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Celtics President Brad Stevens will trust the process for next season: ‘We have an incredibly resilient group’ – Basketball Insiders

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During his 2022/23 campaign assessment, Celtics President of Basketball Operations Brad Stevens says he will trust this team’s process into the upcoming season. This means his objectives are to keep Joe Mazzulla in his position as head coach, bolster the staff, and maintain the roster’s core intact. 

So, for the most part, the front office’s leader seemed satisfied with the results of this tournament. Despite the struggles of the last-second coaching change, the squad got off to a 21-5 start of the campaign and led the league as the top seed for most of the regular season.

The team was also the second-best in both offensive and defensive ratings, but Stevens did show remorse on how they weren’t able to maintain this high standard during the Eastern Conference Final clash against the Heat.

“We have an incredibly resilient group,” Stevens claimed with pride. “They’re tough, with their backs against the wall they are amazing. At the same time, we came up short.”

One of the most outstanding takes for the team’s President was how his squad played under pressure, especially as they almost produced a never-seen-before historic comeback against Miami, recovering from a 3-0 deficit and tying the series.

“It’s about putting that full 48 together, and that’s shared results,” he assured. “That’s on all of us. It’s not just coaches, it’s not just players; I look at how can I help everybody do that better, so we all play a role in that and we all have to play better for 48 minutes if we want to win, and every game is worth one in the playoffs. We saw what we were like with our backs against the wall. With the exception of Game 7 (against Miami), we were pretty good.”

About Joe Mazzulla, he can’t help but praise the coach after displaying the league’s best basketball after a rough start without former trainter Ime Udoka, who led the team to the NBA Finals last year. However, the current coach made his debut and guided Boston to a 57-win regular season.

Stevens first brought Mazzulla on board four years ago as one of his assistants, and called the 34-year-old a “terrific leader,” who then started his process to one day sit in the head coach’s chair.

“When you consider the position he was thrust into and the overall accomplishments of the group, I thought he did a really good job,” the President said. “When you look at it in the big picture and having a team that was second in offense, second in defense, won 57 games and (had) a chance to go to the NBA Finals on your home court, there’s a lot of direction and organization that goes into that.”

Stevens mentioned the importance of keeping the squad’s core for the next season, but bolster the staff

Even though their offseason just started this week, President Brad Stevens has no time to lose and is beginning to develop the team’s grand scheme for the upcoming campaign.

“I always needed a whole summer of planning,” he said. “A whole summer of thinking and organizing thoughts and being able to catch yourself ready to emphasize what you want to emphasize on a daily basis.”

For now, the continuity of players like Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Marcus Smart is fundamental, as they’ve been together for six full seasons now. The rest of the squad has been there for a long time too, as Robert Williams just completed his fifth competition in Boston and Al Horford for five of the last seven.

“At the end of the day, we love our foundation, we love our core and that’s really our focus and priority,” Stevens said about the team who has appeared in five trips to the Eastern Conference Finals in the last seven years.



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Brandon Miller hit career-high seven 3s, tied Hornets’ rookie record

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Charlotte Hornets forward Brandon Miller made a career-high seven 3-pointers, tying the franchise rookie record for most in a single game, during Wednesday night’s 118-111 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The 6-foot-9 wing recorded 31 points, six rebounds, one assist, and a block in 35 minutes of action. He also finished 11-of-19 (57.9%) shooting from the field and 7-of-13 (53.8%) from 3-point range.

“I wasn’t aware, I was just happy that we got the win,” Miller replied when asked if he knew about tying the Hornets’ rookie record. “With being on a losing streak, I think a win like this can start something great and we’ll try to build off this.”

Miller drained a dagger 3-pointer with 25 seconds left to secure a seven-point lead and help Charlotte snap its five-game losing streak. It was his third 30-point game of his NBA career.

Brandon Miller became the third-fastest Charlotte Hornets rookie to reach 1,000 career points

“He was big,” Hornets coach Steve Clifford said of Charlotte’s No. 2 overall pick in last year’s draft. “He made big plays, and he got going in the second half. Another really good performance.”

Earlier this month, Miller scored his 1,000th career point in his 60th career game against the Phoenix Suns on March 15. He became the third-fastest Hornets rookie to reach the mark behind only Alonzo Mourning (53 games) and Larry Johnson (55 games).

Through 65 games (59 starts) of his rookie season, Miller is averaging 17 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 0.9 steals, 2.4 3-pointers, and 32 minutes per game while shooting 43.6% from the floor, 36.8% from deep, and 81.7% at the line.

Additionally, Miller is set to become the 11th rookie in NBA history to average at least 15 points and two 3-pointers per game in a season.

Miller would join Allen Iverson (23.5 PPG, 2 3P), Stephen Curry (17.5 PPG, 2.1 3P), Damian Lillard (19 PPG, 2.3 3P), Lauri Markkanen (15.2 PPG, 2.1 3P), Kyle Kuzma (16.1 PPG, 2.1 3P), Donovan Mitchell (20.5 PPG, 2.4 3P), Luka Doncic (21.2 PPG, 2.3 3P), Kendrick Nunn (15.3 PPG, 2.0 3P), Anthony Edwards (19.3 PPG, 2.4 3P), and Jalen Green (17.3 PPG, 2.3 3P).

The Hornets host the Golden State Warriors on Friday.





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Victor Wembanyama 2nd NBA rookie with 300+ combined stls, blks

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San Antonio Spurs forward/center Victor Wembanyama is the first NBA rookie to record 300 or more combined blocks and steals in a season since Shaquille O’Neal in 1992-93.

Wembanyama, 20, has amassed 222 blocks and 79 steals through 64 games, totaling 301. O’Neal logged 286 blocks and 60 steals in 81 games, combining for 346 in his rookie season.

Per multiple NBA betting sites, Wembanyama is the odds-on favorite to win NBA Rookie of the Year. Sportsbooks are still showing great odds for Oklahoma City Thunder’s Chet Holmgren.

In San Antonio’s 118-111 win over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night, Wembanyama posted 19 points, eight rebounds, six assists, and five blocks in 30 minutes of action.

It was his 21st game with five or more blocks, the most by an NBA player before age 21. O’Neal ranks second on the all-time list with 19 games, followed by Anthony Davis (14), Josh Smith (13), and Kevin Garnett (10).

The 7-foot-4 big man also finished 7-of-15 (46.7%) shooting from the floor, 1-of-4 (25%) beyond the arc, and 4-of-7 (57.1%) at the foul line.

San Antonio Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama leads NBA in blocks, recorded a career-high 10 blocks

Through 63 games (all starts), San Antonio’s No. 1 pick in last year’s draft is averaging 20.7 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists, an NBA-leading 3.4 blocks, 1.3 steals, and 29 minutes per game.

Wemby also leads the league with 217 blocks. He ranks 10th in total rebounds (662), eighth in defensive rebounds (519), 20th in steals, third in defensive box plus/minus (3.0), second in defensive rating (106.7), and sixth in usage percentage (31.8%).

Moreover, in San Antonio’s 122-99 loss against the Toronto Raptors on Feb. 12, Wemby notched 27 points, 14 rebounds, five assists, two steals, and a career-high 10 blocks in 28 minutes played.

He became the fifth NBA player since 1990 to register a triple-double with at least 25 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 blocks in a single game.

It was also the first triple-double with blocks since Clint Capela had 13 points, 19 rebounds, and 10 blocks for the Atlanta Hawks against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Jan. 22, 2021.

NBA sportsbooks show Wembanyama with second-best odds to win NBA Defensive Player of the Year. Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert is the front-runner with 10 games left of the regular season.





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Draymond Green’s first-quarter ejection among fastest in the past decade

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Draymond Green is at it again and has now received his fourth ejection of the campaign. It seems that no matter how much his team has asked him to control his emotions on the NBA floor, he finds a way to impact the game negatively with his low tolerance and aggressive nature. 

This time around, he was thrown out of the match with less than four minutes played on the clock into Golden State‘s clash against Orlando on Wednesday night. It was the forward’s first ejection since his 16-game suspension, which was a special punishment made by the NBA after he hit rival Jusuf Nurkic in the face.

With 8:24 still on the first quarter’s clock, the four-time champ started to argue with referee Ron Acosta after a foul was called on Andrew Wiggins. “It’s unfortunate. He deserved it,” his coach Steve Kerr said after beating the Magic 101-93. “And he’ll bounce back.”

Draymond was called for two technical fouls in a matter of seconds, and earned his ejection. “After a prolonged diatribe, Green directed egregious profane language towards a game official,” explained crew chief Mitchell Irvin, who then said this had nothing to do with the player’s history of misconduct.

Just as the veteran was seen walking to the locker room, his teammate Stephen Curry was visibly frustrated at the situation. Once the contest was over, he recognised how badly they need him on the floor. “We need him. He knows that. We all know that, so whatever it takes to keep him on the floor, for him to be available, that’s what’s got to happen, especially at this time of year,” he said. “I’ve talked to him plenty of times about it, even tonight, and I’ll continue to talk to him as a teammate and a friend.”

Nevertheless, the 36-year-old praised his team for the way they handled themselves on the court and conquered the game. “But it was a beautiful team effort to respond the way we did,” Curry expressed. “We went and took it, and that’s a good sign for us.”

Green didn’t attend the press after the match, but did share his excitement on social media by showing appreciation to his squad. “Great DUB!! Appreciate my dawgs holding it down! On to the next one! BOUNCE BACK!” he wrote on X.

Forward Andrew Wiggins led the Warriors in Draymond’s absence and was recognised by his locker room

Despite Green’s on-court antics earning him an ejection, Andrew Wiggins stayed calm and inspired his team to victory. Just in the first half, the forward dropped 13 points. By the end of the contest, he earned a team-high 23 points, plus 6 rebounds and two blocks over 35 minutes of play.

“Just trying to stay aggressive, trying to do whatever I can to get over the hump and get this win,” he told the press after the win. “We’re desperate. We need every win we can get.”

“He won us the game tonight – plain and simple,” Curry added. “I’m just proud of the way he took that challenge on, that he was assertive and aggressive. Whether he makes or misses shots, I could (not) care less. It’s just the ability for him to just be aggressive and take the shots that he knows he can take, put the pressure on the room, he’s knocking down 3s. Like everything. He had the whole bag working tonight.”

Their coach acknowledged how Golden State came back from a difficult situation. “It was a gutsy effort in tough circumstances, back-to-back, losing Draymond early” coach Steve Kerr shared. “And the guys just competed for 48 (minutes). Obviously, we need every game we could get right now so that’s why everybody was pretty emotional.”





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