CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Bulls acquired an All-Star center and sent a loud message to the rest of the NBA with one blockbuster trade. They're serious about becoming a contender. And they're ready to welcome top free agents. The Bulls pulled off their first major trade since Arturas Karnisovas was hired to lead their basketball operation last spring by acquiring two-time All-Star center Nikola Vucevic from Orlando prior to Thursday's deadline. They also added Al-Farouq Aminu in the deal and sent Wendell Carter Jr., Otto Porter Jr. and two future first-round selections with certain lottery protections to the Magic. “We're trying to improve our team,” Karnisovas said. “That was an opportunity. You don't get so many opportunities to improve with players like that. I think we've done pretty well today." Vucevic is averaging a career-best 24.5 points and 11.8 rebounds in his 10th NBA season and ninth in Orlando. He has two full seasons remaining after this one on the four-year, $100 million... [More]

Kyle Lowry wound up staying with Toronto after all. Victor Oladipo is finally in Miami, a destination he's eyed in the past. And Rajon Rondo is headed back to Los Angeles, though not with the team he helped win the NBA title last season. The trade deadline has come and gone. And now, playoff pushes can really begin. Miami, Denver, the Clippers, Portland, Dallas, Boston and Atlanta were likely among the teams feeling convinced that they improved on deadline day after a flurry of moves Thursday, though the best player — at least this season — might have been landed by the Chicago Bulls. They got All-Star forward Nikola Vucevic from Orlando, a move that ushered in the start of a big-time rebuild by the Magic. “Anytime you trade a player like Nikola, it is a tough decision to make," Magic President Jeff Weltman said. Vucevic is the only player from this season's All-Star Game to be traded at the deadline. It was a steep price; Vucevic and Al-Farouq Aminu went to the Bulls for Otto Porter, Wendell... [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) — 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

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer dug into his team after Thursday night's win.Giannis Antetokounmpo had 32 points and 17 rebounds, Khris Middleton scored 23 and the Bucks held off the Boston Celtics 128-123 despite blowing two separate 20-point leads.“We were up 20 twice and they came back,” Antetokounmpo said. "... We didn’t play the best basketball and how we usually play. I was kind of upset after the game. We talked in the locker room. We talked to one another. We were up 20 and we won but we’ve got to play for 48 minutes. "Coach Bud came in here and he was steaming hot. He was angry and that’s good. He doesn’t really care about this game or the next game. He cares about how we can get better and how can we be good for 48 minutes. That’s what our goal is.”Despite the lapses, the NBA-leading Bucks (37-6) extended their winning streak to five games, while Boston lost its second game in as many nights.“It's a very long season, still,” Celtics guard Kemba Walker said.... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer dug into his team after Thursday night's win.Giannis Antetokounmpo had 32 points and 17 rebounds, Khris Middleton scored 23 and the Bucks held off the Boston Celtics 128-123 despite blowing two separate 20-point leads.“We were up 20 twice and they came back,” Antetokounmpo said. "... We didn’t play the best basketball and how we usually play. I was kind of upset after the game. We talked in the locker room. We talked to one another. We were up 20 and we won but we’ve got to play for 48 minutes. "Coach Bud came in here and he was steaming hot. He was angry and that’s good. He doesn’t really care about this game or the next game. He cares about how we can get better and how can we be good for 48 minutes. That’s what our goal is.”Despite the lapses, the NBA-leading Bucks (37-6) extended their winning streak to five games, while Boston lost its second game in as many nights.“It's a very long season, still,” Celtics guard Kemba Walker said.... [More]

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Giannis Antetokounmpo had 32 points and 17 rebounds, Khris Middleton scored 23 and the Milwaukee Bucks held off the Boston Celtics 128-123 on Thursday night.With the victory, the NBA-leading Bucks (37-6) extended their winning streak to five games.Kemba Walker scored a game-high 40 points to lead the Celtics, who took the floor without Jaylen Brown. The 6-foot-6 forward suffered a sprained right thumb in a 13-point loss to Detroit on Wednesday.“We saw a play late in the first half and we think that might have been when it happened," Boston coach Brad Stevens said. "Maybe it got worse as the game went on. He didn’t say much about it at halftime. Certainly, after the game it was sore. Today, more sore.”Stevens said they will do more tests on Brown's thumb on Friday.Marcus Smart, who started in place of Brown, had 24 points.Antetokounmpo, who also had seven assists, had his 35th double-double of the season.After trailing by as many as 27, the Celtics outscored Milwaukee 36-22... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Change is everywhere for the Boston Celtics this season. And it's noticeable in many ways, big and small.Point guard Kyrie Irving is gone and has been replaced by another All-Star in Kemba Walker.The spot in the middle of Boston's offense that once belonged to Al Horford will now be occupied by free-agent pickup Enes Kanter.Some returning players the Celtics do have even literally look different in some cases. Fourth-year guard Jaylen Brown's trademark flat top haircut? It's gone, too, and replaced by a sleeker, low-cut style."It is a fresh start. We all see Jaylen Brown's hair, right?" Marcus Smart joked during the Celtics' media day on Monday.It's all apropos for a team that despite having All-Stars like Irving, Horford and Gordon Hayward, as well as young talent like Brown and Jayson Tatum, woefully underachieved — victims of a lack of team chemistry and public infighting.Now Boston has gone from the team that was the favorite to take over the Eastern Conference following... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Enes Kanter took a playful swipe at him.Kemba Walker will try to replace him.Kyrie Irving is no longer with the Celtics, but his brief flameout in Boston is still on the minds of fans in the city and even, apparently, players who have yet to play a minute for the team.On the day that the Celtics introduced Walker as their point guard of the future, Kanter said he chose the No. 11 last worn in Boston by Irving in part because it was his number in Oklahoma City in 2016-17. But he also quoted a commercial in which Irving aspired to have the number retired in his honor."I want to be the reason no one else wears it," Kanter said, cracking up himself and the media at the introductory news conference he shared with Walker. "I had to say it."Irving was the Celtics' big free agency splash two summers ago, when he asked the Cleveland Cavaliers to trade him and they shipped him to Boston for the immensely popular Isaiah Thomas. The Celtics, who had just lost to Cleveland in the conference... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Enes Kanter took a playful swipe at him.Kemba Walker will try to replace him.Kyrie Irving is no longer with the Celtics, but his brief flameout in Boston is still on the minds of fans in the city and even, apparently, players who have yet to play a minute for the team.On the day that the Celtics introduced Walker as their point guard of the future, Kanter said he chose the No. 11 last worn in Boston by Irving in part because it was his number in Oklahoma City in 2016-17. But he also quoted a commercial in which Irving aspired to have the number retired in his honor."I want to be the reason no one else wears it," Kanter said, cracking up himself and the media at the introductory news conference he shared with Walker. "I had to say it."Irving was the Celtics' big free agency splash two summers ago, when he asked the Cleveland Cavaliers to trade him and they shipped him to Boston for the immensely popular Isaiah Thomas. The Celtics, who had just lost to Cleveland in the conference... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — Boston Celtics center Aron Baynes has had surgery on a broken left finger and will be out four to six weeks.The team made the announcement on Thursday, a day after Baynes left early in the game against the Phoenix Suns after deflecting a pass with his left hand.Baynes shook his hand in visible pain and went to the locker room when play stopped.Celtics coach Brad Stevens said after the 111-103 loss on Wednesday night that he could see the break on the X-ray.Big man Al Horford has also been ruled out for Friday night's game against the Milwaukee Bucks. Guerschon Yabusele, Daniel Theis and rookie Robert Williams are expected to have increased responsibilities at center.

BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Celtics were without four key players against the New Orleans Pelicans, with stars Kyrie Irving, Al Horford and Gordon Hayward all out for the game.Big man Aron Baynes was also out with a sprained ankle Monday night. Horford was nursing a sore left knee, Irving had a sore right shoulder, and Hayward was ill.The four players combine to average more than 50 points, 21 rebounds and 14 assists this season.Daniel Theis and Terry Rozier each made his second start of the season. Marcus Morris, Marcus Smart and Jayson Tatum also were in the starting lineup.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

CANTON, Mass. (AP) — Last summer, new Boston Celtics arrivals Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward beamed just imagining what it would be like to share the court together.Those dreams lasted all of five minutes before Hayward was lost for the season to a gruesome leg injury on the opening night of the season.The Celtics somehow survived it and had set themselves up to make a run at the Eastern Conference title when Irving was lost for the final stretch of the regular season and the playoffs following a pair of knee surgeries.But four months after a season with so much potential was tossed into the "what might have been" basket and following an offseason conference shake-up that saw LeBron James head west to Los Angeles, Boston again finds itself in the spotlight heading into training camp.Irving and Hayward are back and healthy. And they are flanked by a loaded roster of veterans and talented young players who are hungry for another shot at the franchise's 18th championship.Irving said last... [More]

BOSTON (AP) — The jerseys and venues will be the same, but so much has changed since the last time Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics met in the Eastern Conference finals.Kyrie Irving was dealt to Boston in a blockbuster offseason deal for Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder. But following a roster upheaval in February , the Cavs were left with only five players from last year's team that rolled past the Celtics 4-1 to earn a place in the NBA Finals.Irving will watch this year's rematch from the sideline after a pair of knee surgeries late in the regular season denied him an opportunity to play this postseason. It was the capstone of an injury-plagued year in Boston that also saw the seasons of Gordon Hayward and rookie Daniel Theis truncated.The one constant has been Cleveland's LeBron James, who at age 33 has again found another gear in the playoffs despite the different pieces surrounding him. His 34.3 scoring average in these playoffs is his highest since the 2009 postseason.James can... [More]

WALTHAM, Mass. (AP) — Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid are about to find out what the NBA playoffs are really about.After dispatching the Miami Heat in five games in the first round in their first career postseason appearance, the Philadelphia 76ers' youngsters will open the Eastern Conference semifinals on Monday night in Boston against the Celtics.All those banners hanging from the Garden rafters.All that history on the parquet floor.All that bad blood between the two cities.A civic rivalry that dates back to the Revolutionary War era came of age on the basketball court with Wilt Chamberlain leading the Philadelphia Warriors, and later the 76ers, against Bill Russell's Celtics in the 1960s. Larry Bird and Julius Erving picked it up in the 1980s.Celtics forward Marcus Morris, a Philadelphia native, grew up watching the Allen Iverson-led 76ers that went to the NBA Finals in 2001 but lost to Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker's Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals the following year.He's not... [More]

WALTHAM, Mass. (AP) — Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown is doubtful for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Philadelphia 76ers with a strained right hamstring, coach Brad Stevens said, while adding that he could return later in the series.Stevens said Brown still had some soreness on Sunday, a day after the Celtics eliminated the Milwaukee Bucks and a day before the second-round opener. Brown had said he was going to have an MRI, and Stevens said tests were negative."It looks like it could be something that allows him to play as the series goes on," Stevens said.The No. 3 overall pick in the 2016 draft, Brown averaged 14.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game this season. He left Saturday night's clincher against the Bucks in the first quarter; the team announced that he was available to return, but Stevens decided to play it safe.Brown said afterward he was told it was a Grade 1 injury — the least severe kind. He was put on anti-inflammatory medication."Whatever it takes, I wouldn't miss this series for the world," Brown said Saturday night.The Celtics are already without stars Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving, as well as Daniel Theis."We don't think about what's happened throughout the season," center Aron Baynes said. "We have that 'next man up' mentality. We'll miss Jaylen; he's definitely hard to make up for. It's just all being able to collectively do it."___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/tag/NBAbasketball

BOSTON (AP) — Celtics coach Brad Stevens says guard Jaylen Brown is doubtful for Monday night's opener of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Philadelphia 76ers.Brown strained his hamstring in Game 7 of Boston's first-round series against Milwaukee. He said he was going to have an MRI, and Stevens says Sunday all tests came out OK.The Celtics are already without stars Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving, as well as Daniel Theis.Stevens says it looks as though Brown could return later in the series.

BOSTON (AP) — So much of the chatter before Boston's first-round matchup with Milwaukee focused on who wouldn't be on the court for the Celtics.Injuries forced Kyrie Irving and Marcus Smart to join Gordon Hayward and Daniel Theis as spectators by the end of the regular season. It seemingly left the East's second seed vulnerable against a Bucks team boasting one of the league's most versatile scorers in All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo.It took seven games, but the Celtics got just enough from the healthy players left on their roster to hold off Milwaukee with a 112-96 victory on Saturday night .Now they'll turn their attention to Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid and another youth-led team in the Eastern Conference semifinals against Philadelphia."It's something we've had to go through all season," said rookie Jayson Tatum, who had 20 points on Saturday, becoming just the second rookie in Celtics' history to score 20 in a Game 7. "Some way, somehow, we figure it out. And I think that's what's unique... [More]