SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; As the Boston Celtics search for answers in an effort to stop Stephen Curry in these NBA Finals, they know even their best defense won&rsquo;t always be good enough.
&ldquo;Steph Curry is pretty good, if you guys haven&rsquo;t noticed. He can shoot the ball unbelievably,&rdquo; Boston guard Jaylen Brown said Sunday. &ldquo;Even watching it, playing against it and even in the finals, I feel like he&rsquo;s taking it up a notch a little bit. He had a hell of a performance in Game 4, and we have to respond to that.&rdquo;
Whether the Celtics can do a better job containing the two-time MVP will be a major key as the best-of-seven series resumes at Chase Center on Monday night with the teams tied 2-2.
Coach Ime Udoka is calling for the Celtics to mix things up and be more physical on the heels of&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://apnews.com/article/golden-state-warriors-boston-celtics-nba-sports-robert-williams-e0166f40336235445d4c821279e19b17" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Curry&rsquo;s 43-point masterpiece</a>&nbsp;in the Warriors&rsquo; 107-97 victory Friday in Boston.
Udoka will allow his guards some leeway in deciding exactly where to begin pressuring Golden State&rsquo;s superstar &mdash; often starting well beyond the 3-point arc with the big men staying at the ready to assist.
Curry went 14 for 26 with seven 3-pointers and also grabbed 10 rebounds. Once he finds a rhythm, he can hit from anywhere, even with a defender&rsquo;s hand in his face. But Udoka realizes how the career 3-point leader can quickly become just as dangerous a playmaker, too.
&ldquo;Obviously, the range extends the floor some. Some of the shots that he&rsquo;s hitting are only shots that he can hit and have been highly contested,&rdquo; Udoka said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s hit a few of those.&rdquo;
The 34-year-old Curry recorded the second-best scoring performance of his career on the finals stage &mdash; second only to the 47 points he put up in Game 3 of 2019 against eventual champion Toronto &mdash; and joined Michael Jordan and LeBron James as the only players age 34 or older with at least 40 points in a finals game.
So, was watching the film session from Friday&rsquo;s game almost as fun for Curry as what he did during it?
&ldquo;Whether you play well individually or not, you always know what happens at the end. It&rsquo;s like watching the end of a movie. It&rsquo;s always nice to know that the movie turns out great at the end,&rdquo; he said.
&ldquo;But I think it&rsquo;s more so just the balance of watching what worked and trying to understand those patterns so that you can repeat that for the next game. Maybe anticipate some adjustments that might happen. Try to slow it down and try to be one step ahead of that. In the meantime, also watching a lot of different reactions in the crowd and on the bench and stuff like that, too. That&rsquo;s always some good entertainment.&rdquo;
KLAY REFRESH
Klay Thompson posted on social media he jumped in the bay Saturday for an open-water swim.
<a class="" href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FVBSpUAVIAEtBTA.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">He wrote</a>: &ldquo;The ocean heals the mind, body &amp; soul.&rdquo;
Curry&rsquo;s Splash Brother scored 18 points on 7-for-17 shooting in Game 4. Thompson&rsquo;s 35.8% shooting is the lowest for any NBA Finals he has played, and he is making just 34.2% from deep &mdash; down from 58.5% on 3s in the 2019 finals.
Monday will mark the three-year anniversary of when he got injured in those finals, during the Warriors&rsquo; decisive Game 6 loss to Toronto that clinched the Raptors&rsquo; first title at Oracle Arena. Thompson tore the ACL in his left knee that required surgery and began a more than two-and-a-half-year absence. During that stretch he also tore his right Achilles tendon and needed that repaired.
CURRY&rsquo;S KICKS
When told he is 3-0 in his purple game sneakers, Curry could only laugh and hope he hadn&rsquo;t now been jinxed.
And, no, he wasn&rsquo;t keeping track of that obscure stat.
&ldquo;I did not even know that, so I appreciate you,&rdquo; Curry said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if that messes with the juju on there if I&rsquo;m aware of the record now. I&rsquo;ve got a lot of different colors, so we&rsquo;ll see. We&rsquo;ll see what happens. Got me thinking now, too.&rdquo;
INJURY REPORT
Celtics center Robert Williams III is still dealing with soreness in his troublesome left knee. He had surgery in March to repair torn cartilage before returning for Game 3 of the first round against Brooklyn. The Celtics continue to monitor him, though Udoka said the 6-foot-9 big man was better Sunday.
Boston didn&rsquo;t find a specific moment on film that showed when Williams might have re-aggravated the tender knee.
&ldquo;Doing better, the day off, the rest, equaled with today and tomorrow, optimistic he&rsquo;ll be good to go,&rdquo; Udoka said. &ldquo;But we&rsquo;ll test it before the game as usual.&rdquo;

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; As the Boston Celtics search for answers in an effort to stop Stephen Curry in these NBA Finals, they know even their best defense won&rsquo;t always be good enough.
&ldquo;Steph Curry is pretty good, if you guys haven&rsquo;t noticed. He can shoot the ball unbelievably,&rdquo; Boston guard Jaylen Brown said Sunday. &ldquo;Even watching it, playing against it and even in the finals, I feel like he&rsquo;s taking it up a notch a little bit. He had a hell of a performance in Game 4, and we have to respond to that.&rdquo;
Whether the Celtics can do a better job containing the two-time MVP will be a major key as the best-of-seven series resumes at Chase Center on Monday night with the teams tied 2-2.
Coach Ime Udoka is calling for the Celtics to mix things up and be more physical on the heels of&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://apnews.com/article/golden-state-warriors-boston-celtics-nba-sports-robert-williams-e0166f40336235445d4c821279e19b17" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Curry&rsquo;s 43-point masterpiece</a>&nbsp;in the Warriors&rsquo; 107-97 victory Friday in Boston.
Udoka will allow his guards some leeway in deciding exactly where to begin pressuring Golden State&rsquo;s superstar &mdash; often starting well beyond the three-point arc with the big men staying at the ready to assist.
Curry went 14 for 26 with seven three-pointers and also grabbed 10 rebounds. Once he finds a rhythm, he can hit from anywhere, even with a defender&rsquo;s hand in his face. But Udoka realizes how the career 3-point leader can quickly become just as dangerous a playmaker, too.
&ldquo;Obviously, the range extends the floor some. Some of the shots that he&rsquo;s hitting are only shots that he can hit and have been highly contested,&rdquo; Udoka said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s hit a few of those.&rdquo;
The 34-year-old Curry recorded the second-best scoring performance of his career on the finals stage &mdash; second only to the 47 points he put up in Game 3 of 2019 against eventual champion Toronto &mdash; and joined Michael Jordan and LeBron James as the only players age 34 or older with at least 40 points in a finals game.
So, was watching the film session from Friday&rsquo;s game almost as fun for Curry as what he did during it?
&ldquo;Whether you play well individually or not, you always know what happens at the end. It&rsquo;s like watching the end of a movie. It&rsquo;s always nice to know that the movie turns out great at the end,&rdquo; he said.
&ldquo;But I think it&rsquo;s more so just the balance of watching what worked and trying to understand those patterns so that you can repeat that for the next game. Maybe anticipate some adjustments that might happen. Try to slow it down and try to be one step ahead of that. In the meantime, also watching a lot of different reactions in the crowd and on the bench and stuff like that, too. That&rsquo;s always some good entertainment.&rdquo;
KLAY REFRESH
Klay Thompson posted on social media he jumped in the bay Saturday for an open-water swim.
<a class="" href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FVBSpUAVIAEtBTA.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">He wrote</a>: &ldquo;The ocean heals the mind, body &amp; soul.&rdquo;
Curry&rsquo;s Splash Brother scored 18 points on 7-for-17 shooting in Game 4. Thompson&rsquo;s 35.8% shooting is the lowest for any NBA Finals he has played, and he is making just 34.2% from deep &mdash; down from 58.5% on 3s in the 2019 finals.
Monday will mark the three-year anniversary of when he got injured in those finals, during the Warriors&rsquo; decisive Game 6 loss to Toronto that clinched the Raptors&rsquo; first title at Oracle Arena. Thompson tore the ACL in his left knee that required surgery and began a more than two-and-a-half-year absence. During that stretch he also tore his right Achilles tendon and needed that repaired.
CURRY&rsquo;S KICKS
When told he is 3-0 in his purple game sneakers, Curry could only laugh and hope he hadn&rsquo;t now been jinxed.
And, no, he wasn&rsquo;t keeping track of that obscure stat.
&ldquo;I did not even know that, so I appreciate you,&rdquo; Curry said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if that messes with the juju on there if I&rsquo;m aware of the record now. I&rsquo;ve got a lot of different colors, so we&rsquo;ll see. We&rsquo;ll see what happens. Got me thinking now, too.&rdquo;
INJURY REPORT
Celtics center Robert Williams III is still dealing with soreness in his troublesome left knee. He had surgery in March to repair torn cartilage before returning for Game 3 of the first round against Brooklyn. The Celtics continue to monitor him, though Udoka said the 6-foot-9 big man was better Sunday.
Boston didn&rsquo;t find a specific moment on film that showed when Williams might have re-aggravated the tender knee.
&ldquo;Doing better, the day off, the rest, equaled with today and tomorrow, optimistic he&rsquo;ll be good to go,&rdquo; Udoka said. &ldquo;But we&rsquo;ll test it before the game as usual.&rdquo;

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; As the Boston Celtics search for answers in an effort to stop Stephen Curry in these NBA Finals, they know even their best defense won&rsquo;t always be good enough.
&ldquo;Steph Curry is pretty good, if you guys haven&rsquo;t noticed. He can shoot the ball unbelievably,&rdquo; Boston guard Jaylen Brown said Sunday. &ldquo;Even watching it, playing against it and even in the finals, I feel like he&rsquo;s taking it up a notch a little bit. He had a hell of a performance in Game 4, and we have to respond to that.&rdquo;
Whether the Celtics can do a better job containing the two-time MVP will be a major key as the best-of-seven series resumes at Chase Center on Monday night with the teams tied 2-2.
Coach Ime Udoka is calling for the Celtics to mix things up and be more physical on the heels of&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://apnews.com/article/golden-state-warriors-boston-celtics-nba-sports-robert-williams-e0166f40336235445d4c821279e19b17" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Curry&rsquo;s 43-point masterpiece</a>&nbsp;in the Warriors&rsquo; 107-97 victory Friday in Boston.
Udoka will allow his guards some leeway in deciding exactly where to begin pressuring Golden State&rsquo;s superstar &mdash; often starting well beyond the three-point arc with the big men staying at the ready to assist.
Curry went 14-for-26 with 7 three-pointers and also grabbed 10 rebounds. Once he finds a rhythm, he can hit from anywhere, even with a defender&rsquo;s hand in his face. But Udoka realizes how the career 3-point leader can quickly become just as dangerous a playmaker, too.
&ldquo;Obviously, the range extends the floor some. Some of the shots that he&rsquo;s hitting are only shots that he can hit and have been highly contested,&rdquo; Udoka said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s hit a few of those.&rdquo;
The 34-year-old Curry recorded the second-best scoring performance of his career on the finals stage &mdash; second only to the 47 points he put up in Game 3 of 2019 against eventual champion Toronto &mdash; and joined Michael Jordan and LeBron James as the only players age 34 or older with at least 40 points in a finals game.
So, was watching the film session from Friday&rsquo;s game almost as fun for Curry as what he did during it?
&ldquo;Whether you play well individually or not, you always know what happens at the end. It&rsquo;s like watching the end of a movie. It&rsquo;s always nice to know that the movie turns out great at the end,&rdquo; he said.
&ldquo;But I think it&rsquo;s more so just the balance of watching what worked and trying to understand those patterns so that you can repeat that for the next game. Maybe anticipate some adjustments that might happen. Try to slow it down and try to be one step ahead of that. In the meantime, also watching a lot of different reactions in the crowd and on the bench and stuff like that, too. That&rsquo;s always some good entertainment.&rdquo;
KLAY REFRESH
Klay Thompson posted on social media he jumped in the bay Saturday for an open-water swim.
<a class="" href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FVBSpUAVIAEtBTA.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">He wrote</a>: &ldquo;The ocean heals the mind, body &amp; soul.&rdquo;
Curry&rsquo;s Splash Brother scored 18 points on 7-for-17 shooting in Game 4. Thompson&rsquo;s 35.8% shooting is the lowest for any NBA Finals he has played, and he is making just 34.2% from deep &mdash; down from 58.5% on 3s in the 2019 finals.
Monday will mark the three-year anniversary of when he got injured in those finals, during the Warriors&rsquo; decisive Game 6 loss to Toronto that clinched the Raptors&rsquo; first title at Oracle Arena. Thompson tore the ACL in his left knee that required surgery and began a more than two-and-a-half-year absence. During that stretch he also tore his right Achilles tendon and needed that repaired.
CURRY&rsquo;S KICKS
When told he is 3-0 in his purple game sneakers, Curry could only laugh and hope he hadn&rsquo;t now been jinxed.
And, no, he wasn&rsquo;t keeping track of that obscure stat.
&ldquo;I did not even know that, so I appreciate you,&rdquo; Curry said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if that messes with the juju on there if I&rsquo;m aware of the record now. I&rsquo;ve got a lot of different colors, so we&rsquo;ll see. We&rsquo;ll see what happens. Got me thinking now, too.&rdquo;
INJURY REPORT
Celtics center Robert Williams III is still dealing with soreness in his troublesome left knee. He had surgery in March to repair torn cartilage before returning for Game 3 of the first round against Brooklyn. The Celtics continue to monitor him, though Udoka said the 6-foot-9 big man was better Sunday.
Boston didn&rsquo;t find a specific moment on film that showed when Williams might have re-aggravated the tender knee.
&ldquo;Doing better, the day off, the rest, equaled with today and tomorrow, optimistic he&rsquo;ll be good to go,&rdquo; Udoka said. &ldquo;But we&rsquo;ll test it before the game as usual.&rdquo;

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; As the Boston Celtics search for answers in an effort to stop Stephen Curry in these NBA Finals, they know even their best defense won&rsquo;t always be good enough.
&ldquo;Steph Curry is pretty good, if you guys haven&rsquo;t noticed. He can shoot the ball unbelievably,&rdquo; Boston guard Jaylen Brown said Sunday. &ldquo;Even watching it, playing against it and even in the finals, I feel like he&rsquo;s taking it up a notch a little bit. He had a hell of a performance in Game 4, and we have to respond to that.&rdquo;
Whether the Celtics can do a better job containing the two-time MVP will be a major key as the best-of-seven series resumes at Chase Center on Monday night with the teams tied 2-2.
Coach Ime Udoka is calling for the Celtics to mix things up and be more physical on the heels of&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://apnews.com/article/golden-state-warriors-boston-celtics-nba-sports-robert-williams-e0166f40336235445d4c821279e19b17" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Curry&rsquo;s 43-point masterpiece</a>&nbsp;in the Warriors&rsquo; 107-97 victory Friday in Boston.
Udoka will allow his guards some leeway in deciding exactly where to begin pressuring Golden State&rsquo;s superstar &mdash; often starting well beyond the three-point arc with the big men staying at the ready to assist.
Curry went 14-for-26 with 7 three-pointers and also grabbed 10 rebounds. Once he finds a rhythm, he can hit from anywhere, even with a defender&rsquo;s hand in his face. But Udoka realizes how the career three-point leader can quickly become just as dangerous a playmaker too.
&ldquo;Obviously, the range extends the floor some. Some of the shots that he&rsquo;s hitting are only shots that he can hit and have been highly contested,&rdquo; Udoka said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s hit a few of those.&rdquo;
The 34-year-old Curry recorded the second-best scoring performance of his career on the finals stage &mdash; second only to the 47 points he put up in Game 3 of 2019 against eventual champion Toronto &mdash; and joined Michael Jordan and LeBron James as the only players age 34 or older with at least 40 points in a finals game.
So, was watching the film session from Friday&rsquo;s game almost as fun for Curry as what he did during it?
&ldquo;Whether you play well individually or not, you always know what happens at the end. It&rsquo;s like watching the end of a movie. It&rsquo;s always nice to know that the movie turns out great at the end,&rdquo; he said.
&ldquo;But I think it&rsquo;s more so just the balance of watching what worked and trying to understand those patterns so that you can repeat that for the next game. Maybe anticipate some adjustments that might happen. Try to slow it down and try to be one step ahead of that. In the meantime, also watching a lot of different reactions in the crowd and on the bench and stuff like that, too. That&rsquo;s always some good entertainment.&rdquo;
KLAY REFRESH
Klay Thompson posted on social media he jumped in the bay Saturday for an open-water swim.
<a class="" href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FVBSpUAVIAEtBTA.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">He wrote</a>: &ldquo;The ocean heals the mind, body &amp; soul.&rdquo;
Curry&rsquo;s Splash Brother scored 18 points on 7-for-17 shooting in Game 4. Thompson&rsquo;s 35.8% shooting is the lowest for any NBA Finals he has played, and he is making just 34.2% from deep &mdash; down from 58.5% on 3s in the 2019 finals.
Monday will mark the three-year anniversary of when he got injured in those finals, during the Warriors&rsquo; decisive Game 6 loss to Toronto that clinched the Raptors&rsquo; first title at Oracle Arena. Thompson tore the ACL in his left knee that required surgery and began a more than two-and-a-half-year absence. During that stretch he also tore his right Achilles tendon and needed that repaired.
CURRY&rsquo;S KICKS
When told he is 3-0 in his purple game sneakers, Curry could only laugh and hope he hadn&rsquo;t now been jinxed.
And, no, he wasn&rsquo;t keeping track of that obscure stat.
&ldquo;I did not even know that, so I appreciate you,&rdquo; Curry said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if that messes with the juju on there if I&rsquo;m aware of the record now. I&rsquo;ve got a lot of different colors, so we&rsquo;ll see. We&rsquo;ll see what happens. Got me thinking now, too.&rdquo;
INJURY REPORT
Celtics center Robert Williams III is still dealing with soreness in his troublesome left knee. He had surgery in March to repair torn cartilage before returning for Game 3 of the first round against Brooklyn. The Celtics continue to monitor him, though Udoka said the 6-foot-9 big man was better Sunday.
Boston didn&rsquo;t find a specific moment on film that showed when Williams might have re-aggravated the tender knee.
&ldquo;Doing better, the day off, the rest, equaled with today and tomorrow, optimistic he&rsquo;ll be good to go,&rdquo; Udoka said. &ldquo;But we&rsquo;ll test it before the game as usual.&rdquo;

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; As the Boston Celtics search for answers in an effort to stop Stephen Curry in these NBA Finals, they know even their best defense won&rsquo;t always be good enough.
&ldquo;Steph Curry is pretty good, if you guys haven&rsquo;t noticed. He can shoot the ball unbelievably,&rdquo; Boston guard Jaylen Brown said Sunday. &ldquo;Even watching it, playing against it and even in the finals, I feel like he&rsquo;s taking it up a notch a little bit. He had a hell of a performance in Game 4, and we have to respond to that.&rdquo;
Whether the Celtics can do a better job containing the two-time MVP will be a major key as the best-of-seven series resumes at Chase Center on Monday night with the teams tied 2-2.
Coach Ime Udoka is calling for the Celtics to mix things up and be more physical on the heels of&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://apnews.com/article/golden-state-warriors-boston-celtics-nba-sports-robert-williams-e0166f40336235445d4c821279e19b17" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Curry&rsquo;s 43-point masterpiece</a>&nbsp;in the Warriors&rsquo; 107-97 victory Friday in Boston.
Udoka will allow his guards some leeway in deciding exactly where to begin pressuring Golden State&rsquo;s superstar &mdash; often starting well beyond the three-point arc with the big men staying at the ready to assist.
Curry went 14-for-26 with 7 three-pointers and also grabbed 10 rebounds. Once he finds a rhythm, he can hit from anywhere, even with a defender&rsquo;s hand in his face. But Udoka realizes how the career three-point leader can quickly become just as dangerous a playmaker too.
&ldquo;Obviously, the range extends the floor some. Some of the shots that he&rsquo;s hitting are only shots that he can hit and have been highly contested,&rdquo; Udoka said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s hit a few of those.&rdquo;
The 34-year-old Curry recorded the second-best scoring performance of his career on the finals stage &mdash; second only to the 47 points he put up in Game 3 of 2019 against eventual champion Toronto &mdash; and joined Michael Jordan and LeBron James as the only players age-34 or older with at least 40 points in a Finals game.
So, was watching the film session from Friday&rsquo;s game almost as fun for Curry as what he did during it?
&ldquo;Whether you play well individually or not, you always know what happens at the end. It&rsquo;s like watching the end of a movie. It&rsquo;s always nice to know that the movie turns out great at the end,&rdquo; he said.
&ldquo;But I think it&rsquo;s more so just the balance of watching what worked and trying to understand those patterns so that you can repeat that for the next game. Maybe anticipate some adjustments that might happen. Try to slow it down and try to be one step ahead of that. In the meantime, also watching a lot of different reactions in the crowd and on the bench and stuff like that too. That&rsquo;s always some good entertainment.&rdquo;
KLAY REFRESH
Klay Thompson posted on social media he jumped in the bay Saturday for an open-water swim.
<a class="" href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FVBSpUAVIAEtBTA.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">He wrote</a>: &ldquo;The ocean heals the mind, body &amp; soul.&rdquo;
Curry&rsquo;s Splash Brother scored 18 points on 7-for-17 shooting in Game 4. Thompson&rsquo;s 35.8% shooting is the lowest for any NBA Finals he has played, and he is making just 34.2% from deep &mdash; down from 58.5% on 3s in the 2019 finals.
Monday will mark the three-year anniversary of when he got injured in those finals, during the Warriors&rsquo; decisive Game 6 loss to Toronto that clinched the Raptors&rsquo; first title at Oracle Arena. Thompson tore the ACL in his left knee that required surgery and began a more than two-and-a-half-year absence. During that stretch he also tore his right Achilles tendon and needed that repaired.
CURRY&rsquo;S KICKS
When told he is 3-0 in his purple game sneakers, Curry could only laugh and hope he hadn&rsquo;t now been jinxed.
And, no, he wasn&rsquo;t keeping track of that obscure stat.
&ldquo;I did not even know that, so I appreciate you,&rdquo; Curry said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if that messes with the juju on there if I&rsquo;m aware of the record now. I&rsquo;ve got a lot of different colors, so we&rsquo;ll see. We&rsquo;ll see what happens. Got me thinking now, too.&rdquo;
INJURY REPORT
Celtics center Robert Williams III is still dealing with soreness in his troublesome left knee. He had surgery in March to repair torn cartilage before returning for Game 3 of the first round against Brooklyn. The Celtics continue to monitor him, though Udoka said the 6-foot-9 big man was better Sunday.
Boston didn&rsquo;t find a specific moment on film that showed when Williams might have re-aggravated the tender knee.
&ldquo;Doing better, the day off, the rest, equaled with today and tomorrow, optimistic he&rsquo;ll be good to go,&rdquo; Udoka said. &ldquo;But we&rsquo;ll test it before the game as usual.&rdquo;

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; As the Boston Celtics search for answers in an effort to stop Stephen Curry in these NBA Finals, they know even their best defense won&rsquo;t always be good enough.
&ldquo;Steph Curry is pretty good, if you guys haven&rsquo;t noticed. He can shoot the ball unbelievably,&rdquo; Boston guard Jaylen Brown said Sunday. &ldquo;Even watching it, playing against it and even in the finals, I feel like he&rsquo;s taking it up a notch a little bit. He had a hell of a performance in Game 4, and we have to respond to that.&rdquo;
Whether the Celtics can do a better job containing the two-time MVP will be a major key as the best-of-seven series resumes at Chase Center on Monday night with the teams tied 2-2.
Coach Ime Udoka is calling for the Celtics to mix things up and be more physical on the heels of&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://apnews.com/article/golden-state-warriors-boston-celtics-nba-sports-robert-williams-e0166f40336235445d4c821279e19b17" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Curry&rsquo;s 43-point masterpiece</a>&nbsp;in the Warriors&rsquo; 107-97 victory Friday in Boston.
Udoka will allow his guards some leeway in deciding exactly where to begin pressuring Golden State&rsquo;s superstar &mdash; often starting well beyond the three-point arc with the big men staying at the ready to assist.
Curry went 14-for-26 with 7 three-pointers and also grabbed 10 rebounds. Once he finds a rhythm, he can hit from anywhere, even with a defender&rsquo;s hand in his face. But Udoka realizes how the career three-point leader can quickly become just as dangerous a playmaker too.
&ldquo;Obviously, the range extends the floor some. Some of the shots that he&rsquo;s hitting are only shots that he can hit and have been highly contested,&rdquo; Udoka said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s hit a few of those.&rdquo;
The 34-year-old Curry recorded the second-best scoring performance of his career on the finals stage &mdash; second only to the 47 points he put up in Game 3 of 2019 against eventual champion Toronto &mdash; and joined Michael Jordan and LeBron James as the only players age-34 or older with at least 40 points in a Finals game.
So, was watching the film session from Friday&rsquo;s game almost as fun for Curry as what he did during it?
&ldquo;Whether you play well individually or not, you always know what happens at the end. It&rsquo;s like watching the end of a movie. It&rsquo;s always nice to know that the movie turns out great at the end,&rdquo; he said.
&ldquo;But I think it&rsquo;s more so just the balance of watching what worked and trying to understand those patterns so that you can repeat that for the next game. Maybe anticipate some adjustments that might happen. Try to slow it down and try to be one step ahead of that. In the meantime, also watching a lot of different reactions in the crowd and on the bench and stuff like that too. That&rsquo;s always some good entertainment.&rdquo;
KLAY REFRESH
Klay Thompson posted on social media that he jumped in the bay Saturday for an open-water swim.
<a class="" href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FVBSpUAVIAEtBTA.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">He wrote</a>: &ldquo;The ocean heals the mind, body &amp; soul.&rdquo;
Curry&rsquo;s Splash Brother scored 18 points on 7-for-17 shooting in Game 4. Thompson&rsquo;s 35.8% shooting is the lowest for any NBA Finals he has played, and he is making just 34.2% from deep &mdash; down from 58.5% on 3s in the 2019 finals.
Monday will mark the three-year anniversary of when he got injured in those finals, during the Warriors&rsquo; decisive Game 6 loss to Toronto that clinched the Raptors&rsquo; first title at Oracle Arena. Thompson tore the ACL in his left knee that required surgery and began a more than two-and-a-half-year absence. During that stretch he also tore his right Achilles tendon and needed that repaired.
CURRY&rsquo;S KICKS
When told he is 3-0 in his purple game sneakers, Curry could only laugh and hope he hadn&rsquo;t now been jinxed.
And, no, he wasn&rsquo;t keeping track of that obscure stat.
&ldquo;I did not even know that, so I appreciate you,&rdquo; Curry said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if that messes with the juju on there if I&rsquo;m aware of the record now. I&rsquo;ve got a lot of different colors, so we&rsquo;ll see. We&rsquo;ll see what happens. Got me thinking now, too.&rdquo;
INJURY REPORT
Celtics center Robert Williams III is still dealing with soreness in his troublesome left knee. He had surgery in March to repair torn cartilage before returning for Game 3 of the first round against Brooklyn. The Celtics continue to monitor him, though Udoka said the 6-foot-9 big man was better Sunday.
Boston didn&rsquo;t find a specific moment on film that showed when Williams might have re-aggravated the tender knee.
&ldquo;Doing better, the day off, the rest, equaled with today and tomorrow, optimistic he&rsquo;ll be good to go,&rdquo; Udoka said. &ldquo;But we&rsquo;ll test it before the game as usual.&rdquo;

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; As the Boston Celtics search for answers in an effort to stop Stephen Curry in these NBA Finals, they know even their best defense won&rsquo;t always be good enough.
&ldquo;Steph Curry is pretty good, if you guys haven&rsquo;t noticed. He can shoot the ball unbelievably,&rdquo; Boston guard Jaylen Brown said Sunday. &ldquo;Even watching it, playing against it and even in the finals, I feel like he&rsquo;s taking it up a notch a little bit. He had a hell of a performance in Game 4, and we have to respond to that.&rdquo;
Whether the Celtics can do a better job containing the two-time MVP will be a major key as the best-of-seven series resumes at Chase Center on Monday night with the teams tied 2-2.
Coach Ime Udoka is calling for the Celtics to mix things up and be more physical on the heels of&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://apnews.com/article/golden-state-warriors-boston-celtics-nba-sports-robert-williams-e0166f40336235445d4c821279e19b17" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Curry&rsquo;s 43-point masterpiece</a>&nbsp;in the Warriors&rsquo; 107-97 victory Friday in Boston.
Udoka will allow his guards some leeway in deciding exactly where to begin pressuring Golden State&rsquo;s superstar &mdash; often starting well beyond the three-point arc with the big men staying at the ready to assist.
Curry went 14-for-26 with 7 three-pointers and also grabbed 10 rebounds. Once he finds a rhythm, he can hit from anywhere, even with a defender&rsquo;s hand in his face. But Udoka realizes how the career three-point leader can quickly become just as dangerous a playmaker too.
&ldquo;Obviously, the range extends the floor some. Some of the shots that he&rsquo;s hitting are only shots that he can hit and have been highly contested,&rdquo; Udoka said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s hit a few of those.&rdquo;
The 34-year-old Curry recorded the second-best scoring performance of his career on the finals stage &mdash; second only to the 47 points he put up in Game 3 of 2019 against eventual champion Toronto &mdash; and joined Michael Jordan and LeBron James as the only players age-34 or older with at least 40 points in a Finals game.
So, was watching the film session from Friday&rsquo;s game almost as fun for Curry as what he did during it?
&ldquo;Whether you play well individually or not, you always know what happens at the end. It&rsquo;s like watching the end of a movie. It&rsquo;s always nice to know that the movie turns out great at the end,&rdquo; he said.
&ldquo;But I think it&rsquo;s more so just the balance of watching what worked and trying to understand those patterns so that you can repeat that for the next game. Maybe anticipate some adjustments that might happen. Try to slow it down and try to be one step ahead of that. In the meantime, also watching a lot of different reactions in the crowd and on the bench and stuff like that too. That&rsquo;s always some good entertainment.&rdquo;
KLAY REFRESH
Klay Thompson posted on social media that he jumped in the bay Saturday for an open-water swim.
<a class="" href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FVBSpUAVIAEtBTA.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">He wrote</a>: &ldquo;The ocean heals the mind, body &amp; soul.&rdquo;
Curry&rsquo;s Splash Brother scored 18 points on 7-for-17 shooting in Game 4. Thompson&rsquo;s 35.8% shooting is the lowest for any NBA Finals he has played, and he is making just 34.2% from deep &mdash; down from 58.5% on threes in the 2019 Finals.
Monday will mark the three-year anniversary of when he got injured in those finals, during the Warriors&rsquo; decisive Game 6 loss to Toronto that clinched the Raptors&rsquo; first title at Oracle Arena. Thompson tore the ACL in his left knee that required surgery and began a more than two-and-a-half-year absence. During that stretch he also tore his right Achilles tendon and needed that repaired.
CURRY&rsquo;S KICKS
When told he is 3-0 in his purple game sneakers, Curry could only laugh and hope he hadn&rsquo;t now been jinxed.
And, no, he wasn&rsquo;t keeping track of that obscure stat.
&ldquo;I did not even know that, so I appreciate you,&rdquo; Curry said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if that messes with the juju on there if I&rsquo;m aware of the record now. I&rsquo;ve got a lot of different colors, so we&rsquo;ll see. We&rsquo;ll see what happens. Got me thinking now, too.&rdquo;
INJURY REPORT
Celtics center Robert Williams III is still dealing with soreness in his troublesome left knee. He had surgery in March to repair torn cartilage before returning for Game 3 of the first round against Brooklyn. The Celtics continue to monitor him, though Udoka said the 6-foot-9 big man was better Sunday.
Boston didn&rsquo;t find a specific moment on film that showed when Williams might have re-aggravated the tender knee.
&ldquo;Doing better, the day off, the rest, equaled with today and tomorrow, optimistic he&rsquo;ll be good to go,&rdquo; Udoka said. &ldquo;But we&rsquo;ll test it before the game as usual.&rdquo;

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; As the Boston Celtics search for answers in an effort to stop Stephen Curry in these NBA Finals, they know even their best defense won&rsquo;t always be good enough.
&ldquo;Steph Curry is pretty good, if you guys haven&rsquo;t noticed. He can shoot the ball unbelievably,&rdquo; Boston guard Jaylen Brown said Sunday. &ldquo;Even watching it, playing against it and even in the finals, I feel like he&rsquo;s taking it up a notch a little bit. He had a hell of a performance in Game 4, and we have to respond to that.&rdquo;
Whether the Celtics can do a better job containing the two-time MVP will be a major key as the best-of-seven series resumes at Chase Center on Monday night with the teams tied 2-2.
Coach Ime Udoka is calling for the Celtics to mix things up and be more physical on the heels of&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://apnews.com/article/golden-state-warriors-boston-celtics-nba-sports-robert-williams-e0166f40336235445d4c821279e19b17" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Curry&rsquo;s 43-point masterpiece</a>&nbsp;in the Warriors&rsquo; 107-97 victory Friday in Boston.
Udoka will allow his guards some leeway in deciding exactly where to begin pressuring Golden State&rsquo;s superstar &mdash; often starting well beyond the three-point arc with the big men staying at the ready to assist.
Curry went 14-for-26 with 7 three-pointers and also grabbed 10 rebounds. Once he finds a rhythm, he can hit from anywhere, even with a defender&rsquo;s hand in his face. But Udoka realizes how the career three-point leader can quickly become just as dangerous a playmaker too.
&ldquo;Obviously, the range extends the floor some. Some of the shots that he&rsquo;s hitting are only shots that he can hit and have been highly contested,&rdquo; Udoka said. &ldquo;He&rsquo;s hit a few of those.&rdquo;
The 34-year-old Curry recorded the second-best scoring performance of his career on the finals stage &mdash; second only to the 47 points he put up in Game 3 of 2019 against eventual champion Toronto &mdash; and joined Michael Jordan and LeBron James as the only players age-34 or older with at least 40 points in a Finals game.
So, was watching the film session from Friday&rsquo;s game almost as fun for Curry as what he did during it?
&ldquo;Whether you play well individually or not, you always know what happens at the end. It&rsquo;s like watching the end of a movie. It&rsquo;s always nice to know that the movie turns out great at the end,&rdquo; he said.
&ldquo;But I think it&rsquo;s more so just the balance of watching what worked and trying to understand those patterns so that you can repeat that for the next game. Maybe anticipate some adjustments that might happen. Try to slow it down and try to be one step ahead of that. In the meantime, also watching a lot of different reactions in the crowd and on the bench and stuff like that too. That&rsquo;s always some good entertainment.&rdquo;
KLAY REFRESH
Klay Thompson posted on social media that he jumped in the bay Saturday for an open-water swim.
<a class="" href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FVBSpUAVIAEtBTA.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">He wrote</a>: &ldquo;The ocean heals the mind, body &amp; soul.&rdquo;
Curry&rsquo;s Splash Brother scored 18 points on 7-for-17 shooting in Game 4. Thompson&rsquo;s 35.8% shooting is the lowest for any NBA Finals he has played, and he is making just 34.2% from deep &mdash; down from 58.5% on threes in the 2019 Finals.
Monday will mark the three-year anniversary of when he got injured in those finals, during the Warriors&rsquo; decisive Game 6 loss to Toronto that clinched the Raptors&rsquo; first title at Oracle Arena. Thompson tore the ACL in his left knee that required surgery and began a more than two-and-a-half-year absence. During that stretch he also tore his right Achilles tendon and needed that repaired.
CURRY&rsquo;S KICKS
When told he is 3-0 in his purple game sneakers, Curry could only laugh and hope he hadn&rsquo;t now been jinxed.
And, no, he wasn&rsquo;t keeping track of that obscure stat.
&ldquo;I did not even know that, so I appreciate you,&rdquo; Curry said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if that messes with the juju on there if I&rsquo;m aware of the record now. I&rsquo;ve got a lot of different colors, so we&rsquo;ll see. We&rsquo;ll see what happens. Got me thinking now too.&rdquo;
INJURY REPORT
Celtics center Robert Williams III is still dealing with soreness in his troublesome left knee. He had surgery in March to repair torn cartilage before returning for Game 3 of the first round against Brooklyn. The Celtics continue to monitor him, though Udoka said the 6-foot-9 big man was better Sunday.
Boston didn&rsquo;t find a specific moment on film that showed when Williams might have re-aggravated the tender knee.
&ldquo;Doing better, the day off, the rest, equaled with today and tomorrow, optimistic he&rsquo;ll be good to go,&rdquo; Udoka said. &ldquo;But we&rsquo;ll test it before the game as usual.&rdquo;

Stephen Curry has been on fire during the 2022 NBA Finals. Can the Boston Celtics slow him down going forward?

With NBA Finals tied at 2-2, can the Celtics slow down Steph Curry?

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; When the Golden State Warriors made their fourth-quarter push to get back into the NBA Finals, Draymond Green had the unusual role as spectator.
The versatile Green, who has been one of the stalwarts of Golden State&rsquo;s dynasty, got pulled in crunch time of Game 4 in what was both a shocking &mdash; and effective &mdash; decision by coach Steve Kerr.
Now with the series shifting back to California tied heading into Game 5 on Monday night, Kerr said he has no concerns about what he&rsquo;ll get out of Green the rest of the way.
&ldquo;Draymond is Draymond. He&rsquo;s going to bring it every night,&rdquo; Kerr said Sunday. &ldquo;I think the thing that maybe got lost the other night is how good he was down the stretch. He ends up in the game with four steals. He was brilliant defensively. He did what we needed to do to win the game.&rdquo;
Green said he wasn&rsquo;t &ldquo;thrilled&rdquo; by Kerr&rsquo;s decision in Game 4 on Friday night in Boston to send him to the bench with the Warriors down four points with 7:32 to play.
But the move worked well, with Golden State going on an 11-4 run behind a lineup featuring Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Jordan Poole, Andrew Wiggins and Kevon Looney.
Green returned with 3:41 to play and the Warriors ahead 97-94, then shuttled in and out with Poole as Kerr mostly used Green when Golden State was on defense. The plan worked and&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://apnews.com/article/golden-state-warriors-boston-celtics-nba-sports-robert-williams-e0166f40336235445d4c821279e19b17">Golden State won 107-97</a>&nbsp;to tie the series at two games apiece.
&ldquo;I think I made an impact on the game the whole game,&rdquo; Green said. &ldquo;I think you can get caught up in everything that&rsquo;s going around, but those that watch and understand basketball, I made an impact the entire game. So I don&rsquo;t think there was a switch last couple minutes.&rdquo;
Green has been one of the key cogs on the Warriors ever since Kerr arrived in the 2014-15 season and immediately elevated Green into a starting role ahead of Andre Iguodala.
Green&rsquo;s versatility defensively was key to Golden State&rsquo;s small-ball lineups and his playmaking skills helped take advantage whenever opponents tried to double-team Curry.
Kerr has had to tinker more with his lineups this year instead of finding which center &mdash; if any &mdash; worked best with his stars.
&ldquo;This feels a little bit different this year,&rdquo; Kerr said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s been a little bit more mixing and matching. Really proud of the group, everybody, for staying ready and staying prepared and not allowing that to sort of change and alterations from game to game to bother them.&rdquo;
While Green has remained a defensive stalwart, his offensive game his fallen off as he has almost stopped taking 3-pointers and rarely even looks for his shot.
After setting the tone defensively in a Game 2 win at home, Green was almost invisible on the offensive end in the two games in Boston and was even exploited at times defensively in a Game 3 loss.
Green scored just four points on 2-for-11 shooting for the two games in Boston but did contribute nine rebounds, eight assists and four steals in Game 4.
Green is shooting just 23% in the series and averaging 4.3 points, leading Kerr to go with Looney in his place in key moments when he only wanted one non-shooter on the court.
If the Warriors are going to take two more games and win a fourth championship during this run, they likely will need to find more offensive help for Curry.
Curry has scored 32.5% of Golden State&rsquo;s points this series, the third-highest total in the NBA Finals in the past 15 seasons behind only two years for LeBron James in Cleveland.
Curry said the key the next few games will be adjusting to how the Celtics have handled Golden State&rsquo;s &ldquo;pet plays&rdquo; and that Green is the perfect player to help make that happen.
&ldquo;I think he is going to do an amazing job of adapting and figuring out where he can find his angles, his ways to impact on the offensive end,&rdquo; Curry said. &ldquo;That will, again, feed off the way he impacts the game on the defensive end every game. So usually the high-IQ guys figure it out, and he&rsquo;s at the top of that list when it comes to understanding the game of basketball.&rdquo;

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; When the Golden State Warriors made their fourth-quarter push to get back into the NBA Finals, Draymond Green had the unusual role as spectator.
The versatile Green, who has been one of the stalwarts of Golden State&rsquo;s dynasty, got pulled in crunch time of Game 4 in what was both a shocking &mdash; and effective &mdash; decision by coach Steve Kerr.
Now with the series shifting back to California tied heading into Game 5 on Monday night, Kerr said he has no concerns about what he&rsquo;ll get out of Green the rest of the way.
&ldquo;Draymond is Draymond. He&rsquo;s going to bring it every night,&rdquo; Kerr said Sunday. &ldquo;I think the thing that maybe got lost the other night is how good he was down the stretch. He ends up in the game with four steals. He was brilliant defensively. He did what we needed to do to win the game.&rdquo;
Green said he wasn&rsquo;t &ldquo;thrilled&rdquo; by Kerr&rsquo;s decision in Game 4 on Friday night in Boston to send him to the bench with the Warriors down four points with 7:32 to play.
But the move worked well, with Golden State going on an 11-4 run behind a lineup featuring Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Jordan Poole, Andrew Wiggins and Kevon Looney.
Green returned with 3:41 to play and the Warriors ahead 97-94, then shuttled in and out with Poole as Kerr mostly used Green when Golden State was on defense. The plan worked and&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://apnews.com/article/golden-state-warriors-boston-celtics-nba-sports-robert-williams-e0166f40336235445d4c821279e19b17" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Golden State won 107-97</a>&nbsp;to tie the series at two games apiece.
&ldquo;I think I made an impact on the game the whole game,&rdquo; Green said. &ldquo;I think you can get caught up in everything that&rsquo;s going around, but those that watch and understand basketball, I made an impact the entire game. So I don&rsquo;t think there was a switch last couple minutes.&rdquo;
Green has been one of the key cogs on the Warriors ever since Kerr arrived in the 2014-15 season and immediately elevated Green into a starting role ahead of Andre Iguodala.
Green&rsquo;s versatility defensively was key to Golden State&rsquo;s small-ball lineups and his playmaking skills helped take advantage whenever opponents tried to double-team Curry.
Kerr has had to tinker more with his lineups this year instead of finding which center &mdash; if any &mdash; worked best with his stars.
&ldquo;This feels a little bit different this year,&rdquo; Kerr said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s been a little bit more mixing and matching. Really proud of the group, everybody, for staying ready and staying prepared and not allowing that to sort of change and alterations from game to game to bother them.&rdquo;
While Green has remained a defensive stalwart, his offensive game his fallen off as he has almost stopped taking 3-pointers and rarely even looks for his shot.
After setting the tone defensively in a Game 2 win at home, Green was almost invisible on the offensive end in the two games in Boston and was even exploited at times defensively in a Game 3 loss.
Green scored just four points on 2-for-11 shooting for the two games in Boston but did contribute nine rebounds, eight assists and four steals in Game 4.
Green is shooting just 23% in the series and averaging 4.3 points, leading Kerr to go with Looney in his place in key moments when he only wanted one non-shooter on the court.
If the Warriors are going to take two more games and win a fourth championship during this run, they likely will need to find more offensive help for Curry.
Curry has scored 32.5% of Golden State&rsquo;s points this series, the third-highest total in the NBA Finals in the past 15 seasons behind only two years for LeBron James in Cleveland.
Curry said the key the next few games will be adjusting to how the Celtics have handled Golden State&rsquo;s &ldquo;pet plays&rdquo; and that Green is the perfect player to help make that happen.
&ldquo;I think he is going to do an amazing job of adapting and figuring out where he can find his angles, his ways to impact on the offensive end,&rdquo; Curry said. &ldquo;That will, again, feed off the way he impacts the game on the defensive end every game. So usually the high-IQ guys figure it out, and he&rsquo;s at the top of that list when it comes to understanding the game of basketball.&rdquo;

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; When the Golden State Warriors made their fourth-quarter push to get back into the NBA Finals, Draymond Green had the unusual role as spectator.
The versatile Green, who has been one of the stalwarts of Golden State&rsquo;s dynasty, got pulled in crunch time of Game 4 in what was both a shocking &mdash; and effective &mdash; decision by coach Steve Kerr.
Now with the series shifting back to California tied heading into Game 5 on Monday night, Kerr said he has no concerns about what he&rsquo;ll get out of Green the rest of the way.
&ldquo;Draymond is Draymond. He&rsquo;s going to bring it every night,&rdquo; Kerr said Sunday. &ldquo;I think the thing that maybe got lost the other night is how good he was down the stretch. He ends up in the game with four steals. He was brilliant defensively. He did what we needed to do to win the game.&rdquo;
Green said he wasn&rsquo;t &ldquo;thrilled&rdquo; by Kerr&rsquo;s decision in Game 4 on Friday night in Boston to send him to the bench with the Warriors down four points with 7:32 to play.
But the move worked well, with Golden State going on an 11-4 run behind a lineup featuring Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Jordan Poole, Andrew Wiggins and Kevon Looney.
Green returned with 3:41 to play and the Warriors ahead 97-94, then shuttled in and out with Poole as Kerr mostly used Green when Golden State was on defense. The plan worked and&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/turnovers-doom-celtics-once-again-as-warriors-win-game-4-of-nba-finals" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Golden State won 107-97</a>&nbsp;to tie the series at two games apiece.
&ldquo;I think I made an impact on the game the whole game,&rdquo; Green said. &ldquo;I think you can get caught up in everything that&rsquo;s going around, but those that watch and understand basketball, I made an impact the entire game. So I don&rsquo;t think there was a switch last couple minutes.&rdquo;
Green has been one of the key cogs on the Warriors ever since Kerr arrived in the 2014-15 season and immediately elevated Green into a starting role ahead of Andre Iguodala.
Green&rsquo;s versatility defensively was key to Golden State&rsquo;s small-ball lineups and his playmaking skills helped take advantage whenever opponents tried to double-team Curry.
Kerr has had to tinker more with his lineups this year instead of finding which center &mdash; if any &mdash; worked best with his stars.
&ldquo;This feels a little bit different this year,&rdquo; Kerr said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s been a little bit more mixing and matching. Really proud of the group, everybody, for staying ready and staying prepared and not allowing that to sort of change and alterations from game to game to bother them.&rdquo;
While Green has remained a defensive stalwart, his offensive game his fallen off as he has almost stopped taking 3-pointers and rarely even looks for his shot.
After setting the tone defensively in a Game 2 win at home, Green was almost invisible on the offensive end in the two games in Boston and was even exploited at times defensively in a Game 3 loss.
Green scored just four points on 2-for-11 shooting for the two games in Boston but did contribute nine rebounds, eight assists and four steals in Game 4.
Green is shooting just 23% in the series and averaging 4.3 points, leading Kerr to go with Looney in his place in key moments when he only wanted one non-shooter on the court.
If the Warriors are going to take two more games and win a fourth championship during this run, they likely will need to find more offensive help for Curry.
Curry has scored 32.5% of Golden State&rsquo;s points this series, the third-highest total in the NBA Finals in the past 15 seasons behind only two years for LeBron James in Cleveland.
Curry said the key the next few games will be adjusting to how the Celtics have handled Golden State&rsquo;s &ldquo;pet plays&rdquo; and that Green is the perfect player to help make that happen.
&ldquo;I think he is going to do an amazing job of adapting and figuring out where he can find his angles, his ways to impact on the offensive end,&rdquo; Curry said. &ldquo;That will, again, feed off the way he impacts the game on the defensive end every game. So usually the high-IQ guys figure it out, and he&rsquo;s at the top of that list when it comes to understanding the game of basketball.&rdquo;

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; When the Golden State Warriors made their fourth-quarter push to get back into the NBA Finals, Draymond Green had the unusual role as spectator.
The versatile Green, who has been one of the stalwarts of Golden State&rsquo;s dynasty, got pulled in crunch time of Game 4 in what was both a shocking &mdash; and effective &mdash; decision by coach Steve Kerr.
Now with the series shifting back to California tied heading into Game 5 on Monday night, Kerr said he has no concerns about what he&rsquo;ll get out of Green the rest of the way.
&ldquo;Draymond is Draymond. He&rsquo;s going to bring it every night,&rdquo; Kerr said Sunday. &ldquo;I think the thing that maybe got lost the other night is how good he was down the stretch. He ends up in the game with four steals. He was brilliant defensively. He did what we needed to do to win the game.&rdquo;
Green said he wasn&rsquo;t &ldquo;thrilled&rdquo; by Kerr&rsquo;s decision in Game 4 on Friday night in Boston to send him to the bench with the Warriors down four points with 7:32 to play.
But the move worked well, with Golden State going on an 11-4 run behind a lineup featuring Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Jordan Poole, Andrew Wiggins and Kevon Looney.
Green returned with 3:41 to play and the Warriors ahead 97-94, then shuttled in and out with Poole as Kerr mostly used Green when Golden State was on defense. The plan worked and&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/turnovers-doom-celtics-once-again-as-warriors-win-game-4-of-nba-finals" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Golden State won 107-97</a>&nbsp;to tie the series at two games apiece.
&ldquo;I think I made an impact on the game the whole game,&rdquo; Green said. &ldquo;I think you can get caught up in everything that&rsquo;s going around, but those that watch and understand basketball, I made an impact the entire game. So I don&rsquo;t think there was a switch last couple minutes.&rdquo;
Green has been one of the key cogs on the Warriors ever since Kerr arrived in the 2014-15 season and immediately elevated Green into a starting role ahead of Andre Iguodala.
Green&rsquo;s versatility defensively was key to Golden State&rsquo;s small-ball lineups and his playmaking skills helped take advantage whenever opponents tried to double-team Curry.
Kerr has had to tinker more with his lineups this year instead of finding which center &mdash; if any &mdash; worked best with his stars.
&ldquo;This feels a little bit different this year,&rdquo; Kerr said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s been a little bit more mixing and matching. Really proud of the group, everybody, for staying ready and staying prepared and not allowing that to sort of change and alterations from game to game to bother them.&rdquo;
While Green has remained a defensive stalwart, his offensive game his fallen off as he has almost stopped taking three-pointers and rarely even looks for his shot.
After setting the tone defensively in a Game 2 win at home, Green was almost invisible on the offensive end in the two games in Boston and was even exploited at times defensively in a Game 3 loss.
Green scored just four points on 2-for-11 shooting for the two games in Boston but did contribute nine rebounds, eight assists and four steals in Game 4.
Green is shooting just 23% in the series and averaging 4.3 points, leading Kerr to go with Looney in his place in key moments when he only wanted one non-shooter on the court.
If the Warriors are going to take two more games and win a fourth championship during this run, they likely will need to find more offensive help for Curry.
Curry has scored 32.5% of Golden State&rsquo;s points this series, the third-highest total in the NBA Finals in the past 15 seasons behind only two years for LeBron James in Cleveland.
Curry said the key the next few games will be adjusting to how the Celtics have handled Golden State&rsquo;s &ldquo;pet plays&rdquo; and that Green is the perfect player to help make that happen.
&ldquo;I think he is going to do an amazing job of adapting and figuring out where he can find his angles, his ways to impact on the offensive end,&rdquo; Curry said. &ldquo;That will, again, feed off the way he impacts the game on the defensive end every game. So usually the high-IQ guys figure it out, and he&rsquo;s at the top of that list when it comes to understanding the game of basketball.&rdquo;

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; When the Golden State Warriors made their fourth-quarter push to get back into the NBA Finals, Draymond Green had the unusual role as spectator.
The versatile Green, who has been one of the stalwarts of Golden State&rsquo;s dynasty, got pulled in crunch time of Game 4 in what was both a shocking &mdash; and effective &mdash; decision by coach Steve Kerr.
Now with the series shifting back to California tied heading into Game 5 on Monday night, Kerr said he has no concerns about what he&rsquo;ll get out of Green the rest of the way.
&ldquo;Draymond is Draymond. He&rsquo;s going to bring it every night,&rdquo; Kerr said Sunday. &ldquo;I think the thing that maybe got lost the other night is how good he was down the stretch. He ends up in the game with four steals. He was brilliant defensively. He did what we needed to do to win the game.&rdquo;
Green said he wasn&rsquo;t &ldquo;thrilled&rdquo; by Kerr&rsquo;s decision in Game 4 on Friday night in Boston to send him to the bench with the Warriors down four points with 7:32 to play.
But the move worked well, with Golden State going on an 11-4 run behind a lineup featuring Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Jordan Poole, Andrew Wiggins and Kevon Looney.
Green returned with 3:41 to play and the Warriors ahead 97-94, then shuttled in and out with Poole as Kerr mostly used Green when Golden State was on defense. The plan worked and&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/turnovers-doom-celtics-once-again-as-warriors-win-game-4-of-nba-finals" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Golden State won 107-97</a>&nbsp;to tie the series at two games apiece.
&ldquo;I think I made an impact on the game the whole game,&rdquo; Green said. &ldquo;I think you can get caught up in everything that&rsquo;s going around, but those that watch and understand basketball, I made an impact the entire game. So I don&rsquo;t think there was a switch last couple minutes.&rdquo;
Green has been one of the key cogs on the Warriors ever since Kerr arrived in the 2014-15 season and immediately elevated Green into a starting role ahead of Andre Iguodala.
Green&rsquo;s versatility defensively was key to Golden State&rsquo;s small-ball lineups and his playmaking skills helped take advantage whenever opponents tried to double-team Curry.
Kerr has had to tinker more with his lineups this year instead of finding which center &mdash; if any &mdash; worked best with his stars.
&ldquo;This feels a little bit different this year,&rdquo; Kerr said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s been a little bit more mixing and matching. Really proud of the group, everybody, for staying ready and staying prepared and not allowing that to sort of change and alterations from game to game to bother them.&rdquo;
While Green has remained a defensive stalwart, his offensive game his fallen off as he has almost stopped taking three-pointers and rarely even looks for his shot.
After setting the tone defensively in a Game 2 win at home, Green was almost invisible on the offensive end in the two games in Boston and was even exploited at times defensively in a Game 3 loss.
Green scored just 4 points on 2-for-11 shooting for the two games in Boston but did contribute nine rebounds, eight assists and four steals in Game 4.
Green is shooting just 23% in the series and averaging 4.3 points, leading Kerr to go with Looney in his place in key moments when he only wanted one non-shooter on the court.
If the Warriors are going to take two more games and win a fourth championship during this run, they likely will need to find more offensive help for Curry.
Curry has scored 32.5% of Golden State&rsquo;s points this series, the third-highest total in the NBA Finals in the past 15 seasons behind only two years for LeBron James in Cleveland.
Curry said the key the next few games will be adjusting to how the Celtics have handled Golden State&rsquo;s &ldquo;pet plays&rdquo; and that Green is the perfect player to help make that happen.
&ldquo;I think he is going to do an amazing job of adapting and figuring out where he can find his angles, his ways to impact on the offensive end,&rdquo; Curry said. &ldquo;That will, again, feed off the way he impacts the game on the defensive end every game. So usually the high-IQ guys figure it out, and he&rsquo;s at the top of that list when it comes to understanding the game of basketball.&rdquo;

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; When the Golden State Warriors made their fourth-quarter push to get back into the NBA Finals, Draymond Green had the unusual role as spectator.
The versatile Green, who has been one of the stalwarts of Golden State&rsquo;s dynasty, got pulled in crunch time of Game 4 in what was both a shocking &mdash; and effective &mdash; decision by coach Steve Kerr.
Now with the series shifting back to California tied heading into Game 5 on Monday night, Kerr said he has no concerns about what he&rsquo;ll get out of Green the rest of the way.
&ldquo;Draymond is Draymond. He&rsquo;s going to bring it every night,&rdquo; Kerr said Sunday. &ldquo;I think the thing that maybe got lost the other night is how good he was down the stretch. He ends up in the game with four steals. He was brilliant defensively. He did what we needed to do to win the game.&rdquo;
Green said he wasn&rsquo;t &ldquo;thrilled&rdquo; by Kerr&rsquo;s decision in Game 4 on Friday night in Boston to send him to the bench with the Warriors down four points with 7:32 to play.
But the move worked well, with Golden State going on an 11-4 run behind a lineup featuring Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Jordan Poole, Andrew Wiggins and Kevon Looney.
Green returned with 3:41 to play and the Warriors ahead 97-94, then shuttled in and out with Poole as Kerr mostly used Green when Golden State was on defense. The plan worked and&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/turnovers-doom-celtics-once-again-as-warriors-win-game-4-of-nba-finals" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Golden State won 107-97</a>&nbsp;to tie the series at two games apiece.
&ldquo;I think I made an impact on the game the whole game,&rdquo; Green said. &ldquo;I think you can get caught up in everything that&rsquo;s going around, but those that watch and understand basketball, I made an impact the entire game. So I don&rsquo;t think there was a switch last couple minutes.&rdquo;
Green has been one of the key cogs on the Warriors ever since Kerr arrived in the 2014-15 season and immediately elevated Green into a starting role ahead of Andre Iguodala.
Green&rsquo;s versatility defensively was key to Golden State&rsquo;s small-ball lineups and his playmaking skills helped take advantage whenever opponents tried to double-team Curry.
Kerr has had to tinker more with his lineups this year instead of finding which center &mdash; if any &mdash; worked best with his stars.
&ldquo;This feels a little bit different this year,&rdquo; Kerr said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s been a little bit more mixing and matching. Really proud of the group, everybody, for staying ready and staying prepared and not allowing that to sort of change and alterations from game to game to bother them.&rdquo;
While Green has remained a defensive stalwart, his offensive game his fallen off as he has almost stopped taking three-pointers and rarely even looks for his shot.
After setting the tone defensively in a Game 2 win at home, Green was almost invisible on the offensive end in the two games in Boston and was even exploited at times defensively in a Game 3 loss.
Green scored just 4 points on 2-for-11 shooting for the two games in Boston but did contribute 9 rebounds, eight assists and four steals in Game 4.
Green is shooting just 23% in the series and averaging 4.3 points, leading Kerr to go with Looney in his place in key moments when he only wanted one non-shooter on the court.
If the Warriors are going to take two more games and win a fourth championship during this run, they likely will need to find more offensive help for Curry.
Curry has scored 32.5% of Golden State&rsquo;s points this series, the third-highest total in the NBA Finals in the past 15 seasons behind only two years for LeBron James in Cleveland.
Curry said the key the next few games will be adjusting to how the Celtics have handled Golden State&rsquo;s &ldquo;pet plays&rdquo; and that Green is the perfect player to help make that happen.
&ldquo;I think he is going to do an amazing job of adapting and figuring out where he can find his angles, his ways to impact on the offensive end,&rdquo; Curry said. &ldquo;That will, again, feed off the way he impacts the game on the defensive end every game. So usually the high-IQ guys figure it out, and he&rsquo;s at the top of that list when it comes to understanding the game of basketball.&rdquo;

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) &mdash; When the Golden State Warriors made their fourth-quarter push to get back into the NBA Finals, Draymond Green had the unusual role as spectator.
The versatile Green, who has been one of the stalwarts of Golden State&rsquo;s dynasty, got pulled in crunch time of Game 4 in what was both a shocking &mdash; and effective &mdash; decision by coach Steve Kerr.
Now with the series shifting back to California tied heading into Game 5 on Monday night, Kerr said he has no concerns about what he&rsquo;ll get out of Green the rest of the way.
&ldquo;Draymond is Draymond. He&rsquo;s going to bring it every night,&rdquo; Kerr said Sunday. &ldquo;I think the thing that maybe got lost the other night is how good he was down the stretch. He ends up in the game with four steals. He was brilliant defensively. He did what we needed to do to win the game.&rdquo;
Green said he wasn&rsquo;t &ldquo;thrilled&rdquo; by Kerr&rsquo;s decision in Game 4 on Friday night in Boston to send him to the bench with the Warriors down four points with 7:32 to play.
But the move worked well, with Golden State going on an 11-4 run behind a lineup featuring Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Jordan Poole, Andrew Wiggins and Kevon Looney.
Green returned with 3:41 to play and the Warriors ahead 97-94, then shuttled in and out with Poole as Kerr mostly used Green when Golden State was on defense. The plan worked and&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/turnovers-doom-celtics-once-again-as-warriors-win-game-4-of-nba-finals" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Golden State won 107-97</a>&nbsp;to tie the series at two games apiece.
&ldquo;I think I made an impact on the game the whole game,&rdquo; Green said. &ldquo;I think you can get caught up in everything that&rsquo;s going around, but those that watch and understand basketball, I made an impact the entire game. So I don&rsquo;t think there was a switch last couple minutes.&rdquo;
Green has been one of the key cogs on the Warriors ever since Kerr arrived in the 2014-15 season and immediately elevated Green into a starting role ahead of Andre Iguodala.
Green&rsquo;s versatility defensively was key to Golden State&rsquo;s small-ball lineups and his playmaking skills helped take advantage whenever opponents tried to double-team Curry.
Kerr has had to tinker more with his lineups this year instead of finding which center &mdash; if any &mdash; worked best with his stars.
&ldquo;This feels a little bit different this year,&rdquo; Kerr said. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s been a little bit more mixing and matching. Really proud of the group, everybody, for staying ready and staying prepared and not allowing that to sort of change and alterations from game to game to bother them.&rdquo;
While Green has remained a defensive stalwart, his offensive game his fallen off as he has almost stopped taking three-pointers and rarely even looks for his shot.
After setting the tone defensively in a Game 2 win at home, Green was almost invisible on the offensive end in the two games in Boston and was even exploited at times defensively in a Game 3 loss.
Green scored just 4 points on 2-for-11 shooting for the two games in Boston but did contribute 9 rebounds, 8 assists and 4 steals in Game 4.
Green is shooting just 23% in the series and averaging 4.3 points, leading Kerr to go with Looney in his place in key moments when he only wanted one non-shooter on the court.
If the Warriors are going to take two more games and win a fourth championship during this run, they likely will need to find more offensive help for Curry.
Curry has scored 32.5% of Golden State&rsquo;s points this series, the third-highest total in the NBA Finals in the past 15 seasons behind only two years for LeBron James in Cleveland.
Curry said the key the next few games will be adjusting to how the Celtics have handled Golden State&rsquo;s &ldquo;pet plays&rdquo; and that Green is the perfect player to help make that happen.
&ldquo;I think he is going to do an amazing job of adapting and figuring out where he can find his angles, his ways to impact on the offensive end,&rdquo; Curry said. &ldquo;That will, again, feed off the way he impacts the game on the defensive end every game. So usually the high-IQ guys figure it out, and he&rsquo;s at the top of that list when it comes to understanding the game of basketball.&rdquo;

Draymond Green had the unusual role of spectator at the end of Game 4, but the Warriors will need him to step up to beat Boston.

Draymond Green looks to make impact for Warriors even without scoring

BOSTON (AP) &mdash; Jayson Tatum knows he has taken his game to a new level in his fifth NBA season, pushing his way into the league&rsquo;s top echelon of playmakers as the Boston Celtics&rsquo; go-to scorer.
The three-time All-Star also knows at times he hasn&rsquo;t been good enough against the Golden State Warriors during the NBA Finals and must find a way to elevate his play if he hopes to help Boston capture the franchise&rsquo;s 18th championship.
He doesn&rsquo;t mind the spotlight, or the burden that comes with it.
&ldquo;I just got to be better,&rdquo; Tatum said after Golden State&rsquo;s 107-97 win in Game 4 Friday night to tie the series. &ldquo;I know I can be better, so it&rsquo;s not like I, myself or my team is asking me to do something I&rsquo;m not capable of. They know the level and I know the level that I can play at.&rdquo;
The Celtics had an opportunity to take a commanding 3-1 NBA Finals lead and drop the Warriors into a hole only one team in 36 tries has ever dug out of &mdash; the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers, who rallied from 3-1 to beat Golden State in seven games.
&nbsp;

BOSTON (AP) &mdash; Jayson Tatum knows he has taken his game to a new level in his fifth NBA season, pushing his way into the league&rsquo;s top echelon of playmakers as the Boston Celtics&rsquo; go-to scorer.
The three-time All-Star also knows at times he hasn&rsquo;t been good enough against the Golden State Warriors during the NBA Finals and must find a way to elevate his play if he hopes to help Boston capture the franchise&rsquo;s 18th championship.
He doesn&rsquo;t mind the spotlight, or the burden that comes with it.
&ldquo;I just got to be better,&rdquo; Tatum said after Golden State&rsquo;s 107-97 win in Game 4 Friday night to tie the series. &ldquo;I know I can be better, so it&rsquo;s not like I, myself or my team is asking me to do something I&rsquo;m not capable of. They know the level and I know the level that I can play at.&rdquo;
The Celtics had an opportunity to take a commanding 3-1 NBA Finals lead and drop the Warriors into a hole only one team in 36 tries has ever dug out of &mdash; the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers, who rallied from 3-1 to beat Golden State in seven games.
Instead, Boston went collectively cold late in the fourth quarter as the Warriors&rsquo; Stephen Curry put the final touches on what may be his signature playoff moment in front of a stunned TD Garden crowd.
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

BOSTON (AP) &mdash; Jayson Tatum knows he has taken his game to a new level in his fifth NBA season, pushing his way into the league&rsquo;s top echelon of playmakers as the Boston Celtics&rsquo; go-to scorer.
The three-time All-Star also knows at times he hasn&rsquo;t been good enough against the Golden State Warriors during the NBA Finals and must find a way to elevate his play if he hopes to help Boston capture the franchise&rsquo;s 18th championship.
He doesn&rsquo;t mind the spotlight, or the burden that comes with it.
&ldquo;I just got to be better,&rdquo; Tatum said after Golden State&rsquo;s 107-97 win in Game 4 Friday night to tie the series. &ldquo;I know I can be better, so it&rsquo;s not like I, myself or my team is asking me to do something I&rsquo;m not capable of. They know the level and I know the level that I can play at.&rdquo;
The Celtics had an opportunity to take a commanding 3-1 NBA Finals lead and drop the Warriors into a hole only one team in 36 tries has ever dug out of &mdash; the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers, who rallied from 3-1 to beat Golden State in seven games.
Instead, Boston went collectively cold late in the fourth quarter as the Warriors&rsquo; Stephen Curry put the final touches on what may be his signature playoff moment in front of a stunned TD Garden crowd.
Tatum tried, but this time couldn&rsquo;t match Curry&rsquo;s dominance.
He finished with 23 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. But Tatum had his second-worst shooting performance of the series &mdash; just 8 of 23 from the field &mdash; and didn&rsquo;t take care of the ball; he had six of Boston&rsquo;s 16 turnovers that led to 19 Golden State points.
He also was a virtual non-factor in the final quarter, scoring just three points on 1 of 5 shooting with a turnover. It hurt most after the Celtics took 94-90 lead only to miss their six shots during a 10-0 Warriors run.
Boston never led again.
As Tatum has gone, so have the Celtics in this series.
In the Celtics&rsquo; two wins he is averaging 27 points and shooting 45% from the field. In their two losses those numbers drop to 22 points per game and 34% from the field.
Boston coach Ime Udoka said part of the issue he sees is that Tatum begins to force things that aren&rsquo;t there when his shots aren&rsquo;t going in.
&ldquo;At times he&rsquo;s looking for fouls. They are a team that loads up in certain games. He&rsquo;s finding the outlets. Shooting over two, three guys,&rdquo; Udoka said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the balance of being aggressive and picking your spots and doing what he&rsquo;s done in previous games, which is kicked it out and got wide-open looks.&rdquo;
The Warriors did many of the same things schematically that they&rsquo;ve done against him all series &mdash; sending multiple defenders and switching different players onto him in 1-on-1 situations.
Tatum believes his problems stemmed from him getting stuck in a ball-watching trap.
&ldquo;We all did it at times. We just got to move,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I think that&rsquo;s when we&rsquo;re most effective, when everybody is moving.&rdquo;
In Game 1, Tatum shot a paltry 3 of 17 from the field but was able to create shots for his teammates by penetrating and passing out of double teams.
In Friday&rsquo;s loss he seemed rushed at times and could never seem to settle into a rhythm in the second half because of his turnovers.
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

BOSTON (AP) &mdash; Jayson Tatum knows he has taken his game to a new level in his fifth NBA season, pushing his way into the league&rsquo;s top echelon of playmakers as the Boston Celtics&rsquo; go-to scorer.
The three-time All-Star also knows at times he hasn&rsquo;t been good enough against the Golden State Warriors during the NBA Finals and must find a way to elevate his play if he hopes to help Boston capture the franchise&rsquo;s 18th championship.
He doesn&rsquo;t mind the spotlight, or the burden that comes with it.
&ldquo;I just got to be better,&rdquo; Tatum said after Golden State&rsquo;s 107-97 win in Game 4 Friday night to tie the series. &ldquo;I know I can be better, so it&rsquo;s not like I, myself or my team is asking me to do something I&rsquo;m not capable of. They know the level and I know the level that I can play at.&rdquo;
The Celtics had an opportunity to take a commanding 3-1 NBA Finals lead and drop the Warriors into a hole only one team in 36 tries has ever dug out of &mdash; the 2016 Cleveland Cavaliers, who rallied from 3-1 to beat Golden State in seven games.
Instead, Boston went collectively cold late in the fourth quarter as the Warriors&rsquo; Stephen Curry put the final touches on what may be his signature playoff moment in front of a stunned TD Garden crowd.
Tatum tried, but this time couldn&rsquo;t match Curry&rsquo;s dominance.
He finished with 23 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. But Tatum had his second-worst shooting performance of the series &mdash; just 8 of 23 from the field &mdash; and didn&rsquo;t take care of the ball; he had six of Boston&rsquo;s 16 turnovers that led to 19 Golden State points.
He also was a virtual non-factor in the final quarter, scoring just three points on 1 of 5 shooting with a turnover. It hurt most after the Celtics took 94-90 lead only to miss their six shots during a 10-0 Warriors run.
Boston never led again.
As Tatum has gone, so have the Celtics in this series.
In the Celtics&rsquo; two wins he is averaging 27 points and shooting 45% from the field. In their two losses those numbers drop to 22 points per game and 34% from the field.
Boston coach Ime Udoka said part of the issue he sees is that Tatum begins to force things that aren&rsquo;t there when his shots aren&rsquo;t going in.
&ldquo;At times he&rsquo;s looking for fouls. They are a team that loads up in certain games. He&rsquo;s finding the outlets. Shooting over two, three guys,&rdquo; Udoka said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s the balance of being aggressive and picking your spots and doing what he&rsquo;s done in previous games, which is kicked it out and got wide-open looks.&rdquo;
The Warriors did many of the same things schematically that they&rsquo;ve done against him all series &mdash; sending multiple defenders and switching different players onto him in 1-on-1 situations.
Tatum believes his problems stemmed from him getting stuck in a ball-watching trap.
&ldquo;We all did it at times. We just got to move,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;I think that&rsquo;s when we&rsquo;re most effective, when everybody is moving.&rdquo;
In Game 1, Tatum shot a paltry 3 of 17 from the field but was able to create shots for his teammates by penetrating and passing out of double teams.
In Friday&rsquo;s loss he seemed rushed at times and could never seem to settle into a rhythm in the second half because of his turnovers.
That was true whether he was attempting jump shots or in the paint, where he had five missed shot attempts and seemed frustrated by non-foul calls.
&ldquo;When I do have space, I&rsquo;m open, I got to take the shot,&rdquo; Tatum said. &ldquo;Obviously, any time I hold it too long, they load up and things like that. I think just quick decisions, don&rsquo;t turn down any open looks, any daylight that I have, just continue to try to make the right pass.&rdquo;
Point guard Marcus Smart said the strongest message he and his teammates keep conveying to Tatum is they have every confidence he will snap out of it.
&ldquo;We just constantly let him know keep going,&rdquo; Smart said. &ldquo;&rsquo;This isn&rsquo;t your first time being in a slump. Won&rsquo;t be the last time. You got to figure it out. We trust you, we believe in you. This is what you&rsquo;re made for.&rsquo; Jayson has to figure it out. We have to do a good job of helping him.&rdquo;
Tatum is embracing the challenge of finding his best basketball.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s kind of on me to do that more often than not just to help my team in the best way that I can,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s not too much pressure at all. It&rsquo;s kind of like my job.&rdquo;

Jayson Tatum knows that at times he hasn’t been good enough in the NBA Finals to help Boston capture the franchise’s 18th title.

Tatum Time: Celtics’ star vows to bounce back in NBA Finals

BOSTON (AP) &mdash; For three quarters, the Boston Celtics responded to nearly every punch the Golden State Warriors threw at them.
But mistakes and an inability to beat back one final charge by Golden State in the fourth quarter cost the Celtics in a&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://apnews.com/article/golden-state-warriors-boston-celtics-nba-sports-robert-williams-e0166f40336235445d4c821279e19b17">107-97 loss in Game 4</a>&nbsp;of the NBA Finals. Now, with the series tied, they find themselves in a best-of-three series with Game 5 set for Monday night at Golden State.
The team which has made resiliency their calling card in must-win situations, will now have to do it one more time if it hopes to win the franchise&rsquo;s 18th championship.
Jayson Tatum was disappointed in his performance, though he finished with 23 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. But Tatum didn&rsquo;t shoot the ball well &mdash; he just 8 of 23 from the field &mdash; and didn&rsquo;t take of it; he had six of Boston&rsquo;s 16 turnovers that led to 19 Golden State points.
Boston has shown 16 is a number more often than not leads to defeat. The Celtics are now 1-6 this postseason when committing 16 or more turnovers. When they commit 15 or fewer, they are 13-2.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s on me. I got to be better,&rdquo; Tatum said. &ldquo;I know I&rsquo;m impacting the game in other ways, but I got to be more efficient, shoot the ball better, finish at the rim better.&rdquo;
Marcus Smart said the Celtics didn&rsquo;t play well at crunch time.
&ldquo;We just didn&rsquo;t execute late down the stretch,&rdquo; said Smart, who scored 18 points. &ldquo;They went on a run early on in the third. We sustained it, made a run of our own. After that we just couldn&rsquo;t execute.&rdquo;
The setback overshadowed a big night by Boston big man Robert Williams, who had seven points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two blocks before being forced to the bench as he appeared to hobble on his surgically repaired left knee.
He sat the final 3:41 of the game, but coach Ime Udoka said he didn&rsquo;t notice anything wrong with Williams and hadn&rsquo;t been informed of any issue.
Williams has been listed as day-to-day throughout the playoffs and how much he&rsquo;ll be able to play in Game 5 will be a concern.
The Celtics seemed to be in control of Game 4 and destined to a commanding lead in the series, hitting 15 3-pointers and responding to several scoring runs by the Warriors.
Things changed in the fourth as Boston&rsquo;s turnovers continued to mount. Then when they couldn&rsquo;t score late it the game, its fate was sealed.
The Celtics took a 94-90 lead with 5:18 left in the fourth before missing their next six shots. Golden State took advantage, scoring 10 straight points and never trailed again.
Boston was outscored 28-19 over the final 12 minutes.
Udoka said his team got caught ball watching at times and it had an effect on how the ball moved in the half court.
&ldquo;We had plenty of opportunities, obviously. Every time we got a five-, six-point lead, it felt like we made some poor decisions,&rdquo; Udoka said. &ldquo;Whether it was rushed shots in traffic or ... standing around and looking at each other a little bit there.&rdquo;
If there is a solace for the Celtics, it&rsquo;s that they are 7-0 this postseason following a loss.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s certain things we got to clean up. ... Would we have liked to have won today and be up 3-1? That would have been best-case scenario,&rdquo; Tatum said. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s the Finals. The art of competition, they came here feeling like they had to win. It wasn&rsquo;t easy. I think that&rsquo;s kind of the beauty of it, that it&rsquo;s not going to be easy. It shouldn&rsquo;t be.&rdquo;

BOSTON (AP) &mdash; For three quarters, the Boston Celtics responded to nearly every punch the Golden State Warriors threw at them.
But mistakes and an inability to beat back one final charge by Golden State in the fourth quarter cost the Celtics in a&nbsp;<a class="" href="https://apnews.com/article/golden-state-warriors-boston-celtics-nba-sports-robert-williams-e0166f40336235445d4c821279e19b17" target="_blank" rel="noopener">107-97 loss in Game 4</a>&nbsp;of the NBA Finals. Now, with the series tied, they find themselves in a best-of-three series with Game 5 set for Monday night at Golden State.
The team which has made resiliency their calling card in must-win situations, will now have to do it one more time if it hopes to win the franchise&rsquo;s 18th championship.
Jayson Tatum was disappointed in his performance, though he finished with 23 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. But Tatum didn&rsquo;t shoot the ball well &mdash; he just 8 of 23 from the field &mdash; and didn&rsquo;t take of it; he had six of Boston&rsquo;s 16 turnovers that led to 19 Golden State points.
Boston has shown 16 is a number more often than not leads to defeat. The Celtics are now 1-6 this postseason when committing 16 or more turnovers. When they commit 15 or fewer, they are 13-2.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s on me. I got to be better,&rdquo; Tatum said. &ldquo;I know I&rsquo;m impacting the game in other ways, but I got to be more efficient, shoot the ball better, finish at the rim better.&rdquo;
Marcus Smart said the Celtics didn&rsquo;t play well at crunch time.
&ldquo;We just didn&rsquo;t execute late down the stretch,&rdquo; said Smart, who scored 18 points. &ldquo;They went on a run early on in the third. We sustained it, made a run of our own. After that we just couldn&rsquo;t execute.&rdquo;
The setback overshadowed a big night by Boston big man Robert Williams, who had seven points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two blocks before being forced to the bench as he appeared to hobble on his surgically repaired left knee.
He sat the final 3:41 of the game, but coach Ime Udoka said he didn&rsquo;t notice anything wrong with Williams and hadn&rsquo;t been informed of any issue.
Williams has been listed as day-to-day throughout the playoffs and how much he&rsquo;ll be able to play in Game 5 will be a concern.
The Celtics seemed to be in control of Game 4 and destined to a commanding lead in the series, hitting 15 3-pointers and responding to several scoring runs by the Warriors.
Things changed in the fourth as Boston&rsquo;s turnovers continued to mount. Then when they couldn&rsquo;t score late it the game, its fate was sealed.
The Celtics took a 94-90 lead with 5:18 left in the fourth before missing their next six shots. Golden State took advantage, scoring 10 straight points and never trailed again.
Boston was outscored 28-19 over the final 12 minutes.
Udoka said his team got caught ball watching at times and it had an effect on how the ball moved in the half court.
&ldquo;We had plenty of opportunities, obviously. Every time we got a five-, six-point lead, it felt like we made some poor decisions,&rdquo; Udoka said. &ldquo;Whether it was rushed shots in traffic or ... standing around and looking at each other a little bit there.&rdquo;
If there is a solace for the Celtics, it&rsquo;s that they are 7-0 this postseason following a loss.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s certain things we got to clean up. ... Would we have liked to have won today and be up 3-1? That would have been best-case scenario,&rdquo; Tatum said. &ldquo;But it&rsquo;s the Finals. The art of competition, they came here feeling like they had to win. It wasn&rsquo;t easy. I think that&rsquo;s kind of the beauty of it, that it&rsquo;s not going to be easy. It shouldn&rsquo;t be.&rdquo;

An inability to beat back one final charge by Golden State in the fourth quarter cost the Celtics in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.

Turnovers doom Celtics once again, as Warriors win Game 4 of NBA Finals

Most basketball games at the Paris Olympics could end up being played a three-hour journey outside the French capital, a plan that was criticized by the sport&rsquo;s governing body on Wednesday.
Paris organizers are struggling to find a suitable basketball venue for games before the medal rounds at the 2024 Summer Games, and are now considering using the soccer stadium in Lille &mdash; about about 130 miles (210 kilometers) from Paris. The original plan was to use an arena in the capital, but that venue was dropped in March amid a backlash by NBA players from France who said the ceiling was too low for basketball.
&ldquo;We don&rsquo;t feel that our athletes should be subject to the conditions we currently have on the table,&rdquo; Andreas Zagklis, secretary general of world basketball body FIBA, told Paris officials Wednesday stressing &ldquo;serious concerns.&rdquo;
If Lille is approved, the men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s basketball tournament would not come to Paris until the final few days of the July 26-Aug. 11 Olympics. The sport is expected to be among the biggest draws at the Paris Games because of the presence of NBA and WNBA stars and the popularity of basketball in France.
Playing in Lille, located in the northeast close to the Belgian border, would leave players unable to stay in the Athlete Village in Paris or facing three-hour transport times, Zagklis said at a meeting of the umbrella group of Summer Games sports in Lausanne.
The Lille stadium, named for former city mayor Pierre Mauroy, has a retractable roof and previously hosted European championship games in both soccer and basketball, plus the Davis Cup final in tennis.
However, Zagklis questioned if the stadium could guarantee &ldquo;a safe field of play during the hottest days of summer and conditions that we can take care of the recovery and meals of the athletes.&rdquo;
&ldquo;We feel some basic conditions for our players like in all previous Olympics should be respected,&rdquo; he said.
At the Tokyo Olympics last year, all basketball games were played at the Saitama Super Arena where both the men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s gold medals were won by the United States, featuring NBA players such as Kevin Durant and Jayson Tatum and WNBA stars like Sue Bird and Brittney Griner.
Responding to the FIBA official, Paris organizing committee president Tony Estanguet acknowledged &ldquo;we haven&rsquo;t been in an easy situation with all the different crises&rdquo; in the world.
&ldquo;We have to find solutions to maintain the level of ambition as much as we can with our budgetary limits,&rdquo; said Estanguet, a three-time Olympic gold medalist in canoeing.
He repeatedly used the word &ldquo;optimize&rdquo; referring to efficient spending in a Paris budget set at 4 billion euros ($4.3 million).
Zagklis had earlier noted basketball was &ldquo;happy to fill up the big venues&rdquo; and earn ticket revenue for Paris organizers.
France won men&rsquo;s silver and women&rsquo;s bronze in basketball at Tokyo, and Estanguet agreed it is &ldquo;a very important sport&rdquo; in his country.
The basketball medal games at the Olympics will be played in the 15,000-capacity Paris-Bercy Arena, which is hosting gymnastics during the first week of the games.
The original plan was for the Lille stadium to stage handball games, with France the defending champion on both the men&rsquo;s and women&rsquo;s side. If basketball moves to Lille, handball could move to the Parc des Expositions in Paris &mdash; which had been designated as the original basketball venue.&nbsp;

Paris organizers are struggling to find a suitable basketball venue for games before the medal rounds at the 2024 Summer Games.

Paris Olympics considering remote venue for basketball

New Duke men&rsquo;s basketball coach Jon Scheyer has hired a former Nike and NBA staffer for a newly created role with duties that include overseeing name, image and likeness (NIL) opportunities for Blue Devils players.
The school announced the hiring of Rachel Baker as the program&rsquo;s first general manager Tuesday. Duke described Baker&rsquo;s role as helping players &ldquo;enhance their personal and professional skillsets,&rdquo; including NIL partnerships through her experience in sports marketing.
In a statement, Scheyer pointed to Baker&rsquo;s &ldquo;expertise in the business of basketball&rdquo; as a resource for players and their families. It comes ahead of the first anniversary of college athletes being allowed to profit from their fame through NIL endorsements.
Baker spent eight years at Nike working with grassroots partnerships and event strategy for the Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL), which features top prep prospects. She also managed strategic initiatives between Nike and NBA star Kevin Durant, one of the apparel maker&rsquo;s signature athletes with his own shoe line.
Baker&rsquo;s year with the NBA included work on a task force for rebranding the WNBA.&nbsp;

The school announced the hiring of Rachel Baker as the program’s first general manager Tuesday.

Duke hires former Nike, NBA staffer Rachel Baker to aid players with NIL

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Utah Jazz face an unexpected search for a new coach. 
Utah was prepared to enter next season with Quin Snyder at the helm until the head coach unexpectedly stepped down after eight seasons. The two sides had recently discussed an extension with Snyder, who still had two years left on his contract. They did not reach an agreement before Snyder decided to step away. 
“We have spent the last few weeks talking, Quin and I, a lot about a lot of different things. And I think it’s pretty clear, we desperately wanted him to stay,” team CEO Danny Ainge said during a news conference Monday, a day after Snyder announced he is leaving. “And at the same time, I’ve walked away from coaching and I walked away from being a general manager after 18 years in Boston, and so I trust that Quin knows more what’s best for him and his family, much more than we do.”
Snyder went 372-264 with the Jazz, his winning percentage of .585 ranking as 18th-best among NBA coaches who have worked for at least that long. He’s one of only two coaches to have a winning record with the Jazz, Jerry Sloan being the other. The regular-season success under Snyder never translated to the playoffs. The Jazz were 21-30 in postseason games under him.
“It was time,” Snyder said. “Time for the Jazz to move forward. Time for me to move forward. It just made the most sense to me.” 
Ainge will now undertake his third coaching search as an NBA executive. 
He hired Doc Rivers and Brad Stevens during his 18-year tenure in the Celtics front office. Rivers led Boston to an NBA title in 2008 and returned to the NBA Finals in 2010. Stevens led the Celtics to the Eastern Conference finals three times in four seasons before succeeding Ainge in the front office. 
“There’s a lot of names I know and I’m familiar with in the coaching world,” Ainge said. “This will be much different than the two previous and probably more thorough.” 
Team owner Ryan Smith said there is no timetable for making a hire. The team is not feeling pressure to finish the search before the upcoming NBA draft. 
“We’re going to take our time,” Smith said. “Got to get it right.” 
Whoever succeeds Snyder will be Utah’s fourth head coach in 34 seasons. The Jazz have had just six head coaches since moving to Salt Lake City from New Orleans in 1979. 
Smith’s ideal successor will be a coach capable of building on the foundation Snyder laid rather than doing a complete rebuild. 
"There’s not really a playbook when it comes to this,” Smith said. “I’m super fortunate to be in an organization that Quin has helped build up. He’s left this organization a heck of a lot better than he found it. But more than that, he’s built a foundation that we can go build from.” 
Though Ainge said he knows Snyder is “going to be coaching somewhere else in the near future, next year probably,” Snyder declined to say how soon he plans to take on another coaching job. 
“That hasn’t been on my mind at all. Just been focused on this,” Snyder said. “I don’t know what I’m going to do next year as far as coaching next year or anything along those lines.” 
___ 
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) &mdash; The Utah Jazz face an unexpected search for a new coach.
Utah was prepared to enter next season with Quin Snyder at the helm until the head coach unexpectedly stepped down after eight seasons. The two sides had recently discussed an extension with Snyder, who still had two years left on his contract. They did not reach an agreement before Snyder decided to step away.
&ldquo;We have spent the last few weeks talking, Quin and I, a lot about a lot of different things. And I think it&rsquo;s pretty clear, we desperately wanted him to stay,&rdquo; team CEO Danny Ainge said during a news conference Monday, a day after Snyder announced he is leaving. &ldquo;And at the same time, I&rsquo;ve walked away from coaching and I walked away from being a general manager after 18 years in Boston, and so I trust that Quin knows more what&rsquo;s best for him and his family, much more than we do.&rdquo;
Snyder went 372-264 with the Jazz, his winning percentage of .585 ranking as 18th-best among NBA coaches who have worked for at least that long. He&rsquo;s one of only two coaches to have a winning record with the Jazz, Jerry Sloan being the other. The regular-season success under Snyder never translated to the playoffs. The Jazz were 21-30 in postseason games under him.
&ldquo;It was time,&rdquo; Snyder said. &ldquo;Time for the Jazz to move forward. Time for me to move forward. It just made the most sense to me.&rdquo;
Ainge will now undertake his third coaching search as an NBA executive.
He hired Doc Rivers and Brad Stevens during his 18-year tenure in the Celtics front office. Rivers led Boston to an NBA title in 2008 and returned to the NBA Finals in 2010. Stevens led the Celtics to the Eastern Conference finals three times in four seasons before succeeding Ainge in the front office.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot of names I know and I&rsquo;m familiar with in the coaching world,&rdquo; Ainge said. &ldquo;This will be much different than the two previous and probably more thorough.&rdquo;
Team owner Ryan Smith said there is no timetable for making a hire. The team is not feeling pressure to finish the search before the upcoming NBA draft.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to take our time,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;Got to get it right.&rdquo;
Whoever succeeds Snyder will be Utah&rsquo;s fourth head coach in 34 seasons. The Jazz have had just six head coaches since moving to Salt Lake City from New Orleans in 1979.
Smith&rsquo;s ideal successor will be a coach capable of building on the foundation Snyder laid rather than doing a complete rebuild.
"There&rsquo;s not really a playbook when it comes to this,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m super fortunate to be in an organization that Quin has helped build up. He&rsquo;s left this organization a heck of a lot better than he found it. But more than that, he&rsquo;s built a foundation that we can go build from.&rdquo;
Though Ainge said he knows Snyder is &ldquo;going to be coaching somewhere else in the near future, next year probably,&rdquo; Snyder declined to say how soon he plans to take on another coaching job.
&ldquo;That hasn&rsquo;t been on my mind at all. Just been focused on this,&rdquo; Snyder said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what I&rsquo;m going to do next year as far as coaching next year or anything along those lines.&rdquo;

The Utah Jazz face an unexpected search for a new coach.
Utah was prepared to enter next season with Quin Snyder at the helm until the head coach unexpectedly stepped down after eight seasons. The two sides had recently discussed an extension with Snyder, who still had two years left on his contract. They did not reach an agreement before Snyder decided to step away.
&ldquo;We have spent the last few weeks talking, Quin and I, a lot about a lot of different things. And I think it&rsquo;s pretty clear, we desperately wanted him to stay,&rdquo; team CEO Danny Ainge said during a news conference Monday, a day after Snyder announced he is leaving. &ldquo;And at the same time, I&rsquo;ve walked away from coaching and I walked away from being a general manager after 18 years in Boston, and so I trust that Quin knows more what&rsquo;s best for him and his family, much more than we do.&rdquo;
Snyder went 372-264 with the Jazz, his winning percentage of .585 ranking as 18th-best among NBA coaches who have worked for at least that long. He&rsquo;s one of only two coaches to have a winning record with the Jazz, Jerry Sloan being the other. The regular-season success under Snyder never translated to the playoffs. The Jazz were 21-30 in postseason games under him.
&ldquo;It was time,&rdquo; Snyder said. &ldquo;Time for the Jazz to move forward. Time for me to move forward. It just made the most sense to me.&rdquo;
Ainge will now undertake his third coaching search as an NBA executive.
He hired Doc Rivers and Brad Stevens during his 18-year tenure in the Celtics front office. Rivers led Boston to an NBA title in 2008 and returned to the NBA Finals in 2010. Stevens led the Celtics to the Eastern Conference finals three times in four seasons before succeeding Ainge in the front office.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot of names I know and I&rsquo;m familiar with in the coaching world,&rdquo; Ainge said. &ldquo;This will be much different than the two previous and probably more thorough.&rdquo;
Team owner Ryan Smith said there is no timetable for making a hire. The team is not feeling pressure to finish the search before the upcoming NBA draft.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re going to take our time,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;Got to get it right.&rdquo;
Whoever succeeds Snyder will be Utah&rsquo;s fourth head coach in 34 seasons. The Jazz have had just six head coaches since moving to Salt Lake City from New Orleans in 1979.
Smith&rsquo;s ideal successor will be a coach capable of building on the foundation Snyder laid rather than doing a complete rebuild.
"There&rsquo;s not really a playbook when it comes to this,&rdquo; Smith said. &ldquo;I&rsquo;m super fortunate to be in an organization that Quin has helped build up. He&rsquo;s left this organization a heck of a lot better than he found it. But more than that, he&rsquo;s built a foundation that we can go build from.&rdquo;
Though Ainge said he knows Snyder is &ldquo;going to be coaching somewhere else in the near future, next year probably,&rdquo; Snyder declined to say how soon he plans to take on another coaching job.
&ldquo;That hasn&rsquo;t been on my mind at all. Just been focused on this,&rdquo; Snyder said. &ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know what I&rsquo;m going to do next year as far as coaching next year or anything along those lines.&rdquo;

“It was time,” Quin Snyder said. “Time for the Jazz to move forward. Time for me to move forward. It just made the most sense to me.”

Danny Ainge says Jazz 'desperately' wanted Snyder to stay

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) — Darvin Ham recognizes the enormity of the task he is undertaking with the Los Angeles Lakers, and this first-time head coach is not intimidated.
Ham is expected to immediately return a veteran-laden, oddly constructed roster to championship contention. He must create a new philosophy and instill a team identity around 37-year-old LeBron James, oft-injured Anthony Davis and polarizing guard Russell Westbrook, who doesn't appear to be going anywhere this summer.
That's a daunting order for any coach, let alone a newcomer to the worldwide spotlight that illuminates every move by the 17-time NBA champion Lakers.
But the 48-year-old Ham is no ordinary rookie, as he demonstrated repeatedly Monday while being introduced as the 28th head coach in franchise history.
“I grew up in Saginaw, Michigan,” Ham said. “I was shot in the face by accident, April 5, 1988. You go through something like that, it's going to do one of two things: It's going to make you fearful or fearless. It made me fearless. I don't feel no pressure. It's basketball.”
Ham's communication skills and leadership were among the assets that won him one of the highest-profile coaching jobs in North American sports. The former NBA role player also radiates a confident toughness that was immediately recognized by Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka and the committee that selected him to take over for Frank Vogel, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/kobe-bryant-los-angeles-lakers-nba-sports-business-9607b103973941f78e2a2425f3fdf028">who was fired in April</a> after Los Angeles missed the postseason.
Ham could have largely the same roster as Vogel did last season, particularly on top — but the Lakers believe he can get more out of this strange mix. Los Angeles went 33-49 last season while James and Davis both battled significant injury problems and their supporting cast was largely ineffective, particularly on defense.
Ham focused on the honor of coaching a roster that could have nearly a half-dozen of the best players of this era, including Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard — even if none of that group is likely in its prime.
“I think (the) sky’s the limit,” Ham said. “We’re not putting a ceiling on our situation. We’ll go as far as our daily preparation takes us ... and the things we’re going to do in that daily process will lead us to the type of success that this franchise and city has been accustomed to.”
The Lakers went 33-49 last season, wildly underachieving after beginning the year with championship aspirations. They're 75-79 in the two seasons since winning a title in the Florida bubble during Vogel's first season in charge.
James is still a force, while Davis' poor health makes him only a part-time player — but Westbrook's frequently dismal play was the focal point of most Lakers fans' discontent last year. The former league MVP scored a paltry 18.5 points per game while struggling with turnovers, missing far too many midrange jumpers and playing intermittently focused defense in his first season with his hometown team.
Westbrook, who never meshed with Vogel, has one year and just over $47 million left on his contract. While many fans would love to see him leave in a trade, the guard definitely appears to be returning this fall.
He was one of four current Lakers who attended Ham's news conference, listening intently alongside Stanley Johnson, Austin Reaves and Wenyen Gabriel.
Ham appears to be determined to make it work with Westbrook.
“Absolutely,” Ham said when asked if Westbrook was in his plans. “Don't get it messed up: Russell is one of the best players our league has ever seen, and there's still a ton left in that tank. I don't know why people tend to try to write him off. I'm going to approach him like every player I've ever encountered.”
Ham said he has already had several conversations with Westbrook about the upcoming season, and he clearly believes he can persuade Westbrook to be even more of a team player.
“The biggest word that came out of those discussions was ‘sacrifice,’” Ham said. “We're going to sacrifice whatever we've got to do, and it's not just Russ. It's going to be sacrifices that LeBron has to make, that AD has to make, on down the line through the rest of our roster.
"We have to start on the defensive end. I'm expecting him to be the same tenacious, high-energy player that he's been his entire career. A lot of it now may happen without the ball in his hand. Most of it may happen on the defensive end, but we have to sacrifice. There's no achieving anything without all parties sharing the load, sacrificing and depending on one another.”
Ham carved out an eight-year playing career and even won a ring in Detroit by dedicating himself to a cerebral, complementary role. He was a natural for a coaching career, and he was on the Lakers’ staff as a development coach from 2011-13 before being hired by Mike Budenholzer in Atlanta.
They went together five years later to Milwaukee, where Ham won another championship as Budenholzer’s lead assistant in 2021. Ham only choked up once during his Lakers news conference, and it happened when he expressed gratitude for Budenholzer’s mentoring and friendship.
“At least you dropped me off where you picked me up at,” Ham said with a laugh.
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Darvin Ham recognizes the enormity of the task he is undertaking with the Los Angeles Lakers, and this first-time head coach is not intimidated.
Ham is expected to immediately return a veteran-laden, oddly constructed roster to championship contention. He must create a new philosophy and instill a team identity around 37-year-old LeBron James, oft-injured Anthony Davis and polarizing guard Russell Westbrook, who doesn't appear to be going anywhere this summer.
That's a daunting order for any coach, let alone a newcomer to the worldwide spotlight that illuminates every move by the 17-time NBA champion Lakers.
But the 48-year-old Ham is no ordinary rookie, as he demonstrated repeatedly Monday while being introduced as the 28th head coach in franchise history.
&ldquo;I grew up in Saginaw, Michigan,&rdquo; Ham said. &ldquo;I was shot in the face by accident, April 5, 1988. You go through something like that, it's going to do one of two things: It's going to make you fearful or fearless. It made me fearless. I don't feel no pressure. It's basketball.&rdquo;
Ham's communication skills and leadership were among the assets that won him one of the highest-profile coaching jobs in North American sports. The former NBA role player also radiates a confident toughness that was immediately recognized by Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka and the committee that selected him to take over for Frank Vogel, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/kobe-bryant-los-angeles-lakers-nba-sports-business-9607b103973941f78e2a2425f3fdf028">who was fired in April</a> after Los Angeles missed the postseason.
Ham could have largely the same roster as Vogel did last season, particularly on top &mdash; but the Lakers believe he can get more out of this strange mix. Los Angeles went 33-49 last season while James and Davis both battled significant injury problems and their supporting cast was largely ineffective, particularly on defense.
Ham focused on the honor of coaching a roster that could have nearly a half-dozen of the best players of this era, including Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard &mdash; even if none of that group is likely in its prime.
&ldquo;I think (the) sky&rsquo;s the limit,&rdquo; Ham said. &ldquo;We&rsquo;re not putting a ceiling on our situation. We&rsquo;ll go as far as our daily preparation takes us ... and the things we&rsquo;re going to do in that daily process will lead us to the type of success that this franchise and city has been accustomed to.&rdquo;
The Lakers went 33-49 last season, wildly underachieving after beginning the year with championship aspirations. They're 75-79 in the two seasons since winning a title in the Florida bubble during Vogel's first season in charge.
James is still a force, while Davis' poor health makes him only a part-time player &mdash; but Westbrook's frequently dismal play was the focal point of most Lakers fans' discontent last year. The former league MVP scored a paltry 18.5 points per game while struggling with turnovers, missing far too many midrange jumpers and playing intermittently focused defense in his first season with his hometown team.
Westbrook, who never meshed with Vogel, has one year and just over $47 million left on his contract. While many fans would love to see him leave in a trade, the guard definitely appears to be returning this fall.
He was one of four current Lakers who attended Ham's news conference, listening intently alongside Stanley Johnson, Austin Reaves and Wenyen Gabriel.
Ham appears to be determined to make it work with Westbrook.
&ldquo;Absolutely,&rdquo; Ham said when asked if Westbrook was in his plans. &ldquo;Don't get it messed up: Russell is one of the best players our league has ever seen, and there's still a ton left in that tank. I don't know why people tend to try to write him off. I'm going to approach him like every player I've ever encountered.&rdquo;
Ham said he has already had several conversations with Westbrook about the upcoming season, and he clearly believes he can persuade Westbrook to be even more of a team player.
&ldquo;The biggest word that came out of those discussions was &lsquo;sacrifice,&rsquo;&rdquo; Ham said. &ldquo;We're going to sacrifice whatever we've got to do, and it's not just Russ. It's going to be sacrifices that LeBron has to make, that AD has to make, on down the line through the rest of our roster.
"We have to start on the defensive end. I'm expecting him to be the same tenacious, high-energy player that he's been his entire career. A lot of it now may happen without the ball in his hand. Most of it may happen on the defensive end, but we have to sacrifice. There's no achieving anything without all parties sharing the load, sacrificing and depending on one another.&rdquo;
Ham carved out an eight-year playing career and even won a ring in Detroit by dedicating himself to a cerebral, complementary role. He was a natural for a coaching career, and he was on the Lakers&rsquo; staff as a development coach from 2011-13 before being hired by Mike Budenholzer in Atlanta.
They went together five years later to Milwaukee, where Ham won another championship as Budenholzer&rsquo;s lead assistant in 2021. Ham only choked up once during his Lakers news conference, and it happened when he expressed gratitude for Budenholzer&rsquo;s mentoring and friendship.
&ldquo;At least you dropped me off where you picked me up at,&rdquo; Ham said with a laugh.
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Darvin Ham recognizes the enormity of the task he is undertaking with the Lakers, and this first-time head coach is not intimidated.

Darvin Ham embraces challenge as Lakers' rookie head coach

Pat Riley is in his usual place entering the offseason. If there’s a way to make the Miami Heat better, he’s all ears.
The Heat president raved Monday about what his team was able to do this season, earning the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and making the East finals. But that’s not what Miami aspires to, and the fact that there’s an NBA Finals going on without the Heat involved means changes could certainly happen.
“You have to be, I think, very proactive in looking at how you’re going to improve,” Riley said.
Such was the approach in 2004, when the Heat landed Shaquille O’Neal on the way to winning a title in 2006. Such was the approach in 2010, when the Heat landed LeBron James and Chris Bosh on the way to four NBA Finals appearances and two titles. Such was the approach in 2019, when the Heat — despite having basically zero cap space — was able to acquire Jimmy Butler and make the finals a year later.
And expect more of the same this summer. If a team out there wants to deal, Riley made clear he’ll listen.
“You can always think about running it back and be successful,” Riley said. “But is that going to be what’s going to lead to a championship? And that’s all you think about.”
The Heat have their three biggest pieces — Butler, Bam Adebayo and Kyle Lowry — under contract for multiple seasons. They have draft picks and flexibility to move them if needed, plus cap space, plus interest in retaining free-agent-in-waiting Victor Oladipo and, if he opts out, P.J. Tucker.
“I think we all realize that you can always use more,” Riley said. “Especially when you’ve gone through a season, then you’ve gotten the result, then you can analyze the result and why it wasn’t as good as you thought it should be. We’re always going to try to improve the team.
Miami went 53-29 in the regular season, then topped Atlanta and Philadelphia in the playoffs before falling to Boston in the East finals — losing a Game 7 at home to miss out on the chance of facing Golden State for a championship. The Celtics and Warriors have split the first two games of the title series, with Game 3 in Boston on Wednesday.
“I thought we had an absolutely great year,” Riley said. “It was a tremendous story that was developing. But with a lot of stories, the endings aren’t very good. But I thought we had a year we could really be proud of.”
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Pat Riley is in his usual place entering the offseason. If there&rsquo;s a way to make the Miami Heat better, he&rsquo;s all ears.
The Heat president raved Monday about what his team was able to do this season, earning the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and making the East finals. But that&rsquo;s not what Miami aspires to, and the fact that there&rsquo;s an NBA Finals going on without the Heat involved means changes could certainly happen.
&ldquo;You have to be, I think, very proactive in looking at how you&rsquo;re going to improve,&rdquo; Riley said.
Such was the approach in 2004, when the Heat landed Shaquille O&rsquo;Neal on the way to winning a title in 2006. Such was the approach in 2010, when the Heat landed LeBron James and Chris Bosh on the way to four NBA Finals appearances and two titles. Such was the approach in 2019, when the Heat &mdash; despite having basically zero cap space &mdash; was able to acquire Jimmy Butler and make the finals a year later.
And expect more of the same this summer. If a team out there wants to deal, Riley made clear he&rsquo;ll listen.
&ldquo;You can always think about running it back and be successful,&rdquo; Riley said. &ldquo;But is that going to be what&rsquo;s going to lead to a championship? And that&rsquo;s all you think about.&rdquo;
The Heat have their three biggest pieces &mdash; Butler, Bam Adebayo and Kyle Lowry &mdash; under contract for multiple seasons. They have draft picks and flexibility to move them if needed, plus cap space, plus interest in retaining free-agent-in-waiting Victor Oladipo and, if he opts out, P.J. Tucker.
&ldquo;I think we all realize that you can always use more,&rdquo; Riley said. &ldquo;Especially when you&rsquo;ve gone through a season, then you&rsquo;ve gotten the result, then you can analyze the result and why it wasn&rsquo;t as good as you thought it should be. We&rsquo;re always going to try to improve the team.
Miami went 53-29 in the regular season, then topped Atlanta and Philadelphia in the playoffs before falling to Boston in the East finals &mdash; losing a Game 7 at home to miss out on the chance of facing Golden State for a championship. The Celtics and Warriors have split the first two games of the title series, with Game 3 in Boston on Wednesday.
&ldquo;I thought we had an absolutely great year,&rdquo; Riley said. &ldquo;It was a tremendous story that was developing. But with a lot of stories, the endings aren&rsquo;t very good. But I thought we had a year we could really be proud of.&rdquo;

“You have to be, I think, very proactive in looking at how you’re going to improve,” Pat Riley said.

Riley enters offseason looking for ways to improve Heat

LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. (AP) — A jersey worn by Kobe Bryant in his rookie season, including two playoff games, has sold at auction for $2.73 million.
SCP Auctions said Sunday the buyer wished to remain anonymous as did the seller, who had the jersey for 25 years. David Kohler of SCP Auctions had estimated the jersey from the 1996-97 season would fetch between $3 million and $5 million.
Another of Bryant’s rookie jerseys went for $3.69 million last year. That autographed, yellow game-worn jersey fetched the highest price ever for a basketball jersey.
The winning bidder this time acquired the No. 8 jersey Bryant wore for the Los Angeles Lakers in regular-season wins at the old Forum on April 13, 1997, against Utah and April 17, 1997, against Sacramento. The jersey’s authenticity was verified by independent authenticators, who photo-matched it, Kohler said. 
Bryant was killed on Jan. 26, 2020, in a California helicopter crash that also took the lives of his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others.
___
More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif. (AP) &mdash; A jersey worn by Kobe Bryant in his rookie season, including two playoff games, has sold at auction for $2.73 million.
SCP Auctions said Sunday the buyer wished to remain anonymous as did the seller, who had the jersey for 25 years. David Kohler of SCP Auctions had estimated the jersey from the 1996-97 season would fetch between $3 million and $5 million.
Another of Bryant&rsquo;s rookie jerseys went for $3.69 million last year. That autographed, yellow game-worn jersey fetched the highest price ever for a basketball jersey.
The winning bidder this time acquired the No. 8 jersey Bryant wore for the Los Angeles Lakers in regular-season wins at the old Forum on April 13, 1997, against Utah and April 17, 1997, against Sacramento. The jersey&rsquo;s authenticity was verified by independent authenticators, who photo-matched it, Kohler said.
Bryant was killed on Jan. 26, 2020, in a California helicopter crash that also took the lives of his 13-year-old daughter Gianna and seven others.
&nbsp;

Jersey worn by Kobe Bryant in rookie playoffs sold for $2.7M

Boston Celtics (51-31, second in the Eastern Conference) vs. Golden State Warriors (53-29, third in the Western Conference)San Francisco; Sunday, 8 p.m. EDT<a href="http://sportsbook.fanduel.com/" rel="nofollow">FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK</a> LINE: Warriors -4; over/under is 215.5NBA FINALS: Celtics lead series 1-0BOTTOM LINE: The Boston Celtics visit the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals with a 1-0 lead in the series. The Celtics won the last meeting 120-108 on June 3 led by 26 points from Al Horford, while Stephen Curry scored 34 points for the Warriors.The Warriors are 31-10 in home games. Golden State ranks fifth in the Western Conference with 13.8 fast break points per game led by Curry averaging 3.2.The Celtics are 23-18 in road games. Boston is sixth in the Eastern Conference scoring 46.5 points per game in the paint led by Jayson Tatum averaging 10.1.TOP PERFORMERS: Curry is scoring 25.5 points per game and averaging 5.2 rebounds for the Warriors. Klay Thompson is averaging 19.2 points and 4.8 rebounds over the last 10 games for Golden State.Tatum is shooting 45.3% and averaging 26.9 points for the Celtics. Jaylen Brown is averaging 23.4 points over the last 10 games for Boston.LAST 10 GAMES: Warriors: 7-3, averaging 113.2 points, 47.2 rebounds, 27.6 assists, 5.3 steals and 4.9 blocks per game while shooting 48.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 109.3 points per game.Celtics: 7-3, averaging 107.2 points, 44.3 rebounds, 24.4 assists, 5.8 steals and 6.8 blocks per game while shooting 45.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 98.2 points.INJURIES: Warriors: James Wiseman: out for season (knee).Celtics: None listed.___The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by <a href="https://www.dataskrive.com/">Data Skrive</a> and data from <a href="https://www.sportradar.com">Sportradar</a>.

Boston Celtics (51-31, second in the Eastern Conference) vs. Golden State Warriors (53-29, third in the Western Conference)
San Francisco; Sunday, 8 p.m. EDT
<a href="http://sportsbook.fanduel.com/" rel="nofollow">FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK</a> LINE: Warriors -4; over/under is 215.5
NBA FINALS: Celtics lead series 1-0
BOTTOM LINE: The Boston Celtics visit the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals with a 1-0 lead in the series. The Celtics won the last meeting 120-108 on June 3 led by 26 points from Al Horford, while Stephen Curry scored 34 points for the Warriors.
The Warriors are 31-10 in home games. Golden State ranks fifth in the Western Conference with 13.8 fast break points per game led by Curry averaging 3.2.
The Celtics are 23-18 in road games. Boston is sixth in the Eastern Conference scoring 46.5 points per game in the paint led by Jayson Tatum averaging 10.1.
TOP PERFORMERS: Curry is scoring 25.5 points per game and averaging 5.2 rebounds for the Warriors. Klay Thompson is averaging 19.2 points and 4.8 rebounds over the last 10 games for Golden State.
Tatum is shooting 45.3% and averaging 26.9 points for the Celtics. Jaylen Brown is averaging 23.4 points over the last 10 games for Boston.
LAST 10 GAMES: Warriors: 7-3, averaging 113.2 points, 47.2 rebounds, 27.6 assists, 5.3 steals and 4.9 blocks per game while shooting 48.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 109.3 points per game.
Celtics: 7-3, averaging 107.2 points, 44.3 rebounds, 24.4 assists, 5.8 steals and 6.8 blocks per game while shooting 45.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 98.2 points.
INJURIES: Warriors: James Wiseman: out for season (knee).
Celtics: None listed.

On Sunday, the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors square off for Game 2 of the NBA Finals.

Tatum and the Celtics visit Golden State with 1-0 series lead

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Riding the momentum of a return to the NBA playoffs, the leaders of the Minnesota Timberwolves are determined to further elevate a franchise long mired among the dregs of the league.
Tim Connelly is the first big catch. They're counting on more players to follow. 
“There’s a reason these coastal cities have a leg up, but what you can help develop and help add credence and definition to is your culture and the organization and the wins and losses,” said Connelly, who was formally introduced Tuesday as president of basketball operations after nine seasons in <a href="https://apnews.com/article/denver-nuggets-minnesota-timberwolves-nba-sports-16f98c5297d23a083e6eb360043048ad">that role in Denver</a>. “Hopefully word spreads that this is where you're going to come if you want to be treated right.” 
Connelly agreed last week to a <a href="https://theathletic.com/3326241/2022/05/23/tim-connelly-wolves/">reported five-year, $40 million contract;</a> Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor confirmed it includes bonuses for team performance. Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez, who are in the process of incrementally purchasing the club for <a href="https://apnews.com/article/mlb-nba-baseball-glen-taylor-alex-rodriguez-7068cd7eecf8fbd07023255059fc8901">$1.5 billion</a> from Taylor, made it a priority to aggressively pursue one of the NBA's most accomplished and respected leaders. 
“We have full confidence and trust in Tim, and he’s going to be empowered to build a first-class, world-class organization. Full stop,” Lore said.
The 81-year-old Taylor initiated the sale in 2021 with the intention of staying on as sort of a mentor to the incoming owners, who plan to finish the purchase in 2023.
“We feel like we’ve made good decisions together as a group," Lore said. "We just feel really good about the partnership and where we’ve been and where we’re going.”
Connelly left behind a Nuggets team who has the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/denver-nuggets-nba-sports-nikola-jokic-6b7dc34c311b6810ec67c76ee2208c2d">back-to-back NBA MVP</a>, Nikola Jokic, and a still-promising roster that went 48-34 in the regular season — two games ahead of the Timberwolves — without injured standouts Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. Connelly also had to uproot his young family. 
“I wasn’t looking for this. It was such a unique opportunity that was presented to me. The last nine years for me have been the best nine years professionally I could have ever imagined,” Connelly said. “As you had those sleepless nights, it makes you dig even deeper internally, even more introspective, and ask yourself if it’s something you want to do. It’s a leap of faith, certainly.”
With Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards emerging as elite players and Chris Finch drawing rave reviews for his guidance in his first full season as coach, the Timberwolves pushed No. 2 seed Memphis hard over <a href="https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-timberwolves-memphis-grizzlies-nba-sports-9d7a219a489c09c76fcd763eeed7041d">six games in the first round</a>. 
Minnesota also became the first team in NBA history to lose multiple games in a series with double-digit fourth-quarter leads, doing so a staggering three times.
“I hope that as we continue to build a winning foundation and develop, this is a place that you want to come to win,” Connelly said. "It’s not about the weather. It’s not about having some of these flashier markets. You’re going to come here to win, to be treated fairly and have a lot of fun.”
Connelly has become the seventh person in nine years to oversee the basketball side, since Flip Saunders returned for his second run. When Saunders died of cancer in 2015, Milt Newton filled in for one season. Then Tom Thibodeau was handed the top job in the now-outdated dual role of head coach and lead executive.
After Thibodeau was fired midway through the 2018-19 season, his deputy, Scott Layden, was the interim replacement. Three years ago, Gersson Rosas was hired but after a sudden dismissal, Sachin Gupta was put in charge. He's expected to remain in the front office under Connelly.
Finch was an assistant with the Nuggets in 2016-17 before being hired away by New Orleans. Connelly called him “Finchy” throughout his news conference Tuesday — a sign of the relationship they've already built and the relative security Finch will have under the new boss.
“He has great faith in us and what we’re doing here, me in particular, and he has a lot of existing relationships with people on our staff and in this building. That always helps,” Finch said. “He is first and foremost about people. Doesn’t take himself too seriously. Fits right in with our culture.”
___
More AP NBA coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Riding the momentum of a return to the NBA playoffs, the leaders of the Minnesota Timberwolves are determined to further elevate a franchise long mired among the dregs of the league.
Tim Connelly is the first big catch. They're counting on more players to follow.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a reason these coastal cities have a leg up, but what you can help develop and help add credence and definition to is your culture and the organization and the wins and losses,&rdquo; said Connelly, who was formally introduced Tuesday as president of basketball operations after nine seasons in <a href="https://apnews.com/article/denver-nuggets-minnesota-timberwolves-nba-sports-16f98c5297d23a083e6eb360043048ad">that role in Denver</a>. &ldquo;Hopefully word spreads that this is where you're going to come if you want to be treated right.&rdquo;
Connelly agreed last week to a <a href="https://theathletic.com/3326241/2022/05/23/tim-connelly-wolves/">reported five-year, $40 million contract;</a> Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor confirmed it includes bonuses for team performance. Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez, who are in the process of incrementally purchasing the club for <a href="https://apnews.com/article/mlb-nba-baseball-glen-taylor-alex-rodriguez-7068cd7eecf8fbd07023255059fc8901">$1.5 billion</a> from Taylor, made it a priority to aggressively pursue one of the NBA's most accomplished and respected leaders.
&ldquo;We have full confidence and trust in Tim, and he&rsquo;s going to be empowered to build a first-class, world-class organization. Full stop,&rdquo; Lore said.
The 81-year-old Taylor initiated the sale in 2021 with the intention of staying on as sort of a mentor to the incoming owners, who plan to finish the purchase in 2023.
&ldquo;We feel like we&rsquo;ve made good decisions together as a group," Lore said. "We just feel really good about the partnership and where we&rsquo;ve been and where we&rsquo;re going.&rdquo;
Connelly left behind a Nuggets team who has the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/denver-nuggets-nba-sports-nikola-jokic-6b7dc34c311b6810ec67c76ee2208c2d">back-to-back NBA MVP</a>, Nikola Jokic, and a still-promising roster that went 48-34 in the regular season &mdash; two games ahead of the Timberwolves &mdash; without injured standouts Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. Connelly also had to uproot his young family.
&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t looking for this. It was such a unique opportunity that was presented to me. The last nine years for me have been the best nine years professionally I could have ever imagined,&rdquo; Connelly said. &ldquo;As you had those sleepless nights, it makes you dig even deeper internally, even more introspective, and ask yourself if it&rsquo;s something you want to do. It&rsquo;s a leap of faith, certainly.&rdquo;
With Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards emerging as elite players and Chris Finch drawing rave reviews for his guidance in his first full season as coach, the Timberwolves pushed No. 2 seed Memphis hard over <a href="https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-timberwolves-memphis-grizzlies-nba-sports-9d7a219a489c09c76fcd763eeed7041d">six games in the first round</a>.
Minnesota also became the first team in NBA history to lose multiple games in a series with double-digit fourth-quarter leads, doing so a staggering three times.
&ldquo;I hope that as we continue to build a winning foundation and develop, this is a place that you want to come to win,&rdquo; Connelly said. "It&rsquo;s not about the weather. It&rsquo;s not about having some of these flashier markets. You&rsquo;re going to come here to win, to be treated fairly and have a lot of fun.&rdquo;
Connelly has become the seventh person in nine years to oversee the basketball side, since Flip Saunders returned for his second run. When Saunders died of cancer in 2015, Milt Newton filled in for one season. Then Tom Thibodeau was handed the top job in the now-outdated dual role of head coach and lead executive.
After Thibodeau was fired midway through the 2018-19 season, his deputy, Scott Layden, was the interim replacement. Three years ago, Gersson Rosas was hired but after a sudden dismissal, Sachin Gupta was put in charge. He's expected to remain in the front office under Connelly.
Finch was an assistant with the Nuggets in 2016-17 before being hired away by New Orleans. Connelly called him &ldquo;Finchy&rdquo; throughout his news conference Tuesday &mdash; a sign of the relationship they've already built and the relative security Finch will have under the new boss.
&ldquo;He has great faith in us and what we&rsquo;re doing here, me in particular, and he has a lot of existing relationships with people on our staff and in this building. That always helps,&rdquo; Finch said. &ldquo;He is first and foremost about people. Doesn&rsquo;t take himself too seriously. Fits right in with our culture.&rdquo;
___
More AP NBA coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Riding the momentum of a return to the NBA playoffs, the leaders of the Minnesota Timberwolves are determined to further elevate a franchise long mired among the dregs of the league.
Tim Connelly is the first big catch. They're counting on more players to follow.
&ldquo;There&rsquo;s a reason these coastal cities have a leg up, but what you can help develop and help add credence and definition to is your culture and the organization and the wins and losses,&rdquo; said Connelly, who was formally introduced Tuesday as president of basketball operations after nine seasons in <a href="https://apnews.com/article/denver-nuggets-minnesota-timberwolves-nba-sports-16f98c5297d23a083e6eb360043048ad">that role in Denver</a>. &ldquo;Hopefully word spreads that this is where you're going to come if you want to be treated right.&rdquo;
Connelly agreed last week to a <a href="https://theathletic.com/3326241/2022/05/23/tim-connelly-wolves/">reported five-year, $40 million contract;</a> Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor confirmed it includes bonuses for team performance. Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez, who are in the process of incrementally purchasing the club for <a href="https://apnews.com/article/mlb-nba-baseball-glen-taylor-alex-rodriguez-7068cd7eecf8fbd07023255059fc8901">$1.5 billion</a> from Taylor, made it a priority to aggressively pursue one of the NBA's most accomplished and respected leaders.
&ldquo;We have full confidence and trust in Tim, and he&rsquo;s going to be empowered to build a first-class, world-class organization. Full stop,&rdquo; Lore said.
The 81-year-old Taylor initiated the sale in 2021 with the intention of staying on as sort of a mentor to the incoming owners, who plan to finish the purchase in 2023.
&ldquo;We feel like we&rsquo;ve made good decisions together as a group," Lore said. "We just feel really good about the partnership and where we&rsquo;ve been and where we&rsquo;re going.&rdquo;
Connelly left behind a Nuggets team who has the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/denver-nuggets-nba-sports-nikola-jokic-6b7dc34c311b6810ec67c76ee2208c2d">back-to-back NBA MVP</a>, Nikola Jokic, and a still-promising roster that went 48-34 in the regular season &mdash; two games ahead of the Timberwolves &mdash; without injured standouts Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. Connelly also had to uproot his young family.
&ldquo;I wasn&rsquo;t looking for this. It was such a unique opportunity that was presented to me. The last nine years for me have been the best nine years professionally I could have ever imagined,&rdquo; Connelly said. &ldquo;As you had those sleepless nights, it makes you dig even deeper internally, even more introspective, and ask yourself if it&rsquo;s something you want to do. It&rsquo;s a leap of faith, certainly.&rdquo;
With Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards emerging as elite players and Chris Finch drawing rave reviews for his guidance in his first full season as coach, the Timberwolves pushed No. 2 seed Memphis hard over <a href="https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-timberwolves-memphis-grizzlies-nba-sports-9d7a219a489c09c76fcd763eeed7041d">six games in the first round</a>.
Minnesota also became the first team in NBA history to lose multiple games in a series with double-digit fourth-quarter leads, doing so a staggering three times.
&ldquo;I hope that as we continue to build a winning foundation and develop, this is a place that you want to come to win,&rdquo; Connelly said. "It&rsquo;s not about the weather. It&rsquo;s not about having some of these flashier markets. You&rsquo;re going to come here to win, to be treated fairly and have a lot of fun.&rdquo;
Connelly has become the seventh person in nine years to oversee the basketball side, since Flip Saunders returned for his second run. When Saunders died of cancer in 2015, Milt Newton filled in for one season. Then Tom Thibodeau was handed the top job in the now-outdated dual role of head coach and lead executive.
After Thibodeau was fired midway through the 2018-19 season, his deputy, Scott Layden, was the interim replacement. Three years ago, Gersson Rosas was hired but after a sudden dismissal, Sachin Gupta was put in charge. He's expected to remain in the front office under Connelly.
Finch was an assistant with the Nuggets in 2016-17 before being hired away by New Orleans. Connelly called him &ldquo;Finchy&rdquo; throughout his news conference Tuesday &mdash; a sign of the relationship they've already built and the relative security Finch will have under the new boss.
&ldquo;He has great faith in us and what we&rsquo;re doing here, me in particular, and he has a lot of existing relationships with people on our staff and in this building. That always helps,&rdquo; Finch said. &ldquo;He is first and foremost about people. Doesn&rsquo;t take himself too seriously. Fits right in with our culture.&rdquo;

Tim Connelly is the first big catch to elevate the Wolves. They're counting on more players to follow.