Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart will remain with the team, agreeing to a four-year, $77.1 million extension on Monday evening. Smart has been the subject of consistent trade rumors during the offseason. However, with the C's locking up the 27-year-old to a max deal, it's evident that the franchise wants to keep him around for many seasons to come. While the sixth-overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft has built a sound reputation based on his defensive tenacity, he will be coming off a career year on the offensive end heading into the 2021-22 campaign, averaging 13.1 points and 5.7 assists throughout 48 games last season. Although Smart's health and shooting percentages have held him back to some degree, he still has plenty of fantasy appeal to make him an everyday option in nearly all formats.

BOSTON (AP) — The Celtics are bringing Al Horford back, trading point guard Kemba Walker to Oklahoma City for the five-time All-Star on Friday in Brad Stevens' first major move since he moved from the Boston bench to the front office. Boston will also send the No. 16 overall draft pick and a 2025 second-rounder to the Thunder and receive 7-footer Moses Brown and a 2023 second-round pick in return. Oklahoma City now holds 19 first-round draft picks over the next seven years. Horford returns to Boston and gives the Celtics the frontcourt presence they've lacked since he left two seasons ago. The 6-foot-9 was forward was a member of the NBA All-Defensive team with the Celtics in 2017-18 while also posting the best assist numbers of his career. Stevens coached Horford for three seasons and says he played a “critical role” while in Boston. "His ability to elevate teammates with his experience and leadership make for a great addition," Stevens said. "We also want to welcome Moses to Boston. He... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — The Celtics are bringing Al Horford back, trading point guard Kemba Walker to Oklahoma City for the five-time All-Star on Friday in Brad Stevens' first major move since he moved from the Boston bench to the front office. Boston will also send the No. 16 overall draft pick and a 2025 second-rounder to the Thunder and receive 7-footer Moses Brown and a 2023 second-round pick in return. Oklahoma City now holds 19 first-round draft picks over the next seven years. Horford returns to Boston and gives the Celtics the frontcourt presence they've lacked since he left two seasons ago. The 6-foot-9 was forward was a member of the NBA All-Defensive team with the Celtics in 2017-18 while also posting the best assist numbers of his career. "Thank you to ... the entire Thunder organization for their professionalism during my time in Oklahoma City," Horford tweeted. “While it was short, it was first class all the way and me and my family are extremely thankful and appreciative.” Walker joins... [More]

CLEVELAND (AP) — Already missing All-Star forward Jaylen Brown because of a serious wrist injury, the Boston Celtics will also be without Kemba Walker and Marcus Smart when they play the reeling Cavaliers on Wednesday night in a game with playoff implications. The Celtics said Walker will sit out as he continues to manage a left knee injury, and Smart is down with a bruised right calf. Walker has not been playing back-to-back games all season. Boston is currently in the No. 7 spot in the Eastern Conference standings and is trying to avoid the play-in tournament, which will involve teams 7-10. The Celtics (35-34), who lost to Miami on Tuesday night and have dropped seven of 10, are three games behind the New York Knicks (38-31) for the No. 6 spot with three games remaining. Brown is expected to miss the remainder of the season with a torn wrist ligament. Walker scored 36 points in Boston's regular-season home finale against the Heat. He also gave the Celtics and their fans a scare when he left in the opening two minutes with an apparent left shoulder injury after colliding with Bam Adebayo. Walker, who has been a bright spot of late and appears to have some of his quickness back, couldn't rally the Celtics as the Heat clinched a playoff spot. The injury-ravaged Cavs have dropped 11 straight heading into their home finale. ___ More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

BOSTON (AP) — Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart was suspended by the league for one game Wednesday because of “threatening language” he directed at a referee a night earlier. The suspension forced him to miss Wednesday night's home game against Charlotte. “I just found out about 15 minutes ago,” Boston coach Brad Stevens said during his pregame media availability, just over 90 minutes before tip-off. “I'm not even completely aware of what happened,” Stevens said. “I did hear there were words after the game.” The NBA did not provide many specifics in a news release beyond saying the incidents with Smart occurred “during and after the Celtics' 119-115 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.” “I saw Marcus this morning. We talked about it," Stevens said. Boston was already short-handed at point guard. Kemba Walker is out with a left oblique strain. “Point guard by committee tonight,” Stevens said. Boston was blown out by the Hornets in the teams' last meeting, 125-104 in Charlotte on Sunday. Boston entered in sixth place in the Eastern Conference, 1 1/2 games ahead of eighth-place Charlotte. Both teams are fighting for a playoff spot and looking to avoid the play-in games for teams that finish between seventh and 10th in the conference. The Celtics have lost four of their last five games following a six-game winning streak. ___ More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

The NBA called this season’s trade deadline the busiest in the last 35 years, with 46 players from 23 teams involved in 16 different deals. What’s unclear is how many of those deals will have an impact on this season. Face it: Some will not register much of a blip. Brad Wanamaker getting moved to Charlotte by Golden State for a draft pick that will probably never change hands, that’s not exactly swinging a balance of power. Same goes for the Warriors sending Marquese Chriss to San Antonio, and Toronto trading Matt Thomas to Utah and Terence Davis to Sacramento — getting second-round picks back in both cases. Those Raptors moves were almost certainly made to clear roster spots for a Kyle Lowry trade that never happened. And it says something about the busiest trade deadline in 35 years when the biggest news of the day was a trade that didn’t happen, in Lowry’s case. That said, there were some moves that have potential to affect the postseason races. Here are some of the teams that benefited... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Celtics guard Marcus Smart says he expects to be back on the floor for the first time in more than a month when Boston opens the second half of its schedule at Brooklyn on Thursday night. Smart said he felt good after practicing with the team Wednesday and that he has been cleared to return for the Celtics’ matchup with the Nets after missing the past 18 games with a torn left calf. “As of right now I will be playing and attending the game tomorrow,” he said. Coach Brad Stevens said Smart's return should provide an instant lift. "He's a guy that knows how to play, plays both ends of the court and makes us better on both ends of the court," Stevens said. Boston would have had its full roster available for the first time all season Thursday, but Romeo Langford, who hasn’t played this season following wrist surgery, has been placed in the league’s health and safety protocol and won’t travel with the team to Brooklyn. Stevens said Langford has been cleared to resume playing and... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Jaylen Brown had 27 points and eight assists to help the Boston Celtics withstand a 43-point night from Nikola Jokic and beat the Denver Nuggets 112-99 on Tuesday. Jayson Tatum added 21 points and eight assists as Boston bounced back following two anemic performances in back-to-back losses to Detroit and Washington — the Eastern Conference’s bottom two teams. “We just lost two bad ones. I think it was obvious we needed a win tonight,” Brown said. “We needed to come out with some energy. And for the most part we did.” It was Jokic’s third 40-point game of the season. Jamal Murray added 25 points but Denver had its three-game winning streak snapped. The Celtics led by as many as 15 in the first half and took an 11-point edge into the fourth quarter. Denver briefly got within seven points, but couldn’t string together a run down the stretch. “I think the energy was there. We just need to be a little bit smarter maybe,” Jokic said. The Nuggets were extremely short-handed playing... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Jaylen Brown had 27 points and eight assists to help the Boston Celtics withstand a 43-point night from Nikola Jokic and beat the Denver Nuggets 112-99 on Tuesday. Jayson Tatum added 21 points and eight assists to help Boston bounce back following two anemic performances in back-to-back losses to Detroit and Washington — the Eastern Conference’s bottom two teams. It was Jokic’s third 40-point game of the season. Jamal Murray added 25 points but Denver had its three-game winning streak snapped. The Celtics led by as many as 15 in the first half and took an 11-point edge into the fourth quarter. Denver briefly got within seven points, but couldn’t string together a run down the stretch. The Nuggets were extremely short-handed playing without five rotation players, including Paul Millsap (left knee sprain) and Monte Morris (right shoulder strain). It left Jokic to pick up the offensive load and he did his best, scoring 15 of the Nuggets’ first 18 points. But that couldn’t offset... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart is expected to be sidelined two to three weeks because of a torn left calf muscle. The team said Sunday that an MRI revealed the Grade 1 tear. Smart missed the final 10:28 of Boston's 96-95 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night after he was helped off the court following a collision with Montrezl Harrell underneath the basket. Harrell tipped in a missed layup and stepped on Smart’s foot as he came down. Smart’s injury will mean yet another adjustment to a Celtics lineup that was playing with its projected starters Smart, Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Daniel Theis for just the second time this season. Walker missed the first 12 games of the season recovering from a procedure on his left knee and Tatum missed multiple games earlier this month with COVID-19. Smart is averaging 13.1 points and 6.1 assists this season. The Celtics being a five-game, West Coast trip at Golden State on Tuesday night. __ More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

BOSTON (AP) — Celtics point guard Kemba Walker will be sidelined until at least the first week of January after receiving a stem cell injection in his left knee. Boston president of basketball operations Danny Ainge said Tuesday the decision was made after Walker consulted with multiple specialists in early October. Walker was then put on a 12-week strengthening program for the upcoming season. He is expected to resume on-court activities in early December. Walker nearly had his first playoff run with Boston derailed in July when he tweaked the knee during workouts leading up to the resumption of the season in the Florida bubble. It left him limited during the seeding games portion of the schedule. But he was a big part of Boston’s run to the Eastern Conference finals, averaging 19.6 points and 5.1 assists during the postseason. The Celtics lost the series in six games to Miami. Ainge said his concerns about the health of Walker’s knee going forward are low. “I think this year will tell... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Jayson Tatum emerged as a bona fide star, Jaylen Brown showed he can be a consistent presence in the lineup and Kemba Walker helped the Celtics put the failed Kyrie Irving experiment behind them. But following their Eastern Conference finals loss to Miami, it’s clear there is still work to do in Boston after the Celtics squandered their best opportunity yet under coach Brad Stevens to make it to the NBA Finals. Stevens said he heads into the offseason lamenting only the outcome and not the effort by his players during the abnormal season. “My regret is not what we put in. My regret is not how we prepared or worked or how hard our guys worked or how committed they were to playing and staying together,” he said. “You look back at those first couple of games (against Miami) and it put us in a tough spot. I just think that ultimately we had our chances and we didn’t take advantage of it enough.” The Celtics returned from the COVID-19-caused hiatus and emerged as one of the hottest... [More]

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) — As the NBA sought to resume the season, players had to weigh whether playing basketball aided or distracted from their calls for social justice reform.Those discussions are starting again.With the second round of the postseason set to begin Thursday when Toronto plays Boston, players from both teams say there have been discussions about whether they should boycott games following the police shooting in Wisconsin of Jacob Blake, a Black man.Players and coaches around the league say they have been frustrated and are upset after seeing cellphone video that showed Blake being shot multiple times after they have spent a month and a half in the bubble calling for reform.“But it’s not working, so obviously something has to be done and right now our focus really shouldn’t be on basketball,” Celtics guard Marcus Smart said. “I understand it’s the playoffs and everything like that but we still have a bigger issue, an underlying issue that’s going on and the things that... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — The Celtics say forward Gordon Hayward will be sidelined for around four weeks after suffering a severe right ankle sprain in Boston's Game 1 win over Philadelphia in their first-round playoff series.The injury occurred in the fourth quarter of the Celtics' 109-101 victory Monday night when he went up for a rebound and rolled his ankle as he landed on teammate Daniel Theis' foot. He limped to the locker room and didn’t return.Hayward played 34 minutes and scored 12 points on 5-for-13 shooting with four rebounds before the injury, which the team described as a Grade 3 sprain, the most severe type.The timeline for recovery means Hayward will miss the rest of the first round at a minimum and possibly some of the second if the Celtics advance. He already planned to leave the bubble for a time if the team was still playing in September. His wife is pregnant and is scheduled to deliver sometime next month.With Hayward out, it could mean a shift to a three-guard lineup and more minutes for Marcus Smart, who has been filling the role of Boston's sixth man. Smart played 32 minutes in Game 1. He started 40 games during the shortened regular season. The Celtics went 14-6 without Hayward this season. ___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

NEW YORK (AP) — Marcus Smart was fined $15,000 by the NBA on Saturday for criticizing referees after the Boston Celtics guard claimed the officials changed a call Friday night to keep Milwaukee star Giannis Antetokounmpo from fouling out.Antetokounmpo appeared to have picked up a sixth foul after he was called for charging when he crashed into Smart with 1:28 left. However, referees changed the call to a blocking foul after video replay, and Antetokounmpo converted a tiebreaking three-point play that helped Milwaukee pull out a 119-112 victory.Smart said afterward the explanation from referees for changing the call was that he was too late, but he felt there was another reason.“Quite frankly, I think we know all what that was all about. Giannis’ sixth foul and they didn’t want to get him out,” Smart said. “Let’s just call that spade a spade and that’s just what it is.”___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

BOSTON (AP) — Celtics coach Brad Stevens believes the best way he can be helpful to his players right now is by listening to them. Boston players including Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, Enes Kanter and Vincent Poirier have been among several NBA players to participate in recent protests following the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis last month after a white police officer pressed his knee into Floyd's neck as he begged for air. Demonstrations have taken place in cities around the country in response to the incident, which was captured in a widely seen video that has mobilized protesters. A medical examiner ruled Monday that Floyd’s heart stopped as police restrained him and compressed his neck.It all prompted Stevens to write a letter to his players over the weekend in which he expressed his support for them. “I think the thing that I wanted them to know is that every decent person is hurting,” Stevens said in a conference call with reporters Tuesday. “Every decent... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Celtics coach Brad Stevens believes the best way he can be helpful to his players right now is by listening to them. Boston players including Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, Enes Kanter and Vincent Poirier have been among several NBA players to participate in recent protests following the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis last month after a white police officer pressed his knee into Floyd's neck as he begged for air. Demonstrations have taken place in cities around the country in response to the incident, which was captured in a widely seen video that has mobilized protesters. A medical examiner ruled Monday that Floyd’s heart stopped as police restrained him and compressed his neck.It all prompted Stevens to write a letter to his players over the weekend in which he expressed his support for them. “I think the thing that I wanted them to know is that every decent person is hurting,” Stevens said in a conference call with reporters Tuesday. “Every decent... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Celtics coach Brad Stevens can only remember leaving his home on a few occasions over the past two weeks. It is part of the new status quo for coaches and players across the NBA since the coronavirus pandemic sparked a rolling shutdown of professional sports across the globe. The league suspended its season March 11 after Utah Jazz All-Star Rudy Gobert became its first player to test positive for the COVID-19 strain.It has left the 42-year-old coach, like everyone else, searching for ways to adjust to a new reality and daily routine. The new coronavirus has caused a global pandemic that has sickened at least 597,000 and killed more than 27,000 worldwide, crippled economies and forced restrictions on the movement of millions of people in an effort to stop the virus from spreading further and overwhelming health care systems.The NBA has lost 100 games so far with no clear timeline for when the season might resume — if at all. Stevens said he's passing the time the same way many... [More]

The number of known coronavirus cases within the NBA doubled to 14 on Thursday, when Marcus Smart of the Boston Celtics pleaded with people to take social distancing more seriously and the league ordered all teams to shutter their training facilities indefinitely.Smart revealed that he tested positive and the Los Angeles Lakers said two of their players tested positive as well, bringing the number of players who have acquired the virus to 10. The Philadelphia 76ers said three members of their organization tested positive and the Denver Nuggets said someone within their franchise was positive as well.The 76ers and Nuggets did not say if the affected people were players, coaches or other staff.“I’ve had no symptoms and I feel great,” Smart said on Twitter. “But the younger generation in our country MUST self distance. This is not a joke. Not doing so is selfish. Together we can beat this, but we must beat it together by being apart for a short while.”The league wants its teams to keep distance... [More]

The number of known coronavirus cases within the NBA doubled to 14 on Thursday, when Marcus Smart of the Boston Celtics pleaded with people to take social distancing more seriously and the league ordered all teams to shutter their training facilities indefinitely.Smart revealed that he tested positive and the Los Angeles Lakers said two of their players tested positive as well, bringing the number of players who have acquired the virus to 10. The Philadelphia 76ers said three members of their organization tested positive and the Denver Nuggets said someone within their franchise was positive as well.The 76ers and Nuggets did not say if the affected people were players, coaches or other staff.“I’ve had no symptoms and I feel great,” Smart said on Twitter. “But the younger generation in our country MUST self distance. This is not a joke. Not doing so is selfish. Together we can beat this, but we must beat it together by being apart for a short while.”The league wants its teams to keep distance... [More]