<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/10-times-a-nba-team-came-close-to-coming-out-of-a-3-0-playoff-series-hole');   ga('set', 'title', '13 times an NBA team came close to coming out of a 3-0 playoff series hole');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/10-times-a-NBA-team-came-close-to-coming-out-of-a-0-3-playoff-series-hole.jpg"></figure><h1>13 times an NBA team came close to coming out of a 3-0 playoff series hole</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-14T08:12:44-07:00">October 14th, 8:12am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-14T08:12:44-07:00">October 14th, 8:12am</time><address><a href="https://www.facebook.com/spencersee10" rel="facebook">Spencer See</a>Spencer See is a part-time writer at ClutchPoints focusing on the NBA, evergreen content and celebrity lifestyle. He is also a lifelong fan of LeBron James. In his free time, he either goes fishing or watches basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>In NBA history, not a single team has ever recovered from a 3-0 playoff series deficit. In fact, NBA teams are 0-154 when faced with a 3-0 hole in the playoffs. Here’s a closer look at 10 times an NBA team came close to coming out of a 3-0 playoff series hole.</p><h2>1951 NBA Finals</h2><p>Rochester Royals vs. New York Knicks (4-3)</p><p>The first time a team tied the series after being down 3-0 were the Knicks in 1951. Giving up the first three games, the Knicks managed to escape with three slim victories to threaten the Royals. However, Arnie Risen and Bob Davies proved to be too much for the Knicks in Game 7.</p><h2><b>1962 Western Division Finals</b></h2><p>Los Angeles Lakers vs. Detroit Pistons (4-2)</p><p>The Lakers manhandled the Pistons in the first three games thanks to Elgin Baylor and Jerry West. However, the Purple and Gold managed to slip in Game 4, paving the way for the Pistons to steal Game 5. But to finish the series, Baylor and West scored 38 points apiece to advance to the next round.</p><h2>1994 Western Conference Semifinals</h2><p>Utah Jazz vs. Denver Nuggets (4-3)</p><p>Despite keeping it relatively close, the Nuggets found themselves down 3-0 in the second round against the Jazz. However, the Nuggets found their groove in Game 4 by stealing a slim 93-92 victory thanks to a game-winning jumper by Reggie Williams.</p><p>Making the most out of staying alive, the Nuggets continued to fight hard by winning the next two to tie the series. However, the Nuggets ran out of gas in trying to contain Karl Malone’s monster night of 31 points and 14 rebounds in Game 7.</p><h2><b>1996 NBA Finals </b></h2><p>Chicago Bulls vs. Seattle Supersonics (4-2)</p><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/1996-NBA-FInals.jpg"><figcaption>MPS-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Michael Jordan and the Bulls pretty much made an emphatic statement in their pursuit of a second three-peat. Although they dominated the Supersonics in the first three games, Seattle made some crucial adjustments in trying to salvage their championship hopes.</p><p>The return of Nate McMillan and emergence of Shawn Kemp ultimately delayed the Bulls’ fourth NBA title celebration. But more importantly, tapping Gary Payton to defend Michael Jordan gave the Bulls some problems. In the end, Michael Jordan and the Bulls still came out victorious to deny a Game 7.</p><h2><b>2000 Eastern Conference Semifinals </b></h2><p>Indiana Pacers vs. Philadelphia 76ers (4-2)</p><p>Reggie Miller and the Pacers were hungrier than ever to win a championship. But in the second round, they hit a huge road block in the form of the Sixers. Despite taking a commanding 3-0 series lead, Reggie Miller was ejected in the third quarter of Game 4, paving the way for a Sixers victory.</p><p>The ejection forced Miller to serve a one-game suspension in Game 5, which saw Allen Iverson take over with 37 points. Miller’s return in Game 6, however, propelled the Pacers to a dominant 106-90 victory.</p><h2><b>2003 Western Conference First Round</b></h2><p>Dallas Mavericks vs. Portland Trail Blazers (4-3)</p><p>When Dirk Nowitzki and the Mavs put away the Blazers for three-straight games, it seemed like the series was over. However, a third-quarter storm in Game 4 left the Mavericks searching for answers.</p><p>The Blazers managed to flip the script momentarily by winning three-straight games. Despite the momentum, the Blazers failed to make history in Game 7. Nowitzki helped the Mavs avert disaster by pouring in 31 points.</p><h2><b>2007 Eastern Conference Semifinals </b></h2><p>Detroit Pistons vs. Chicago Bulls (4-2)</p><p>The Pistons were dominant in the first two games before getting a much-needed win in Game 3 that saw Detroit finish a 17-point rally.</p><p>But surprisingly, the Bulls managed to solve the defensive riddle to put the clamps on the Pistons’ offense, taking the next two games. However, the Pistons managed to recollect their bearings in time for a crucial Game 6 win led by Rip Hamilton’s 23 points.</p><h2><b>2010 Eastern Conference Finals</b></h2><p>Boston Celtics vs. Orlando Magic (4-2)</p><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/2010-Eastern-Conference-Finals.jpg"><figcaption>Jeff Griffith-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The Boston Celtics were off to a hot start in their hopes of returning to the NBA Finals. But despite going off to a 3-0 start against Dwight Howard and the Magic, the Celtics went from manhandling Orlando to limping their way past the second round.</p><p>The Celtics were hit with an untimely injury bug and Kendrick Perkins picking up a suspension after accumulating some technical fouls. At the same time, Howard’s interior dominance and the Magic shooters were getting hot, allowing Orlando to extend the series to six games. But in Game 6, the Celtics took care of business, 96-84, led by Paul Pierce’s 31 points.</p><h2><b>2013 Western Conference First Round</b></h2><p>Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Houston Rockets (4-2)</p><p>With the exception in Game 1, the Rockets were in striking distance to steal Games 2 and 3. However, the Thunder’s composure late allowed them to take a 3-0 series lead.</p><p>But in Game 4, the Rockets took advantage of Russell Westbrook’s absence and Chandler Parson’s 27-point explosion. They managed to steal Game 4 thanks to Francisco Garcia’s lockdown defense on Kevin Durant before getting Game 5. In Game 6, Durant and Kevin Martin shot the lights out by combining for 52 points and six threes for a 103-94 victory.</p><h2><b>2013 Eastern Conference First Round</b></h2><p>New York Knicks vs. Boston Celtics (4-2)</p><p>In the same year, the series between the Knicks and the Celtics was just as hectic in the Eastern Conference. Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks raced to a 3-0 commanding lead to the series. However, a crucial suspension to J.R. Smith pretty much left New York with Melo as the lone offensive option.</p><p>The Celtics pounced and won back-to-back games. Fortunately for the Knicks, Melo found his groove in Game 6 with 21 points for a much-needed 88-80 win to advance.</p><h2><b>2015 Eastern Conference First Round</b></h2><p>Chicago Bulls vs. Milwaukee Bucks (4-2)</p><p>Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls were heavily favored over an inexperienced Milwaukee Bucks led by a young Giannis Antetokounmpo. In fact, they took control of the series by winning the first three games.</p><p>However, a resilient Bucks team managed to steal Game 4, thanks to Jerryd Bayless’ game winner, and Game 5. Unfortunately, the Bulls brought all the artillery in Game 6, trashing the Bucks 120-66, the largest margin of victory in NBA history for a closeout game. Furthermore, the entire Bulls starting lineup finished in double figures.</p><h2><b>2022 Eastern Conference First Round</b></h2><p>Philadelphia 76ers vs. Toronto Raptors (4-2)</p><p>Joel Embiid and the Sixers pretty much got the jump on the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the 2022 Playoffs. However, in Game 4, Embiid <a href="https://www.nba.com/news/sixers-joel-embiid-thumb-injury-status-playoffs-2022" rel="noopener">suffered a torn ligament</a> in his thumb, which altered the complexion of the series.</p><p>Combined with the struggles of former NBA MVP James Harden, the Raptors managed to win consecutive games to force Game 6. However, the Raptors fell short at home, 132-97, thanks to Embiid’s 33 points and 10 rebounds.</p><h2><b>2023 Eastern Conference Finals</b></h2><p>Miami Heat vs. Boston Celtics (4-3)</p><p>After the Miami Heat took control of the series by winning the first three games, the motivated play of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Derrick White caught the Heat becoming too comfortable with the series lead. In fact, the Celtics managed to even the series capped off by a timely <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-derrick-white-forces-game-7-with-last-second-tip-vs-heat">game-winner by Derrick White</a> to send the series to Game 7.</p><p>Unfortunately for the Celtics, they fell short in pulling off the impossible, 103-84. Jimmy Butler led the way for the Heat with 28 points.  The Celtics became the fourth team to force a Game 7 after being down 3-0.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

13 times an NBA team came close to coming out of a 3-0 playoff series hole

1 fatal flaw each NBA team must fix heading into 2024-25 season

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/celtics-news-jaylen-brown-bittersweet-reaction-guerschon-yabusele-76ers-return');   ga('set', 'title', 'Jaylen Brown’s ‘bittersweet’ reaction to Guerschon Yabusele’s 76ers return');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Jaylen-Browns-bittersweet-reaction-to-Guerschon-Yabuseles-76ers-return.jpg"></figure><h1>Jaylen Brown’s ‘bittersweet’ reaction to Guerschon Yabusele’s 76ers return</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-13T06:35:51-07:00">October 13th, 6:35am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-13T06:38:33-07:00">October 13th, 6:38am</time><address><a>Daniel Donabedian</a>Daniel Donabedian is a beat reporter for ClutchPoints covering the Boston Celtics. He's also covered Villanova men's basketball and Big East basketball, building a strong reputation in the northeast.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>BOSTON — Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown entered the NBA in 2016 alongside Philadelphia 76ers big man Guerschon Yabusele. Although they both find themselves in the league eight years later, their journeys to the 2024-25 season have been very different.</p><p>Brown is currently the longest-tenured Celtic and one of the team’s most vocal leaders. He’s also a three-time All-Star who helped guide the C’s to their 18th title in franchise history during the 2024 NBA Finals, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-jaylen-brown-secures-nba-finals-mvp-vs-mavericks">becoming Finals MVP</a> in the process.</p><p>Meanwhile, Yabusele — selected 16th overall in the 2016 NBA Draft (13 picks after Brown) — struggled to find his footing in The Association. The Frenchman barely averaged over seven minutes per game in his rookie year and saw that playing time shrink to 6.1 minutes per game in his sophomore season. He never shot better than 32.5% from deep and averaged about 2.3 points through 74 games in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 regular seasons.</p><p>Despite these underwhelming statistics, Yabusele battled his way back to the biggest stage in basketball and signed <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/76ers-news-sign-breakout-olympics-star">a one-year, $2.1 million deal</a> with the Sixers in August. Following a five-year absence from the NBA, the former Celtic reunited with Brown on Saturday night <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/3-76ers-takeaways-from-preseason-vs-celtics">during a preseason matchup</a> between the Green Team and the 76ers.</p><p>“It’s great, you know,” Brown said of Yabusele’s return. “We got a chance to talk before the game. [Yabusele] is one of my good friends. We kind of came into the organization together, so to see him back in the NBA — he’s been playing well overseas.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">I asked Jaylen Brown about how it felt to see Yabusele, who was drafted with him in 2016, back in the NBA.</p><p>“He had a great Olympic run, and it kind of led to him being here. Even though he's on the Sixers, it’s all good still. It’s still bittersweet.”<br> <a href="https://t.co/AMSRprGmcj">pic.twitter.com/AMSRprGmcj</a></p><p>— Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) <a href="https://twitter.com/danield1214/status/1845299516401979879?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 13, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>The Celtics welcomed “The Dancing Bear” back to Beantown by demolishing his new squad by 50 points, 139-89. Brown notched a team-high 18 points in just 23 minutes of play, draining seven of his 12 shots from the floor. Yabusele didn’t have as strong an outing, managing eight points in 20 minutes as part of Philadelphia’s starting lineup.</p><p>Boston played most of their regular starters while the 76ers didn’t play any of their key guys, with center Joel Embiid, point guard Tyrese Maxey, and nine-time All-Star Paul George all out. That partially explains why the reigning champions dominated their longtime foes and dropped a whopping 71 points in the first half. Brown made sure to mention the Eastern Conference rivalry after the blowout victory.</p><p>“Even though [Yabusele is] on the Sixers, it’s all good,” Brown joked. “It’s still bittersweet.”</p><h2><b>How did Guerschon Yabusele get back to the NBA?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Guerschon-Yabusele.jpg"><figcaption>Kyle Terada-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Given Guerschon Yabusele’s disappointing stint with the Celtics and his multiple seasons overseas, some might wonder how his NBA homecoming happened. Brown provided a clear explanation to reporters.</p><p>“Thought he had a great Olympic run and it kind of led to him being here,” he stated.</p><p>This summer, Yabusele shined in the 2024 Paris Olympics. The former EuroLeague champion was arguably France’s best player, averaging 14 points on 51.9% shooting from the floor. That’s an especially impressive accomplishment because Les Bleus rostered NBA stars like San Antonio Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama and Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert.</p><p>In the gold medal game against Team USA, Yabusele notched 20 points in 31 minutes and notably dunked on Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Guerschon Yabusele puts a brutal dunk on Lebron James….</p><p> 🎥 <a href="https://twitter.com/NBCOlympics?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NBCOlympics</a> <a href="https://t.co/AdDunya3mZ">pic.twitter.com/AdDunya3mZ</a></p><p>— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheAthletic/status/1822370060863668440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 10, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>The United States still defeated France, 98-87, securing their fifth straight Olympic gold medal. But Yabusele left with a silver medal, a viral highlight, and tons of praise for excelling in the Summer Games. His international heroics caught the attention of NBA executives and allowed him to take his skills back to America.</p><p>The two-time silver medalist landed in the City of Brotherly Love, however, <a href="https://x.com/GwashburnGlobe/status/1821613276171784249">he wasn’t shy</a> about <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-french-olympic-hero-pleads-comeback">his affinity for Boston</a>, per Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe.</p><p>“You gotta tell [the Celtics] to bring me back,” Yabusele told Washburn during the Olympics.</p><p>Even though that comment was likely in jest, Guerschon Yabusele’s return to the league came to fruition. Whether or not he receives significant minutes with the star-studded Sixers remains to be seen.</p><p>As for the Celtics, they’ll look to stay undefeated in the preseason, as they host the Toronto Raptors on Sunday night at TD Garden.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Jaylen Brown’s ‘bittersweet’ reaction to Guerschon Yabusele’s 76ers return

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/3-76ers-takeaways-from-preseason-vs-celtics');   ga('set', 'title', '3 76ers takeaways from preseason vs. Celtics');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/76ers-Celtics-Jaylen-Brown-Jayson-Tatum-Ricky-Council-IV-Jared-McCain.jpg"></figure><h1>3 76ers takeaways from preseason vs. Celtics</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-12T19:05:49-07:00">October 12th, 7:05pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-12T19:07:08-07:00">October 12th, 7:07pm</time><address><a>Sam DiGiovanni</a>Sam DiGiovanni started at ClutchPoints as an associate editor in 2021 and became the site's Philadelphia 76ers beat reporter ahead of the 2022-23 season. He graduated from Marist College in May of 2022 and has written for TheKnicksWall.com and CenterFieldMarist.com in the past.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Philadelphia 76ers continued their preseason with a matchup against the defending champions, the Boston Celtics. Most of the veteran players rested on the second night of a back-to-back and it showed. Boston went up by 22 early on and, unsurprisingly, never looked back. Final score: 139-89.</p><p>Paul George repped his Sixers threads in a real game for the first time yesterday night in a loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. He <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/76ers-news-tyrese-maxey-honest-assessment-paul-george-after-preseason-debut">played very well</a>, though Philly’s porous defense in the first half laid the foundation for a defeat. George, Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Caleb Martin, Kelly Oubre Jr., Kyle Lowry, Andre Drummond, Eric Gordon and Reggie Jackson were kept out but Boston, who hasn’t played since Sunday, had most of its key players on deck, leading to significantly unbalanced lineups. At least Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford were also out and the broadcast didn’t lag out numerous times.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Starting lineups</p><p>Sixers:<br>Jeff Dowtin Jr<br>Jared McCain<br>Ricky Council IV<br>KJ Martin<br>Guerschon Yabusele</p><p>Celtics:<br>Derrick White<br>Jrue Holiday<br>Jaylen Brown<br>Jayson Tatum<br>Luke Kornet</p><p>— Sam DiGiovanni (@BySamDiGiovanni) <a href="https://twitter.com/BySamDiGiovanni/status/1845245969526366456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 12, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Having a back-to-back in the preseason is extra wild but the Sixers still had one all the same. Here are three takeaways from their matchup with the Celtics.</p><h2><b>1. Jared McCain looks like he belongs</b></h2><p>McCain had free reign to take control of this game with so many players above him in the pecking order sitting out. He did that on offense but continued to play hard in all facets of the game. On the list of reasons for Sixers fans to keep watching this game, the rookie occupied the top 10 spots on the list — and legitimately looked really good.</p><p>The Sixers’ first-round pick fought on rebounds, snagging one away on the defensive end from Jaylen Brown early in the game. He boxed out and scrapped for every miss that came his way. He defended as best he could, generating a few takeaways, and never let the scoreboard diminish his effort.</p><p>McCain missed most of his first few looks and shot poorly from deep but he made some nifty buckets in the early goings. He froze Luke Kornet in his shoes to <a href="https://x.com/sixers/status/1845258321332240738" rel="noopener">scoop a layup underneath him</a> and then pivoted around Derrick White to score with his left hand. In the second quarter, serving as the lead guard without Jeff Dowtin Jr. by his side, he got a righty layup from high off the glass to fall.</p><p>The Sixers were obviously under-equipped for this game but even still, they made it very tough for McCain to get anything going. Dowtin did the best job of getting things organized and no one else around McCain looked super composed going at the defense. McCain, with an array of crafty moves, overcame his lack of explosive athleticism and hit some nice shots over the most imposing perimeter defense in the NBA. Despite being hounded by White, one of the best defenders in the sport, he never shied away.</p><p>The final stat line for McCain in 32 minutes: 20 points, three rebounds, three assists, three steals, 9-21 field-goal shooting, 1-8 three-point shooting.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Jared McCain with the crossover plus the TOUGH bucket 😤<a href="https://t.co/BOM9WL9Uy9">pic.twitter.com/BOM9WL9Uy9</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1845276008217444646?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 13, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p> </p><h2><b>2. Guerschon Yabusele will have to get minutes at PF, right?</b></h2><p>Through the first three preseason games, Yabusele has played center. He has been the primary option behind Drummond and started at the five in this game. Nick Nurse has mentioned his <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/76ers-news-nick-nurse-gets-real-on-joel-embiids-new-backup-options">positional flexibility</a> before but he said that he was mostly suited to be a power forward. So far, he hasn’t played at that spot this preseason.</p><p>It would have been harder to get Yabusele minutes at the four with the 76ers’ first- and second-string center out but not impossible. Playing him next to KJ Martin, who has also occasionally served as a small-ball five, doesn’t count. Adem Bona was still active for this game. The chance to overlap their minutes for even a little bit was passed by, as was rolling Yabusele out with Max Fiedler.</p><p>Although Yabu’s floor spacing was valuable at center and he played hard, he doesn’t appear to be vertically imposing enough to be a center for long stretches. Everything about this game was made extra difficult for the Sixers, so no takeaways from this game are immensely meaningful. But even going against a third-string center in Kornet, the Philly defense was very vulnerable down low.</p><p>Against his former NBA team, Yabusele scored eight points and made two of his four three-point tries. After an ugly miss, he came back down and made his next two looks. He makes passes quickly, keeping the ball moving and only looking to get something for himself if he’s in or close to the paint. His performance was decent even if his candidacy to be a small-ball five is becoming flimsier.</p><h2><b>3. Preseason scheduling is so silly sometimes</b></h2><p>NBA teams craft their own preseason schedules in a way that The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov broke down in depth and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5812418/2024/10/10/nba-preseason-schedule-details-process/" rel="noopener">compared to college football</a>. The main question on everyone’s mind coming into this game was raised abundantly after Boston’s starters mowed down Philly’s third-stringers and fringe NBA guys: why would the Sixers schedule a back-to-back in the preseason?</p><p>Not only was this a back-to-back but one that started in Des Moines and culminated in Boston. This road trip also includes a game in Atlanta two days later. That’s a lot of miles in a short time span for even a regular-season game. But Philly <i>chose</i> this schedule.</p><p>The Celtics (and the Denver Nuggets) opened up the preseason in Abu Dhabi before everyone else, so they didn’t want to come right back home and play again. They understandably wanted to reacclimate to the time zone and take a break after the trip. But waiting almost a week for their next game feels like a lot.</p><p>Joe Mazzulla playing his starters into the second half, even with the insurmountable lead, made sense. The Celtics want to ramp them up for the regular season and playing them just one shift might not have sufficed. The team probably didn’t want its players inactive for over a week, so getting in reps against a glorified G League roster was preferable to ramping them back up after so much time off.</p><p>The Sixers played the Timberwolves in the home of their G League affiliate, the Iowa Wolves, which was a homecoming for head coach Nick Nurse. They understandably wouldn’t want their key players playing on the second night of a back-to-back in the preseason. Even if more veterans rested for this game than previously anticipated, Philly intentionally left itself without most of its rotation players. Some new players got the chance to play together but plenty of others watched from the bench in street clothes.</p><p>The most realistic assumption is that Philly wanted a longer look at its fringe players. It wanted to give McCain and other young guys a chance to play significant minutes against NBA competition — the best the league has to offer, at that. In doing so, they got to walk in the shoes of the New Zealand Breakers for a night, watching as the Celtics <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/76ers-takeaways-from-preseason-opener-vs-breakers" rel="noopener">ran up the score in no time</a>. That’s basketball, Suzyn.</p><p>Next up for the 76ers’ preseason is a Monday game against the Atlanta Hawks.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

3 76ers takeaways from preseason vs. Celtics

2024-25 NBA Media Poll: Full picks for MVP, Rookie of the Year, NBA Finals, more

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/celtics-news-jayson-tatum-relationship-joe-mazzulla-deeper-than-championship');   ga('set', 'title', 'Why Jayson Tatum’s relationship with Joe Mazzulla runs deeper than a championship');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Celtics-news-Why-Jayson-Tatums-relationship-with-Joe-Mazzulla-runs-deeper-than-a-championship.jpg"></figure><h1>Why Jayson Tatum’s relationship with Joe Mazzulla runs deeper than a championship</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-11T08:31:23-07:00">October 11th, 8:31am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-11T08:31:23-07:00">October 11th, 8:31am</time><address><a>Daniel Donabedian</a>Daniel Donabedian is a beat reporter for ClutchPoints covering the Boston Celtics. He's also covered Villanova men's basketball and Big East basketball, building a strong reputation in the northeast.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Mini-Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>BOSTON — A championship will always unite Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum and head coach Joe Mazzulla. However, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-joe-mazzulla-urgent-message-jayson-tatum-boston-getting-better">their relationship began long before that</a> and isn’t defined by a trophy.</p><p>During practice on Thursday, Tatum voiced his appreciation for Mazzulla and highlighted what he loves about the young coach.</p><p>“I love Joe to death,” Tatum told reporters. “I admire the way he’s really coming into his own. He truly does things his own way. He’s not trying to be somebody he isn’t. He cares about all of us individually. He believes in us. He works with us, it’s not like he’s talking down to us.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Jayson Tatum spoke about his special relationship with Joe Mazzulla and how they’ve connected over the years.</p><p>“I love Joe to death.” <a href="https://t.co/j4HlES2JQZ">pic.twitter.com/j4HlES2JQZ</a></p><p>— Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) <a href="https://twitter.com/danield1214/status/1844429402924556634?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 10, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Mazzulla, who turned 36 shortly after the Celtics prevailed in the 2024 NBA Finals, has grown alongside his players. In just two seasons at the helm, he’s experienced the heartbreak of early exits in the playoffs and the glory of winning it all. He’s gone through all of this with his two stars, Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Together, they navigated the pressure that comes with Boston’s high, championship-or-bust expectations.</p><p>The New England native may not have envisioned the course of events that led to him <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-boston-joe-mazzulla-decision-ime-udokas-suspension">becoming the head coach</a> of the Celtics. Following an impressive run to the 2022 NBA Finals, former head coach Ime Udoka was suddenly dismissed ahead of the 2022-23 season for violating team policies, creating a massive job opening just ahead of training camp. Despite Mazzulla being far from a household name at the time, Tatum always believed the former assistant coach of the Maine Red Claws (now the Maine Celtics of the G League) was destined for more.</p><p>“He was an assistant coach with us for like two or three years. I could tell he was young,” Tatum recalled. “He was ambitious and hungry. I knew that one day he’d have the opportunity to be a head coach.”</p><h2><b>What Joe Mazzulla means to the Celtics</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Jayson-Tatum-and-Joe-Mazzulla.jpg"><figcaption>David Butler II-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>In his first year in control, Mazzulla helped the Green Team make it to Game 7 of the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals. But, the C’s fell short, losing the must-win contest against the Miami Heat and missing out on another great opportunity for banner no. 18.</p><p>Despite the backlash he received for this postseason disappointment, Mazzulla persevered and stuck by Tatum, Brown, and the rest of his guys, who also faced plenty of criticism for missing the Finals. With a revamped team and the terrific tandem of Tatum and Brown still intact during the 2023-24 campaign, Mazzulla’s men dominated.</p><p>Boston went 64-18 in the regular season and secured the best overall record in the NBA. A stellar 16-3 playoff record was good enough to earn the Celtics their sought-after 18th championship in June, making Mazzulla the youngest head coach to win a title since the legendary Bill Russell.</p><p>He’s not one to take credit though, and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-jaylen-brown-joe-mazzulla-beloved-psycho">his players admire him</a> for that.</p><p>“Man, I love Joe Mazzulla so much,” guard Derrick White announced after becoming an NBA champion. “I’d do anything for him.”</p><p>The respect is mutual, as Mazzulla frequently advocates for his players. For example, when Tatum and Brown were subjected to <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-joe-mazzulla-nsfw-response-divisive-jayson-tatum-jaylen-brown-narrative">the incessant narrative</a> that they have some deep-rooted jealousy for one another, their coach <a href="https://x.com/JaredWeissNBA/status/1796596521762197998" rel="noopener">had their backs</a>, via Jared Weiss of The Athletic.</p><p>“They’ve been handling longstanding success at a high, high level and so people need them in order to stay relevant,” he said ahead of the 2024 Finals. “[The media] should get to know them as people before they talk about that. They’re two of the greatest teammates and players that you could have and it’s been an honor to coach both of them … I love both of them and they deserve better.”</p><p>The New England native will once again be tasked with sticking by his guys during the upcoming 2024-25 season. Per usual, there are championship aspirations in Beantown and expectations from fans, pundits, and plenty of others that the Celtics will contend for another ring. Mazzulla has shown he can handle the noise and thrive in Boston’s winning culture, and he’s eager to prove it for a second time.</p><p>“We want to win a championship every single year,” he declared during Celtics Media Day. “That’s the goal, that’s the standard, that’s the expectation … That’s always going to be the goal.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla discussed his team’s mentality heading into the new season:</p><p>“We want to win a championship every single year.” <a href="https://t.co/QHLc3nwXn6">pic.twitter.com/QHLc3nwXn6</a></p><p>— Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) <a href="https://twitter.com/danield1214/status/1838595104564486280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 24, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Why Jayson Tatum’s relationship with Joe Mazzulla runs deeper than a championship

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/exclusive-matt-barnes-olympics-controversy-propel-celtics-championship-repeat');   ga('set', 'title', 'Exclusive: Why Matt Barnes thinks Olympics controversy will help Celtics championship repeat');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Why-Matt-Barnes-thinks-Olympics-controversy-will-help-Celtics-championship-repeat.jpg"></figure><h1>Exclusive: Why Matt Barnes thinks Olympics controversy will help Celtics championship repeat</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-10T20:08:51-07:00">October 10th, 8:08pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-11T05:01:22-07:00">October 11th, 5:01am</time><address><a>DJ Siddiqi</a>DJ Siddiqi is a features writer for ClutchPoints, with over 13 years of experience covering the NFL, NBA, and NCAA Football. Siddiqi has bylines at Forbes, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report, and Heavy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Exclusive</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Matt Barnes has no hesitation — he thinks the Boston Celtics are the team to beat in not only the Eastern Conference, but the NBA as a whole. The 44-year-old NBA veteran believes the defending champs are the NBA Finals favorites heading into the 2024-25 season. He went on to argue that the 2024 Summer Olympics snub of Jaylen Brown combined with the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/olympics-news-jayson-tatum-brutally-honest-media-hubbub-team-usa-benching">limited playing time that Jayson Tatum saw</a> will only provide even further fuel as the Celtics look to repeat.</p><p>“I like Boston,” Barnes said when asked who are his title favorites during a one-on-one interview. “I like Boston because [Kristaps] Porzingis had a whole offseason to get healthy and Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown got did dirty. Tatum not playing in the Olympics was horrible and there’s no excuse for it. And Jaylen Brown not even getting an opportunity in the Olympics after the season he had, winning Finals MVP was very disrespectful.”</p><p>“So I know those two are going to come out with a chip on their shoulder,” Barnes continued. “I like them in the East — although there’s a couple of other teams. I like Philly, I think Milwaukee’s window is closing with their team as great as Giannis [Antetokounmpo] still is.”</p><p>Despite <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-jayson-tatum-gets-brutally-honest-jaylen-brown-winning-finals-mvp-over-him">winning Finals MVP after leading the Celtics</a> to their first title in 16 years, Brown wasn’t among the 12 selected for the Team USA roster, with role players such as Jrue Holiday and Derrick White selected over him. Meanwhile, despite leading the Celtics with 22.2 points per game during the NBA Finals, Tatum was a healthy scratch for two of the games and only averaged 5.3 points in 17.7 minutes per game.</p><p>Tatum — who didn’t play in the semifinal victory over Serbia and played just 11 minutes in the Final against France — <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/40813393/jayson-tatum-says-limited-role-paris-affect-28-decision" rel="noopener">spoke of the humbling experience</a> shortly after the conclusion of the Olympics, via Brian Windhorst of ESPN.</p><p>“You’re not necessarily worried about fueling me for November or [whenever] the season is, but like I said, it’s something I’m going to take away from this and learn from this experience,” Tatum said back in August. “It’s definitely challenging and humbling at the same time.”</p><p>Considering the Celtics dominated the Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks, in five games with Porzingis limited due to injury and missing two of those games, it’s hard to envision a team unseating Boston if they’re fully healthy.</p><h2><b>Who will battle Celtics in NBA Finals? </b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Mazzulla-Tatum.jpg"><figcaption>David Butler II-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>While Barnes is fully confident in anointing the Celtics as the title favorites and the team to beat coming out of the Eastern Conference, he’s not so sure about who’s coming out of the Western Conference due to the youth movement with the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Minnesota Timberwolves. It’s a big reason why he believes the LeBron James-led Los Angeles Lakers and Steph Curry-led Golden State Warriors — two veterans who led Team USA to a gold medal — <a href="https://rg.org/news/basketball/matt-barnes-prays-on-lebron-james-teaming-up-with-steph-curry" rel="noopener">will be battling for play-in spots</a>.</p><p>“In the Western Conference, it’s young,” Barnes explained. “I think youth is going to be at the top, I think it’s going to be Oklahoma City up there. I think they got a lot better with Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso. They were already No. 1 in the West, I think last year was good for experience. Interested to see how Minnesota acclimates Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo. Dallas, I don’t think Dallas made a lot of moves to get better this year. But they represented the Western Conference and then you can’t forget about Denver. And then Ja [Morant] is back (in Memphis).”</p><p>As Barnes continues to re-iterate, the Celtics are a “safe bet” when it comes to coming out of the East and winning the title.</p><p>“I think it’s going to be an exciting year,” Barnes said. “The one safe bet I can say is I feel like Boston is going to come out of the East and I feel like they’re going to win a championship. I don’t know who’s going to come out of the West yet. It’s up in the air still.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Exclusive: Why Matt Barnes thinks Olympics controversy will help Celtics championship repeat

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/celtics-news-jayson-tatum-wonders-media-members-were-trolling-with-mavericks-nba-finals-pick');   ga('set', 'title', 'Celtics’ Jayson Tatum wonders if media members were ‘trolling’ with Mavericks NBA Finals pick');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Celtics-Jayson-Tatum-wonders-if-media-members-were-trolling-with-Mavericks-NBA-Finals-pick.jpg"></figure><h1>Celtics’ Jayson Tatum wonders if media members were ‘trolling’ with Mavericks NBA Finals pick</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-10T13:29:27-07:00">October 10th, 1:29pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-10T13:30:58-07:00">October 10th, 1:30pm</time><address><a>Daniel Donabedian</a>Daniel Donabedian is a beat reporter for ClutchPoints covering the Boston Celtics. He's also covered Villanova men's basketball and Big East basketball, building a strong reputation in the northeast.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Heading into the 2024 NBA Finals, the Boston Celtics appeared to be the clear favorite. They posted the best overall record in the league and only lost two playoff games prior to the championship round. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-news-celtics-open-favorites-mavericks-nba-finals-odds">Vegas thought they’d win too</a>, yet many media members disagreed.</p><p>Celtics star forward Jayson Tatum <a href="https://x.com/danield1214/status/1844370771210301447?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1844370771210301447%7Ctwgr%5E6e55255935c629738067634eaa602a64b6d52142%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwp.clutchpoints.com%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D3069568action%3Dedit" rel="noopener">was surprised</a> to see a myriad of talking heads pick the fifth-seeded Dallas Mavericks to prevail in the Finals. The five-time All-Star wondered if the rationale for promoting a potential upset was legitimate, per “Starting 5” on Netflix.</p><p>“People have their own opinions,” he stated. “I didn’t know if, for lack of better terms, they were trolling. Slightly disrespectful takes about me or about what I’ve accomplished or what they think I can or can’t do, or they really thought that the Mavs were gonna beat us.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Jayson Tatum was surprised to see so many media members pick the Mavs to win the Finals, but he didn’t mind.</p><p>“I didn't know if they were trolling … or they really thought that the Mavs were gonna beat us … But I guess it felt good to be the underdog. First time in a while.”… <a href="https://t.co/lSIGKUV5mK">pic.twitter.com/lSIGKUV5mK</a></p><p>— Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) <a href="https://twitter.com/danield1214/status/1844370771210301447?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 10, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Prominent basketball analysts like Stephen A. Smith, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/mavericks-news-shaq-dallas-celtics-nba-finals">Shaquille O’Neal</a>, and others voiced their confidence in the Mavs ahead of the Finals. Although this perplexed Tatum, he didn’t mind having some doubters.</p><p>“I guess it felt good to be the underdog,” he revealed. “First time in a while.”</p><p>Boston was the overwhelming favorite in all of its previous series. The C’s extinguished the Miami Heat in five games, crushed the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games, and swept the Indiana Pacers in four games. Their dominance in the Eastern Conference Finals led to a lengthy break between that semifinal series and the Finals, making Tatum restless.</p><p>“It was just every day I turned the TV on there was a lot of debates and speculation and people giving ‘hot takes,'” he recalled. “It was just ‘Jayson Tatum, Jayson Tatum, Jayson Tatum’ every day … I was just ready to play basketball because it’s a long layoff to have from the Conference Finals to the Finals.”</p><p>When the wait was finally over, the Celtics showed that the Mavericks weren’t on their level quite yet.</p><h2><b>How Jayson Tatum and the Celtics proved the doubters wrong</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Jayson-Tatum-3.jpg"><figcaption>Boston Celtics player Jayson Tatum holds the Larry OíBrien trophy during the Boston Celtics Championship parade.</figcaption></figure><p>In Game 1, Boston came ready to play, jumping out to a 17-point lead in the first quarter. While the Mavs outscored the C’s in the second half, they still fell and faced a 1-0 series deficit for the third time that postseason.</p><p>Before the Finals, Dallas responded with a win every time it lost. Boston didn’t allow that though, earning a 105-98 victory at home and pulling within two wins of its 18th championship in franchise history.</p><p>On the road, the Celtics didn’t play as cleanly. They escaped Game 3 with a seven-point win after withstanding an impressive 22-2 run from the Mavericks. Then in Game 4, the Green Team had their worst offensive output of the season and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-most-to-blame-for-ugly-nba-finals-game-4-loss-to-mavericks">were thoroughly embarrassed</a>, falling 122-84.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Starting 5 offered us a little more of the on-court conversation between Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown after the Celtics went up 3-0 in the Finals.</p><p>“I love you, bro”</p><p>“Love you too. Way to f***ing play.”</p><p>“We’re right there. Right there.”</p><p>“We gotta finish this s***.”</p><p>(Via… <a href="https://t.co/d0bbYR1Q12">pic.twitter.com/d0bbYR1Q12</a></p><p>— Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) <a href="https://twitter.com/danield1214/status/1844414237453455843?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 10, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>With that being said, the Celtics were still up 3-1 and had a chance to win it all in front of the TD Garden faithful. Tatum wouldn’t let this opportunity slip, putting on arguably his greatest performance of the playoffs.</p><p>The St. Louis native dropped 31 points, 11 assists, and eight rebounds en route to a 106-88 win. His fearless drives to the rim and superb playmaking helped clinch the series and bring the Celtics their first title in 16 years.</p><p>“Starting 5,” which featured Tatum as one of its main subjects and followed him around throughout the 2023-24 campaign, saved the Celtics’ championship celebration for the 10th and final episode.</p><p>“I ain’t gonna lie I skipped to episode 10 last night,” Tatum admitted. “I was emotional, in a good way though … That made me really joyful.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Jayson Tatum hasn’t watched all of Starting 5, but he made sure to catch the last episode that features him winning it all 🏆</p><p>“I ain’t gonna lie I skipped to episode 10.” <a href="https://t.co/2SZnzy4zSI">pic.twitter.com/2SZnzy4zSI</a></p><p>— Daniel Donabedian (@danield1214) <a href="https://twitter.com/danield1214/status/1844429959030591621?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 10, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Like the leadup to the Finals, the summer has featured plenty of hot takes and <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/celtics-news-how-jayson-tatum-jaylen-brown-used-summer-adversity-advantage">chatter about Tatum</a>. However, much to the Celtics’ delight, the time for offseason talk is nearing its end. They’ll open up the season against the talented New York Knicks on Tuesday, October 22.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Celtics’ Jayson Tatum wonders if media members were ‘trolling’ with Mavericks NBA Finals pick

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/paul-pierces-10-wildest-nba-takes');   ga('set', 'title', 'Paul Pierce’s 10 wildest NBA takes');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Paul-Pierces-10-wildest-NBA-takes.jpg"></figure><h1>Paul Pierce’s 10 wildest NBA takes</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-10T10:06:42-07:00">October 10th, 10:06am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-10T10:06:42-07:00">October 10th, 10:06am</time><address><a href="https://www.facebook.com/spencersee10" rel="facebook">Spencer See</a>Spencer See is a part-time writer at ClutchPoints focusing on the NBA, evergreen content and celebrity lifestyle. He is also a lifelong fan of LeBron James. In his free time, he either goes fishing or watches basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Editorials</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Back in the day, Paul Pierce was one of the best forwards in the NBA. He garnered 10 All-Star Game appearances, four All-NBA Team selections, an NBA championship, and a Finals MVP.</p><p>But while Pierce has been long retired from the game, he continues to contribute as an analyst. However, as an analyst, Pierce has had his fair share of controversies. Here’s a look at Paul Pierce’s 10 wildest NBA takes.</p><h2><b>10. Zion Williamson isn’t a generational talent</b></h2><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Kevin Garnett: "First off, Zion [Williamson] is a generational talent… M***********s was patient with [Joel] Embiid and Giannis."</p><p>Paul Pierce: "I don't really agree that he's a generational talent."</p><p>KG: "You're f*****g crazy." 😅</p><p>(via @shobasketball)<a href="https://t.co/tdJ3WCrtfe">pic.twitter.com/tdJ3WCrtfe</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1671218784982450176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 20, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>While Zion Williamson hasn’t taken over the league, the two-time All-Star has convinced the Pelicans organization that he is the face of the franchise. However, The Truth isn’t really buying that the former top-overall pick isn’t a generational talent. It’s pretty wild given how Williamson has shown flashes of greatness, when healthy.</p><h2><b>9. Can score 20 points against Pistons and Spurs</b></h2><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Man, <a href="https://twitter.com/paulpierce34?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@paulpierce34</a>  is a fool 🤣 He say he’s getting a dub on Detroit or San Antonio? 🤦🏾‍♂️ But ayy, gotta admit P has never lost his confidence. 💯<a href="https://t.co/0I5hKmMWsD">https://t.co/0I5hKmMWsD</a> <a href="https://t.co/UeKUfZCrm3">pic.twitter.com/UeKUfZCrm3</a></p><p>— Kevin Garnett (@KevinGarnett5KG) <a href="https://twitter.com/KevinGarnett5KG/status/1737247788994334807?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 19, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>The Detroit Pistons and San Antonio Spurs were bottom feeders during the 2023-2024 season. In line with their struggles, a retired Paul Pierce boldly claimed that he could easily drop 20 points against these two cellar-dwellers with ease despite being long retired.</p><h2>8. Duke team can beat ’18 Cavaliers</h2><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Full <a href="https://twitter.com/espn?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ESPN</a> video: Paul Pierce says Duke can beat the Cavs <a href="https://t.co/KLDvLvtzbt">pic.twitter.com/KLDvLvtzbt</a></p><p>— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ballislife/status/1060611974520848384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 8, 2018</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>The gap between college teams and NBA teams is quite large. However, Pierce believed that the Duke college basketball team could fend off a LeBron James-led Cavaliers. It was certainly a claim that didn’t age well, as the Cavs went on to make the 2018 NBA Finals.</p><h2><b>7. Paul Pierce sees himself in Luka Doncic</b></h2><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Paul Pierce sees himself in Luka Doncic: ‘He got a lot of me in him’ <a href="https://t.co/6wFoh2FOhk">https://t.co/6wFoh2FOhk</a></p><p>— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheDunkCentral/status/1347584071279517698?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 8, 2021</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>While Pierce had many  memorable moments in his career, highlighted by an NBA championship in 2008, claiming similarities between him and Luka Doncic was a bit of a stretch. Doncic is a dominant all-around player. Although Pierce had been dominant on offense back in the day, being an all-around player wasn’t one of his strengths.</p><h2><b>6. Claiming to be more clutch than LeBron James</b></h2><figure class="op-interactive"></figure><p>Despite criticisms, LeBron James is one of the most clutch superstars in the NBA. But while James has the <a href="https://www.sportskeeda.com/basketball/most-game-winning-buzzer-beaters-nba-playoffs" rel="noopener">most</a> game-winning shots in playoff history, Pierce confidently claimed to be a better clutch player than The King. Although Pierce has knocked down some clutch shots in his career, the statistics speak for themselves.</p><h2><b>5. Paul Pierce proclaiming to be better wing shooter than Klay Thompson</b></h2><figure class="op-interactive"></figure><p>Pierce pushed himself into a debate after claiming to be a better wing shooter than four-time NBA champion Klay Thompson. Although Pierce may be a better basketball player overall, shooting is just the specialty of the other half of the Splash Brothers. Thompson’s sweet shooting stroke and career shooting percentages are hard to beat.</p><h2><b>4. Paul Pierce claiming to be better than Dwyane Wade</b></h2><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Paul Pierce explains why he’s better than Dwyane Wade </p><p>“Put Shaq on my team, put LeBron and Bosh with me. I’m not going to win one?”  </p><p>(via <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ItIsWhatItIs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ItIsWhatItIs</a> / h/t <a href="https://twitter.com/LeBatardShow?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@LeBatardShow</a> ) <a href="https://t.co/4D3H3oh0vC">pic.twitter.com/4D3H3oh0vC</a></p><p>— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheDunkCentral/status/1682846900750278657?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 22, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>There’s no question that Dwyane Wade and Pierce have both carved out successful NBA careers. However, Pierce did set the NBA world buzzing when he claimed that he had a better career than The Flash.</p><p>Wade won three NBA championships to Pierce’s one. Although The Truth brought up Wade’s teammates, Pierce also formed a super team of his own in Boston before winning his first and only NBA title.</p><h2><b>3. Paul Pierce getting fired for his Instagram Live</b></h2><figure class="op-interactive"></figure><p>Everyone has the right to celebrate birthday celebrations. However, it seems like a retired Pierce took things way too far. To celebrate his birthday, the NBA champion went on Instagram Live and showed himself smoking pot and interacting with exotic dancers, and drinking with friends.</p><p>Shortly after, ESPN took action and fired the former Celtics great. After his firing, Pierce would go on social media to make wild cryptic <a href="https://deadline.com/2021/04/paul-pierce-espn-fired-nba-analyst-instagram-1234728287/" rel="noopener">posts</a> implying that his dismissal had no effect to his personal life.</p><h2><b>2. LeBron James isn’t a top-five player</b></h2><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Paul Pierce says LeBron isn’t Top 5 in the NBA today and KG went off 😭</p><p>(via @shobasketball) <a href="https://t.co/jqBFQ2vejO">pic.twitter.com/jqBFQ2vejO</a></p><p>— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) <a href="https://twitter.com/LegionHoops/status/1733904451147386981?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 10, 2023</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Given LeBron James’ stacked list of accolades and memorable performances, it’s safe to say that The King belongs in the GOAT conversation. In fact, he should at least be in nearly everyone’s NBA Mount Rushmore. But while James has carved out a decorated career and is the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/lakers-news-lebron-james-passes-fellow-lakers-legend-kareem-abdul-jabbar-for-most-points-in-nba-history">NBA’s all-time leading scorer</a>, Pierce disagrees.</p><p>In fact, The Truth doesn’t consider his former rival as a top-five player. It’s safe to say that Pierce hasn’t forgotten how many times James pretty much dominated him in their matchups, highlighted by several playoff eliminations against The Truth.</p><h2><b>1. Paul Pierce drops a racial slur on live TV</b></h2><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Did Paul Pierce forget this is live TV? <a href="https://t.co/Tm42Pu9tF3">pic.twitter.com/Tm42Pu9tF3</a></p><p>— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) <a href="https://twitter.com/awfulannouncing/status/1790045190192796078?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 13, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>While Pierce’s take on the Knicks’ Donte DiVincenzo wasn’t anything wild at first, it was his choice of words that got him in hot water. On live television, Pierce appeared to use a racial slur to describe the Knicks star. The viewers of Undisputed certainly didn’t let Pierce’s actions slip.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Paul Pierce’s 10 wildest NBA takes

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/timberwovles-news-anthony-edwards-blasts-jayson-tatum-netflix-show-yall-trippin');   ga('set', 'title', 'Anthony Edwards blasts Jayson Tatum in Netflix show: ‘Y’all trippin’');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Anthony-Edwards-blasts-Jayson-Tatum-in-Netflix-show-Yall-trippin.jpg"></figure><h1>Anthony Edwards blasts Jayson Tatum in Netflix show: ‘Y’all trippin’</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-09T16:56:13-07:00">October 9th, 4:56pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-09T16:56:13-07:00">October 9th, 4:56pm</time><address><a>David Yapkowitz</a>David Yapkowitz is an NBA Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is a credentialed reporter based in Los Angeles who covers the NBA/WNBA, NCAA/NCAAW and boys/girls high school basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Trashing talking in the game of basketball is age-old tradition. One of the best <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/suns-news-kevin-durant-respect-admission-anthony-edwards-trash-talk">trash talkers in today’s game is Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards</a>. So it comes as no surprise that in the new Netflix documentary, ‘Starting 5,’ Anthony Edwards is <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10138779-anthony-edwards-dismisses-jayson-tatum-as-nbas-best-in-netflix-doc-yall-trippin" rel="noopener">at the center of trash talk</a> directed towards Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum, as per Doric Sam of Bleacher Report.</p><p>The new Netflix show followed Edwards, Tatum, LeBron James, Domantas Sabonis and Jimmy Butler during the 2023-24 season. This particular incident came during an early regular season game between the Celtics and the Timberwolves with Anthony Edwards throwing shade in Jayson Tatum’s direction after a Wolves win.</p><p>“You see Tatum trying to get me on the switch, locked his ass up two times,” Edwards told his teammates. “Tatum was talking crazy saying, ‘Yeah I’m here,’ then I said, ‘I’m coming again.’ Talking about ‘best player in the league’. . .y’all trippin’.”</p><p>The Timberwolves would defeat the Celtics in that game, 114-109, with Edwards dropping 38 points. Tatum finished the game with 32 points. Edwards is arguably the best shooting guard in the league while Tatum is arguably the best small forward in the league.</p><p>But the Celtics would have the last laugh as they reached the NBA Finals and brought home title No. 18 in franchise history. The Timberwolves did advance to the Western Conference Finals but were beaten by the Dallas Mavericks in five games.</p><p>In the same show, Tatum spoke about the expectations that were placed on the Celtics coming into the 2023-24 season.</p><p>“We were expected to win every single night and when we lose, the f**cking world is ending, everybody’s on TV talking about us, how we’re not equipped to win a championship, how I can’t lead a team,” Tatum said.</p><p>But Tatum did prove that he could lead a team, alongside fellow Celtics star Jaylen Brown who was the MVP of the Finals.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Anthony Edwards blasts Jayson Tatum in Netflix show: ‘Y’all trippin’

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/thunder-news-espn-analyst-calls-future-dynasty');   ga('set', 'title', 'ESPN analyst calls Thunder ‘future dynasty’');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/ESPN-analyst-calls-OKC-future-dynasty.jpg"></figure><h1>ESPN analyst calls Thunder ‘future dynasty’</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-09T11:39:36-07:00">October 9th, 11:39am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-09T16:00:58-07:00">October 9th, 4:00pm</time><address><a>Josue Pavon</a>Josue Pavon is an Associate Editor and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat writer for ClutchPoints. He started his career as a credentialed media member writing about the Boston Celtics for WEEI.com in Boston, where he grew into a local on-camera NBA reporter and podcast host for CLNS Media. Alongside the Celtics radio broadcaster and two-time NBA champion Cedric Maxwell, Josue is the co-host of the Cedric Maxwell podcast.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Ahead of the 2024-25 campaign, NBA analysts are coming around on the Oklahoma City Thunder. You’d be hard-pressed to find any underestimating of the magnitude of their offseason moves coupled with their up-and-coming core. Led by 26-year-old superstar <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/thunder-news-nba-gms-believe-time-shai-gilgeous-alexander-win-mvp">Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who NBA GMs predict as MVP</a> in 2025, the Thunder are coming off their first 55+ win regular season in 11 years, and with the league’s runner-up for Most Valuable Player, ESPN’s Tom Haberstroh is picking OKC as the team that will be the association’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAEiVM9cWis&amp;t=1515s" rel="noopener">next dynasty over the 2024 champion</a> Boston Celtics.</p><p>On the debut episode of Yahoo! Sports’ The Kevin O’Connor Show, the Ringer’s former podcast host gave his guest, Haberstroh, the floor as he explained why Gilgeous-Alexander gives the Thunder the slight edge over superstar tandem Jayson Tatum, the 2024 Finals MVP Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, and the Celtics.</p><p>“Dynasty? You dropped the dynasty word,” Haberstroh said when O’Connor mentioned the likelihood of seeing the Celtics form the league’s next dynasty. “It is crazy because every dynasty has a top-10 player on that squad — every dynasty. We’ve looked at NBA history. You need to have one of those guys, and they’ve done it unconventionally by having Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown not being super heavy MVP candidates but still being on a 70-win pace, or at least their point-differential suggested they’re a 70-win team last year.</p><p>“Are they dynasty material? I think you’re crazy. If I’m going to put stock in a dynasty or a future dynasty, it’s going to be OKC. It’s going to be on the team that has basically 25-and-under studs across the board,” Haberstroh concluded.</p><p>Haberstroh wants to see how this year’s Celtics fare against a healthy Philadelphia 76ers or Milwaukee Bucks team led by their respective perennial All-Stars.</p><p>“To me, I think it’s premature to say dynasty. Another thing I want to see I wanna see them go against Giannis [Antetokounmpo]. I wanna see them go against [Joel] Embiid,” Haberstroh added. “I want to see them go against the top of the top in the Eastern Conference before we start throwing around that D-word.”</p><h2><b>Will Shai Gilgeous-Alexander win the 2025 MVP? </b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Thunder-star-Shai-Gilgeous-Alexander.jpg"></figure><p>Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder have one of <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/young-nba-cores-25-years-old-and-younger-ranked">the league’s most promising 25-and-under cores</a> in the NBA. While ESPN’s Tom Haberstroh understands that as the Boston Celtics’ tandem of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown continues to grow in leading the Celtics to the best record in the Eastern Conference, it’s easy to predict Boston as the next team on the verge of a dynastic run.</p><p>Still, because of Gilgeous-Alexander’s ascension and his promising cast of teammates, he likes the Thunder’s chances of evolving into a dynasty before the Celtics.</p><p>“Given that the Eastern Conference has a tier by themselves, the Boston Celtics, I can understand why if the Celtics were playing in the West, it would be a whole lot harder to get to that Finals,” Haberstroh added. “But I think it’s premature. I think you need to have a top-10 guy.”</p><p>On Wednesday, the Thunder will host the Houston Rockets in their second preseason matchup.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

ESPN analyst calls Thunder ‘future dynasty’

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/wizards-news-bradley-beals-bold-2017-claim-lebron-james');   ga('set', 'title', 'Bradley Beal’s bold 2017 claim will raise LeBron James’ eyebrow');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Wizards-news-Bradley-Beals-bold-2017-claim-will-raise-LeBron-James-eyebrow.jpg"></figure><h1>Bradley Beal’s bold 2017 claim will raise LeBron James’ eyebrow</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-08T17:48:18-07:00">October 8th, 5:48pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-08T17:48:18-07:00">October 8th, 5:48pm</time><address><a>Matt De Lima</a>Matt De Lima is an Associate Editor for NFL and college football at ClutchPoints. He has been covering sports for over 12 years at sites like Sports Illustrated, The Game Day, and countless others. Born and raised in California, he is a graduate of Virginia Tech and a diehard Hokies fan who now resides in southern Maryland.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Washington Wizards have had one division title since 1980, which came in the 2017 season. Former <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/wizards-news-bradley-beal-sends-plea-ted-leonsis-amid-virginia-relocation-rumors">Washington Wizards star Bradley Beal</a> recollected that season, which saw the Wiz losing in seven games to the Boston Celtics. While on the Run Your Race Podcast, Beal talked about how his Wizards team would’ve <a href="https://www.si.com/nba/celtics/top-stories/bradley-beal-makes-bogus-claim-about-celtics" rel="noopener">proved to be a better matchup</a> against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.</p><p>“The 2017 team. We talk about it all the time. The Cleveland dudes were like ‘y’all lost.’ We felt like we woulda gave them a better matchup than Boston. Cause remember, we took Boston to seven (games) that year. Our team was going crazy.</p><p>“That whole year with the Celtics, from ’16 to ’18, it was like their funeral. We’d wear black suits to the games.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Bradley Beal says the 2017 Wizards could’ve beaten the 2017 Cavs and believes they would’ve put up a better fight than the Boston Celtics did that year 👀</p><p>(🎥 <a href="https://twitter.com/TidalLeague?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TidalLeague</a> ) <a href="https://t.co/N9x5kMhj4t">pic.twitter.com/N9x5kMhj4t</a></p><p>— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheDunkCentral/status/1843691790752501846?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 8, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Ultimately, after losing to the Celtics in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, Cleveland beat Boston in five games, and the Golden State Warriors won the title that year in five games.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/suns-news-phoenix-blockbuster-bradley-beal-trade-wizards">Beal was traded to the Phoenix Suns</a> last summer.</p><h2><b>Like the Wizards, Bradley Beal merely exists in the NBA</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Wizards-Bradley-Beal-playing-against-the-Celtics-back-in-2017.jpg"><figcaption>© Geoff Burke-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>There’s no denying Bradley Beal’s individual talent. But he floundered on mostly bad Wizards’ teams for a decade. Even during their prime that Beal is happy to discuss, does he have a signature game, moment or season?</p><p>The three-time NBA All-Star has not played more than 60 games since 2018-19 and has missed 150 games over the last five seasons. At his absolute best, he was a good, but never great shooter on good, but never great teams.</p><p>Later in the interview, <a href="https://x.com/ClutchPoints/status/1843693110343413767">Beal says he believes the Phoenix Suns</a> would’ve been the West’s No. 1 seed if he was healthy.</p><p>“I missed 30 games and we won 49 games… If I played half of them games, we are the number 1 seed in the West, or at least competing for the number one seed,” said Beal.</p><p>Beal also said he almost ended up on the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/suns-bradley-beal-drops-khris-middleton-revelation-failed-bucks-trade">Milwaukee Bucks if they had traded Khris Middleton</a>.</p><p>“My transition though to Phoenix was like a complete 360,” Beal said. “First off, Phoenix wasn’t even in the picture for me to go to… [The Heat] didn’t want to do it… [The Bucks], I was like straddling the fence. They were [trying to trade Khris Middleton]. … The loyalty part in that, trading somebody who won y’all a championship the previous year and was a key piece to y’all winning the championship, it didn’t sit right with me.”</p><p>Devin Booker, Kevin Durant and Beal will put their best foot forward in Phoenix when their regular season starts on the road against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday, October 23, at 7:00 p.m. EST.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

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