The Celtics walked into Madison Square Garden and benched their top six guys because of a weird and stupid preseason back-to-back (and part of a three-in-four stretch), turning the Monday night game against the Knicks into less of a dress rehearsal between division rivals and more of an audition for Boston’s supporting cast. It’s like Boston’s top six guys were the cast of Friends and the rest of the guys spent Monday night reading for Gunther, Janice, Mike, and Richard ..read more

With Boston’s top six guys sitting on the back-to-back, Boston’s reserves held their own against New York’s regulars in the first half of the game. They struggled shooting and they turned the ball over, but they still managed to put up 107 points overall, 85 points through three quarters before Payton Pritchard sat. Pritchard started slow, but he showed why he got his extension as the game went on. Dalano Banton attacked the rim with ferocity and Svi Mykhailiuk showed a little bit of everything. The Knicks won, but the Celtics reserves held their own ..read more

Jones has not been good the past two games, the worst-rated games I have for Jones in his career. If Belichick wanted to make a quarterback change, I would not protest. I have a lengthy video below laying out my issues with Jones, and the offense in general.I just think there are bigger issues with this offense that need to be dealt with. Those issues, with some solutions ..read more

I'd be shocked if Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford play, but Joe Mazzulla will get weird with things from time to time. If any of the top six play in this game, it'll be for very limited minutes just to continue to help them build some chemistry. I won't be surprised to see Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown get some reps with Jrue Holiday in the first quarter or first half before sitting down. Holiday can use some reps running with those guys and 20 minutes of basketball isn't a big deal even on back-to-back nights ..read more

With the season opener just two days away, the Bruins have nearly trimmed down to their final roster to begin the 2023-24 campaign after placing Oskar Steen, Jakub Zboril and Jesper Boqvist on waivers on Saturday before waving A.J. Greer and Patrick Brown on Sunday. Now that the roster is all but set, here is my projected opening night lineup. While only a few things have changed from my way-too-early projection from Aug. 2, there are some rather significant tweaks ..read more

This team is lifeless, has shown zero mental toughness the moment adversity hits - and it’s hit often these last two weeks - and one that repeats the coach’s mantras but doesn’t live them. They are just words with no meaning ..read more

Both Payton Pritchard and the collective crowd at the TD Garden forgot that this was a perfect autumn day in New England and treated the fourth quarter of a preseason game like an Eastern Conference Semifinals game in May. Outside the Garden, people were coming home from farmer’s markets with pumpkins for carving. Inside, Pritchard was carving the Sixers second and third string to pieces, lighting the crowd on fire. Porzingis loved it ..read more

Welp, have at it ..read more

The Celtics looked sloppy on both ends of the floor, shooting poorly, turning it over, and giving up clean looks to the Sixers (mostly Tyrese Maxey). But Kristaps Porzingis started strong and Payton Pritchard shot them back into the game early in the second. They hung around thanks to some aggressive play. Jaylen Brown’s big run at the end of the third quarter gave the Celtics a lead when all the regulars were pulled. The fourth belonged to Payton Pritchard, and his 16 point explosion got the crowd very hyped as the Celtics held on ..read more

The Patriots have taken on the personality of their coach: monotone, unemotional and, now, wholly ineffective ..read more