Boston Celtics

Nobody in the NBA demonstrated sportsmanship better than Boston Celtics guard Jrue Holiday this season.

Holiday won the 2024-25 NBA Sportsmanship Award on Thursday, which marked the second time he has taken home the award in his career:

Last month, the league announced the finalists for the award were Holiday, Jarrett Allen of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Dorian Finney-Smith of the Los Angeles Lakers, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Kyrie Irving of the Dallas Mavericks and Franz Wagner of the Orlando Magic.

The league's announcement explained the award goes to "the player who best represents the ideals of sportsmanship on the court."

There were six finalists so all six divisions would be represented.

Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey won the award last season.

While Holiday is a two-time champion, six-time All-Defensive selection and two-time All-Star selection on the court, he is also known for his philanthropy and willingness to give back to various communities off it. 

He and his wife Lauren, who won a World Cup and two Olympic gold medals with the United States women's national team, started the Jrue & Lauren Holiday Social Impact Fund to demonstrate "their commitment by supporting a variety of initiatives focused on driving equitable outcomes for Black and Brown communities."

The fund works with nonprofits, educational institutions and initiatives to create change and growth across different communities.

Holiday undoubtedly takes his approach of lifting others seriously on the court as well, as evidenced by a second NBA Sportsmanship Award in his career.

Now he will look to add yet another trophy to his collection as the Celtics chase a second consecutive championship. They defeated the Magic in the first round and will play the winner of the series between the New York Knicks and Detroit Pistons in the second.

After missing the Boston Celtics' Game 2 matchup against the Orlando Magic on Wednesday because of a wrist injury suffered in Game 1, Jayson Tatum remains doubtful for Game 3.

Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla described the injury as a "severe bone bruise" while speaking with Boston radio station 98.5 The Sports Hub (h/t ESPN).

"He's day to day. He's progressively gotten a little bit better each day. [Wednesday] he went through all the protocols and did everything he could possibly do up until the last moment to try to play," Mazzulla said.

He added: "At the end of the day I know he'll do whatever it takes to put himself in position to play and put our team in position to win. It's kind of who he is and we trust in that."

Tatum suffered a right wrist bone bruise in Game 1 of the first round series against the Magic. The injury occurred in the fourth quarter when he went up for a dunk and was knocked out of the air by Orlando's Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Tatum hit the ground hard and Caldwell-Pope earned a flagrant foul.

Though his X-rays came back clean, the injury was still enough to keep Tatum out of Game 2. It was the first playoff game Tatum has missed in his eight trips to the postseason.

Luckily, the deep Celtics managed without Tatum in Game 2, beating Orlando 109-100 behind Jaylen Brown's 37 points.

While Boston may be good enough without Tatum to get past the Magic in Round 1, having its star on the court makes advancing to the second round much more of a safe bet.

Tatum is coming off another phenomenal season, putting up 26.8 points, 8.7 rebounds and six assists per game. He'll look to end his eighth NBA season with a championship, just as he did his seventh.

A physical Game 2 between the Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic on Wednesday left Kristaps Porziņģis with a bloody head injury in the third quarter.

The big man took an elbow in the forehead from Orlando's Goga Bitadze, hitting the floor hard and picking up a nasty wound. Bitadze was given a flagrant foul for the elbow on Porziņģis.

Despite the scary injury, Porziņģis managed to return to the floor moments later with a bandage on his head.

TNT's Stephanie Ready reported during the broadcast of Game 2 that Porziņģis had five stitches in his head following the elbow.

Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla praised Porziņģis after the game for his toughness in the moment.

"I like his overall approach. ... He can maintain his kind of poise and he just has a great way about him," Mazzulla said. "And I like watching him bleed on the court. I think it's important."

Porziņģis had a slow night in Game 1 with just five points, but had 20 points and 10 boards in Wednesday's contest.

Boston needs its supporting cast healthy as long as star Jayson Tatum is out with a wrist injury. Tatum went down hard in the fourth quarter of Game 1 on a flagrant foul from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, injuring his wrist in the process.

Tatum had 17 points and 14 boards in the Game 1 win over Orlando.

While his X-rays came back negative, Tatum was still unable to get back on the court for Game 2. His absence in Wednesday's contest marks the first playoff game Tatum has missed in his career.

The Celtics are the clear favorites in the first-round series, but the Magic have shown early that they're willing to be physical. While winning games is the first priority, Boston will also need to avoid any more injuries as it hopes to make a deep playoff run.

Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum has been ruled out for Game 2 of the team's first-round series against the Orlando Magic with a wrist injury.

Tatum suffered a right wrist bone bruise on Sunday during his team's 103-86 win over the Orlando Magic in Game 1 of their NBA Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.

With 8:28 left in the fourth quarter, Tatum rose for a dunk as he tried to extend Boston's 89-73 lead. However, Magic guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope hit Tatum in the air as he tried to block the shot. Tatum suffered an awkward fall as a result. Caldwell-Pope got a flagrant foul.

Tatum stayed in the game, finishing with 17 points and 14 rebounds in 40 minutes. He missed the pair of flagrant free throws but notably scored seven points on 3-of-5 shooting after that moment.

Tatum was taken out when both teams cleared the benches with 1:14 left and the game's result no longer in doubt.

Per Tatum (h/t Kyle Hightower of the Associated Press), a postgame X-Ray was negative.

On Tuesday, one day before the Celtics hosted the Magic for Game 2, Boston listed him as doubtful for the contest.

Obviously, losing Tatum for any amount of time is a tough blow for the Celtics. Tatum averaged 26.8 points, 8.7 rebounds and 6.0 assists for the defending NBA champions. He's a six-time All-Star and four-time All-NBA player (All-NBA First Teamer each of the past three seasons).

Without Tatum, the Celtics should turn toward Al Horford to enter the starting lineup. Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser and Luke Kornet should remain as key pieces off the bench, with Hauser and Kornet potentially seeing more minutes here.

It's safe to say Al Horford is not happy with the Orlando Magic's approach to defending Jayson Tatum during their first-round playoff series.

"Yeah, there was something extra," the Boston Celtics forward said Tuesday, per ESPN's Baxter Holmes. "There was a lot. It was the second or third time that—especially [Kentavious Caldwell-Pope]—went at him in that way."

Holmes noted one play stood out during Boston's 103-86 win in Sunday's Game 1.

Tatum drove into the lane in the fourth quarter and was met by Caldwell-Pope and Wendell Carter Jr. in a midair collision. Caldwell-Pope was called for a flagrant foul, and Horford expressed his anger in the moment.

"I'm not sure what goes into [plays like that]," Horford said. "[The] only thing I would say is that it's the playoffs, so the game is going to be more physical, it's going to be more intense. I feel like those plays are probably going to happen more often than not."

While Boston received some good news when X-rays on Tatum's wrist were negative, he is still listed as doubtful for Wednesday's Game 2 because of a bone bruise in that right wrist.

Orlando is the No. 7 seed going against the reigning champions, so it likely needs to make the series a physical and ugly one to have a chance at the upset. Still, that doesn't mean crossing the line when it comes to playing too physically, and the veteran Horford believes they did just that.

Fortunately for the Celtics, Game 1 suggested they may be able to ease past Orlando even without Tatum.

He was solid but unspectacular on his way to 17 points and 14 rebounds on 8-of-22 shooting from the field and 1-of-8 from deep. Jaylen Brown was also relatively quiet from a scoring perspective with 16 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the field.

Yet the Celtics still cruised to a commanding 17-point win, which was a testament to their overall depth and the ability of the role players.

Derrick White poured in 30 points behind seven three-pointers, while Payton Pritchard added 19 points off the bench. 

The pair may be asked to carry more of the offensive responsibilities until Tatum returns, and they looked more than up to the task during the initial blowout win to open the series.

Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla expanded on his reaction to the viral moment when Jayson Tatum took a hard fall on a foul in the fourth quarter in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference playoffs against the Orlando Magic on Sunday.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Mazzulla said his reaction was built on the relationship he has established with Celtics players:

"At the end of the day, I’m grateful for the relationship that I have with the guys. I’m grateful for the relationship that I have with him, and you love guys in different ways. But everything is built on love. Everything is built on the relationship that we have, their self-expression.

"They allow me to be who I am. And they trust—we have a trust for each other, but it all starts with love. And so in that moment, it looks different in different moments. But I appreciate who he is as a competitor and our team in that moment, but it all starts with that."

When Tatum was clutching at his right wrist after a foul by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Mazzulla was seen telling a trainer not to go check him out before yelling "get up!" in the direction of his superstar player.

Mazzulla is known for being wired differently than a typical coach, particularly when it comes to Tatum. He famously tried to block a Royce O'Neale shot after calling a timeout in a game against the Phoenix Suns last season.

Mazzulla said after Game 1 against the Miami Heat in the first round last year he "was kind of excited about the whole situation" after a brief scuffle when Tatum was knocked to the ground by Caleb Martin.

It's good that Mazzulla has these takes when Tatum isn't seriously injured. The reaction would almost certainly be different if the Celtics were going to be without their best player for any length of time, especially in the playoffs.

The Celtics shook off a slow start to defeat the Magic 103-86 in Game 1. Tatum was held to 17 points on 8-of-22 shooting in 40 minutes, but he did have a game-high 14 rebounds.

Boston will look to take a commanding 2-0 lead over the Magic in Game 2 at TD Garden on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. ET.

Jayson Tatum's status for Game 2 between the Boston Celtics and Orlando Magic is up in the air after he suffered a wrist injury in Game 1.

According to ESPN's Shams Charania, Tatum underwent an MRI and was diagnosed with a bone bruise in his right wrist after taking a hard fall during Sunday's 103-86 win.

According to Charania, "it's believed to be a pain tolerance injury, something that the Celtics will be managing day-to-day." He added Tatum's Game 2 status is "somewhat up in the air."

Tatum, who played 40 minutes in Game 1, totaled 17 points and 14 rebounds while shooting 8-of-22 from the floor.

Game 2 is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m. ET on TNT.

Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown told reporters (h/t Marc J. Spears of Andscape) that he won't have a minutes restriction due to continued right knee concerns as his team's first-round playoff series against the Orlando Magic quickly approaches.

Brown has been dealing with a bone bruise with posterior impingement in his right knee. He received pain management injections last week, per ESPN's Ramona Shelburne.

Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla also confirmed to reporters that Brown will play without any minute restrictions.

Brown has missed 12 of his team's last 29 games, most due to the injury. For the season, he's averaged 22.2 points on 46.3 percent shooting, 5.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists.

Obviously, Brown is an invaluable member of the team, perhaps best exemplified by his Eastern Conference MVP and NBA Finals MVP awards en route to helping lead the C's to the NBA title last year.

At this juncture, it's clear the Celtics are going to have a player who might be less than 100 percent, but having a superstar player of Brown's caliber on the floor is certainly better than being without him at all.

The hope is clearly that Brown is able to stay on the floor and the knee injury doesn't worsen, but if he's able to remain in the lineup, then the Celtics certainly have as good a chance as any team to earn another NBA title.