Tensions are still running high along the North Shores as two teachers unions there remain at odds with their school committees over contract negotiations.

The labor disputes are turning into the longest teacher strikes in Massachusetts’ modern history, and it still looks like there’s no solution in sight for educators in Beverly and Marblehead.

Educators from around the state will be rallying on Tuesday at 9 a.m. at the State House, demanding a meeting with Governor Maura Healey to address the ongoing strikes.

In Beverly, the strike will be entering its twelfth day on Tuesday, which would make it the longest educator strike in modern state history. The school committee there is now refusing to negotiate because neither district made a court-ordered deadline.

Dozens of teachers lined the street outside a Beverly City Council meeting as their strike is poised to set a record for longest in recent Massachusetts history. 

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A fact finding process is underway in both district, and a hearing is scheduled for next week. Unfortunately, that means thousands of students who have already missed roughly two weeks of school could lose more. That’s as teachers in these districts continue to have their pay docked.

“Cutting off pay right before Thanksgiving and upcoming holidays is clearly a tactic to bully educators and force the BTA back to work without a living wage for paras,” co-president of the Beverly Teachers Association Julia Brotherton said.

A judge had said fines would be waived Friday if the sides could reach an agreement by 6 p.m. Sunday.

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City officials said they were left with no choice.

“Nobody here for a second wants to withhold a bit of anyone’s pay, but we’re stuck,” Beverly Mayor Mike Cahill said.

Meanwhile, in Marblehead, the strike has reached 11 days, but things are just as heated. In fact, on Sunday, two school committee members were actually chased to their cars by angry parents and teachers.

For the first time in 210 days, the Celtics were able to trot out their preferred starting five Monday night at TD Garden.

The result: a hero’s welcome for the now-healthy Kristaps Porzingis and a comprehensive beatdown of one of the NBA’s hottest teams.

Boston steamrolled the Los Angeles Clippers 126-94 in Porzingis’ return from offseason leg surgery to improve to 15-3.

Porzingis played 22 minutes in his season debut, showing some expected signs of rust but finishing with 16 points, six rebounds, two assists, two blocks and one steal.

“I thought he played well,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “We were able to get back to some of our defensive versatility. Obviously, a little bit of rim protection, a little bit more physicality on the ball because he was back there, so I thought he brought that. Offensively, he just really helped our spacing. It was good to get him back.”

Jayson Tatum led all Boston starters with 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting. Derrick White added 19 points, seven assists, four rebounds and a steal, and Jaylen Brown scored 17, plus six boards, four assists, three steals and one block.

White (5-for-9) and bench scorers Payton Pritchard (6-for-10) and Sam Hauser (3-for-3) led another explosive 3-point effort for the Celtics, who went 22-for-51 (43.1%) from downtown in the win. Pritchard scored 20 points and grabbed two steals as his NBA Sixth Man of the Year campaign continued.

The Kawhi Leonard-less Clippers, owners of the league’s fourth-best defensive rating, came in riding a five-game win streak, during which they allowed just 96.8 points per game. The Celtics surpassed that mark before the end of the third quarter.

“I think when we’re at our best, you have to have an understanding of, ‘This is what we do,’” Mazzulla said. “When we’re at our best, we do this. And how long can we stay at the best version of ourselves?”

Porzingis, who missed Boston’s first 17 games, waited until 10 minutes into warmups to take the court, doing so with a smile on his face and a paper coffee cup in his right hand. His solo entrance preceded a personalized hype video that played on the Garden Jumbotron, its final shot an all-caps declaration: “HE’S BACK.”

The fan-favorite big man remained the center of attention once the game tipped off. Porzingis attempted 3-pointers on three of the Celtics’ four possessions and four of their first seven. Though he made just one of those — after his third miss, he grinned, seemingly acknowledging the impact of his long layoff — he was immediately impactful on the defensive end.

Before being subbed out for Neemias Queta seven minutes in, Porzingis helped force misses by Ivica Zubac, Amir Coffey and Derrick Jones Jr. with strong contests at the rim.

Rim protection was one of Boston’s biggest areas of concern in Porzingis’ absence — they dropped from fifth-best last season to eighth-worst this season in opponent shooting percentage inside the restricted area and first to 14th in blocks per game — so this was a welcome sight for Mazzulla and Co.

“Eleven blocks tonight,” the coach deadpanned. “It helps.”

Queta, a healthy DNP in Sunday’s win over Minnesota, blocked two shots in the first quarter, including one by James Harden. He had some difficulties against Zubac, who was LA’s only consistent scorer in the game (23 points on 11-of-14 shooting, 10 rebounds), but was a solid second option with Al Horford (illness/rest) and Luke Kornet (hamstring) both unavailable.

The Celtics led 27-20 after one quarter, then stretched their lead to 29 points in the second by doing what they do best: flooding their opponent beneath a tsunami of threes. They went 12-for-17 from deep during a merciless 51-point quarter — the third-highest-scoring quarter in franchise history and highest since 1970. White hit four triples on his own. Brown and Pritchard made three apiece. Hauser and Jrue Holiday each had one.

The 12 made threes tied the NBA record for a single quarter. It also equaled the total number of threes the Clippers attempted in the entire first half. Boston led 78-49 at halftime.

“I just felt like we were playing with really good pace,” said Pritchard, who was a team-best plus-30 in the win. “Makes, misses, getting it out quick, running to our spots. I feel like when we play fast like that, we get great looks, and the flow was incredible.”

Porzingis did not have a hand in that second-quarter 3-point parade, but impacted the game in several other areas. He threw down an acrobatic dunk off a Brown alley-oop, scored on a put-back after a Brown miss, assisted on two made threes, notched one steal and recorded one official block, plus another as the Clippers’ shot clock expired to force a 24-second violation.

The Celtics went cold to start the third quarter, surrendering a 10-0 Clippers run that spanned more than 4 1/2 minutes. Tatum ended Boston’s scoring drought with a dunk, then Porzingis went to work, manipulating post-ups to score six straight Celtics points across four possessions.

A flurry of threes from Pritchard (two) and Hauser (one) gave Boston some additional breathing room, and despite scoring just 21 points in the frame, it took a 21-point lead into the fourth quarter.

The Celtics cruised from there, with the Garden crowd reaching max volume after Pritchard slipped past a Clippers defender and lofted a lob to Porzingis, who slammed it home.

Asked whether Porzingis’ return gave Boston an emotional lift, Mazzulla replied: “Yeah, no question.”

“I think he’s a high-level personality,” he said, “but I think any time — obviously we built an identity with him last year, and I think the guys were excited to get him back. We were ready to have him back. … I think each guy likes playing with him because of just how he plays and the pressure that we can take off each other. So we definitely felt that.”

Mazzulla emptied his bench midway through the fourth, giving late minutes to the seldom-used Jaden Springer and Baylor Scheierman. Queta was a force in garbage time, finishing with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting, nine rebounds, four blocks and two steals.

The Celtics are off until Friday, when they visit the Chicago Bulls in their final game of NBA Cup group play.

Originally Published: November 25, 2024 at 9:41 PM EST

BostonBruins.com – Take a look at how the Boston Bruins’ prospects are performing through Providence, the NCAA, and junior hockey leagues.

Providence

Goaltending was the story of the weekend in the Providence Bruins’ two-game weekend series at home against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. Brandon Bussi recorded a 30-save shutout on Friday night, bolstering the P-Bruins to a 3-0 victory over the Phantoms. The Sound Beach, New York, native earned his first shutout of the season and the fourth of his career.

Bussi was thrilled with his overall game in the team’s victory.

“I just competed really hard,” Bussi said immediately following Friday’s win. “These kinds of games, you have to bring your lunchbox and get to work. They [Lehigh Valley] are a good team, and they make it hard on you. You’ve got to compete.”

Michael DiPietro got the start between the pipes on Saturday and backboned the P-Bruins to a 2-1 overtime victory over the Phantoms. The Windsor, Ontario, native stopped 22 of the 23 shots he faced to earn his sixth win of the season. The netminder improved his numbers to a 2.08 goals against average and a .924 save percentage to start the season.

Georgii Merkulov, fresh off a three-game stretch with Boston, returned to Providence in style over the weekend, netting the winning goal in Saturday’s overtime victory over the Phantoms.

The Ryazan, Russia, native caught a stretch pass from Ian Mitchell to send him on a breakaway, where he deked and flipped the puck past the Phantoms netminder to win the game for Providence. With 13 points early in the season, the forward has at least one point in his last seven AHL games, with nine total in that span.

Merkulov believes the key to keep the team’s momentum going starts with how the team practices.

“We have to be good in practice,” said Merkulov following Saturday’s win. “It starts with practice. We have to chip away every day. I’m looking forward to next week.”