in the C’s 96-89 win over the Milwaukee Bucks at BMO Bradley Center. For the first time this season, Irving looked like the “Uncle Drew” from Cleveland, as he showed a variety of offensive moves, including a devastating crossover on Giannis Antetoko... NESN.com
Tag: Al Horford
Celtics Save $8 Million In Cap Space By Waiving Center Tyler Zeller
The Boston Celtics needed to clear cap space as they try to make a big splash in free agency, and Tyler Zeller became a cap casualty Sunday. The Celtics announced they had waived the veteran center on Twitter. Zeller, who saw his role reduced with the addition of Al Horford, was set to be paid $ 8 million if he was not waived by Sunday. Zeller spent the past three seasons with the Celtics after coming over from the Clevland Cavaliers in a three-team trade with the Brooklyn Nets in July of 2014. The 27-year-old center averaged 3.5 points and 2.4 rebounds for the Celtics during the 2016-17 NBA season. Thumbnail photo via Jeremy
Four Things Celtics Must Do To Beat Wizards In Game 7, Reach East Finals
by Zack Cox on Mon, May 15, 2017 at 9:55AM 2,577 Share this: TD Garden will host its first NBA Game 7 since 2012 on Monday night as the Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards battle for a spot in the Eastern Conference finals. Here are four things the Celtics will need to do to end the Wizards’ season and book a date with the Cleveland Cavaliers: Hold serveThis is an easy one. The home team has prevailed in every game in this series, with Boston winning Games 1, 2 and 5 at TD Garden by an average of 18 points per game. The Celtics also have history on their side, boasting the best Game 7 winning percentage (.724) in NBA history. They’ve lost three of
Celtics Wrap: Boston Overcomes Slow Start To Top Magic, Stay In First
Share this: The Boston Celtics still are the No. 1 team in the Eastern Conference, although they certainly had to fight for it Friday night. The Avery Bradley-less Celtics overcame a 13-point deficit to beat the lowly Orlando Magic 117-116 at TD Garden. That, coupled with the Cleveland Cavaliers’ blowout win over the Philadelphia 76ers, means the C’s still have a half-game lead atop the Eastern Conference. Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas led all scorers with his 35 points and seven assists. Jae Crowder (18 points, five rebounds), Jaylen Brown (12 points) and Al Horford (12 points, nine rebounds, six assists). Aaron Gordon led the Magic with 32 points and 16 rebounds. With the win, Boston improved to 49-27, while Orlando dropped to 27-49. Here’s
Celtics Notes: Al Horford Shows How Valuable He Is In Win Over Cavaliers
Share this: BOSTON — If you looked at Al Horford’s stat line at halftime Wednesday, you probably would have guessed he was on his way to a fifth straight game of scoring under 10 points. That ended up being true in the Boston Celtics’ 103-99 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers at TD Garden, but it doesn’t tell the whole story of what Horford did in arguably the C’s biggest win of the season. Not even close. Horford finished the game with nine points, but seven of those came in the second half, and he was only one point shy of a triple-double with his 10 total rebounds and 10 assists. Oh, and don’t forget his stellar defense on Tristan Thompson and the Cavaliers throughout the night. “Even at
Avery Bradley’s Lock-Down Defense Just One Part Of Wild Celtics-Cavs Finish
Share this: The Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers played one of the best basketball games of the season Wednesday night, and much of the postgame talk centered around the wonderful on-ball defense of Boston guard Avery Bradley. The veteran guard reminded everyone how dangerous the Celtics can be when he’s on the guard and giving the C’s lock-down defensive efforts in crunch time, matching Cleveland star Kyrie Irving step for step in the final seconds. Bradley is getting all the credit for his one-on-one play, and he certainly deserves a sizable chunk of the praise. His footwork and general sticktoitiveness was borderline mesmerizing, especially when you consider Irving is capable of doing this: Or this: [embedded content] So Irving obviously gets full marks for his ridiculous
Celtics Wrap: Isaiah Thomas, C’s Come Storming Back To Beat Trail Blazers
Share this: Maybe the West Coast isn’t so bad after all for the Boston Celtics. The C’s opened their current four-game road trip with a brutal loss to the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday, and Thursday’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers appeared to be more of the same after the first quarter. But Boston came back from a 17-point deficit to top Portland 120-111 at Moda Center. Shocker: Isaiah Thomas led the Celtics, who were without two of their starters — Jae Crowder and Avery Bradley — with 34 points. Marcus Smart (18 points, five steals, five assists, six rebounds), Kelly Olynyk (13 points, seven rebounds), Al Horford (12 points, five rebounds), Gerald Green (11 points), Terry Rozier (11 points, five assists) and Jaylen