Following the Boston Celtics’ 114-112 loss to the Houston Rockets, one NBA analyst believes the champions could be on the verge of trading a former first-round pick for an impactful player before the upcoming trade deadline. In the loss, Celtics’ Jaden Springer and the second unit combined for seven points outside Payton Pritchard’s 15 points off the bench. Perhaps Boston is in the market for a new rotation player.
Yahoo Sports’ Kevin O’Connor discussed the Celtics showcasing their backup guard, Springer, in an attempt to strike a deal before next month’s deadline, per The Kevin O’Connor Show.
“I’ve heard that they’re open to trading [Celtics] Jaden Springer. He’s been playing lately. I’d imagine that they’re trying to feature him to increase his value,” O’Connor said. “He’s a very good defender, hitting some 3’s for Boston, some clutch 3’s. I’d look to flip Jaden Springer for a Big. I think Day’ron Sharpe is interesting. If they package 2 1sts with Springer to the Jazz for Walker Kessler, I’d be interested in that type of trade package as well.”
On the second night of back-to-backs, the Celtics rest veteran Al Horford, and their starting center, Kristaps Porzingis, has played in less than half of their games. Perhaps additional talent to strengthen Boston’s second unit is something Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens is working on.
Dillon Brooks scored a game-high 36 points on 13-of-23 attempts, including a career-best 10 three. Rockets forward Amen Thompson scored the go-ahead layup past Celtics All-Star Jaylen Brown with 1.0 seconds left on the game clock. He finished with 33 points on an efficient 13-of-19 attempts, nine rebounds, four assists, one block, and one steal. Houston surpassed the Celtics (32-15) for the third-best record (32-14) in the NBA behind the Oklahoma City Thunder (37-8) and the Cleveland Cavaliers (37-9).
After scoring eight and 10 points in a back-to-back against the Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers, Jaden Springer finished with three in Monday’s loss.
Joe Mazzulla identifies the culprit behind Celtics’ poor execution
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Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla took the blame for Monday’s loss. He says the Celtics’ poor late-game execution was on him, per The Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn.
“Those lose two plays were on me, those were my fault,” Mazzulla said. “I didn’t put us in the best matchups. I saw the plays they were trying to run and tried to change the matchups and put our guys in a tough spot. That’s a tough one because I thought our guys did everything to win the game.
“Our guys played great for 47 minutes and 30 seconds, and I didn’t help them close it at the end. I have to be better.”
The Celtics host the Bulls on Wednesday.
