Connect with us

Boston, MA

Patience over panic: Kristaps Porzingis and the Celtics struggles

Published

on

Patience over panic: Kristaps Porzingis and the Celtics struggles


The Celtics aren’t playing great basketball. Coincidence or not, this stretch has coincided with the return and reintegration of Kristaps Porzingis. In 23 games without the big man, Boston has a record of 19-4—with him in the lineup, that falls to a much less flattering 9-7 record.

This has put his value on trial, and opened the door to discussions about whether a move to the bench could be helpful for everyone involved. It’s not a crazy idea by any means, but it’s shortsighted and an oversimplification of why the team has struggled of late.

While Kristaps attempts to slide back into his role, there’s an adjustment period that the team naturally has to go through. That’s roughly 13 shots per game being taken from the collective and handed to one individual. It’s a shift that can impact that entire rotation, but it’s also not unfamiliar to the team—by now, they’re used to the cycle of Porzingis’ absence and return.

KP hasn’t been the same game-breaking player that we’ve come to know, but he’s not that far off. He isn’t hunting shots outside of the flow of the offense, and the coaching staff isn’t force-feeding him either.

Advertisement

This table shows a comparison in the volume and efficiency of Kristaps’ most used play types from the past two seasons. Across the board, the possessions per game have remained very similar, while the efficiency has taken a step back.

Advertisement

He’s shooting below the standard he established for himself during the championship run, but the accuracy should come around as he gets more comfortable and confident in his movements post-injury. Porzingis opened up about this after a win over the Nuggets, sharing his progress.

“80-85%. I still have a little bit to go.” Porzingis said. “I know that moment is coming when everything will start clicking, and I’ll play really high-level basketball.”

In theory, sending KP to the bench would allow him to face easier matchups and build his conditioning back up. On a similar note, he and the starters have a troubling -8.9 net rating. With that said, abandoning this unit so quickly is an overreaction and works against the purpose of the regular season.

It may require patience, but we’re talking about a starting lineup that had a +17.3 net rating over seven playoff games together. Long term, it’s more valuable to let them figure it out, rather than opt for a temporary fix.

It can’t be ignored that the Celtics are also getting hit by a wrecking ball of poor shooting luck in his minutes. Opponents are hitting 33.78% of their three-pointers with him on the bench, compared to a ridiculously efficient 41.78% when he’s on the court. To make matters worse, Boston is converting 37.21% of their own 3’s without KP, and just 32.95% with him.

Advertisement

Overall, there’s a -8.83% differential between team and opponent 3PT efficiency with Porzingis in the game. This is simply unsustainable, and it’s due for positive regression eventually.

Despite his individual offensive struggles, Porzingis has been elite as a rim protector. Among 255 players who have defended at least 75 shots within 6 feet of the basket, he has the best defensive field goal percentage in the NBA at 41.2%. Players are shooting 20.9% worse than expected when facing Kristaps at the rim.

Boston is intentional about which shooters they’re willing to leave open and when to funnel drives toward Porzingis. Teams are often avoiding these drives, and accepting open looks from mediocre shooters—recently, with great success. Both of these factors play into the stark difference in opponent 3PT%.

The numbers paint a disappointing picture, but from a glass-half-full perspective, there’s plenty of room for positive regression. Last season, the starting lineup shot 39.31% from beyond the arc and limited opponents to 36.75%. This year, they’ve struggled, shooting just 27.61% themselves, while opponents are converting at an absurd 46.55%.

Ultimately, the Celtics’ struggles seem more like a temporary blip, fueled by frustrating shooting luck and a slow return to form for Kristaps, rather than a reason to panic. The core of this team has already proven their ability to perform together at a high level, and sticking with the current configuration gives them the best chance to break out of the slump.

Advertisement

Allowing Porzingis to round into shape and cranking up the defensive intensity should help offset some of the shooting woes. As Porzingis eloquently put it, “with this kind of talent in this locker room, it’s impossible that we don’t start playing better basketball.” When water finds its level, the game will start to look easy again.



Source link

Boston, MA

First Alert: Mix of snow and rain today, then looking ahead to warmer weather

Published

on

First Alert: Mix of snow and rain today, then looking ahead to warmer weather


Today is a First Alert weather day. A system to our south is pushing mix of snow and rain into southern New England through this evening and tonight. 

For us here in Greater Boston, expect snow to continue spreading over our area through the afternoon/evening commute. In fact, parts our area could see up to 1 to 2 inches of snow accumulation before the sleet and rain move in.

Much of Greater Boston will likely see snow amounts on the lower end. Higher snow amounts are expected toward southern New Hampshire and along and north of outer Route 2. Also, some ice accumulations are possible, up to a tenth of an inch, creating a thin glaze here and there.

Dozens of schools in Connecticut and Massachusetts have already announced early dismissals as a result of the storm.

While this system won’t cripple our area, conditions could still create a mess on the roads during the evening commute through tonight. Be careful while driving. A Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect for parts of our area through early Wednesday morning. High temperatures will be in the mid to upper 30s today. Overnight lows will drop into the low 30s.

We’ll wake up to patchy fog Wednesday morning before the sun returns. High temperatures will be in the upper 40s. We’ll stay in the 40s on Thursday with increasing clouds. But by late Thursday night into Friday, wet weather returns. Some snow could mix with the rain into Friday morning. Highs will be in the upper 30s Friday.

Advertisement

Warmer weather is expected this weekend. Highs will be in the 50s Saturday and possibly near 60 on Sunday.



Source link

Continue Reading

Boston, MA

Boston police officials dominate the list of highest-paid city workers in 2025 – The Boston Globe

Published

on

Boston police officials dominate the list of highest-paid city workers in 2025 – The Boston Globe


That was more than what every other city department spent on overtime combined, though it was a slight drop from the $103 million the police department spent on overtime in 2024.

High overtime spending inside the police department has long been controversial and a source of frustration for police-reform advocates. Last year’s nine-figure total comes as Mayor Michelle Wu warns of a challenging budget season to come for the city, which is grappling with inflation and the possibility of more federal funding cuts.

In a December letter, Wu told the city council that she instructed city department heads to find ways to cut 2 percent of their budgets in the next fiscal year. She also imposed a delay on new hires. Boston Public Schools Superintendent Mary Skipper has also proposed cutting somewhere between 300 and 400 positions next fiscal year due to budget constraints.

Overall, the city spent about $2.5 billion on employee salaries in 2025, up around 1.5 percent from $2.4 billion in 2024. The city employs roughly 21,000 workers, according to a public dashboard.

Advertisement

In a statement, Emma Pettit, a spokesperson for Wu’s office, attributed the payroll increase to raises, and in some cases, employees receiving retroactive pay, that were part of contracts the city negotiated with its various labor unions.

“We’re grateful to our city employees for their hard work to hold Boston to the highest standard for delivering city services,” Pettit said.

When Wu won her first mayoral race in November 2021, all of the city’s 44 union contracts had expired. Since then, Wu’s office has negotiated new agreements with all of them, and last year, agreed to a one-year contract extension with the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, the city’s largest police union.

But as the city heads back to the bargaining table to negotiate extensions or new contracts with others, city leaders should keep cost at the forefront of those conversations, said Steve Poftak, president of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, a business-backed budget watchdog group.

“As budgets tighten, I’m hopeful that it increases the scrutiny on these collective bargaining agreements,” Poftak said.

Advertisement

The top earner on the city’s payroll last year was Boston Police Captain Timothy Connolly. In addition to his $194,000 base salary, Connolly took home nearly $230,000 in overtime, about $26,000 in undefined “other pay,” and roughly $49,000 as part of a higher-education bonus, for a total of $498,145 in compensation.

Skipper, as BPS superintendent, was the 55th-highest earner among city workers, coming behind 54 members of the police department. She made a total of $378,000 in 2025.

Nearly 300 city employees made more than $300,000 last year. In contrast, Wu made $207,000, though her salary increased to $250,000 this year. More than 1,700 city employees made more than the mayor in 2025.

Larry Calderone, president of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, argued that the high overtime costs in the police department are, in part, a result of understaffing.

The department is short roughly 400 rank-and-file police officers, Calderone said, meaning the department has to pay its staff to work overtime and fill vacant shifts. The average salary for an officer in the BPPA is roughly $195,000, Calderone said.

Advertisement

With several large events approaching, including a Boston-based fan fest around this summer’s World Cup matches and the return of a fleet of tall ships to Boston Harbor, Calderone said most of the members of his union are likely to be working the maximum allowable 90 hours a week.

“We just don’t have the bodies on the street,” he said.

The Boston Police Department and the Boston Police Superior Officers Federation — the union that represents the department’s sergeants, captains, and lieutenants — did not immediately return requests for comment Monday.

Jamarhl Crawford, an activist and former member of the Boston Police Reform Task Force, said while high spending on overtime is not new for the police department, it’s a pressing problem the city should tackle.

The police and fire departments are “essential components of the city and society in general … [and] folks should be getting a fair wage. But it also has to be within fiscal responsibility,” Crawford said.

Advertisement

“In another 10 years,” he continued, “with pensions and everything else, this type of thing can bankrupt the city.”


Niki Griswold can be reached at niki.griswold@globe.com. Follow her @nikigriswold. Yoohyun Jung can be reached at y.jung@globe.com.





Source link

Continue Reading

Boston, MA

Red Sox rotation contender strikes out four in dominant outing

Published

on

Red Sox rotation contender strikes out four in dominant outing


FORT MYERS, Fla. — Johan Oviedo’s first outing of the spring last week didn’t go great, as the right-hander walked three over 1 2/3 innings in a performance manager Alex Cora described as “erratic.”

His second outing on Monday went much better.



Source link

Continue Reading

Trending