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Celtics, fueled by ‘urgency,’ rout Heat to tie series

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Celtics, fueled by ‘urgency,’ rout Heat to tie series


BOSTON — When issues have gone poorly for the Boston Celtics within the Jap Convention finals, it has been once they’ve misplaced focus and allowed Miami to hurry them up and switch them over, resulting in fast-break factors — the one constant method the Warmth have scored on this sequence.

That was the formulation Miami used to gasoline its victories in Video games 1 and three. And so, heading into Recreation 4, Boston knew that with a purpose to even this sequence at two wins apiece, it must keep away from falling into those self same unhealthy habits as soon as once more.

Mission completed.

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The Celtics have been totally dominant at each ends from begin to end, as Boston scored the primary eight factors and by no means regarded again, cruising to a wire-to-wire 102-82 victory in entrance of a sellout crowd at TD Backyard to ship this sequence again to the shores of Biscayne Bay for Recreation 5 on Wednesday, with each groups two wins away a visit to the NBA Finals.

“Urgency,” Jayson Tatum stated after main all scorers with 31 factors, when requested to explain Boston’s mindset coming into Recreation 4. “That was a focus coming into this recreation, to simply have a way of urgency on each ends of the ground, from begin to end. Actually beginning the sport higher clearly than we did final recreation. That is one thing that we talked about and one thing that we executed tonight.”

In a sequence that has seen every recreation swing wildly from one path to the opposite, it took about 10 seconds to comprehend Recreation 4 would comply with an analogous sample. Boston instantly jumped out to an 8-0 lead earlier than Miami scored a single level, and finally took an 18-1 lead earlier than the Warmth lastly made their first subject objective with 3:22 remaining within the first quarter when Victor Oladipo buried a 3-pointer.

By then, Miami had missed 14 consecutive photographs to open the sport, setting a tone for all that was to return over the ultimate 40 minutes. The Warmth merely by no means obtained out of first gear, as Boston — even with out the NBA’s reigning Defensive Participant of the 12 months, Marcus Good — smothered Miami’s starters into an abysmal mixed 7-for-36 taking pictures efficiency, together with going 1-for-10 from 3-point vary.

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In a summation of Boston’s dominance, Tatum, who’s now averaging 32.6 factors per recreation throughout these playoffs following a loss, outscored Miami’s starters by 13 factors by himself.

“For everyone, the main focus was nice tonight,” Celtics coach Ime Udoka stated. “We understood now we have to be extra aggressive and bodily on the defensive finish.”

“No one scored in double figures with their starters … I feel we clearly set the tone proper there. However now we have a prideful staff, the most effective defensive groups within the league in addition to people, and so they heard among the issues that have been stated and took pleasure in these matchups.”

An enormous a part of these struggles was Jimmy Butler as soon as once more having a tough evening. Even with out Good on the market to hound him, Butler — who was dominant by way of the primary two video games, like he has been for nearly all of Miami’s playoff run — once more regarded off after sitting out the second half of Recreation 3, going 3-for-14 in 27 minutes and failing to even try a free throw.

Equally, Bam Adebayo — who went from scoring a mixed 16 factors in Video games 1 and a pair of to exploding for 31 in Recreation 3 — once more disappeared in Recreation 4, taking simply 5 subject objective makes an attempt and recording 9 factors.

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“Masking for one another, being in our spots, being the place we have been presupposed to be,” Celtics heart Robert Williams, who returned after lacking Recreation 3 with knee soreness, stated in explaining what modified for Boston from Recreation 3 to 4 defensively. “Final recreation, although I did not play, I seen the slip-ups that we had on the defensive finish, and that is the place we hold our hat at.

“So far as energy-wise, the loss performed a giant a part of the power going into this recreation.”

The Celtics, in the meantime, performed just like the determined staff from the soar — serving to themselves enhance to 5-0 coming off of losses in these playoffs because of this. Derrick White, who stated after the staff’s morning shootaround that he was decided to be extra aggressive, scored 5 factors on Boston’s first two possessions and hit the staff’s first three photographs, whereas Horford stripped Adebayo on the opening defensive possession of the sport.

After listlessly stumbling by way of the opening 12 minutes of Recreation 3, falling behind 39-18 and leaving themselves with a gap that proved simply too massive for them to dig themselves out of, this time it was the Celtics who opened up the 29-11 lead after one.

And, not like in Recreation 3, Miami had no capacity to make issues even remotely aggressive, because the Celtics remained firmly in management proper till the sport’s closing buzzer.

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“It was extraordinarily good — particularly as a result of we have been profitable,” Tatum stated with a smile of spending a lot of the fourth quarter on the bench watching Boston’s reserves shut issues out.

Now, the main focus for the Celtics is to attempt to carry the identical sense of urgency that fueled them in Recreation 4 — and after every of their losses in these playoffs, all of which have been adopted by wins — to Recreation 5. Boston has not dealt with prosperity nicely in opposition to both the Milwaukee Bucks within the Jap Convention semifinals, or in opposition to the Warmth on this spherical.

The Celtics know that with a purpose to advance to the NBA Finals, they will must win one other recreation in Miami – and so they know that maintaining that very same focus they’d in Recreation 4 would be the factor that determines whether or not they can achieve this.

“It is sort of like a brand new sequence, better of three,” Tatum stated. “I feel simply having a dialog that I feel human nature performs a component in, while you win a recreation you may chill out a little bit bit, however clearly once we lose a recreation, we really feel like the following recreation is do or die, after which we come out and play like we did and issues like that.

“I feel now we have to have that mindset going into Recreation 5, that it’s a must-win recreation, as a result of tonight was basically one thing like that. Everyone knew it. We might all really feel it. I feel that confirmed in the best way we got here out.”

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Boston, MA

Boston police seek man who inappropriately touched students outside high school

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Boston police seek man who inappropriately touched students outside high school


Boston police are looking for a man they say inappropriately touched several students at a small high school near Copley Square.

Officers responded around 11:30 a.m. to the Snowden International School on Newbury Street in Back Bay after reports that the man had touched students as they were walking in and out of the building.

“That’s scary, that it’s happening right here,” one woman said.

According to a police report, the man had been seen in the area before, approaching two students. Documents state at one point, a student stated the man “touched his chest and asked, ‘Yo bro, do you work out?’”

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Police said photos of the man were captured and sent out to other law enforcement officials.

The department said in a statement that it is “encouraging families to remind students about the importance of being aware of their surroundings and reporting any concerning behavior to their school.”

Boston Public Schools will have an increased Safety Services presence around the campus for the next few days.



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Boston man alleged attacked trans woman on MBTA train, charged with civil rights violation

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Boston man alleged attacked trans woman on MBTA train, charged with civil rights violation


Local News

Gregory Burnett, 53, allegedly said things like “you’re not a woman, you’re a man” during the attack and caused the victim to fracture her wrist.

A Blue Line train at the Wonderland MBTA in 2023. (Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff)

A Boston man who allegedly assaulted a transgender woman at a Blue Line MBTA station on Halloween is facing charges of assault and violating the victim’s civil rights, officials said.

Gregory Burnett, 53, pleaded not guilty to assault and battery causing serious bodily injury, assault and battery, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon (his foot), and a civil rights violation with injury, Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said.

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The woman, 41, told police that another passenger boarded the train at Maverick, immediately approached her, and shouted “derogatory terms” at her, the DA said. Burnett allegedly said statements including “you’re not a woman, you’re a man.” 

Burnett then punched and kicked her, including in the crotch area. The woman tried to defend herself, the DA said, but Burnett grabbed her foot and caused her to fall and fracture her wrist.

Other passengers helped the woman defend herself against Burnett and get him off the train, officials said.

The woman reported the incident to police the next day and said “she felt targeted due to her gender identity based on Burnett’s remarks during the assault,” the DA said.

MBTA police used witness descriptions and surveillance video to identify Burnett and apprehend him at Maverick last Tuesday, according to Hayden’s office.

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Burnett was initially held in jail after being found dangerous in court, but was released last week on conditions to stay at home outside of work hours, according to court records. With a GPS, he is confined to his home outside of 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., Monday through Friday. He is also required to maintain employment, stay away from any witnesses, not commit any further offenses, and not possess any firearms.

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Molly Farrar is a general assignment reporter for Boston.com, focusing on education, politics, crime, and more.






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Q&A: Chad Finn on 'The Boston Globe Story of the Celtics'

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Q&A: Chad Finn on 'The Boston Globe Story of the Celtics'


Book Club

Columnist Chad Finn dives into the details of how his new book, “The Boston Globe Story of the Celtics,” came together.

Last month, “The Boston Globe Story of the Celtics,” a comprehensive book of nearly every recorded moment in Celtics history, was released. The book’s editor Chad Finn, a sports columnist for The Boston Globe and Boston.com, collected hundreds of Celtics stories written by renowned sports reporters, such as Bob Ryan and Jackie MacMullan, since the team’s inception in 1946.

For Boston.com’s Book Club, Finn joined Boston.com sports writer Hayden Bird to discuss his process and insights in editing his book. Watch the full video, or read highlights of the discussion below.

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Below is an abbreviated version of the discussion, which has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Bill Russell, left, star of the Boston Celtics is congratulated by coach Arnold “Red” Auerbach after scoring his 10,000th point in the NBA game against the Baltimore Bullets in Boston Garden on Dec. 12, 1964. (AP Photo/Bill Chaplis, file)

How did you approach creating this book?

With something like this, where it’s a compilation of the Globe‘s coverage of the Celtics throughout their mutual histories, the one thing you’re really wondering about is: Was everything covered?

I think it was a little bit more complicated, a little bit more reason to worry about it, with the Celtics book because of the race element with Bill Russell. Did they cover some of the stuff that players endured back then? Not being able to eat with their teammates when they would go to North Carolina for an exhibition game or something like that. So it was very satisfying, and also a bit of a relief, to find out that the Globe … had covered every single step, every single significant story along the way with the Celtics, from their launch in 1946 until putting out banner No. 18 a couple of weeks ago.

How daunting was the research process?

The first thing you have to do is sit down and make a thorough list of every significant thing chronologically that happened in Celtics history. Once you have that list of 450 different things that happened in Celtics lore, then you go into the archives and you say, “Do we have this?”

A lot of it is also our researcher, Jerry Manion, who’s just an absolute expert at finding what you’re looking for. I can’t tell you how many times in putting this book together where I would message Jerry and say, “Can you find that?” and I’d have it five minutes later. To be able to have that kind of support when you’re putting together a project that could be overwhelming is incredible. I’m incredibly grateful for that.

How did a game recap from 70-80 years ago compare to today?

The game stories and the stories from the coverage tended to be play by play, whereas nowadays, it’s a little bit of a look ahead, or a little bit of context on what you just saw, because you know about Jayson Tatum’s dunk and Jaylen Brown’s three-pointer that tied the game. Back then, that was news to you in the morning. You didn’t see it yourself. 

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Boston Celtics Larry Bird is defended by Detroit Pistons SF Mark Aguirre during Game 6 of the 1991 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Pistons beat the Celtics, 117-113. Bird had 12 points, 4 assists and 4 rebounds. (Barry Chin/Globe Staff)

What’s your favorite lead or passage?

One is Bob Ryan’s lead when they drafted Larry Bird. Red Auerbach took him while he still had a year left of college in Indiana State because back then there was a loophole … where you could draft a player if his college class had graduated. 

Bob Ryan had seen Larry Bird play in person. He knew what Red had just pulled off, and his lead basically said Red didn’t just look like he swallowed the canary, it looked like he swallowed the whole aviary — perfect lead for Larry Bird. The whole column turned out to be prescient about how Larry’s career would go. I have some favorite stories in the book, but that one would be right up there in the top five just because of how he started it, how he wrote it, and how right he was.

What’s something you learned about the Celtics or the Globe’s coverage that stuck out to you?

I learned that the quality of writing really elevated in the late ‘60s. People took more chances with their writing.

In 1969, Leigh Montville got hired at the Globe, and I think if you asked every Globe columnist that has worked here the last 50 years, they would tell you Leigh Montville was the best columnist of all in terms of pure writing ability. He was lyrical, and he joined the beat covering the Celtics in Bill Russell’s last year. 

There was another writer at the same time named Bob Sales. His style was very easy to read and thoughtful, and did not shy away from opinions that probably were considered pretty progressive at the time. He was very supportive of the Black players on the Celtics. I thought Bob Sales, even more than Leigh Montville because he came before him, was somebody who really changed the style of writing about the Celtics and the approach that people took to it. 

Then a whole different topic, but Bob Ryan came around. He started the Globe the same day as [Peter] Gammons in 1968 as interns. When he took over the NBA beat in the early ‘70s, it changed everything. 

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Celtics history is so intertwined with integration in basketball. How did the Globe cover that at the time?

If there was an incident, or if they were not treated as equals — which happened a lot — to their white teammates, the Globe wrote about it. And I wasn’t sure going into the book if that was going to be the case, and it was. 

There are still misconceptions about how the Celtics handled race, and a big part of that is because their team — that a certain generation remembers so well — is Bird, McHale, Danny Ainge. There was a perception: Oh yeah, Celtics, Boston, White. I mean they had the best white players, but it had nothing to do with race why they were here, and Celtics history tells you that.

Look at Celtics history, and Red just wanted to win. He didn’t care about the race or color of his players. He just wanted the best players, and that was well ahead of its time back then.

Bob Ryan sitting in the same seat as he did for the first Celtics game he attended in 1964. (Barry Chin/Globe Staff)

You lived through much of this history as a fan. How was looking at it different from the standpoint as editor of this book?

You get into the eighties, and Magic and Bird change the game in a bunch of different ways — saying they save the league really isn’t an exaggeration. To have grown up watching that, it was really cool to be able to get into that phase of the book where we are doing things that I remember and that I witnessed. 

But it was the hardest chapter in the book to edit, and it’s by far the biggest chapter in the book, for two reasons. Obviously they accomplished a lot, and they won the three titles in that era, and there were so many memorable games, the Lakers and the rivalry, the Sixers, and later on the Pistons. And with a book like this, you can’t just put the championships in it. There were so many games that resonated with people along the way. 

The other thing was the quality of the writing was mind-blowing. It was Bob Ryan at the peak of his powers; it was Dan Shaughnessy, Montville; Jackie MacMullan came along in the late ‘80s. So the hardest thing I had to do with this book was pick which story to use without being redundant when two or three of them wrote about the same subject. Which one do I use?

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What does this book mean to you and your connection to the team?

I dedicated the book to my daughter who’s the biggest Celtics fan I know. I also dedicated to Bob Ryan, who is my writing hero.

I also think just writing about the family aspect of it — that’s become a really big thing with the Celtics themselves. I’ve never seen a team that was as connected and as willing to allow people around the players, their kids, their wives, to be as big a part of things as the 2024 Celtics were. 

I think it bonded them together even more where they’ve developed this culture, where it’s just greater than what they have on the court.


What is your favorite memory of being a Celtics fan?

Kelly Chan

Content Producer


Kelly Chan is a content producer at Boston.com. She designs multimedia content on-site and across social media platforms, and experiments with new ways to engage readers.

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