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The Celtics are back at home to take on the San Antonio Spurs after a short handed win in Toronto. This is the second and final game between these two teams this season. The Celtics beat the Spurs 134-101 on New Year’s Eve in San Antonio. The Celtics won the series last season 2-0, winning in Boston by 44 points. The Celtics are 46-56 overall all time against the Spurs and they are 23-28 in games played in Boston.
The Celtics remain first in the East. They are three games ahead of second-place Milwaukee, four and a half games ahead of third-place Philadelphia (who beat Denver on Tuesday), and seven games ahead of fourth-place Cleveland and fifth-place Miami. They are eight games ahead of sixth-place Indiana. They are 19-0 at home and 7-3 in their last 10 games. They are 8-3 against Western Conference opponents. They have won their last two games.
The San Antonio Spurs are 15th and in last place in the West. They are three games behind 14th-place Portland. They are eight and a half games behind 13th-place Memphis. They are 12 games behind the 10th place Los Angeles Lakers for the final play-in spot. They are 4-16 on the road and 3-7 in their last 10 games. They are 2-13 against Eastern Conference teams. They have lost their last two games.
The Celtics have been alternating home and road games for the past few games. They played at Indiana, then Minnesota at home, then at Milwaukee and Houston at home and finally at Toronto for their last game. They are once again at home to face the Spurs. They will play Denver at home on Friday before heading out on a three-game road trip through Houston, Dallas and Miami. Following that, they have a seven-game home stand.
The Spurs are playing in the second game of a five-game road trip. They played at Atlanta on Monday and lost that game 109-99. After this game at Boston, they will play Charlotte, Washington and Philadelphia to complete the five-game road trip. They will then return home for a seven-game home stand.
The Celtics may be short handed against the Spurs. Derrick White is questionable with a sprained ankle. He came up limping in Monday’s game against the Raptors but was able to finish the game. Kristaps Porzingis is questionable due to right knee inflammation. Jrue Holiday is questionable for this game due to a right elbow sprain. He suffered the elbow sprain at the end of December but has continued to play through the issue, missing just one game. I’m just going to post the regular starting five because these players may or may not play and if they don’t, I’m not sure who will start.
For the Spurs, Sidy Cissoko is listed as out due to a left ankle sprain. He has already missed five games with the injury. Zach Collins is also out with a sprained right ankle. He has been out since Dec. 31 and has yet to return to practice. Charles Bassey is out for the remainder of the season after tearing the ACL in his left knee. Victor Wembanyama was originally listed as questionable but is no longer on the report at this time.
Probable Celtics Starters
PG: Jrue Holiday
SG: Derrick White
SF: Jaylen Brown
PF: Jayson Tatum
C: Kristaps Porzingis
Celtics Reserves
Dalano Banton
Oshae Brissett
Sam Hauser
Al Horford
Svi Mykhailiuk
Payton Pritchard
Lamar Stevens
Jordan Walsh
Luke Kornet
Al Horford
2 Way Players
JD Davison
Drew Peterson
Neemias Queta
Injuries/Out
None
Head Coach
Joe Mazzulla
PG: Tre Jones
SG: Devin Vassell
SF: Julian Champagnie
PF: Jeremy Sochan
C: Victor Wembanyama
Spurs Reserves
Malaki Branham
Sidy Cissoko
Devonte Graham
Keldon Johnson
Sandro Mamukelashvili
Doug McDermott
Cedi Osman
Blake Wesley
Two Way Players
Dominick Barlow
David Duke, Jr
Injuries/Out
Zach Collins (ankle) out
Charles Bassey (knee) out
Sidy Cissoko (ankle) out
Head Coach
Gregg Popovich
Key Matchups
Kristaps Porzingis vs Victor Wembanyama
Assuming that Porzingis will play, this should be a fun matchup. Wembanyama is 7’4” while Porzingis is 7’2”. Wembanyama is averaging 19.6 points, 10.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists 1.1 steals and 3.2 blocks. He is shooting 45.9% from the field and 29.2% from beyond the arc. In the first game against Boston, Wemby finished with 21 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block. He shot 50% from the field and 37.5% from beyond the arc. The Celtics need to be especially aware of Wemby when they are going to the basket as he is a threat to block shots every time. They also need to keep him out of the paint and off the glass.
Derrick White vs Devin Vassell
Vassell is averaging 17.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game. He is shooting 45.4% from the field and 36.1% from beyond the arc. In the first game against the Celtics, he finished with 22 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals. He shot 60% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc. The Celtics have to do a better job of defending him in this game.
Honorable Mention
Sam Hauser vs Keldon Johnson
Johnson comes off the bench for the Spurs and is averaging 17.2 points, 6 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game. He is shooting 44.6% from the field and 34.6% from beyond the arc. The Celtics need Hauser and the Celtics reserves to step up to match Johnson’s impact on the game. He didn’t play against the Celtics in the first game in San Antonio.
Keys to the Game
Defense – Defense will always be the most important key to winning games. The Celtics are second with a defensive rating of 110.6 while the Spurs are 24th with a defensive rating of 117.5. The Celtics have to especially defend in the paint since the Spurs average 49.6 points in the paint per game. The Celtics need to make defense a priority and play tough team defense in every game and not let up.
Rebound – The Celtics can’t score if they don’t have the ball, and they will struggle if they give up second chance points to the Spurs. The Celtics are averaging 47.4 rebounds per game (first) while the Spurs are averaging 43.2 rebounds per game (21st). Rebounding takes effort and when the Celtics put forth the extra effort on the boards, that tends to spread to other areas of the game as well.
Be Aggressive – The Celtics need to play hard and be the more aggressive team. They have to go after rebounds, loose balls, and 50/50 balls. They have to be aggressive on defense and in getting to the basket. They have to be the team that works harder and wants to win more. Even the last team in the standings can beat the #1 team if they play harder and are more aggressive.
Play the Right Way – The Celtics need to move the ball to find the best shot. When they play hero ball and don’t keep the ball moving, the Celtics struggle. But, when they keep the ball moving and move without the ball, they are very tough to beat. They need to focus on playing defense and having each others backs. They need to crash the boards and box out. They need to focus on taking and making good shots. If the 3’s aren’t falling, take the ball to the basket. Play with focus and with energy.
X-Factors
Home Game and Don’t Underestimate – The Spurs are playing in their second straight road game and have three more to go. The Spurs will likely be feeling some fatigue from travel and being on the road and from staying in hotels and playing in front of hostile crowds. The Celtics need to take advantage of having the crowd behind them and from playing in the friendly confines of the TD Garden. The Celtics can’t underestimate the Spurs based on their 33-point win in San Antonio and the Spurs record. If a team underestimates an opponent, even the worst team in the league, there’s always a chance it can come back to bite them.
Injuries – The Celtics have three players listed as questionable on the injury report. Their status will be a game time decision. It goes without saying that this game will be a lot tougher without Jrue Holiday, Derrick White and Kristaps Porzingis. If one or more of those starters are out, it will be up to the remaining players to pick up their games and to play harder. Hopefully at least one or two of them will be able to play.
Officiating – Officiating is always an X-Factor. Every crew officiates differently and teams need to adjust to the way the game is called. Will they call the game evenly or favor the home team? Will they call it tight or let them play? It seems that the officiating has been particularly poor this season so far. Hopefully we get fair officiating and they let them play and the Celtics focus on playing and not on the officiating.
And make sure to check out CelticsBlog’s Playback stream for a live conversation about the game. To participate, just create a free account, connect your LP sub if you have it, and join our community!
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🥵Very hot, with highs around 97 degrees. Sunset is at 8:19 p.m.
GBH’s Dan Murphy captured Abby Evangelista and her corgi, Rocko, at Sail250 this weekend. “Rocko gets dressed up for lots of occasions … sometimes just to go to the store, and he does so great with meeting people,” Evangelista said. Keep reading for more photos from the tall ships.
A year ago today firefighters were extinguishing flames at the Gabriel House, an assisted living facility in Fall River. Ten people died in the fire, a tragedy for their loved ones and a scary moment for about 18,000 people who live in assisted living facilities across the state.
Now state officials have created new regulations for fire safety in assisted living facilities, going into effect later this month. Fire departments will inspect these facilities once a year, and facilities will need to submit emergency plans and train their workers on what to do in case of a fire.
GBH’s Craig LeMoult found that neither the new regulations nor state or federal fire codes address checking sprinkler systems. Some of the sprinklers at the Gabriel House weren’t working the night of the fire, including the ones in the room where it started.
“Had the sprinklers functioned properly, we’re not having this conversation right now. It is maybe a single fatality fire, but certainly not more than that,” Fall River fire chief Jeffrey Bacon told LeMoult. “The good news is that some of the sprinklers did function. And had they not, we would be here talking about 20, 30, 40 victims.” You can read the full story here.
1. Colleagues and friends are remembering Louisa Gag, a Boston transportation planner killed last week when a truck driver hit her as she rode her bike near the Roxbury Crossing MBTA stop. Gag grew up in Roslindale and worked for the city on expanding the BlueBikes bike-share program. Before that, she worked for the LivableStreets Alliance, co-authoring a plan to help cities stop traffic deaths. You can see her talk about her work in this 2019 video.
“In moments like these, there is a tendency to reduce the person to the way they died and to their activism,” said Stacy Thompson, a former executive director of LivableStreets. “While we may know Louisa as a deep champion of the city and a close advocate, she’s also a Boston Latin [School] kid. She’s also, like, the most infectious, hilarious person you’ve ever met. She’s also a daughter. It’s so important to us right now for her life to not be reduced to how she stopped living.”
2. More than 4,000 nurses are back at work at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. They went on a one-day strike last week, and hospital administrators kept them from returning to their jobs for another five days. The Massachusetts Nurses Association and Brigham management have been negotiating a contract for seven months, going back and forth over wages, health insurance premiums and staffing levels.
“It’s exciting, but also frightening,” said Christine Forgeron, a cardiac nurse at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “I don’t know what to expect when we go back to our patients. What happens next, because we still don’t have a contract,is the most unsettling part.”
3. Michael Walsh, a Republican candidate for state attorney general, will be on the primary ballot in September despite what Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Karp called “substantial evidence in the record of voter fraud.” The case began when Adam Roof, executive director of the Massachusetts Democratic Party, submitted a complaint accusing a signature gatherer Walsh’s campaign hired of either falsifying or not meeting state requirements for 1,021 of the 10,677 signatures they submitted. Candidates for statewide office need 10,000 signatures to get onto the ballot.
Karp said that there was indeed evidence that the signatures came not from voters themselves but from a list of registered voters the state’s Republican party gave the signature gatherer. But the case fell on a technicality: state law required Roof, the Democratic party official, to submit his complaint by certified mail, and he did not do so. The state’s highest court still has to decide what will happen to Anne Manning Martin, a Republican candidate for lieutenant governor who used the same signature gatherer.
4. Residents of towns around the Quabbin Reservoir flooded into the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority meeting last week to ask for a better deal. The Quabbin supplies clean drinking water for dozens of cities and towns in the eastern part of the state. Right now, the state requires towns like Shrewsbury, Belchertown, Orange and Pelham to keep their development in check to keep the Quabbin clean. Though those towns get some money in return, local officials said it’s not enough to cover their costs.
“We are protecting this watershed by foregoing any type of economic development, which is a cornerstone of providing the basics of education [and] public safety,” said state Rep. Aaron Saunders, of Belchertown. “It’s time for a change, and not an incremental one.”
Dan Murphy / GBH News
Tomorrow is the last full day of Sail Boston, the city’s tall ships celebration. The ships will leave our harbor Thursday morning. GBH photographer Dan Murphy was there over the weekend to capture the Parade of Sail.
Dan Murphy / GBH News
The Esmeralda, a ship from Chile, sailed by Castle Island.
Dan Murphy / GBH News
Carolyn Gustine carried her son, Patrick, on her shoulders.
You can see the full photo essay here.
Dig deeper:
–Spectators line Cape Cod Canal to see tall ships make their way to Sail250 in Boston
–The World Cup transformed Greater Boston. Will it last?
–Department of Agricultural Resources celebrates Ice Cream Trail program
Local News
A Boston man is facing charges after he allegedly lunged at a Burger King employee, punched a customer, and then resisted arrest at a nearby MBTA station in East Boston, authorities announced Monday afternoon.
Patrick Donovan, 59, was charged July 1 with one count of assault and battery causing injury on an over 60 or disabled person, assault and battery, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, assault, and vandalism, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s office said in a press release.
The charges stem from an incident shortly before 10 p.m. on June 30, when Boston police responded to a disturbance call from Burger King at 1 Maverick Square, Hayden’s office said.
A Burger King employee told officers that, after ordering his food and receiving it, Donovan yelled that he no longer wanted it and smacked a napkin holder off the counter. He then allegedly lunged at an employee and grabbed her by the arm, prosecutors said.
Donovan subsequently shoved a customer from behind and allegedly punched him in the face three times while calling him racial slurs, the DA’s office said.
Emergency medical services evaluated the customer for “visible lacerations to the forehead,” but the victim declined additional treatment, authorities said.
Donovan fled the restaurant following the assaults, and officers tracked him to the nearby MBTA Maverick Station, prosecutors said.
“While officers tried to detain Donovan inside the station, he swung at them with a closed fist but did not make contact,” Hayden’s office said, noting that Donovan made racial slurs towards the officers. “Donovan was placed into custody after a brief struggle.”
During his arraignment in the East Boston division of the Boston Municipal Court, Donovan pleaded not guilty and was released on personal recognizance. Court records show he was also ordered to stay away from Maverick Square and Burger King.
He is scheduled to return to court Aug. 7 for a pre-trial hearing, prosecutors said.
Officers obtained security footage of both assaults. Authorities said the incident remains under investigation and could result in further charges.
“Our workers deserve to be safe in their workplaces and our consumers deserve to be safe in their shopping or dining places, without exception,” Hayden said in a statement. “Beyond that, none of our citizens or first responders should be subjected to racial slurs. These appalling words have no place in Suffolk County or anywhere else in our society.”
Attorney information for Donovan was not immediately available Monday afternoon.
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A rideshare driver suspected of assaulting a passenger at Boston Logan International Airport on Friday is scheduled to be arraigned on Monday.
Leonard Bacon, 23, was found in Lowell, where he lives, and taken into custody on Sunday, Massachusetts State Police said. He’s charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon causing serious bodily injury.
It wasn’t immediately clear if Bacon, who’s due to face the charge in East Boston District Court, had an attorney who could speak for him.
Police didn’t share more details on what Bacon is accused of doing. They’ve previously said that the rideshare passenger entered Terminal C just before 5:30 a.m. and reported that they had been physically assaulted by their driver prior to being dropped off.
After the passenger got out of the vehicle, the rideshare driver left the scene, according to police, who alerted area law enforcement agencies to look out for the suspect. The victim was taken to a Boston-area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police added.
Police are looking for a rideshare driver who was reported to have assaulted a passenger right before drop-off at Boston’s Logan airport.
In a statement, Uber said they’ve checked in with the rider and removed the driver’s access to their rideshare platform.
“We are horrified by this reported violence,” a representative for the company said in a statement, adding, “Our specialized team has been in touch with law enforcement, and we will continue to do whatever we can to support their investigation.”
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