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The Celtics haven’t looked sharp lately; will it matter in the playoffs?

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The Celtics haven’t looked sharp lately; will it matter in the playoffs?


There’s no getting around it. The Celtics haven’t looked very sharp lately. There was the Clippers game blowout, some shaky wins over New Orleans and Indy, and then the embarrassing loss against the shorthanded Lakers. In isolation, any of these games could be written off as “one of those days” but when you cobble them together, it becomes more concerning. Just how concerning is a matter of debate.

The Celtics have all the firepower and talent that you could ask for. So from my viewpoint (on my comfy couch) it seems like it is just a problem of human nature. They stand firmly in first place with a 4.5-game cushion. So naturally, there are going to be days when the sense of urgency just isn’t there — in particular, when an opponent is missing two superstars.

That’s a problem because we’ve all learned that on any given day any team can rise up and steal a win if you don’t take them seriously and put in the right level of energy. The job is to perform day in and day out, regardless of opponent. Of course that’s easier said by a blogger on his couch than it is to perform on the court.

We want our stars to be flawless. To achieve those levels of success. You really have to be a monomaniac on a mission. Think Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Kevin Garnett. They had that killer mentality, hyper-competitiveness, dialed up to 11 every minute of every day. Some select few are just wired that way and when you add in athletic talent, there’s no limit to what they can achieve.

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Of course there’s a price to pay as well. I’m not the first to suggest that it can’t be healthy to live your life that way. Just go back and watch The Last Dance to see what I mean. MJ is still salty about perceived slights that may or may not have happened 30 years ago.

I do think that Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and the rest of the Celtics are super competitive. They might even be in the top 1% in the world (if there were a way to measure something like that). You don’t achieve their level of success without it. But perhaps they also have a healthy degree of perspective and balance as well. They allow themselves to fail and learn from those failures.

This doesn’t excuse the losses and slippage of play. The job is to win every game, but even the best teams will have lulls and slumps. What really matters the most is what happens in the postseason. Are the recent focus struggles something that will disappear when the challenge of the playoffs ramps up? Or is there some undercurrent issue going to raise its ugly head when it matters the most?

We have two recent examples to refer to. One is last year’s Celtics team that started off blazing hot, cooled off somewhat, and then lost their footing against the Heat in the playoffs (aided by some fluky shooting outliers). The other reference point is last year’s Denver Nuggets. Much was made about their seemingly aimless final few months of the regular season. But when the playoffs rolled around, the proverbial switch was flipped and they rode their superstar all the way to a title. It is worth noting that Nikola Jokic is able to dominate the game while also scouting horses halfway across the globe.

Call me over-optimistic if you want, but I tend to think that once the playoffs roll around, this team will be able to lock in and (mostly) stay focused on the challenge at hand. The key will be picking up wins early enough in the series to give themselves a margin of error if more fluky outliers happen later in the series.

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The Celtics have the All-Star break coming up and it seems like they need the R&R. They also have the 2nd easiest remaining strength of schedule according to Tankathon. The team has an opportunity to do some experimenting with different rotations, schemes, and plays. If they retain their focus, they can still keep piling up the wins. (A big “if” based on recent play, but still)

The trade deadline or buyout season might be a good opportunity to add a new face and perhaps inject a slightly different element into the formula, even if that player doesn’t end up playing a ton in the playoffs.

One of the biggest challenges that a coaching staff has is to continually get the right level of focus and energy out of their players. Every one is wired differently and finding those right buttons to push and picking your spots of when to push them is incredibly tricky (and a moving target because people develop and grow over time).

Will this team figure things out in the spring? That might depend on the habits that they form the rest of this winter. We just won’t know for sure until we get there.



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Ryan Serhant of Bravo, Netflix fame is opening his first Boston real estate firm

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Ryan Serhant of Bravo, Netflix fame is opening his first Boston real estate firm


Real Estate

The Massachusetts native known for “Million Dollar Listing” and “Owning Manhattan” chats about his career and expansion in New England.

Celebrity real estate agent Ryan Serhant poses in Manhattan. SERHANT. Studios

He set out to own Manhattan.

Now he’s coming for Massachusetts. 

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Celebrity real estate broker/diehard Patriots fan Ryan Serhant is bringing it all back home.

SERHANT., (styled with a period), his real estate brokerage featured on Netflix’s “Owning Manhattan” is expanding to Massachusetts, with a Boston office and “more than 15 agents,” per his Jan. 14. announcement. 

“It’s exciting for me to get back to my roots,” the “Million Dollar Listing” star — whose firm deals in million-dollar listings — said. 

“Boston is the biggest little city in the world. It’s built on culture, built on the ethos of the original founders of the United States — this get-up-and-go attitude. That’s what I love so much about Boston. It’s in everybody’s blood to get up and go and make things happen.”

A noted workaholic with a get-up-and-go-attitude himself, Serhant spoke of his Boston launch from the back of his car in New York City — presumably with  Yuriy the driver, who has his own fandom. 

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For the initiated, if there’s such a thing as a real estate celebrity, it’s Serhant.

Celebrity real estate agent Ryan Serhant. – SERHANT. Studios

He’s a house-blend of Wall Street and Broadway. A savvy businessman, with the big personality of TV show host — magnetic Andy Cohen it-factor with Bostonian dry humor and an “I can sell ice to a snowman” sales attitude that revs up employees. 

Watching “Owning Manhattan,”  they look like they’d follow their silver-haired leader into battle if he raised his heavily-braceleted wrist. The knight’s steed? Social media. He’s harnessed the power of Instagram — with some 3 million followers— and social platforms. He also studied theater.

Two years after earning his broker license, he landed on Bravo’s “Million Dollar Listing,” then got his own Bravo spinoff shows.

In 2020, the author of three books founded SERHANT. He sells New York City apartments that look straight out of “Succession.” He repped Andy Cohen in the sale of his New York apartment, and Dave Portnoy’s Florida home.

Now that he’s “planted his flag” in Rhode Island andConnecticut, he’s expanding his empire back into what he considers his home state. “All my childhood memories” are here, he said. “My first date was at the Topsfield Fair.”

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“When you walk to my office in New York City, the first thing you see is a Tom Brady autographed helmet. I have a football from the Falcons/Patriots Super Bowl signed, I have a lot of Patriots gear and jerseys,” he continued. 

WATCH WHAT HAPPENS LIVE WITH ANDY COHEN, Pictured: (l-r) Andy Cohen, Scheana Shay, Ryan Serhant. – Charles Sykes/Bravo

He took some time to chat about what the Boston office has in store:

You’re opening an office in Boston, but you’ll sell properties all over Massachusetts?

This is our 15th state. We’re starting in Boston with an office in Back Bay. We’re bringing our platform, our AI technology, ourapp, our brands, our production studio, our creative agency …  It’s a big moment for us.

We’ll be selling all over Massachusetts. We have a lot of incredible listings that will come to market over the next couple days. They probably won’t be on the website site by Wednesday— the way licensure works, it takes a second. But I love Beacon Hill, the Seaport, South End, and all the neighboring suburbs, North Shore, South Shore. My little brother’s in Walpole. So I’m looking forward to painting Massachusetts SERHANT. blue.

You’re already in Connecticut and Rhode Island. Are you going to expand into other New England states?

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They’re on the roadmap, yes.

We have some beautiful properties. We’re growing very fast in Rhode Island. A lot of those agents also have clients in Massachusetts, so Massachusetts makes a lot of sense for us.

Season 2 of “Owning Manhattan” just released on Netflix last month. Any chance we might be in Season three?

“Owning Boston”? Maybe. Depends on the properties. Every season so far, we’ve shown off a little bit outside of New York City. The show is predominantly based in Manhattan, obviously. But, last season we launched some beautiful properties in Miami, and the show came with us to South Florida. So we’ll have to see.

You said your parents moved, but you still have family here. Tell me a bit about your local roots. 

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I was born in Houston, we moved around a bit, then settled in Topsfield. I went to Proctor Elementary School in Topsfield, then Masconomet Regional for junior high and Pingree [in South Hamilton] for high school. I went to Hamilton College, a liberal arts school in upstate New York. 

My dad worked at State Street. My [brothers work in finance]. I was the odd one out who got into real estate by way of theater. 

So you learned to drive on Rt. 128?

Hilarious. My first real frustration [with driving] was the Big Dig. Remember the Big Dig?

Oh my gosh. That thing was endless, forever and ever.  I mean, learning to drive on those roads is a thing. You go out to the Midwest where a lot of roads are straight, and you’re like, “These people have it way too easy. These roads were not carved by horses in any way, shape or form.”

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And how did you get into real estate?

Real estate was never part of the plan. I went to school for theater and for English literature. When I graduated in 2006, my grandfather died and left $20,000 to each [grandkid.] That was the most money I’d ever seen. I was like, “I’m going to go to New York City, do Broadway — that money will last me 10 years.” It did not last me 10 years. It lasted me a lot less.

So I needed a job or I had to move home, which I didn’t want to do. And a friend of mine said “Sales is very similar to the skills you learn in theater. It’s listening to reply, listening to response, memorizing information, being a real human in front of people. Just get your real estate license.” So I did that in 2008.

What do you love about it?

I love that it’s a limitless career. The harder you work, the luckier you get. I love that every day is different. I love that you can be an inventor, a builder, a branded marketer, a negotiator, a therapist all at the same time. It personifies  the American Dream.

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How did you find your entertainment/celebrity/ real estate broker niche?

I got my real estate license in 2008, and after a year and a half, I went to an open-casting call for a reality show on Bravo, “Million Dollar Listing New York.” I was cast in 2010. We did that for a decade, and that was around the same time Instagram was invented. Instagram and Twitter and Facebook were a way to connect with those show fans, and clients. I was just able to build that profile.

I’m a businessman first, and I use social media and various forms of media to put out our message and our profile. 

Will you be coming to Boston soon?

I was just there, actually. My little brother lives in Walpole. He and his wife just actually opened a gym in Walpole called Lifted Fitness, so I went to their opening, and went to one of their classes. 

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Interview has been lightly edited and condensed. 

Lauren Daley is a freelance writer. She can be reached at [email protected] and @laurendaley1.

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Lauren Daley is a longtime culture journalist. As a regular contributor to Boston.com, she interviews A-list musicians, actors, authors and other major artists.





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Nick Davidson scores 21 straight points, finishes with 25 as No. 22 Clemson beats Boston College – The Boston Globe

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Nick Davidson scores 21 straight points, finishes with 25 as No. 22 Clemson beats Boston College – The Boston Globe


CLEMSON, S.C. — Nick Davidson scored 21 straight points in the first half and finished with a season-high 25 as No. 22 Clemson beat Boston College, 74-50, on Tuesday night to remain undefeated in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Tigers (15-3, 5-0 ACC) won their eighth straight game, one day after reaching the Top 25 rankings for the first time this season.

Davidson, the Nevada transfer, accounted for all of Clemson’s scoring in a 21-9 run to turn a four-point deficit into a 32-24 lead.

Clemson started the second half on a 9-2 run. The Tigers were led by RJ Godfrey’s 5 points and extended their lead to double digits.

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Davidson’s two foul shots with 9:50 to play extended Clemson’s lead to 21 points and Boston College (7-10, 0-4) failed to respond. The Tigers eventually led by 25 in the second half.

Davidson made 8 of 11 shots from the field, including four of Clemson’s eight 3-pointers. He finished a point shy of his career high, set against Sam Houston State in November 2024.

Fred Payne led BC with 20 points.

Godfrey and Carter Welling each had 10 points and eight rebounds for Clemson.

BC opened quickly, hitting five of its first eight shots for a 15-11 lead. That’s when Davidson went on his run in a 10-minute stretch in which he accounted for all of Clemson’s offense.

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Jestin Porter, who scored 26 points in Clemson’s last outing in a win at Notre Dame, added a pair of 3-pointers down the stretch as the Tigers led 37-27 at the break.

The Eagles host Syracuse on Saturday.





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Massachusetts Senate to finally debate Boston Mayor Wu’s contentious tax shift bill

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Massachusetts Senate to finally debate Boston Mayor Wu’s contentious tax shift bill


Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s stalled tax shift bill will be taken up by the state Senate Thursday for the first time since it was killed there more than a year ago, but this time as an amendment filed for an alternate Senate-led tax relief proposal.

State Sen. Michael Rush, a Boston Democrat, filed an amendment to state Sen. William Brownsberger’s property tax shock bill that mirrors the language included in a home rule petition the mayor has been pushing for nearly two years that would shift more of the city’s tax burden from the residential to commercial sector.

“Property tax relief is a pressing issue for my constituents — and residents throughout the state,” Rush said Monday in a statement to the Herald. “On behalf of the people of Boston, I have filed the home rule petition passed by the Boston City Council to provide property tax relief for Boston residents.

“As the Senate considers several worthy proposals designed to address affordability in the Commonwealth, I am glad this proposal will be part of the discussion,” Rush said.

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Wu’s office told the Herald Saturday that the mayor had requested the amendment.

“Every senator has the opportunity to submit amendments related to these bills by Monday, and we have asked Boston’s senators to offer an amendment with our residential tax relief language that has been vetted thoroughly and never received a vote,” a Wu spokesperson said in a statement. “We are following closely and hope the final bills will include this needed relief for residents.”

Wu has said her legislation is aimed at lowering the 13% tax hike the average single-family homeowner is projected to face this year. Third-quarter tax bills went out to homeowners earlier this month.

The mayor’s bill seeks to shift more of the city’s tax burden onto commercial property owners, beyond the 175% state limit, for a three-year period.

It is set to be debated, along with several other amendments that have been filed by senators for Brownsberger’s property tax shock bill, at Thursday’s session.

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“All amendments filed by members of the Senate will be considered by the full body during our session on Thursday,” a spokesperson for Senate President Karen Spilka’s office said Monday in a statement to the Herald.

A vote is expected on the bill and underlying amendments on the same day, according to state Sen. Nick Collins, a South Boston Democrat whose alternative tax relief bill and amendments will also be considered.

Collins, who opposes the tax shift element of the mayor’s home rule petition and helped lead the push to kill it on the Senate floor in late 2024, has put forward a bill and amendments that include other elements of what Wu has proposed.

He’s pushing for tax rebates for low- and middle-income homeowners who already receive the residential tax exemption by using surplus funds, along with senior, veterans and small business tax relief provisions.

“I think that the relief measures are positive in terms of the amendments that I and others have filed that are relief in nature or relief options, but I think anything that involves a tax increase is going to be difficult,” Collins told the Herald Monday when asked about the chances for the mayor’s proposal.

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“Especially when the city is sitting on $552 million of what they consider to be free cash, it’s hard to make the case that tax increase is necessary,” Collins added.

In a statement issued by his office, Collins added that the city’s decision to hike residential property taxes by double-digits “with so much in the City of Boston’s surplus fund” was “unnecessary, unfair and clearly inequitable.”

“To cancel out that tax increase, my legislation would authorize the city to issue direct rebates to homeowners,” Collins said.

He pointed to a similar approach that he said was taken at the state level in 2022, when the governor and legislature issued rebates after tax revenues exceeded the cap established under voter-approved state law, Chapter 62F, which limits the growth of state tax collections.

In terms of Rush’s amendment, Collins said he’s also concerned that the senator’s language would make the mayor’s tax shift bill applicable statewide, rather than just in Boston.

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