Formerly Struggling Celtics Beginning to Find their Footing

Gordon Hayward and the Celtics are getting into rhythm, and that could be trouble for the rest of the Eastern Conference.

By Adam Lowenstein (@StatsAdam)

The Celtics’ offense has exploded recently, posting at least 118 points in each of their last three games, all three of which were victories. Only the Celtics have a current streak of that nature in the NBA. For the franchise, Boston has accomplished the feat for the first time since March 1994.

Gordon Hayward was the most valuable player on Saturday’s 118-109 win at the Minnesota Timber-highlighters, as Hayward became the first Celtic since Kyrie Irving in 2017 to attempt double-digit free throws in one contest. Gordon’s performance off the bench was impressive, especially on the second night of a back-to-back. He became just the third reserve in NBA history to score 30 points, grab nine rebounds and dish out eight assists in a contest.

Plenty of Milestones in Sight for the 2018-19 Boston Celtics

By Adam Lowenstein (@StatsAdam)

The Celtics have a very similar roster to last year, but fans hope that the playoff roster rotation is vastly different from the one that fell to the Cleveland LeBroniers in the 2018 postseason.

Before looking ahead to 2018-19, let us rewind to the previous season with some team milestones. The 2017-18 Celtics allowed fewer than 10 offensive rebounds per game for the first time in franchise history.

In addition, the Celtics were the best in the league in defense. Boston allowed the second-lowest opponent effective field goal percentage in the NBA last season, and the team was strong in preventing corner 3-point attempts. Celtics’ opponents attempted just 18 percent of their 3-pointers from the corner, the best mark in the NBA last year.

How Far Can Celtics Fans Expect their Team to Go?

By Adam Lowenstein (@StatsAdam)

With Boston heading into a key Game 2 tonight against Milwaukee, Cleveland facing an early 0-1 hole in its series against Indiana, and the Sixers tied with Miami, it seems like the East might be as up for grabs as it has been in some time.

So, can the beaten and battered Celtics turn this season into a run to the NBA Finals?

Or, can the Celtics at least defend their way to back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals appearances?

What Can We Realistically Expect from the New-Look Celtics?

With Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward in the fold, talent won't be a problem for Boston. But, with so many new faces, chemistry might be.

By Adam Lowenstein (@StatsAdam)

The Boston Celtics will tip off the 2017-18 season in a week's time when they visit Quicken Loans Arena to take on the defending Eastern Conference champion Cleveland Cavaliers. Kyrie Irving will visit his not-so-old stomping grounds and the only NBA stadium that he called home for his first six professional seasons.

The Green has not fared well in Cleveland recently. Though Brad Stevens’ squad had Avery Bradley’s miracle shot fall in to give the coach his only ever conference finals victory, Boston has dropped six of its last eight games at “the Q.”

Do Celtics, Anyone, Have a Chance Against Golden State This Year?

By Adam Lowenstein (@StatsAdam)

Why the Warriors’ Chances at 2018 Title are Still Sky High

While Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks dominate the current NBA news, the Warriors are readying themselves to defend their second championship in the last three years as the NBA’s heavy favorite to win the 2018 Finals.

Golden State is getting the band back together after registering the league’s best offensive efficiency, effective field goal percentage and true-shooting percentage during last year’s regular season. Although they were the Western Conference’s worst squad in terms of defensive rebounding, they were among the league’s top teams on the defensive end of the basketball.

After a Busy Offseason, What Can We Really Expect from the Celtics?

Celtics GM Danny Ainge has been hoarding assets and promising fireworks for years now. Did he deliver this offseason?

By Adam Lowenstein (@StatsAdam)

One year ago, I wrote about how the Celtics, who had just signed Al Horford, were in talks to bring in either Russell Westbrook or Blake Griffin.

We now know that those acquisitions were long shots, but the Celtics’ transaction buzz remains ongoing.

After signing Gordon Hayward and trading Avery Bradley, the Celtics are rumored to be in the market for three-time All-Star, and 2012-13 Defensive Player of the Year Marc Gasol.

After a seemingly successful draft and early offseason, the Celtics are Las Vegas’ third-most likely team to win a title, at 15-to-2 odds for the NBA championship.

However, just like 2016, the Cleveland Cavaliers lurk at 5-to-1 odds for the title, and LeBron’s squad has overwhelming odds at winning the conference. Can Boston get over that hump in the East?

RADIO: The ESPN Layoffs and the Future of Sports Journalism (with guests David Lombardi & Jashvina Shah)

ESPN reporter David Lombardi documented his guest spot on the show with this lovely selfie.

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

This week on "The Local Sports Lunchbox" on WPKZ, I'm joined in studio by ESPN reporter David Lombardi. David and I discuss the recent layoffs at ESPN and Fox Sports, the current state of sports journalism, and the future of the industry, along with our thoughts on how sports, politics and social issues blend together in modern media.

We also welcomed in freelance reporter Jashvina Shah, a woman with experience in multiple sports journalism business models, having written for established sites, startups, and her own subscription-based site for Princeton hockey. Shah is also the host and founder of the new "Stick to Sports" podcast, where she breaks down social issues affecting sports, and society at large. As an Indian woman, Shah shared with us some of the unique challenges she faces in a male-dominated industry, and why she sticks with it, despite those challenges.

For all that, and much more, listen in below!

By The Numbers: Breaking Down the Celtics vs the Bulls

By Adam Lowenstein (@StatsAdam)

When I previewed the first-round Eastern Conference matchups, I picked the Celtics in five games, as if they were “just another No. 1 seed.” However, as Sean Grande points out, the Celtics own the worst scoring margin of any No. 1 seed since the NBA and ABA merged.

Boston climbed to the top spot after the Cleveland Cavaliers faltered in March and April, including four consecutive losses to end the regular season. The race for the top seed could either be described as the ‘tortoise and the hare,’ or simply no one wanting to have homecourt throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Well, either way, here we are in mid-April, and the Celtics are facing the Chicago Bulls in the playoffs for just the second time since 1987. If the 2009 first-round series is any indication, then we are in for a treat when these two teams tip off on Sunday evening at TD Garden.

Your 2017 NBA Eastern Conference Playoff Primer

They've had their struggles, but LeBron James and the Cavs are still the defending champs.

By Adam Lowenstein (@StatsAdam)

Ed. Note- Our Adam Lowenstein move onto his preview of every first round matchup of the NBA's Eastern Conference Playoffs. If you missed his Western Conference Primer, you can find that here.

#1 Boston Celtics vs. #8 Chicago Bulls

For the first time since winning their most recent championship (2008), the Celtics are the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. Interestingly, the 2009 postseason was the one in which the No. 2 Celtics and No. 7 Bulls met in their first series in 22 years. In arguably the best playoff series of all-time, the series between Boston and Chicago went seven games, including four overtime contests.

Doc Rivers, the Celtics’ big three (sans an injured Kevin Garnett) and Rajon Rondo were the victors of that 2009 series, but times have changed. Rivers is now coaching on the West Coast, Paul Pierce is with Rivers and hoping to double his ring count, Ray Allen and Garnett are retired, while No. 9 is in a red jersey.

Rondo will play his first playoff game against Boston on Sunday.

Your 2017 NBA Western Conference Playoff Primer

Russell Westbrook has been a triple-double machine this year and will (probably) win the MVP, but can he get the Thunder out of the first round?

By Adam Lowenstein (@StatsAdam)

Ed. Note- He's been away for a while, but resident stat expert and NBA guru Adam Lowenstein is back to break down all the first round matchups in the NBA's Western Conference Playoffs. Be on the lookout for Adam's Eastern Conference, and Celtics-specific previews to follow.

#1 Golden State Warriors vs. #8 Portland Trail Blazers

The best offensive team in the league is facing one of the most explosive. Damian Lillard, who scored a franchise-best 59 points on Saturday, and C.J. McCollum, the league’s leader in free throw percentage, are the main men leading the heavy underdog in this series.

Kevin Durant, who made his triumphant return on Saturday, is ready for his first postseason as a part of the Warriors. He and his team are looking to supplant the defending champion Cavaliers, but Durant missed his first nine 3-point attempts after returning. However, the fourth-highest per game scorer in NBA playoff history tallied 16 points, 10 rebounds and six assists in each of his first two contests since his injury, and he then dominated the Lakers for 29 points on 5-for-7 shooting from deep on Wednesday.

Previewing All the NBA's Christmas Day Action

A Finals rematch between the Cavs and Warriors headlines a jam-packed NBA Christmas.

By Adam Lowenstein (@StatsAdam)

For an in-depth preview of the Celtics and Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Christmas Day, you can read my separate preview article here. Now, onto the rest of a packed Christmas Day!

2:30 PM ET, ABC: Golden State Warriors @ Cleveland Cavaliers

The long-awaited regular season rematch of the previous two NBA Finals comes to a television, phone, tablet or computer near you on Christmas Day.

The Warriors and Cavaliers represent two of the top three teams in terms of offensive efficiency and two of the four best squads in scoring differential this season. Golden State’s league-leading effective field goal and true shooting percentages have propelled the Warriors to a gargantuan lead in scoring differential this season.

Merry Celts-mass: Previewing the Celtics vs Knicks

By Adam Lowenstein (@StatsAdam)

With Isaiah Thomas back at the helm, the Boston Celtics have put together a four-game winning streak that included a 17-point comeback at Memphis. Thomas scored a career-high 44 points in the overtime victory against the Grizzlies, and the Celtics will face a huge test tonight against Oklahoma City.

Boston next heads into Madison Square on Christmas, and the Green hopes to have a better result than they did exactly five years ago in the same building.

In the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season, the NBA began regular season play on Christmas Day with the New York Knicks hosting the Celtics, and Carmelo Anthony’s game-high 37 points led the Knickerbockers to a 106-104 victory in the back-and-forth contest. Anthony along with Avery Bradley, who played fewer than 10 minutes on December 25, 2011, are the only Knicks and Celtics players currently on the same roster as they were for the first game of the 2011-12 season.

Is Cleveland Finally Getting Its Due? The Numbers Say Not Yet

By Joe Parello (@HerewegoJoe)

Cleveland went 52 years without a major sports championship, but is now on the cusp of, perhaps, winning two titles in the same year. With the Indians capturing the ALCS last night, they will open the World Series the same night the Cavaliers will raise their championship banner, next Tuesday.

Cleveland's past futility was on full display in the ESPN 30 for 30 "Believeland," which debuted just before the Cavs won the 2016 NBA Finals. The film not only listed the town's numerous on-field heartbreaks (of which there are many), but also the off-field issues that have shaped the psyche of Cleveland fandom. The Browns skipping town and "The Decision" were chief among them, obviously.

But now that Cleveland may be ready to win two titles in one year, a feat that only rival Pittsburgh has achieved in the last decade, is the math finally catching up? Well, sort of, but as you'll see, Cleveland will need far more success just to reach the average performance of a major sports market over the past 50+ years.

Listed below are the 19 other American markets with three or more professional sports teams, and all of their titles since 1964 (the last Cleveland championship before this year). We've then broken it down and listed an "average titles per team" figure for each market over that time span, and averaged out what a given market could have expected to win since 1964.

All this to give you an idea of how far below the mean Cleveland was/is.

Can the Celtics Truly Contend in 2017?

By Adam Lowenstein (@StatsAdam)

We are just 11 months away from the 2017 NBA Finals, and the Celtics could become one of the favorites to the win them in the coming weeks. There have been rumblings from around the league that Blake Griffin and Russell Westbrook could be in green very soon.

Boston’s current NBA championship odds are the fourth-best in the league, with the only significant move being the replacement of young, lumbering zero-time all-star Jared Sullinger with 30-year-old four-time all-star Al Horford.

An Era Ends in Miami

By Justin Sherman (@JShermOfficial)

For years, I’ve visualized what this moment would look and feel like.

The ten minute standing ovation.

The crowd chanting “M-V-P” until their lungs gave out.

Maybe a little confetti, and even more tears.

Sentimental thoughts from number 3, standing on the logo he helped make famous.

Instead -- emptiness, disillusionment and heartbreak. 

The Celtics Poised for an Eventful Draft Night

Will Celtics GM Danny Ainge (left) make Brad Stevens' job easier on draft night? The former Celtics guard will certainly have plenty of assets to work with, as the C's boast eight picks in the 2016 NBA Draft.

By Adam Lowenstein (@StatsAdam)

Thursday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, sixty players will enter the National Basketball Association in the 70th NBA draft.

There are three teams with three picks in the first round – the Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets and Phoenix Suns. In the first NBA draft, the NBA was known as the Basketball Athletic Association (BAA), and the Celtics also had the third pick in that draft.

The only team other than Boston to keep its city and name from the inaugural draft in 1947, the New York Knicks, do not have a first-round pick in the 2016 draft. For the second time in three years, and the third time in the last five years, Carmelo Anthony’s squad is unable to bolster the team’s talent with a selection in the first round.

Neither New York team owns a first-round selection, as the other Atlantic Division teams took advantage of them. The Toronto Raptors’ ninth selection is from the Knicks, and the Paul Pierce/Kevin Garnett trade is still paying dividends for the Celtics, who have improved their record by 23 wins over the last two seasons.

LeBron & the Cavs Make History in Game 7

It was a bad night to be a LeBron hater, as the King orchestrated the first ever comeback from down 3-1 in NBA Finals history, and averaged 29-11-9 throughout the series, with back-to-back 40 point games facing elimination in Games 5 & 6, and a triple-double in Game 7. That's a mouth full, and it earned LeBron his third ever championship, and third Finals MVP, where he was a unanimous selection.

By Andy Dougherty (@AndyDougherty10)

Finally a close game! It had been over a month since the last NBA game decided by five points or fewer, but what better time for a nail-biter than Game 7 of the NBA Finals?

After 52 long years, Cleveland has won a major professional sports championship, as the Cavs edged Golden State 93-89 in front of a raucous crowd inside Oakland's Oracle Arena.

Cleveland's residents can now forget about LeBron James's infamous decision to take his talents to South Beach and focus instead on his triumphant return. James delivered on his promise to bring a championship to his home state, and he more than earned his 3rd career NBA Finals MVP. James took over, becoming the first player in any series to lead both teams in points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals.

Your NBA Western Conference Semifinal Primer

San Antonio's top-ranked defense, led by reigning DPOY Kawhi Leonard, made life miserable for Kevin Durant and the Thunder in Game 1. Can OKC make a series out of it?

By Adam Lowenstein (@StatsAdam)

Ed. Note- Yes, we know that the second round has already begun in the West, but we wanted to wait until all the NBA's playoff matchups were set to post our previews. Deal with it.

Anyways, here are Adam's breakdowns of the Western Conference Semifinals.

#1 Golden State Warriors vs. #5 Portland Trail Blazers

Those who are worried about the Warriors without Stephen Curry, have no fear, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green are here! Thompson outscored the Trail Blazers by himself in the first quarter of Game 1, as he put up 18 points to the Portland’s 17. In addition, Thompson, who finished with a game-high 37 points, accomplished that first-quarter feat on 7-for-10 shooting in just 10-and-a-half minutes.

Your NBA Eastern Conference Semifinal Primer

After carrying Toronto past Indiana in Game 7, can DeMar DeRozan top Hassan Whiteside and the Miami Heat?

By Adam Lowenstein (@StatsAdam)

Ed. Note- We know that the second round has already begun in the West, but we wanted to wait until all the NBA's playoff matchups were set to post our previews. Deal with it.

Anyways, here are Adam's breakdowns of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

#1 Cleveland Cavaliers vs. #4 Atlanta Hawks

After sweeping the Detroit Pistons in arguably the closest four-game, best-of-seven, series in NBA history, the Cavaliers are well on their way to consecutive Eastern Conference titles.

Although the Cavaliers are under a different head coach this postseason, they have a stronger, healthier roster in 2016. Of course, they have LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, but Kevin Love seems to be the x-factor.

Game 5 Was Ugly, But It's Not Over for the Celtics (UPDATE: It is Over)

By Adam Lowenstein (@StatsAdam)

Ed. Note- Yep, it's over. Sorry guys.

When I previewed each of the Celtics’ potential first-round opponents, my verdict for the team Boston wanted face was: “Not the Hawks.” Tuesday’s contest, including Atlanta’s 42-point third quarter in Game 5, was the reason I wrote that.

Coming into Game 5’s 27-point loss, the Celtics’ worst losses of the 2015-16 season were both by 24 points. One of those contests was against the Clippers at Staples Center, and the other was, of course, against the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena.