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Forsberg: Five Celtics storylines entering a star-studded homestand

Published

1 year ago

February 28, 2025

Forsberg: Five Celtics storylines entering a star-studded homestand

The Boston Celtics are set to launch into a season-long seven-game homestead that is loaded with intriguing matchups, including book-end visits from the two conference leaders.

The next two weeks will feel like a playoff appetizer. It’s the Chili’s Triple Dipper of basketball, with a whole bunch of tasty tilts that will pit Boston against four of the NBA’s top seven teams.

March feels like a chance to make a statement before the invariable early-April downshift, when teams start to prioritize health and rest in advance of the postseason.

Here are five things we’ll have our eyes on while Boston gets the most sleep in its own beds of the 2024-25 season:

1. Will the best continue to bring out the best in the Celtics?

Boston has the third-best record in the NBA against teams over .500 at 20-11. Only Cleveland (22-6) and Oklahoma City (21-10) have been better. Distill it down to the teams with the top 10 point differentials in the league, and Boston has the third best winning percentage (.625, 10-6 overall), trailing only the Cavaliers (.722, 13-5) and Rockets (.636, 14-8).

Lack of focus contributed to Boston’s roller-coaster ways through December and January, but about the only thing that has tripped this team up lately is the schedule. Boston ripped off 10 wins in 11 games before getting stuck in the mud Wednesday night on the second night of a back-to-back against a red-hot Detroit team.

The only back-to-back in this home stretch features two of the weaker opponents (Portland and Philadelphia), which could leave Boston fresh for the glitzier visits from elite opponents.

Outside the Detroit stumble, the Celtics have basically stiff-armed the rest of their playoff challengers behind them in the East standings, especially the Knicks. Friday night’s visit from the Cavaliers is a chance to take the season series, as Boston already snuffed out a long Cleveland winning streak near the start of the season.

The Cavaliers, riding an eight-game winning streak, sit 6.5 games ahead of Boston in the East standings and deserve a ton of respect for their consistency. That steadiness has all but eliminated any hope of Boston pushing for the top spot in the conference, even if the No. 2 seed looks pretty comfy with the way Boston’s potential path is unfolding.

Still, Friday night is the final chance for either side to make a statement, because these two teams won’t see each other again until a potential clash in the Eastern Conference finals in late May.

A visit from Denver, which was missing MVP candidate Nikola Jokic in the teams’ first meeting, looms this Sunday, and the new-look Lakers with Luka Doncic visit on February 8. The homestead concludes with the second and final meeting with the West-leading Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Celtics can atone for some of their head-slapping Garden stumbles during the 2024-25 season over the next two weeks.

2. Eyes on Boston’s starting five

Boston’s preferred starting five is one of only 14 five-man lineups in the NBA with at least 250 minutes played this season. But despite finding its footing a bit in January, that group has logged just 30 minutes over two games together since February 4 (the All-Star break obviously contributing to that small number).

Boston’s preferred five — featuring Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, and Kristaps Porzingis — is still at a net rating of minus-1.6 for the season. That ranks 11th among those 14 high-usage lineups.

Boston’s starting five was outscored by 15 points in 15 minutes and 17 seconds together during Boston’s win over the Cavaliers on February 4. That group had been outscored by 14 against Philadelphia before rallying out of a 26-point hole the game before.

The Celtics’ starters have made strides since a rough start together, but they still haven’t quite found their mojo from last season. If Brown is healthy again after getting dinged up in Toronto earlier this week, there is an opportunity here to see how much progress the starters have made.

Jaylen Brown shares his thoughts on what’s changed for the Celtics recently that’s seen the team win eight of nine after a tough stretch in December and January.

3. Home is where the heart is?

Among the top 10 teams in the NBA, the Celtics have the worst home record at 18-10. The Knicks are the only other team with double-digit losses at home this season at 21-10.

The Celtics simply have to be better at home. They can’t keep giving away games on the parquet. While it’s a luxury for this team to feel confident on the road based on its league-best 24-7 mark away from home, they saw how home losses complicated their path in 2023, culminating with a Game 7 loss to the Heat at TD Garden in the East Finals.

Two of the Celtics’ three postseason losses came at home last year, and it barely slowed them down. But particularly if they have to go on the road to start the East Finals, playing better at home becomes imperative.

4. Who’s in the rotation in the big games?

When the Knicks visited last Sunday, the Celtics leaned on a familiar nine-man rotation, with Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser, Al Horford, and Luke Kornet the only bench players utilized. This feels like the way it’s going to be when the playoffs arrive.

Torrey Craig, added earlier this month, was a DNP on Wednesday night, even with the team shorthanded in Detroit. He’s played only 32 minutes in three appearances since joining the team.

Some of the remaining back-to-backs could open the door for more regular-season playing time, but it feels like an uphill climb for anyone on the roster to be more than a playoff curveball. That said, Joe Mazzulla found small pockets for guys like Xavier Tillman to play during last year’s playoff run, so the deeper bench players need to show they can impact winning in small bursts if called upon during this stretch.

5. Will rivals’ additions impact their matchups with Boston?

The Lakers added Luka. The Thunder got back Chet Holmgren. The Cavaliers traded for De’Andre Hunter. All three teams essentially got better since the last time the Celtics saw them. So, do any of those moves complicate Boston’s quest to repeat as champions?

Given the depth and talent out West, it’s probably not worth sweating any of that until June. Visits from the Nuggets, Lakers, and Thunder are just an up-close glimpse of what might be waiting at the finish line of the season.

The bigger question seems to be whether Hunter’s addition moves the needle at all. Not to get too presumptuous, but it sure feels like the Celtics and Cavaliers are a cut above the rest of the East and are on a collision course to represent the conference.

Hunter remains in the Sixth Man of the Year conversation, even if Pritchard’s chief competition feels like Malik Beasley of the surging Pistons. Hunter has left his mark on Cleveland’s recent winning streak, including scoring 19 points in a 40-point thumping of the Magic on Tuesday night. The Cavaliers are +46 during Hunter’s floor time in the six games since he joined them.

Can Hunter help the Cavaliers corral the Jays on defense?

Last season, Hunter guarded Tatum and Brown for a combined 33 minutes of matchup time while with the Hawks. The Jays generated 32 points in those minutes on 13 of 29 shooting, per NBA tracking.

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Monster effort from Neemias Queta helps pave the way for Celtics in win over 76ers – The Boston Globe

Published

21 minutes ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Monster effort from Neemias Queta helps pave the way for Celtics in win over 76ers – The Boston Globe

Queta has been a revelation for the Celtics this season and helped them improbably surge into second place in the Eastern Conference. But it is unlikely he or his team envisioned nights like Sunday, when he crafted the best game of his career to propel Boston to a 114-98 win over the 76ers at TD Garden, its 11th in 13 games.

The 26-year-old center finished with 27 points and 17 rebounds and received ‘MVP’ chants several times in the fourth quarter.

“I thought he’s had great ownership and responsibility to what it calls for to be a starting center for the Celtics, and he’s got to continue to get better,” Mazzulla said. “He works at it. He cares. So, it’s a credit to him.”

The Celtics, who entered the night averaging 17.1 second-chance points per game, poured in 30 Sunday, with Queta leading the charge. With 76ers center Andre Drummond often playing up and trying to congest the lanes for Boston’s talented ballhandlers, Queta forcefully and quickly found space around the rim.

“We just gave him the ball and trusted him to make the right decision every time, and he was able to get it going,” forward Jaylen Brown said. “He had some nice up-and-unders in the seam and stuff like that that helped propel us to a win.”

Brown added 27 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists for Boston.

Tyrese Maxey had 33 points to lead the 76ers, but they did not come easily. The All-Star guard played 43 minutes and made just 12 of 34 shots. Philadelphia was without star center Joel Embiid (oblique).

“He didn’t have a ton of layups, didn’t have a ton of free throws,” Mazzulla said of Maxey. “I thought he obviously missed some good shots, but when you have the ball as much as he did, I thought we did a really good job just being disciplined, defending without fouling, keeping him out of transition.”

The Celtics improved to 40-20, with just 22 games remaining in the regular season. After the game, there was a visible reminder of what could be on the way.

Star forward Jayson Tatum, who could be nearing a return from last May’s Achilles injury, sat at his locker and laughed and joked with team staffers. He also posted the latest clip from the NBC docuseries about his comeback on his social media accounts.

Jayson Tatum, who has yet to play this season, liked what he saw from the Celtics bench.Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff

For now, of course, the Celtics continue to plow forward without him. On Sunday, Boston quickly wiped away an early 10-point deficit behind Queta. He registered five offensive rebounds in the opening period, and flashed an unusual amount of offensive creativity during his dominant second quarter.

During one stretch, he danced through the lane for a basket, converted a putback, then dazzled the crowd by trailing a fast break, taking a pass from Brown, and converting an acrobatic scoop shot that gave Boston a 40-35 lead.

“We don’t want him to get too carried away with some of those,” Brown said, smiling. “But he was converting them tonight and it looked good.”

Queta reminded everyone that much of his value comes from his defensive work when he swatted a Kelly Oubre Jr. shot out of bounds, and he received a rare standing ovation when he checked out moments later.

Neemias Queta's performance put a smile on Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla. — Neemias Queta’s performance put a smile on Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla.Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff

Finally, after a well-executed two-for-one opportunity, Brown found Baylor Scheierman, who played with a splint on his broken left thumb, in the right corner; he hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer that gave Boston a 62-50 lead at the break. Scheierman gave a high thumbs-up with his bandaged digit.

The Celtics led by 16 early in the third quarter, but the 76ers continued to push back. Three-pointers in the final minute by Quentin Grimes and Maxey made it 89-83 at the start of the fourth.

The 76ers trailed by 6 with four minutes left in the fourth quarter but missed their next five shots, any one of which could have put real pressure on Boston.

With 2:56 left, Queta converted a layup as he was fouled, stretching the lead back to 105-97. He received ‘MVP’ chants for the second time in the quarter when he went to the foul line. Then, with 1:56 left, he put an exclamation point on his memorable night by grabbing yet another offensive rebound and throwing down a two-handed dunk that made it 109-98.

“I thought Neemi matched and exceeded the [76ers] physicality,” Mazzulla said.

Jaylen Brown has become the leader of the Celtics while Tatum has been away. Will Tatum returning cause locker-room drama?

Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.

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Bruins Believe They ‘Didn’t Do Enough’ In Loss To Flyers | NESN

Published

12 hours ago

March 1, 2026

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Bruins Believe They ‘Didn’t Do Enough’ In Loss To Flyers | NESN

The Boston Bruins suffered a 3-1 road loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday.

Boston entered the game in points in eight-straight games, as the Bruins are competing for a playoff spot. However, Boston’s offense struggled on Saturday, as the Bruins scored just once on Dan Vladar, and head coach Marco Sturm felt like the team didn’t do enough to create more scoring chances.

“(Vladar) played really good, he kind of made those saves he needed to,” Sturm said as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage on Saturday. “We just didn’t do enough of a good job being around him or being front of him.”

Although Sturm didn’t like Boston’s play, Vladar still made some key stops when the game was close.

Bruins forward Morgan Geekie had multiple chances and was frustrated that he couldn’t score on any of them.

“Just one of those nights,” Geekie said. “Their goalie played well. Couldn’t quite put it in the spot I wanted to a couple times and Dan made a couple great plays.”

Boston’s lone goal came from Charlie McAvoy, while Jeremy Swayman made 14 saves on 16 shots, as Philadelphia added an empty-netter to secure the win.

With the loss, the Bruins fell to 33-21-5 and are holding onto the final Wild Card spot. Boston will return to the ice at home on Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

More NHL: Charlie McAvoy’s Mother Reveals His Immediate Reaction To Team USA’s Gold Medal Win

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MLB notes: New Red Sox pitching directors looking to keep pipeline flowing

Published

1 day ago

March 1, 2026

Press Room

MLB notes: New Red Sox pitching directors looking to keep pipeline flowing

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Over the past few years the Red Sox pitching program has been completely transformed.

Since Craig Breslow took over as chief baseball officer, the Red Sox have gone from one of the worst organizations at developing young pitchers to one of the best, and now the club is overflowing with talented arms who are already making their mark in the majors.

That hasn’t gone unnoticed, and this past offseason one of the people most responsible for executing the club’s turnaround — former director of pitching Justin Willard — was hired away by the New York Mets to be their new major league pitching coach.

Now the Red Sox are handing the baton to two others, who they hope can keep the train rolling and ensure the club’s pitching pipeline keeps flowing.

This winter the Red Sox promoted Ben Buck to succeed Willard as the club’s director of pitching while also hiring away Quinn Cleary from the Seattle Mariners to serve as his No. 2. The two have already begun working to make their mark on the organization, though both emphasized that the Red Sox already have a solid foundation in place and that they plan to continue emphasizing Willard’s core tenet of “throwing nasty stuff in the zone.”

“That is the mantra,” Buck said. “Because it is simple to say, our guys remember it, and you can branch off from each one of those words and they become very complex.”

“It’s a perfect one sentence one-liner that really sums up the two big components of being a successful pitcher in the majors,” Cleary said.

Buck earned his promotion after just one year with the organization, joining the Red Sox as a pitching coordinator following the 2024 season after previously serving in a similar role with the New York Yankees. Upon coming to Boston, Buck worked closely with many of the Red Sox’s top pitching prospects, including Payton Tolle, one of the club’s biggest recent minor league success stories who rose from High-A to the majors in just his first year of professional baseball.

“The first time that I talked to him or heard him talk about pitching, I was a lot dumber then (than I am now),” Tolle said of Buck. “He’s one of the smartest guys that I’ve ever been around in the baseball world so to now have him as the head of development, it’s huge.”

Another Red Sox pitcher who Buck has worked with is Garrett Whitlock, serving as the future Red Sox right-hander’s pitching coach during his rookie ball days as a Yankees farmhand.

“I think he’s going to be great for the organization,” Whitlock said. “He’s a very good pitching mind. He’s going to bring a lot of wisdom to the table when it comes to the movement side of things, the preparation, how to build up arms, that kind of thing. He’s very, very good at that.”

Before making the jump to the professional coaching ranks, Buck spent 15 years as a college coach after playing collegiately at Lamar Community College in Colorado and at the University of Utah. He also played a year of independent baseball before spending two years away from the sport working in a poker room, first as a dealer and then as the boss.

That job prepared him for coaching in ways you wouldn’t expect.

“There are a lot of skills that I learned from poker and from running a poker room that I still use to this day,” Buck said. “We had a VIP list of something like 280 VIPs, so attributing people’s names to their faces and not forgetting. Dealing with conflict, like for them this is higher stakes, it’s win or lose money. In some regards (baseball is) win or lose money. They’re putting themselves on the line thinking in bets. What are you willing to risk? What is not worth the risk? And how aggressive are you? How unaggressive are you? All these are transferable skills to life and this job.”

Red Sox assistant director of pitching Quinn Cleary. (Mac Cerullo/Boston Herald)

Cleary’s journey to the Red Sox is equally fascinating.

Just 26 years old, Cleary is only a few years removed from his college playing days at Yale. He has quickly risen through the front office ranks since, first interning at Cressey Sports Performance before landing with the Philadelphia Phillies and then the Mariners, with whom he served as pitching coordinator.

This past offseason the Red Sox hired him as their new assistant director of pitching and head pitching strategist, specifically requesting permission from the Mariners to interview him.

“What a great hire,” Buck said. “Sharp mind, huge feel, I can’t imagine being as young as he is, as smart as he is, with as much feel as he has.”

How has he done it at such a young age?

“I think a combination of being in the right place at the right time,” Cleary said. “I’ve been able to learn from a lot of really good people at all the stops I’ve been at. I hope to continue to do that here.”

Cleary also has a fascinating family history. His grandfather, Bill Cleary, was a member of the gold medal-winning 1960 U.S. Olympic hockey team and was the longtime men’s hockey coach and athletic director at Harvard. His parents were both Harvard athletes too, and his three brothers all attended Harvard as well.

Naturally, Cleary going to rival Yale was a bit of a departure from the family tradition.

“I am like truly the black sheep of my family,” Cleary said. “We joke that I sit at a different table at Thanksgiving but other than that it’s not too bad.”

Cleary described his new role as a hybrid front office and coaching/player development role that helps with both the majors league and minor leagues. He will also be among those assisting injured big leaguers with their rehab process, and he said he hopes to add value wherever he can.

Red Sox pitching coach Andrew Bailey said Buck and Cleary have both been great to work with so far.

“It’s been fantastic, the communication lines are really solid,” Bailey said. “A lot of bright ideas and thoughts and visions, and what’s really good is the open-mindedness and the ability to listen and take in information and what’s worked and what hasn’t worked.”

With three pitchers ranked inside Baseball America’s Top 100 Prospects list and a huge crop of young arms coming up from the past two years’ pitcher-heavy draft classes, Buck and Cleary find themselves in a much different situation than the one Breslow and Willard inherited after the 2023 season. They said a lot of smart people put in a lot of work to help get the club’s pitching program on the right track, and they hope to build on that progress in the months and years to come.

“Justin did such an amazing job when he was here of laying this unbelievable foundation, things are really going in a real good direction and our job is to search for the one percents and two percents to keep improving,” Buck said. “It’s less about change and more about continuing on the path where evolution can happen.”

Red Sox right-hander Brayan Bello will take the mound in his native Dominican Republic this Wednesday ahead of the World Baseball Classic. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Bello’s big homecoming

Years from now Brayan Bello probably won’t remember his first two starts of spring training, but you can be sure he’ll never forget his next one.

This Wednesday the Red Sox right-hander will take the mound for Team Dominican Republic in a pre-World Baseball Classic exhibition against the Detroit Tigers at Estadio Quisqueya in Santo Domingo. Bello has never pitched at the historic stadium before, and getting to pitch there will mark a special homecoming for the 26-year-old.

“It’s going to be my first time after I was a big leaguer that I’m getting to pitch in the Dominican Republic in front of my friends and family, in front of my home country,” Bello said Friday via interpreter Carlos Villoria Benítez. “For me it’s going to be very emotional, I’m very excited to be able to pitch there and I’m looking forward to it.”

A native of Samana, a town roughly two and a half hours away from the Dominican Republic’s capital city, Bello hopes to help pitch his country to its second World Baseball Classic title. The Dominican team previously won it all in 2013 and this year features All-Star standouts like Juan Soto, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr., among others.

Hometown kids coming up

Almost anyone who grows up playing baseball around New England dreams of one day playing for the Red Sox, and this spring several local standouts hope to take the next step in their journey towards making that dream a reality.

Shea Sprague and Jack Winnay, both recent draft picks by the Red Sox with Boston-area ties, are among the many minor leaguers populating the Fenway South complex this spring. Sprague, a BC High alum from Hanover who starred at the University of North Carolina, is entering his second full professional season after being selected as a 13th-round pick in 2024. Winnay, a Newton resident who starred at Belmont Hill and Wake Forest, is in his first spring training after going as a 13th-round pick himself last summer.

Brian Abraham, the Red Sox’s senior director of player development, said the organization is really excited about both, noting that the pair also played for the same travel ball club as his son, North East Baseball.

Sprague appeared in 22 games in his first pro season, earning a promotion from Low-A to High-A along the way and finishing with a 3.82 ERA in 96 2/3 innings, which was the eighth-highest innings total of any Red Sox minor leaguer.

“Really good pitchability,” Abraham said of the 23-year-old lefty. “Trying to increase his fastball velo, because he already has a good pitch mix and has a good way on the mound with his mix.”

Winnay debuted as a professional weeks after being drafted and made a strong first impression, batting .321 with a home run, three doubles and 11 RBI in only 15 games at Low-A Salem. The 22-year-old infielder will be a candidate to start this season at High-A, and Friday he was among a handful of minor leaguers who traveled up to North Port with the big league club.

“Jack has been playing mostly third but can play first, has really good power, moves well, really exciting I think,” Abraham said. “A lot of tools that we like and value.”

Burt signs with Tigers

North Andover’s Max Burt, a former St. John’s Prep and Northeastern University standout, signed with the Detroit Tigers as a minor league free agent this past week. The longtime New York Yankees minor leaguer spent his first eight professional seasons with the organization, playing the majority of that time at Double-A Somerset.

According to the Somerset Patriots, Burt departs as the team’s all-time franchise leader in hits (241), runs (179) and games played (361). The 29-year-old will now get a fresh start as he looks to make a push to the majors with a new organization.

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