Boston Celtics

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Donovan Mitchell's availability will be among the top storylines Wednesday when the Cleveland Cavaliers visit the Boston Celtics for Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

A strained left calf prevented Mitchell from playing Monday, when the top-seeded Celtics took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series with a 109-102 victory in Cleveland. Mitchell was injured in the final minutes of Cleveland's 106-93 loss Saturday in Game 3.

Following Monday's loss, Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff said Mitchell was day-to-day. Mitchell is averaging 29.6 points per game in the playoffs this season.

The fourth-seeded Cavaliers must win Wednesday to avoid elimination.

"They're a connected group that has been resilient all year long," Bickerstaff said. "We've been through a ton with this group, and never once has our group folded when guys have had opportunities or the team needs them to step up."

Cleveland is 12-16 in the games Mitchell has missed this season.

Darius Garland attempted to fill the scoring void Monday with 30 points and seven assists in 40 minutes. Cleveland was 15 of 48 from 3-point territory in the loss.

"He carried the load for us," Bickerstaff said. "He put pressure on them offensively, made them make tough decisions, and then I thought he made the right play. I thought he did a great job of sparking us and carrying us with spirit."

Boston's victory Monday was the first time it won a playoff game by fewer than 13 points this year. Cleveland kept the pressure on by trimming a 15-point deficit to five points in the fourth quarter.

"It's been a while since we had a grind-it-out, tough, back-and-forth, fight-it-out game," Boston's Jrue Holiday said. "So it felt good to really just get out there and execute and know that any type of game we play, we can execute and get the win."

Boston's Jayson Tatum had 33 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and two steals in the Game 4 win.

"We hung our hat tonight on the defensive end," Tatum said. "We made timely shots and even the ones that we didn't necessarily make, some of those kick-out 3s -- just good execution. Sometimes you don't make shots, but how connected we were on the defensive end -- when we had to get stops, we did."

Boston attempted 24 free throws in Game 4, 17 more than Cleveland.

"I'm not going to go into it, but that's ridiculous for the amount of drives that we have," Garland said. "The amount of paint attacks. Just having seven free throws in a basketball game when they're getting 24, I don't know. I'm not one of the refs.

"I'm not one of those guys with a striped shirt, but I know how many times I get hit. I know how many times my teammates get hit, put on the floor and we can't reciprocate it. It's tough."

A victory Wednesday would advance the Celtics to the Eastern Conference finals for the sixth time in the last eight years. Boston is 14-14 in home playoff games over the past three seasons, but 18-7 in road playoff games during that span.

"Now it's time to go back and play well in front of our fans and give them something to cheer for and try to get a win, " Tatum said.

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5/15 Game 5 Preview: Cavaliers at Celtics

The Boston Celtics will seek back-to-back road victories over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday when the teams play Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

After splitting the first two games of the best-of-seven series in Boston, the top-seeded Celtics took a 2-1 series lead by earning a 106-93 road victory Saturday night. That bounce-back victory came after the fourth-seeded Cavaliers won Game 2 in Boston, 118-94.

"We were just trying to get a win, understanding that we didn't play as well as we wanted to in Game 2," said Boston's Jayson Tatum, who tossed in a team-high 33 points during the Game 3 victory. "And it was a great test and opportunity for us to come out and respond and play better and play harder and all those things."

Boston's Jaylen Brown added 28 points in Game 3, when the Celtics shot 51.2 percent from the field and made 13 of their 34 attempts from 3-point range.

"I think we just need everybody to be on the same page and everybody to come out with the right effort," Brown said. "That's 85 percent of the battle right there. We come out, we play hard, and then we're on the same page and the rest will take care of itself. We got enough talent in the locker room to beat teams.

"But if we're not on the same page and we're not playing hard, those are when we get ourselves in trouble. So making sure, before the game at film and shootaround, talking to everybody, touching everybody, letting everybody know that, 'Hey, we're not here to play around.' We didn't come to Cleveland for the weather, so let's go."

After allowing 28 points in the opening quarter Saturday, Boston held Cleveland to 65 points the rest of the way. Donovan Mitchell scored 33 points to lead the Cavaliers but appeared to aggravate a left knee injury in the fourth quarter. Mitchell left the court with 1:19 to play and walked straight to the locker room.

Boston led by nine at halftime at 57-48 then pushed the lead to 23 by scoring the first 14 points in the third quarter.

"(The 14-0 run) changed the game," Michell said. "Give them credit. They came out with a sense of urgency. It's tough to come back from that. They came out with an intention."

Mitchell made 7 of 12 3-point attempts, but the rest of the Cavaliers shot 5 of 24 from long range.

"I just think we didn't hit the same shots we did (in Game 2)," Mitchell said. "For us, just being able to finish ... we missed a lot of shots at the rim, myself included, missed a lot of shots that I think we just got to make."

Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, the Celtics seem to do their best work on the road. Boston is 3-0 in road playoff games this season, and 17-7 in road playoff games in the last three seasons. The Celtics have a 14-14 record in home playoff games during that same three-year stretch.

"It's the playoffs," Brown said. "Anything can happen, especially if you come out flat. We've got to do a better job of that. We can't think like this series is going to go like last series. We've got to come out and have the same defensive effort going into Game 4, and that's just the urgency we need to have."

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5/13 Game 4 Preview: Celtics at Cavaliers

The Cleveland Cavaliers have wrestled home-court advantage away from the top-seeded Boston Celtics.

The next task is not giving it right back.

After splitting two games in Boston, the fourth-seeded Cavaliers look to make a big statement when they host the Celtics on Saturday night in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference second-round series.

After being crushed 120-95 in Game 1, Cleveland thrashed the Celtics on Boston's home floor in Game 2 and notched a 118-94 victory.

Cavaliers star guard Donovan Mitchell understood that it was a huge breakthrough but immediately turned the attention to Game 3 -- suddenly the most important game of the playoffs for both teams.

"It's always good to get a win on the road, but at the end of the day, it's one game," Mitchell said after scoring 29 points. "So it was good to get the win. We did a lot of really positive things. But, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter.

"You got to go take care of home court. It's nice to get this win, but at the end of the day, we got one day to prepare and get ready to protect home court."

Boston is looking to bounce back quickly after it appeared it was going to roll through the series following the dominating Game 1 performance.

Trailing by as many as 29 in the second half of Game 2, after being tied at halftime, was a stunning development to the Celtics.

"Just get ready for Saturday," said Boston star Jayson Tatum, who had 25 points in Game 2. "Nobody was in there defeated, deflated. I mean, you never want to lose, especially in the playoffs.

"There's a lot of things we can learn from, and we get it -- the world thinks we're never supposed to lose. We're supposed to win every game by 25. And it's just not going to be like that all the time."

Mitchell was one of three 20-point scorers for Cleveland on a night in which his club shot 54.7 percent from the field. Evan Mobley had 21 points, 10 rebounds and five assists and Caris LeVert scored 21 points off the bench.

Mobley was a big factor on the defensive end as Boston shot just 41.3 percent from the field. Tatum and Jaylen Brown (19 points) were both 7 of 17 from the field and Derrick White (10 points) was 3 of 11. White scored 25 points in Game 1.

"That's where he's at his best, continuing to protect the paint," Mitchell said of Mobley. "Especially having him guard on the ball, and being able to deter them on their shots and layups. ...

"It's not easy attacking Evan like that, so just having him able to be that dominant, but also give us offensive production, was big time."

Mobley's play in the interior was huge with center Jarrett Allen (ribs) again sidelined. Allen has missed five straight games and is listed as questionable for Saturday.

Boston big man Kristaps Porzingis (calf) will miss his fourth straight game.

The Celtics went an NBA-best 64-18 during the regular season, so adversity was served in a minimum dose.

Brown, though, was highly concerned with the Game 2 loss.

"It was just a bad game," Brown said. "Obviously we didn't shoot the ball very well, but defensively it was an unacceptable performance, and I think that's where we look at that, and I'm the most upset.

"Defensively we gave up 118 points, and on top of that we lost the rebound battle (44-31). So we didn't help ourselves."

Now Boston finds itself in a big battle to regain control of the series.

"We don't expect it to be easy," Tatum said. "These are good teams we're playing, second round of the playoffs. So this is going to be fun the rest of this series and especially come Saturday. We've bounced back plenty of times."

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5/11 Game 3 Preview: Celtics at Cavaliers

The visiting Cleveland Cavaliers look to even their second-round Eastern Conference semifinals series against the Boston Celtics when the teams play Game 2 of the best-of-seven series Thursday night.

The top-seeded Celtics pulled away in the second half of Game 1 to earn a 120-95 victory on Tuesday.

"Obviously there's a lot of areas that we can improve on," Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. "Facing a team like Boston, I think it's good to be able to play them and see them, and then play them again because you're not used to the speed, the spacing, the shooting -- all those things -- until you get up against them. Especially coming from the series that we just came from (against Orlando) that was more of a half-court slugfest. ... We'll learn from it and we'll be better on Thursday."

Cleveland's Donovan Mitchell said the improvement has to start on offense. The fourth-seeded Cavaliers have failed to score 100 points in six of their eight playoff games.

"We got (42) 3s up and we hit 11," said Mitchell, who scored a game-high 33 points in Game 1. "I think the biggest thing now is just being able to hit and knock them down."

Boston received 32 points from Jaylen Brown and 25 from Derrick White, who sank seven 3 pointers.

"I think the most important thing is to win," White said. "I've said before, it doesn't matter if I score zero or score however many I scored (Tuesday). When we win, I'm doing enough."

Cleveland was held to 15 points in the second quarter and trailed 59-49 at halftime. Boston led by 15 points after three quarters and opened the fourth on a 10-2 run.

"I thought we created some open shots," Bickerstaff said. "I think we got some of the looks we were looking for; they just didn't go. I think we missed four or five layups in that second quarter. Typically, we make those. We got some open 3s from guys who we wanted to take them. We'll make more of those as the series goes along."

Brown said it would be a mistake to read too much into the Game 1 result, especially since Cleveland had little time to recover after it advanced with a Game 7 victory over Orlando on Sunday.

"Anything can happen," Brown said. "It's the NBA playoffs. We're just taking it one game at a time and that's all we can control. And we try to come out, be the harder playing team. We stick to our agenda and we let the chips fall where they may. It's gonna be tough for a team to have to beat us four times. But as long as we come out, we execute both ends, we're the harder playing team, I think we'll be fine."

After Thursday, the series shifts to Cleveland for Game 3 (Saturday) and Game 4 (Monday). The Celtics won two of their three games against the Cavaliers during the regular season, but Cleveland won the only game it played at home.

"They came out here and did what they were supposed to do," Mitchell said. "Now we have to find a way to steal Game 2."

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5/9 Game 2 Preview: Cavaliers at Celtics

The Boston Celtics will be without Kristaps Porzingis in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series, not that they will get much sympathy from the Miami Heat ahead of the possible closeout game Wednesday night.

Top-seeded Boston took a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series with a 102-88 victory in Miami on Monday, but Porzingis exited late in the first half with a non-contact calf injury and did not return. He left the arena in a walking boot.

Porzingis was ruled out following a medical examination Tuesday that revealed a right soleus strain. It is the same injury that has kept the Milwaukee Bucks' Giannis Antetokounmpo out of the playoffs so far.

"Nothing changes," Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said. "Bringing the same mindset, intentionality, toughness, details to the next game regardless of who's available. It doesn't matter. There's no difference between the regular season and the playoffs. And all year, we've had guys step in and play."

The Heat lost Jimmy Butler to a sprained right MCL in the play-in tournament loss to the Philadelphia 76ers and Jaime Jaquez Jr. was ruled out for Game 5 with a hip injury. A third starter, Terry Rozier, has been out since April 7 with a neck injury.

Porzingis averaged 20.1 points and 7.2 rebounds in 57 regular season games this season. He averaged 14.0 points and 5.7 rebounds per game in the first three playoff games against the Heat, and had seven points and three rebounds before leaving Game 4 with 2:27 left in the second quarter. Boston was 21-4 this season when Porzingis did not play.

At the time, Boston's Al Horford said of the Porzingis injury: "Definitely concerning for me." Consider him fully concerned now.

Miami, the No. 8 seed, will need a victory Wednesday to avoid elimination and send the series back to Miami for Game 6 on Friday.

"Our guys really want to get this thing back to Miami and have just a great game in front of our fans," Miami coach Eric Spoelstra said after Monday's loss. "Our team wants to play well in front of our fans, so that's the motivation -- to get back here."

Short-handed Miami has had trouble keeping pace with Boston offensively for much of the series. The Heat scored 39 points in the first half of a 104-84 loss in Game 3 and had 36 points in the first half Monday.

Bam Adebayo led the Heat with 25 points, 17 rebounds and five assists in Game 4. Tyler Herro scored 19 points for Miami and Caleb Martin added 18.

"We're going in the lion's den," Adebayo said. "Everyone knows what's at stake."

Jaquez Jr. didn't play in the fourth quarter of Game 4 because of a hip injury and didn't travel to Boston for Game 5.

"I just felt something, felt something give in the hip, and we'll take it day by day as of now," Jaquez said after Game 4. "It was really just my hip, my right hip. I felt something give in the beginning in the third quarter going up for a rebound. I tried to get back in there, tried to give it everything I had."

Jaquez averaged 11.9 points per game during the regular season, and 12.8 points per game in the four playoff games against the Celtics.

Boston's Derrick White scored a career-high 38 points in Game 4. He was 15 of 26 from the field, and 8 of 15 on 3-point attempts. Jayson Tatum added 20 points and 10 rebounds.

The winner of the Boston-Miami series will meet the Cleveland-Orlando winner in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

"We'll just wrap our minds around getting one game in Boston, and figuring it out from there," Herro said.

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5/1 Game 5 Preview: Heat at Celtics

BOSTON, MA&nbsp;– The NBA announced today that Boston Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens&nbsp;has been named the 2023-24 NBA Basketball Executive of the Year. Stevens is the third recipient in franchise history to win the yearly award, joining Danny Ainge (2007-08) and Red Auerbach (1979-80).“I am so thankful to work for the Celtics,” said Stevens. “Our ownership group has given us the support and resources to build this team. The players, coaches, front office, and support staff are amazing - superstars in their jobs across the board. This recognition has everything to do with the team, and nothing to do with any one individual. Great teams require that everyone in the building is fully committed to each other and moving in one direction. With that in mind, we are onto Game 5!”Stevens served as the Celtics’ head coach for eight seasons before being promoted to the team's President of Basketball Operations on June 2, 2021. Since Stevens joined the front office, the Celtics have reached the NBA Finals, the Eastern Conference Finals, and clinched the No.1 overall seed for the 2024 Playoff run. Boston has amassed the most wins in the NBA with a 172-74 regular season record for a 69.9 winning percentage over the last three years.The Celtics concluded the 2023-24 regular season with a league-best 64-18 overall record, marking the fourth-most wins in franchise history and earning their NBA-record 14th 60-win season. Boston went 37-4 at home, marking the third-most wins on the parquet in a single season in franchise history, and its 90.2 win percentage ranked 12th in the NBA since the 1990-91 season.The 2023-24 Celtics proved one of the most prolific offensive teams the league has seen, boasting the best offensive rating (122.2) in NBA history and knocking down the second-most three-pointers in a single season with 1,351 threes. The Celtics led the league in three-pointers per game (16.5), blocks per game (6.6), and plus/minus (+11.3), and ranked second in three-point percentage (38.8%), rebounds per game (46.3), and points per game (120.6).

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Brad Stevens Named 2023-24 NBA Basketball Executive of the Year

The Boston Celtics focused on playing stingy defense against the Miami Heat to swing the Eastern Conference quarterfinal series in their favor the last time the teams met.

On Monday, look for Boston to keep the same mentality as they meet again in Miami for Game 4 of the best-of-seven series. The top-seeded Celtics carry a 2-1 series edge into the matchup against the eighth-seeded Heat.

"Everybody knows how talented we are," Celtics forward Jayson Tatum said. "Can we be the tougher, harder-playing team?

"When you combine that with our talent level, I think it's going to be hard to beat us. But can we start off every game essentially punching first and not reacting? That's the test for us that we have to get up for every single game."

The Celtics won the series opener 114-94 in Boston, led by 23 points from Tatum and 20 points from Derrick White.

The Heat evened the series at 1-1 with a 111-101 victory thanks in large part to 53.5 percent shooting from beyond the arc (23 of 43). Tyler Herro finished with 24 points and made a half-dozen 3-pointers, and Caleb Martin scored 21 points and made five 3-pointers.

Then came Game 3, when the Celtics locked down on defense and won 104-84.

Herro said he and his teammates believe that they can find their footing on offense.

"Honestly, I think the (3-point) shots are still there," Herro said. "I have to do a better job of creating and making the right decisions when I get into the paint, the same with Bam (Adebayo), and just continue to make the right play like I've said this whole series.

"Guys just have to shoot the ball. They are open and we've just got to let it ride and let it go."

Martin agreed. He said he would aim to be more aggressive in Game 4.

"I think there were some times when I passed up shots," Martin said after scoring five points in 37-plus minutes in Game 3. "I felt like I was trying to get the ball moving a little bit more, being a little bit less aggressive in letting it go. So that's on me. I can't be as passive. I've got to let the ball go."

Tatum is averaging 24.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 6.3 assists in the series' first three games to lead the Celtics. Jaylen Brown ranks second with 24 points to go along with eight rebounds and 2.3 assists per contest, and White is averaging 16.3 points.

Miami is led by Adebayo with 21.7 points and 8.3 rebounds per game to start the playoffs. Herro is averaging 16.7 points with 6.7 assists, and Jaime Jaquez Jr. is averaging 14 points.

The Celtics are fully healthy with no one listed on their injury report.

The Heat remain without key players Jimmy Butler (right knee), Terry Rozier (neck) and Josh Richardson (shoulder). Delon Wright, who missed Game 3 because of personal reasons, is expected to be back and available to play.

Brown said he and his teammates could not take the Heat lightly despite their injuries.

"Respecting those guys' capability," Brown said. "They are NBA players and they can make shots on any given night so (we are) treating them accordingly, closing out, just making them uncomfortable."

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4/29 Game 4 Preview: Celtics at Heat

All eyes will be on the 3-point line on Saturday when the Miami Heat host the top-seeded Boston Celtics in Game 3 of their first-round NBA playoff series.

In Game 1 on Sunday, host Boston prevailed 114-94. The Celtics made 22 3-pointers, shooting 44.9 percent from deep.

Miami made just 12 3-pointers, shooting 32.4 percent.

In Game 2 on Wednesday, also in Boston, Miami prevailed, 111-101, tying the best-of-seven series, 1-1. The Heat made 23 3-pointers, setting a franchise postseason record. The Heat shot 53.5 percent from deep. Boston made just 12 3-pointers, shooting 37.5 percent.

Miami's Tyler Herro scored just 11 points in the series opener, shooting 4 of 13 overall. On Wednesday, he scored a team-high 24 points, making 7 of 13 shots, including 6 of 11 from deep.

The Heat also got 21 points each from Bam Adebayo and Caleb Martin.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra called Martin, "the X-factor of X-factors."

Meanwhile, Jimmy Butler, who is out for several weeks due to a knee injury he suffered in the play-in round, is the Heat's spiritual leader. But he has passed the metaphorical baton to Herro.

"(Butler) texted me to take the team and lead the guys," Herro said.

Herro did just that on Wednesday, serving up a game-high 14 assists.

Losing Butler has been a big blow for the eighth-seeded Heat. He helps the team across the board, averaging 20.8 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.3 steals.

He also averages a team-high 7.7 free throws, making 85.9 percent, and it is that skill of getting to the line and converting that is especially valuable late in games.

The Heat are also missing Terry Rozier, who is averaging 19.8 points this season in his two stops, including Charlotte.

Due to those injuries -- and the fact that the Celtics had the best regular-season record in the NBA this season -- Miami was not given much of a shot in this series.

But now the Heat return home with confidence. They also know that they knocked off the Celtics, 4-3, in last year's Eastern Conference Finals.

Then again, the Heat struggled at home this season (23-18). In fact, the Celtics had a better road record (27-14) than Miami's performance at home.

Overall, Boston finished 18 games ahead of the Heat in the standings this year, which should give the Celtics confidence.

Certainly, though, it will help Boston if Kristaps Porzingis plays better than he did in Game 2, when he was held to eight points on 1-for-9 shooting, including 0 of 4 from deep.

For the season, he averaged 20.1 points, and he had an effective field-goal percentage -- which accounts for the value of 2-pointers and 3-pointers -- of 58.9.

In Game 1, Porzingis had 18 points in his typically efficient fashion: 7-for-13 from the floor and 4-for-8 from deep.

"We have to do a better job of getting (Porzingis) the ball in the right spots," Celtics star Jayson Tatum said. "We're going to do that on Saturday."

Porzingis' importance as Boston's third option behind Tatum and Jaylen Brown is clear.

Tatum is averaging 26.9 points for the season and 25.5 points in the playoffs. Brown is averaging 23.0 points for the season and 25.0 points for the playoffs.

Porzingis can punish smaller defenders in the post, and he can pump in 3-pointers in the pick-and-pop game.

But the Heat got rough with Porzingis in Game 2.

"They upped the physicality," Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said of Miami. "They did a good job pushing his catches higher."

Added Tatum: "There's a lot of history between these two franchises. We knew it wouldn't be easy."