Salutations from the grinԀ as JT gets back to humpin’ the ball!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Celtics ιnjury report: Starter removed for Heat game Thursday

Thursday night’s highly anticipated matchup between the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics will feature a rejuvenated team. Following Monday’s victory over the Mavericks in Dallas, the team reported on Wednesday afternoon that Kristaps Porzingis (right knee irritation) and Oshae Brissett (back spasms) were both removed from the game.

As of Wednesday afternoon, according to Joe Mazzulla, the whole squad was able to use a day off in Miami to practice. In Boston’s nine-point victory over Houston on Sunday night, Porzingis had a career game, scoring 32 points and grabbing five rebounds. But the club has been careful with their star center playing back-to-backs this season, limiting him to just three sets. In his absence, the club has gone a perfect 10-2, with five consecutive victories.

Celtics HC Joe Mazzulla’s humble take on Bucks, Heat moves

As a result of the Boston Celtics’ early success in the 2023–24 NBA season, other clubs are making adjustments to compete with them.

Currently, the C’s hold the best record in the league at 34-10 and are leading the Eastern Conference. The Miami Heat and the Milwaukee Bucks, who also made significant trades before the February 8th deadline, are not far behind.

Terry Rozier, a former Celtic, was acquired by the Heat in a trade on Tuesday, and the Bucks officially hired Doc Rivers, a former Celtics captain, on Wednesday after firing Adrian Griffin.

The current head coach of the Celtics, Joe Mazzulla, fielded questions from reporters regarding the major roster moves made by Boston’s Eastern Conference opponents. According to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe, he was asked directly if these changes were made to stay up with the C’s.

As far as I can see, they aren’t trying to outdo us. We haven’t won, first and foremost. “I don’t see why anyone would want to compete with us,” Mazzulla remarked. The last time we were champions was in 2008. You can’t sаy that we’re the norm. No matter how much others claim to be after us, we’re actually chasing them. We don’t even consider it from that angle. We need to maintain a balanced perspective, recognizing that we are a great team but also that there are other great teams out there. Our focus should be on how we perform against these teams and how we can improve as a unit.

Despite the fact that the Celtics are currently the team to beаt, Mazzulla’s somber reply highlights one thing that Boston is still lacking: an NBA championship banner. In recent years, the C’s have come close to winning it all; Mazzulla was a member of the Green Team’s march to the Eastern Conference Finals last season, but they haven’t been successful in over a decade.

Even though they advanced to the NBA Finals in 2023 and eliminated the Celtics in the previous postseason, the Heat had gone over a decade without a championship. In 2021, the Bucks finally broke their championship drought of 40 years. Since then, no team has been able to reach the promised land.But if there’s one thing all those teams have shown, it’s how much they want another championship. With the acquisition of seven-time All-Star Damian Lillard, the Milwaukee Bucks made a huge move in the offseason, while the Miami Heat finally shuffled their lineup with the Terry Rozier trade, and the Boston Celtics could have had the most eventful summer in NBA history. To acquire Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday, the Boston Celtics’ front staff traded for a number of players, including heavyweight Robert Williams, veteran guard Marcus Smart, and Malcolm Brogdon, who was named the league’s sixth most valuable player.