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    Celtics Hit Another Dead End, With No Clear Path Forward This Time

    A team with N.B.A. championship aspirations fell short against Miami. Tough calls and new contracts await.The curtains closed on Monday night for the Boston Celtics’s Jekyll and Hyde routine.One hundred fifty N.B.A. teams had tried and failed to overcome a 3-0 playoff series deficit. The Celtics made it 151 with their loss against the Miami Heat in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals. The final game in a series full of momentum swings was not competitive: Miami led by double digits for most of the night and won comfortably, 103-84. It was Boston’s third home loss of the series and a bitter disappointment for a team that reached the N.B.A. finals last season and had been expecting to return.“We failed, I failed,” a despondent Jaylen Brown told reporters after the game. “We let the whole city down.”For much of the regular season and this playoff run, the Celtics alternated between looking like an unstoppable offensive juggernaut (Games 4 and 5 against Miami) and appearing listless and uninspired (Games 3 and 7). Very few leading contenders for a championship have vacillated as wildly from night to night, from dominant to dominated, as the Celtics had this season. But entering the playoffs, the Celtics still harbored championship hopes, confident that their franchise centerpieces, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, and a versatile roster ready to supplement them would find a way to win.For most of their careers, Tatum, 25, and Brown, 26, had led unexpectedly deep postseason runs. Beating expectations became their brand. This year was their fourth time making at least the conference finals in the past six years.Yet after Boston lost to the Golden State Warriors in the N.B.A. finals last season, this was the year that the bar was raised. A championship was the goal. Tatum, Brown and their teammates could no longer merely exceed expectations: The Celtics were the expected.Instead, the Celtics will now have to contemplate if Brown and Tatum can be the partnership that carries this team over the final hurdle. And the Celtics’ ownership, along with the team president, Brad Stevens, will have to decide if Joe Mazzulla, the 34-year-old head coach with only one season under his belt, is the right person to lead the team.Mazzulla was unexpectedly given the job just before training camp in September after the abrupt suspension and eventual firing of Ime Udoka.He was a surprising choice: His only head coaching experience was at Fairmont State, a Division II program in West Virginia, and he had been an N.B.A. assistant for three years. He was suddenly given the task of taking a team to the top of the mountain.One of the Celtics’ big acquisitions last summer, forward Danilo Gallinari, tore a knee ligament and missed the season. And one of the team’s defensive anchors, Robert Williams III, didn’t make his debut until April after a knee injury. Still, Mazzulla got the Celtics off to a blistering 21-5 start.But in the regular season, the Celtics fell into stretches of lackadaisical, head-scratching play, as when they blew a 28-point lead to the Nets in March. That carried over into the playoffs: Against the Heat, the Celtics routinely blew double-digit leads. Yet they still clawed their way to the doorstep of the N.B.A. finals.“It’s something that continues to happen,” Celtics center Al Horford said of the team’s shifting performances. “It’s a pattern that happens with us. We’re going to have to do some soul-searching there, because some things have to change in that regard.”For some, the verdict is clear: Swings like that are not good enough. Mazzulla, with his penchant for not calling timeouts and guiding the Celtics to flat efforts like Monday night’s, isn’t the right person for the job.To those who like their glasses half full, Mazzulla’s first year as coach, without a full off-season to prepare, was impressive. He hastily put together a system that led to the second-best offense and defense in the N.B.A. Tatum and Brown had their best seasons. As for suggestions that his inexperience made him unfit for the job, Mazzulla will now have a year of experience, a deep playoff run under his belt and a full off-season to make changes. And his biggest star offered his support on Monday.“I think Joe did a great job — we won 50-some odd games,” Tatum said. “ We got to Game 7, conference finals. Obviously, everybody can be better, learn from this. But I think Joe did a great job.”Some of this decision-making about roster construction before next season may not be up to Boston at all. The team doesn’t have cap space or particularly valuable draft picks. Brown, who made the All-N.B.A. second team this year, is a free agent after next season. He is eligible for a contract extension worth close to $300 million if he chooses to stay with the Celtics, an amount no other team can offer him.Boston’s biggest roster problem is that under the N.B.A.’s new collective bargaining agreement, higher spending teams face more restrictions in building their rosters. This means that keeping Tatum and Brown together may be close to impossible for the Celtics, even if they want to continue to build around them.And Brown may not want to stay. In multiple interviews this season, Brown has expressed reservations about life in Boston.Asked Monday night about his thought process entering the off-season as he considers a potential contract extension, Brown paused for several seconds.“I don’t even really know how to answer that question right now, to be honest,” Brown said.Tatum was more clear: He said it was “extremely important” that Brown be re-signed.“He’s one of the best players in this league,” Tatum said. “He plays both ends of the ball and still is relatively young. And he’s accomplished a lot so far in his career. So I think it’s extremely important.”Brown certainly grew this season. At times, he, not Tatum, was the team’s best player. But in the playoffs, Brown was again unreliable, and defenses focused on his biggest weakness: ball handling.This is the conundrum for the Celtics. It’s entirely possible — even likely — that the Celtics haven’t seen the best of Tatum and Brown, given their ages. With a summer of preparation for Mazzulla, another jump from Tatum and Brown and a fully healthy roster, they will surely be in title contention again. Growth doesn’t have to be linear.That’s the easy and convenient solution. But what if this is the limit for the best young tandem in the league? With the N.B.A.’s stringent cap limitations, the Celtics don’t have a lot of ways to get better that don’t involve moving on from Brown.The Celtics faced a similar quandary two decades ago with Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker, two beloved All-Stars. At the time, they were at around the same ages and stages of their careers as Tatum and Brown are now. Pierce was clearly the better player, but Walker helped Pierce lead the team to the conference finals in 2002. When Danny Ainge took over the team’s basketball operations the next year, he tore down the team and traded Walker, gambling that he and Pierce had peaked as a pairing. The fan base was initially irritated, but the move ultimately paid off with a championship in 2008.There’s a thin line between true contenders and high-level pretenders in the N.B.A. Now that their latest title pursuit has come up short, the Celtics face difficult questions about which path forward puts the team firmly in the contender camp. More

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    Miami Heat Beat Boston Celtics in Game 7 to Advance to NBA Finals

    The Heat are just the second eighth seed to reach the N.B.A. championship series. They beat Boston, the No. 2 seed, in the Eastern Conference finals.The Miami Heat stunned the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals on Monday night, clinching a roller-coaster, hold-your-breath, best-of-seven series in Game 7, 103-84, to extend their remarkable postseason run.“I had so much belief in myself and this group of guys,” said Heat forward Jimmy Butler, who was named the most valuable player of the series. He scored 28 points in Game 7.The Heat, whose resurgence as the East’s No. 8 seed has seemingly surprised everyone but them, will face the Denver Nuggets in the N.B.A. finals beginning Thursday. The Nuggets secured their first trip to the championship round by completing a sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference finals a week ago. The Heat are just the second eighth seed, after the 1998-99 Knicks, to reach the N.B.A. finals under the current playoff format.Not that it was easy. “Sometimes you have to suffer for the things you really want,” Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra said during the postgame trophy presentation.After the Heat won the first three games of the series, the Celtics regained their rhythm and won the next three to force a seventh and deciding game at home. Boston was bidding to become the first team to win an N.B.A. playoff series after trailing, 3-0. But Miami avoided becoming a historical footnote/punchline by dipping into its bottomless well of perseverance.Even when the Heat were scuffling in the regular season, losing nearly as often as they won, Spoelstra stuck with his approach.Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler struggled in the second half of the series but came through in Game 7.Maddie Meyer/Getty ImagesSpoelstra said he sensed that the Heat were capable of improving if they continued to focus on their daily work. There was nothing especially sexy about it — meeting after frustrating losses, watching film, practicing hard.“Those are gratifying experiences,” Spoelstra said earlier in the series, “particularly when you’re losing games and you’re getting criticized for it. But you’re still able to just come together and try to get it right.”The Heat went about six months without getting it right. But over the past six weeks, they have unlocked all their promise and potential to clinch another appearance in the N.B.A. finals. It is the franchise’s seventh in its 35 seasons and second in the past four years.“The ups and downs prepared us for these moments,” Bam Adebayo, the Heat’s All-Star center, said during the series as the Heat went about their business of outlasting the Celtics.The Heat won the first two games of the series in Boston then routed the Celtics in Miami in Game 3. Spoelstra said “a lot of pent-up stuff” had been fueling his team but declined to elaborate.His players were more forthcoming: They recalled being eliminated by the Celtics in the conference finals last season, an especially disappointing exit since the Heat were the East’s top seed and the series went seven games.The Heat nearly blew it this time around. Before Game 7, the Celtics were entertaining dreams of replicating the Boston Red Sox’s dramatic comeback in the 2004 American League Championship Series, when they made baseball history by coming back from a 3-0 series deficit to eliminate the Yankees. The Red Sox then swept the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series to win their first championship since 1918.But Miami was too determined and too tough, finding beauty in the struggle. Butler, the team’s gifted two-way forward, imposed his will early in the series, while Adebayo was a defensive menace. But their supporting cast made the difference.Caleb Martin, a small forward who moved into the starting lineup for Games 6 and 7, was the Heat’s most consistent player throughout the series. He had 26 points in Game 7 and made of 11 of his 16 shots, including four 3-pointers. Gabe Vincent, the team’s starting point guard, played the final two games with a sprained ankle. And Duncan Robinson came off the bench to make timely 3-pointers.On Monday, before a hostile crowd that was at a fever pitch during player introductions, the Heat seemed intent on drowning out the noise by relying on their defense. The Celtics missed all 10 of their 3-point attempts in the first quarter; in the second quarter, the Heat led by as many as 17 points.Boston had cut into Miami’s lead when Martin went to work again, closing the third quarter with a turnaround baseline jumper. He opened the fourth quarter with his fourth 3-pointer of the game, and the Heat’s lead was back to 13.Adebayo had been asked earlier in the series about the key to the team’s success.“Believing,” he said. “Believing in one another. Believing that we can get a win. Believing that we can beat the No. 1 team in the league. You know, belief is real, and we’ve got a will to win.”The Heat did indeed beat the No. 1 team, upsetting the Milwaukee Bucks, who had the league’s best regular-season record, in the first round of the playoffs. They beat the fifth-seeded Knicks in six games in the second round to set up their series with Boston.The Celtics figured to make another deep playoff run after losing to the Golden State Warriors in the N.B.A. finals last season. But obstacles — both predictable and unforeseen — hindered them before they even convened for the preseason.Atop the list was the sudden absence of Ime Udoka, who, as the Celtics’ first-year head coach last season, left his defense-minded imprint on the team. But in September, less than a week before training camp, the Celtics suspended him for the season for “violations of team policies.” Two people briefed on the matter, who were not authorized to speak about it publicly, said Udoka had a relationship with a female subordinate.Boston’s Jaylen Brown struggled in Game 2, hitting just one 3-pointer in seven attempts.Adam Glanzman/Getty ImagesBoston’s Jayson Tatum scored just 14 points in a blowout loss to Miami in Game 3.Wilfredo Lee/Associated PressThe entire situation cast an unwelcome shadow on the Celtics as they sought to focus on the season ahead. “It’s been hell,” Marcus Smart, the team’s starting point guard and last season’s defensive player of the year, said at the time.Instead of going outside the organization to hire an experienced coach as Udoka’s replacement, the team prioritized continuity by temporarily promoting Joe Mazzulla, who had been an assistant on Udoka’s staff.Mazzulla, 34, whose only previous head coaching experience was at Fairmont State, a Division II program in West Virginia, had suddenly been placed in charge of an N.B.A. team with championship expectations. It was a gamble that appeared to be paying off by the All-Star break, when Boston had the league’s best record. The Celtics named Mazzulla as their permanent head coach in February and officially severed ties with Udoka, whom the Houston Rockets hired as head coach last month.But Boston slumped over the final weeks of the regular season, slipping to the No. 2 seed in the East behind Milwaukee, and needed six games to eliminate the Atlanta Hawks in the first round. (The series went so unexpectedly long that Janet Jackson had to postpone a concert in Atlanta. Boston’s Jayson Tatum publicly apologized to her.)The pressure only mounted on Mazzulla — and on the team’s two stars, Tatum and Jaylen Brown — during the Celtics’ conference semifinal matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers. Tatum and Brown were inconsistent as the series stretched to seven games. Mazzulla was scrutinized for some of his lineup choices and for his apparent aversion to calling timeouts in critical situations.“Joe’s learning, just like all of us,” Smart said during the series. “I know he’s been killed a lot, rightfully so.”But after Tatum scored 51 points in a series-clinching tour de force against the 76ers, the Celtics ran into the Heat, a savvy and experienced opponent with payback in mind.In the postseason, Miami’s Jimmy Butler has become known for morphing into “Playoff Jimmy” — a better version of himself.Adam Glanzman/Getty ImagesThe Heat traveled a long, hard road merely to reach the conference finals. They had to defeat the Chicago Bulls in a play-in game to slip into the postseason. They proceeded to lose two rotation players, Tyler Herro and Victor Oladipo, to injuries in their first-round series with the Bucks.But the Heat were not about to let up against the Celtics — not after a season of growth under Spoelstra, not with Butler filling his more unsung teammates with confidence, and not against an opponent that had buried Miami’s championship dream a year ago.“We go out there and we hoop and we play basketball the right way,” Butler said, “knowing that we’ve always got a chance.” More

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    The Miami Heat Might Blow a 3-0 Series Lead

    No N.B.A. team has lost a best-of-seven playoff series after winning the first three games, but the Heat are one loss from being the first.When a team takes a three-games-to-none lead in a best-of-seven series, it is time to start looking ahead to the next round or to a championship parade.Most of the time.In the history of sports, a few teams with 3-0 series leads have managed to lose three straight games before recovering. Some of them lost one more game — and the series — as well.That’s the history facing the Miami Heat, who won the first three games of their N.B.A. Eastern Conference finals series against the Boston Celtics, then lost the next three, including Game 6 at home on Saturday night.Game 7 is Monday night in Boston, and the Heat are 48 minutes away from historical ignominy. No N.B.A. team has ever blown a 3-0 series lead dating to 1947, when the N.B.A. was called the Basketball Association of America and had teams like the Cleveland Rebels and the St. Louis Bombers. This year, in the Western Conference finals, the Denver Nuggets took a 3-0 series lead against the Los Angeles Lakers, then finished them off in a four-game sweep.A collapse after taking a 3-0 series lead has happened in other leagues, though. Let’s relive some of those dark moments (for one team in those series anyway).BaseballDavid Ortiz’s home run in the 12th inning of Game 4 of the 2004 American League Championship Series put an all-time comeback in motion.Barton Silverman/The New York TimesThe most famous 3-0 comeback in sports certainly came in 2004 when the Boston Red Sox stunned their hated rivals, the Yankees, and made Major League Baseball history.The victory in the American League Championship Series, snatched from the jaws of defeat, came in defiance of the fabled Curse of the Bambino that had supposedly consigned the Red Sox to perpetual defeat after they sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees in 1920.“This is obviously crushing for us,” said Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, a sentiment the Heat may soon be feeling.The only other time a major league team battled back from 3-0 down, it didn’t finish the job. The Tampa Bay Rays raced to a 3-0 series lead in the 2020 A.L.C.S., played at a neutral site in San Diego because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Houston Astros claimed the next three games, but Tampa Bay pulled out a 4-2 victory in the decider before losing the World Series to the Los Angeles Dodgers.“I don’t know if I went to bed,” Rays Manager Kevin Cash said about the aftermath of Game 6. “It was tough, there’s no doubt. A lot of anxiety.”No team has blown a 3-0 series lead in the World Series, but in the Japan Series, the Nishitetsu Lions came back from 3-0 down to win in 1958 against the Yomiuri Giants and the Giants managed the same feat against the Kintetsu Buffaloes in 1989.HockeyThe N.H.L. has treated fans to the most four-game collapses, and one of those came in the Stanley Cup final.In 1942, the Detroit Red Wings won the first three games, but the Toronto Maple Leafs came roaring back with four straight. The Cup had switched to a best-of-seven format in 1939 and this was the first series to go the distance.“By Jiminy” was the postgame reaction of the Leafs great Syl Apps.Four-game comebacks were also achieved in earlier rounds by the Islanders over the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1975, the Philadelphia Flyers over the Boston Bruins in 2010 and the Los Angeles Kings over the San Jose Sharks in 2014.BasketballAlthough no N.B.A. team has — yet — lost a series it led by 3-0, a few, like this year’s Heat, have lost three straight to get to 3-3.It happened once in the finals, in 1951. The Rochester Royals (now the Sacramento Kings via Cincinnati, Kansas City, Mo., and Omaha) took a 3-0 lead over the Knicks, who rallied with three wins. The final game came down to the last seconds before Bob Davies of the Royals sealed it with two free throws.It is the one and only championship for the Royals/Kings franchise, in any city. The Knicks would have to wait until 1970 for their first.A three-game collapse followed by Game 7 redemption was also achieved in earlier rounds by the 1994 Utah Jazz against the Denver Nuggets and the 2003 Dallas Mavericks against the Portland Trail Blazers.So the full collapse has never happened in the N.B.A. But in all of basketball?How could you forget the classic Beermen-Aces series?In the 2016 Philippine Cup final, the Alaska Aces looked set to claim the title after three straight wins. (Their name came from their sponsor, Alaska Milk, not their home base.)But it was a mistake to count out the reigning champion San Miguel Beermen, who won four straight to do what no N.B.A. team has ever done.The Celtics will be hoping to match the Beermen on Monday night. More

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    Boston Celtics Force Game 7 Against Miami Heat With Buzzer-Beater

    The Heat let a 3-0 series lead slip away in the Eastern Conference finals with sloppy play, bad shooting and disappearing acts by their stars.After the miracle and the madness, Gabe Vincent broke the silence inside the Miami Heat locker room on Saturday night by humming along to “Life Goes On,” a ballad by Ed Sheeran featuring Luke Combs.Most of Vincent’s teammates were long gone by then, bound for their Miami-area homes as they faced the collective challenge of figuring out how to rebound from a soul-crushing loss to the Boston Celtics in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals.DERRICK WHITE SENDS THE EAST FINALS BACK TO BOSTON FOR GAME 7!HE WINS IT FOR THE CELTICS AT THE BUZZER 🚨#TissotBuzzerBeater | #TimingEmotions pic.twitter.com/ybUb5CT6l1— NBA (@NBA) May 28, 2023
    But back in the locker room, where an oversize image of the N.B.A.’s Larry O’Brien championship trophy is stitched into the carpet and a series of murals depicting the franchise’s past triumphs line a tunnel leading to the court, the atmosphere was gloomy. The lyrics of a song about heartbreak hardly helped. They seeped from Vincent’s iPhone all tinny and hollow, as if the music were being piped through a radiator:It hit like a train, I ran out of words;I got nothing to say, everything hurts.“Great song,” Vincent said.Nothing about this season has been easy for the Heat, and Vincent hinted that perhaps some poetic justice was at work after the Celtics’ 104-103 victory in Game 6, tying the series at three games apiece. Derrick White’s astonishing putback at the buzzer — the ball left his fingertips with about one-tenth of a second to spare — had extended the best-of-seven series and the Celtics’ season, forcing a Game 7 in Boston on Monday night.The Heat could not have been closer to securing a spot in the N.B.A. finals against the Denver Nuggets. And then, in an instant, that dream somehow felt very far away.“It’s almost like it’s supposed to be this way,” Vincent said. “But, you know, go to Boston and get a win.”Butler scored 15 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter of Game 6.Mike Ehrmann/Getty ImagesVincent, the team’s starting point guard, made it sound simple, but this series has been a carnival ride. The Heat won the first three games to put themselves on the cusp of history as they attempted to become just the second No. 8 seed to advance to the N.B.A. finals, joining the 1998-99 Knicks. Now, the Celtics are bidding to become the first team to win an N.B.A. playoff series after trailing by three games to none.“This is one hell of a series,” Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra said. “At this time right now, I don’t know how we are going to get this done, but we are going up there to get it done.”It was a public vote of confidence after a game full of missed opportunities for the Heat. Where to begin? Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, their two best players, combined to shoot 9 of 37 from the field.Butler, in particular, looked downright passive for much of the game. There he was in the second quarter, handling the ball at the top of the perimeter with the shot clock winding down. But instead of driving, Butler shoved a pass to Duncan Robinson, who had little choice but to hoist a runner from 11 feet that grazed the front of the rim. A few seconds later, the Celtics’ Jayson Tatum was at the other end for a layup.But other plays could haunt the Heat, too. In the fourth quarter, for example, Adebayo grabbed the rim blocking a shot, which was against the rules and led to a 4-point possession for the Celtics.As a team, the Heat shot 35.5 percent from the field. They missed hook shots and layups, jumpers and floaters. They still had a chance thanks to Caleb Martin, who slid into the starting lineup and scored 21 points, and Butler, who asserted himself late and was fouled attempting a 3-pointer with 3 seconds remaining. He made all three free throws for a 1-point lead.Miami’s Bam Adebayo made just four shots in Game 6. During the regular season, he was the team’s second-leading scorer.Sam Navarro/USA Today Sports Via Reuters ConBut all that was prologue to the final sequence — a 3-point attempt by the Celtics’ Marcus Smart that rimmed in and out, and White’s putback. The Heat’s Max Strus had been hedging on Tatum, preventing him from getting the ball, but that left White with an open lane to the basket for the follow.“I thought we had a lot of things covered on that play,” Spoelstra said, “and sometimes things just don’t break your way. I don’t think there’s any regrets on that. It’s just a shame.”Butler, who scored 15 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter, shouldered the blame.“If I play better, we’re not even in this position,” he said. “And I will be better. That’s what makes me smile, because those guys follow my lead. So when I’m playing better, I think we’re playing better as a whole.”After finishing the regular season with a 44-38 record, the Heat landed in the play-in tournament and lost their opening game to the Atlanta Hawks. The Heat then trailed the Chicago Bulls by as many as 6 points in the fourth quarter of an elimination game before they went on a game-winning run to narrowly slip into the playoffs.But something odd was beginning to percolate inside the Heat: The greater the challenge, the better they played. Facing the top-seeded Bucks in the first round, Miami lost two rotation players, Tyler Herro and Victor Oladipo, to long-term injuries, which should have been problematic. But Butler was brilliant as the Heat advanced in five games.But that version of Butler has been missing as the Heat’s three-game series lead has slipped away. He has been passing up shots, hesitating on drives and turning the ball over. In other words, he looks tired from the grind of a long season.Now, Miami is facing its greatest test yet. Butler said he planned to decompress by playing a late-night game of Spades.“I’m not going to let our guys quit,” he said. “I don’t care what nobody says. Everything going to be OK.”Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum hugs guard Derrick White after White’s tip-in at the buzzer won Game 6 against the Heat.Sam Navarro/USA Today Sports Via Reuters ConFor the Celtics, the No. 2 seed, Game 7 is one more chance for them to salvage their season and make good on their pledge to return to the N.B.A. finals, one year after losing to the Golden State Warriors. Tatum has been inconsistent, even in victory, routinely going scoreless for long stretches with his season in jeopardy every night. He scored just 6 of his 31 points in the second half of Saturday’s game.“We’re all aware it’s not time to celebrate,” Tatum said. “We didn’t accomplish anything.”It was approaching midnight when Butler called guard Kyle Lowry to his locker for a quiet chat. Vincent had vacated the premises, taking his moody music with him.At the front of the room, a monitor had exactly one item listed on the team’s schedule for Sunday: a 1:30 p.m. flight to Boston. More

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    What Carmelo Anthony Meant to New York City

    Anthony, a Brooklyn native, rejuvenated a beleaguered Knicks fan base and embraced the city’s culture, on and off the court.There were many moments that evoked roars inside Madison Square Garden when the Knicks faced the Miami Heat in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals this month: when Jalen Brunson hit a 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter, prompting a Heat timeout, or any of the five times RJ Barrett sank a 3, sending the Garden’s white-knuckled Knicks fans into a frenzy.But the loudest roar that night came during a stoppage in play when a large video screen showed Carmelo Anthony sitting courtside. Anthony stood with one hand raised as most of the fans gave him a standing ovation, showering him with applause and cheers as if he had just made a game-winning shot.Anthony never won a title for the Knicks or even made a conference finals in his six and a half seasons with the team, but the moment was a reminder of how much he still means to New York. The city had yearned for a star after years of mediocrity and got one in Anthony, a Brooklyn native ready to make Knicks games exciting again.Anthony came to the Knicks in 2011, after they had missed the playoffs for six years in a row.Barton Silverman/The New York TimesWhen Anthony announced his retirement Monday, many fans began to wonder when the Knicks would retire the No. 7 he wore while he played for the team.“New York is the type of place that will melt you if you ain’t ready for it,” said the rapper Chuck D, who grew up on Long Island and co-founded the rap group Public Enemy. “But Melo came in and danced with the pressure of New York.”He added: “Most ball players in New York, they don’t come from New York. So he brought a New York state of mind to a place that didn’t really have the ballplayers that knew how to adapt to it. So we’ll always love Melo for that.”The Denver Nuggets drafted Anthony third overall out of Syracuse in 2003 after he led the school to an N.C.A.A. Division I national championship. In Denver, Anthony quickly established himself as one of the best players in the league.Anthony taking a shot during a game against the Indiana Pacers in 2013.Barton Silverman/The New York TimesAnthony did not fit the mold of other Knicks fan favorites, who were aggressive on defense. But he was one of the league’s best on offense.Adrees Latif/ReutersAt 6-foot-7 and about 240 pounds, Anthony was known for his 3-point prowess and his nifty footwork. On offense, he made moves on the high and low posts, outmuscling smaller guards and forwards while having the speed to blow by defenders.But all of Anthony’s offensive success didn’t translate into much in the postseason for the Nuggets. In seven and a half seasons, Anthony’s teams made the conference finals just once, and he pressured the Nuggets to trade him to New York in 2011 in a deal that gutted the Knicks’ roster. Nuggets fans never forgot about Anthony’s exit, and they booed him each time he visited Denver.“I gave my all here,” Anthony said at a news conference after he was booed in 2021. “I’ve never said anything bad about Denver — about the fans, the organization, players — never complained.” He added: “So it will always be a special place for me regardless of the boos.”It also seemed like the front office had not forgotten about Anthony’s departure. Anthony was one of the best players in Nuggets history, and the No. 15 that he wore seemed destined for retirement. But in 2014, the Nuggets gave Anthony’s number to a little-known second-round pick whose selection was revealed while a Taco Bell commercial played during ESPN’s broadcast of the draft.That player, Nikola Jokic, has become one of the best players in the N.B.A. and already has done more in a Nuggets uniform than Anthony had, winning two Most Valuable Player Awards. On Monday, Jokic led the Nuggets to their first N.B.A. finals.“I hope they are able to retire both of their jerseys,” Nuggets forward Jeff Green told ESPN. “Nikola and Carmelo, I know it can be done, and it’s deserving for what he has done for the franchise.”Anthony’s best chance for a jersey retirement is most likely in New York.For many fans in the city, especially those who are Black or Latino, Anthony felt like a reflection of them on the court. Fans gravitated to Anthony, who is African American and Puerto Rican, because of his style: his signature cornrow braids — though he didn’t have them in New York — the tattoos that covered his arms, his love of hip-hop music.Anthony spoke at the third annual College Signing Day at the Harlem Armory in 2016.D Dipasupil/FilmMagic, via Getty ImagesAnthony appeared at the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Sports Awards in 2015.Kevin Mazur/WireImage, via Getty ImagesAnthony was also omnipresent in the city outside of basketball. He attended everything from high school basketball games to hip-hop events, and still does. A year ago, he was in the audience at the Garden during a music battle between the rap groups The Lox and Dipset, rapping lyrics word for word.In November 2005, Anthony called into Angie Martinez’s radio show on Hot 97, where The Lox were ranting about a contract dispute they had with Diddy, in what seemed to be an attempt to help make peace.“What can he do to help?” Martinez asked about Anthony.“You see his contract?” the rapper Jadakiss replied.“I’m all the way in Oklahoma City,” Anthony said. “We’re about to go to the game. They told me you all were on the radio, so I had to call up.”Anthony’s call went down in New York City radio folklore, but it was also a moment that was a reflection of who he had always been.“Culturally, he means everything,” said Charlamagne Tha God, the host of the radio show “The Breakfast Club,” who remembers Anthony calling into Martinez’s show, and being one of the most accessible stars.“Certain moments like that stand out to me when we talk about culture,” he said, “because those are moments when you saw the intersectionality between hip-hop and in basketball, and I think there are not too many people who represented that intersectionality better than Carmelo Anthony.”One of the peculiar parts about the romance between New York fans and Anthony was that his approach to basketball was vastly different from what the greatest Knicks teams had been known for.During some of their best years, the Knicks were a physical team with defenders who would wear opposing players down with aggressive guarding and hard fouls when they attacked the basket. Players like Charles Oakley and John Starks became fan favorites because of how they embraced the bully and villain style of play.But Anthony was not of that mold. He was notorious for seeming uninterested in guarding players most of the time. While on offense, he scored frequently but was something of a black hole: When the ball went to him, he wasn’t going to pass it.Anthony has the Knicks’ record for most points in a single game, with 62 against the Charlotte Bobcats in 2014; it’s also the third-most any player has scored in N.B.A. history without an assist.Anthony scored a Knicks record 62 points against the Charlotte Bobcats in 2014.Bill Kostroun/Associated Press“Yes, he was selfish at times. And you know, he was a ball stopper,” said Casey Powell, who is known as CP The Fanchise as the founder of Knicks Fan TV. “But he was a bucket, man.”He said that Anthony didn’t have many options for players to pass to on those Knicks teams and that players like Starks and Oakley were beloved because they played hard, “but Carmelo, it was his actual talent that drew fans to him.” Knicks fans had not had a player of Anthony’s caliber since Patrick Ewing led the team to the finals in the 1994, he said.“Even though they didn’t win much when he was here, he inspired a lot of kids, a lot of African American kids, a lot of Latino kids, and he just gave us hope,” Powell said. “So sometimes the conversation around Melo is how he didn’t win, and he’s a selfish player, but there’s more to him than on the court. Off the court, he delivered.” More

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    The Humble ‘Sticky Pad’ Keeping N.B.A. Sneakers on the Court

    Players across the league have long relied on a pad of translucent sheets of adhesive known as a Slipp-Nott to ensure they have enough traction during games.Gabe Vincent and Max Strus of the Miami Heat sat in their side-by-side lockers at Madison Square Garden an hour before a game against the Knicks. Strus was eating vegetables and rice, and Vincent was changing into his uniform after practicing shots.But Vincent paused when he overheard Strus talking about wiping the bottoms of his shoes with the palm of his hands.“Oh,” Vincent said incredulously, “you’re a lick-and-wipe guy?”“I don’t lick,” Strus said, dropping his fork to reply. “I don’t lick. No, no, no.” His voice was tinged with indignation, as though Vincent had accused him of a crime. Vincent laughed.Many players around the N.B.A. are particular, some even superstitious, about how they ensure their sneakers have enough traction for the court. Some use various wiping methods: the maligned lick-and-wipe, in which they rub their saliva on their shoe soles, or a dry wipe, in which they use only their bare hands. Still, most rely on a wiping pad that sits on the sidelines of N.B.A. arenas. It’s officially called the Slipp-Nott, but most players refer to it as a “sticky pad” or a “sticky mat.”“I feel like the sticky mat is ritual at this point,” Sixers guard Shake Milton said. “It just feels like what you’re supposed to do.”The Slipp-Nott was created in 1987 by Jorge Julian, who left a cushy job at Northrop Grumman in hopes of making basketball courts everywhere squeakier with the sound of sneakers holding firm.There are translucent sheets on the top of the Slipp-Nott slathered with adhesive substances (Julian declined to share the specifics lest he aid his competitors). Once a sheet absorbs too much dust or dirt to work properly, the user can rip it off for a fresh one.The sticky pad comes in different sizes, but the standard is 26 by 26 inches, so that large humans who play basketball can fit their feet on it. Some teams whose arenas have narrower sidelines, like the Utah Jazz, order a small- or medium-size version. The pads can be as small as 15 by 18 inches, which is just big enough for a size 20 men’s shoe.Julian’s first N.B.A. buyer was the Los Angeles Clippers, who purchased the Slipp-Nott in 1988 for a discounted rate of $70 per pad and gave Julian a staff pass to the arena. Back then, players used wet towels and wiping methods to gain traction, so many were skeptical about the pad. To ease their concerns, Julian, using his staff pass, went around to locker rooms with a VHS tape recorder to capture testimonials from athletic trainers and players about the pad’s effectiveness.Larry Bird wiping his sneakers in 1991. Before use of the Slipp-Nott became widespread, players often used their hands to gain traction — some still do.Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE, via Getty ImagesToday, most teams use a Slipp-Nott and have customized pads with their team logos, but the price for those pads is now $588.“That’s like my lifesaver,” Golden State Warriors forward Anthony Lamb said. “I always play in the same shoes, so sometimes when I’m running out of shoes, and my shoes are beat up, I’m going to need that sticky pad.”Lamb plays in the black colorway version of Nike’s Paul George 6 sneakers; worn-down pairs sit near his locker, with fresh pairs in boxes. Sometimes he wears the shoes “five games too long,” he said, and they become slippery.When the Warriors played the New Orleans Pelicans in November, Lamb said, he didn’t make it to the sticky pad before he entered the game and Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram made a move that sent him falling backward on the court. Lamb was on the wrong end of a highlight and the butt of jokes in the Warriors locker room.“My foot didn’t go down,” Lamb said while laughing and putting his face in his palms, “and I was thinking like, Damn, I should’ve hit the sticky pad.”Golden State forward Jonathan Kuminga might have the most shoes of anyone on the team, with innumerable pairs often sprawled in front of his locker and inside his locker drawers.While many players either use the pad or a wiping method, Kuminga doesn’t typically rely on either. He wipes the bottom of one shoe on the top of the other, partly because it saves time, he said, and because he has been doing it since he was a child. Because of that, many of the shoes in Kuminga’s locker look brand-new except for the laces, which are ripped and covered in dirt and dust.“Hopefully, one day, if I get my own shoe, I can maybe add something on my laces so anytime that I’m wiping, I don’t have to mess up my laces anymore,” Kuminga said while holding a pair of shoes with blue laces that had been stained black.The Knicks big men Isaiah Hartenstein and Obi Toppin always end their pregame routine by wiping their shoes on the Slipp-Nott. Hartenstein sprints to the pad first, typically after the starters are announced, and Toppin follows shortly after his teammate, ripping a sheet off when he is done.Knicks forward Obi Toppin always ends his pregame routine by wiping his sneakers on a Slipp-Nott.Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesHartenstein nearly forgot to do his part of their routine before Game 5 against the Heat in the Eastern Conference semifinals, but Toppin tapped him on the chest and pointed him toward the pad.“It’s a ritual for us for sure,” Hartenstein said. “We have to do it before every game, and I always go first. We almost got into a fight once because he went first. That won’t ever happen again.”After Slipp-Nott’s creation in the late ’80s, Julian dominated the court-traction market in the N.B.A. That changed in 2011 with the introduction of Court Grip, a bottled liquid product developed by Mission Athletecare that users could rub on the bottoms of their shoes. Dwyane Wade, then a star for the Heat, was a partner.Mission Athletecare’s founder and president, Josh Shaw, said then that it would “probably take six to 12 months for people to realize that it’s obsolete,” referring to Slipp-Nott. A brief rivalry for court-traction supremacy began, but it was Court Grip that ultimately became obsolete. The gray bottle disappeared from the sidelines, and for now, the sticky pad has the hearts and soles of players across the N.B.A. More

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    The Lakers Have Options to Win With LeBron James

    The Lakers can get back to the N.B.A. finals, but with James’s career almost over, some of the team’s possible strategies may take too long.The day after the Los Angeles Lakers’ season ended in a sweep, General Manager Rob Pelinka told reporters that the team intended to “keep our core of young guys together.”This quote did not escape the notice of Washington Wizards forward Kyle Kuzma, whom the Lakers drafted in 2017.“Heard that before,” Kuzma wrote on Twitter on Tuesday, adding four crying emojis to the post.Kuzma spent his first N.B.A. season with the Lakers, playing alongside the lottery picks Lonzo Ball, Julius Randle and Brandon Ingram, as well as a number of other young players who went on to play important roles on other teams.All of them were shipped out or let go in service of acquiring star players who the Lakers hoped could deliver immediate championships. In July 2019, after the Lakers had missed the playoffs, Kuzma survived the Anthony Davis trade, which sent Ball, Ingram and Josh Hart to the New Orleans Pelicans for Davis. The Lakers won a championship the next season. But a year later, after losing in the first round of the playoffs, the Lakers traded Kuzma to Washington as part of a deal for Russell Westbrook, hoping he could help them win their next championship.Anthony Davis helped the Lakers win a championship during his first season in Los Angeles, but the trade to acquire him cost the team several young players.Harry How/Getty ImagesHeading into this off-season, the Lakers are confronted with the question of whether they can or should be patient. On one hand, they were just swept in the Western Conference finals by a Denver team that showed how steady building can pay off. On the other hand, the Lakers are driven by LeBron James, 38, who wants to win now.It is a tension that will tug at the Lakers as they decide what’s next.“We’re incredibly proud of this group, obviously, to get to the Western Conference finals,” Pelinka said Tuesday at a season-ending news conference where he said the team’s goal was always to work toward a championship. “After the trade deadline we had one of the top records in the league. Keeping that continuity is going to be very important. We ultimately got knocked out by a team that has great continuity.”The Lakers have had a lot of turnover in recent years, but their performance this year showed that they might have a foundation on which to build. Darvin Ham, their first-year head coach, began to find rotations that worked, which helped the Lakers go from the worst record in the N.B.A. to the conference finals.“It’s just been a hell of a year,” Ham said. He mentioned having the support of Pelinka and the Lakers owner Jeanie Buss, then added: “To go through some of those tough times early, you know, we don’t get that support, we probably don’t make it to this point.”Their roster has promise. After the trade deadline, the Lakers competed well, though they had little time to jell. Guard Austin Reaves was a great fit beside James and Davis, and Rui Hachimura, acquired via trade in January, provided needed offensive bursts. Dennis Schröder was critical defensively. Lonnie Walker, Jarred Vanderbilt and D’Angelo Russell also had moments of success in the postseason. Walker, for example, saved the Lakers with a 15-point fourth quarter against Golden State in Game 4 of the second round.Guard Austin Reaves, left, and forward Rui Hachimura, right, are two of the most promising young players on the Lakers.Harry How/Getty ImagesThe Lakers were not built around youth this season, so it takes a little guessing to figure out what Pelinka means by the team’s “young core.” But Reaves is likely a key part of that.Reaves and Hachimura are restricted free agents this year; Russell, Walker and Schröder are unrestricted free agents.“We don’t know what team we have next year,” Davis said. “But whatever it is, whoever we have coming to training camp with the mind-set of building that chemistry, building that foundation, me and LeBron setting the tone, trying to get back here and further.”Because of the little time they have spent together, it’s hard to say how much further they could get.When James joined the Lakers as a free agent in 2018, some of his teammates were closer to his oldest son’s age than his. He said he knew being part of that team would require patience, and he said he was prepared to wait. But it quickly became clear he didn’t enjoy the interim.The Lakers missed the playoffs that 2018-19 season, in part because of serious injuries to James and Ball. Midway through the season, James began hinting that he wanted the Lakers to get Davis from the Pelicans. That summer, the Lakers completed the trade.“Yeah,” James told The Los Angeles Times when asked if he was glad he wouldn’t have to be patient anymore. “Because I was patient last year, and you see where it got me.”He showed a bit of that same impatience on Monday after the Nuggets clinched their series, saying he doesn’t “play for anything besides winning championships at this point in my career.”James hinted at retirement after 20 seasons.James outscored everyone in Game 4 of the Western Conference finals, even though he was the oldest player in the game. He had 40 points.Ashley Landis/Associated Press“We’ll see what happens going forward,” James said. “I don’t know. I don’t know. I’ve got a lot to think about, to be honest. I’ve got a lot to think about, to be honest. Just for me personally, going forward with the game of basketball, I’ve got a lot to think about.”Later, he explicitly told ESPN and Bleacher Report that he was considering retiring.“LeBron has given as much to the game of basketball as anyone that’s ever played,” Pelinka said. “When you do that you earn a right to decide whether you’re going to give more.”Some saw James’s remarks as a sign that he was worn out from the past four months, when he gave a herculean effort to play through a torn tendon in his foot, or that perhaps his friend Carmelo Anthony announcing his retirement this week made him wonder if he should, too.It was also possible he was trying to pressure the Lakers to get him a roster that could win a championship next year — perhaps by finding a way to acquire his former teammate Kyrie Irving, a controversy-plagued point guard who attended Game 4 of the Western Conference finals, despite restrictive new salary cap rules. Irving is phenomenally talented, but he has struggled to make a difference on teams since he helped James win a championship in Cleveland in 2016.The Lakers aren’t as used to delayed gratification as most other teams. The wait between acquiring a major star to win and winning has not taken long when it has worked.The Lakers drafted Magic Johnson with the No. 1 overall pick in 1979 and won a championship his rookie season, then four more over the next decade.It took a few years longer for the payoff from their key signings in the summer of 1996 — Shaquille O’Neal (free agent) and Kobe Bryant (post-draft deal) — but they never missed the playoffs before winning three championships in a row.The Lakers owner Jeanie Buss stands next to a row of the team’s championship trophies. The Lakers have won 17 titles.Tracy Nguyen for The New York TimesThey added Pau Gasol to Bryant’s team in February 2008, lost in the N.B.A. finals four months later, then won back-to-back championships.And Davis, like Johnson, helped the Lakers win a championship right away. It was only James’s second year in Los Angeles.Conversely, the Nuggets have spent years constructing this team.They waited while their point guard Jamal Murray tackled the long recovery that comes with an anterior cruciate ligament tear. Murray’s injury came in April 2021, after the Nuggets had built a roster that seemed capable of winning a championship. His recovery has delayed that timeline.They could afford to wait since their top star, Nikola Jokic, is still in his 20s.The reward for their patience is a team that has looked serene in challenging moments, whose players mesh with each other completely. This season’s newcomers understood the culture right away.But James is 10 years older than Jokic, and that provides a unique challenge. No star has ever played as well as he has at his age. He may not be at his own peak, but he is still one of the best players in the game. The night Denver ended his season, he had 40 points — more than anyone on either team.James doesn’t want to wait, but quick fixes don’t always work; see the trade for Westbrook that sent Kuzma to Washington. The Lakers missed the playoffs in Westbrook’s first season, then traded him away this season for young players who helped but couldn’t win it all.Based on what the Lakers established this year, they would not be starting from scratch if they chose to stay on their current path. But it could take more time than James has left. More

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    Boston Celtics Finally Look Like They Want to Beat the Miami Heat

    Boston hadn’t looked like the team that went to the N.B.A. finals last season — or like a team that wanted to get there this year.Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart is difficult to miss. His jump shot can be an amusement-park ride. He will try the occasional alley-oop pass from midcourt. He spoke earlier this month about the apparent brutality of a playoff game as a “true dogfight — scratching and clawing, biting, blood, everything.” He dyes his hair green.It is all part of the colorful package, and, on Thursday night, Smart showcased his role as a defense-minded agent of chaos on the opening possession of Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Miami Heat.Smart was defending Jimmy Butler away from the ball, near the top of the perimeter, when Bam Adebayo of the Heat drove to the basket. Smart reached at the ball, stripped it free and dove to collect it near the foul line before shoveling it ahead to Jayson Tatum for a fast-break layup and the game’s first points.One play does not define anything, of course, especially in a postseason series. But that play — a clean steal before the Heat could even take a shot — seemed to hint at everything that was to come during the Celtics’ 110-97 victory, which extended their season. The Heat lead the series, 3-2. Game 6 is Saturday in Miami.The Celtics, the No. 2 seed in the East, forced 16 turnovers in Game 5. They threw a full-court press at the Heat coming out of timeouts. They led by as many as 24 points. By the fourth quarter, Heat Coach Erik Spoelstra was pacing in front of the visiting bench with his hands on his hips, and Butler, who finished with just 14 points against a host of defenders, looked weary.Miami’s Jimmy Butler struggled against the Celtics defense in Game 5, scoring just 14 points.Maddie Meyer/Getty Images“I wanted to get us going,” said Smart, who checked out of the game to an ovation after scoring 23 points. “I wanted to come in and give my team some energy, especially going against a team like Miami.”He added: “We did the knocking around tonight.”The pressure is squarely on the Heat before Game 6. They would certainly welcome the return of Gabe Vincent, their starting point guard, who missed Game 5 with a sprained ankle. But in case anyone thinks they are reeling, Butler offered a Namath-esque guarantee at his postgame news conference.“We can and we will win this series,” he said. “We’ll just have to close it out at home.”Not so long ago, the Heat had all the momentum. In fact, early in the third quarter of Game 4 on Tuesday, they seemed to be closing in on a four-game series sweep. There was one possession in that game when three offensive rebounds led to a 3-pointer by Max Strus, pushing Miami’s lead to 9 points in front of a home crowd that was primed to celebrate a trip to the N.B.A. finals.The Celtics could have crumbled like a sand castle into Biscayne Bay. But a funny thing happened: They promptly went on an 18-0 run. No longer was the Heat’s zone defense such a riddle. No longer were the Celtics’ 3-point shots rimming in and out. And no longer did the outcome of the series appear to be a foregone conclusion after the Celtics’ 116-99 victory, which sent it back to Boston.Several Celtics mentioned the importance of a team meeting between Games 3 and 4, which happened at a time when nearly everyone outside their locker room figured their season was toast. Coach Joe Mazzulla was fielding questions about whether he had lost his team. Tatum and Jaylen Brown were being scrutinized for their inconsistent play. Broadcasters were cracking jokes about imminent trips to Cancun.“I mean, Game 3, that was as low as you can be,” Tatum said. “The good part about being that low is that you only can play better. It’s only up from there.”After Thursday’s win, Mazzulla said one of his assistants had provided valuable perspective.“The seasons are, like, nine months long, and we just had a bad week,” Mazzulla said. “Sometimes you have a bad week at work. We obviously didn’t pick the best time to have a bad week, but we did, and we’re sticking together and fighting like hell to keep it alive, and the guys are really coming together.”The Celtics are making a habit of digging holes — they trailed the Philadelphia 76ers, three games to two, in their conference semifinal series — before MacGyvering their way out. Smart acknowledged that the Celtics may have been too lax in how they had approached their series with the eighth-seeded Heat.“They snuck up on us and got us,” said Smart, who was asked to elaborate. “That’s the thing about sneaking up on somebody: They’re not supposed to know you’re coming. So that’s what happened. We didn’t know. We didn’t see it, and they got us. It wasn’t like we were trying to have that mind-set. It’s part of the game. It’s part of life. It’s part of the roller coaster of playing in the N.B.A.”Smart was 4 of 6 from 3-point range in Game 5.Maddie Meyer/Getty ImagesNow, the Celtics are halfway toward snapping one of professional sports’ most curious and seemingly shatterproof streaks. No N.B.A. team has ever come back from a 3-0 series deficit. Earlier this week, the Los Angeles Lakers became the 150th team to have tried (briefly) and failed (miserably) when the Denver Nuggets swept them in the Western Conference finals.As for the Celtics, Smart pumped the brakes on looking beyond Game 6.“First of all, we have to worry about one — the next game, not two games,” he said.On Thursday, Smart was a kinetic force. He connected on back-to-back 3-pointers for an early 10-point lead. He started the first half with a steal and punctuated it with one, too, poking the ball away from the Heat’s Caleb Martin. He defended and scored, grimaced and scowled, finishing with five steals while shooting 7 of 12 from the field and 4 of 6 from 3-point range.“He’s just an emotional key for us,” Mazzulla said. “When he’s locked in and playing both sides of the ball at a different pace, it kind of gives us our identity and our life.” More