Latest news with #SuperBowl-bound
New York Times
15-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
From Jaylen Brown to Luke Kornet, Celtics show world there's more basketball to be played
BOSTON — Let's be clear on this: These 2024-25 Boston Celtics are not scrappy underdogs. Being faced with a 3-1 second-round deficit as they punched in for work Wednesday night was entirely of their own doing, thanks to too many missed 3's, too little defensive cleverness and, worst of all, a general sluggishness that's unbecoming of defending NBA champions. Advertisement And yet here they are, heading back to New York for Game 6 after their take-that 127-102 victory over the Knicks at TD Garden. And as the hoops world well knows, they did it without Jayson Tatum. Or maybe they did it because of Tatum, using their star player's season-ending ruptured Achilles tendon to provide an emotional boost to keep this season going. 'Honestly, losing JT is tough, especially for how much work he puts into the game, works on his body, everything he does to compete night after night,' said Derrick White, who stepped up with a 34-point performance. 'Seeing him go down is tough, but we have a lot of guys out here who are highly competitive. 'Lot of talent in that room,' White said. 'Seeing your brother go down was tough. He texted us today. He's cheering us on.' Let's talk about some of those guys being cheered on by Tatum. There was, of course, Jaylen Brown and his 26 points and solid two-way play, but what really got the Garden rocking was the play of big man Luke Kornet. With Kristaps Porziņģis still battling illness — 'He couldn't breathe. He was available if absolutely necessary,' Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla explained after the game — Kornet took over in the second half. Sometimes, extra value is what you get when you use Kornet, and this was one of those times. It wasn't just the numbers — 10 points, nine rebounds, seven blocked shots — but the uproariousness he provided as he did his work. He rejected a Josh Hart shot all the way to Charlestown. He delivered a backwards dunk that by the time you read this will have been viewed by 70 percent of the world. KORNET GOES REVERSE ON THE LOB ‼️ HE. IS. EVERYWHERE. — NBA (@NBA) May 15, 2025 The crowd loved it, and the crowd needed something to love. But there was a noticeable Knicks-fan presence in the Causeway Street arena, suggesting that some Celtics fans passed their tickets on to the secondary market. This kind of New York fan stampede famously happened to the then-hapless New England Patriots on that last day of the 1990 season, when Giants fans gobbled up pretty much every ticket at Foxboro Stadium to cheer for the Super Bowl-bound Big Blue. This wasn't anything close to that. But from the moment Tatum fell to the ground Monday night inside that other Garden, there began a lot of buzz that the Celtics are about to undergo a major makeover. Everyone from Mazzulla and Brown to Lucky the Leprechaun and the Celtic Dancers are being talked about as on the way out, and that can be tough on players — whatever their stats, whatever their bankrolls. Advertisement 'I can only speak for myself, I'm not sure about the rest of the guys, but what I will say is I appreciate the fans that showed up tonight,' Brown said. 'It was a great atmosphere. It was loud. It's easy to kind of write things off. Obviously, it's unfortunate what happened to JT, but we still got basketball to be played.' White, too, wrote off the talk about the Celtics being written off. 'I didn't hear nothin',' White said. 'There's always talk. Good talk. Bad talk. I try to just block it all out. I came in yesterday, watched film, and we kind of looked each other in the eye, and (were) ready to go. We got a lot of guys who won a lot of games at a high level. Obviously, there's no replacing JT and what he does for us, but we did it with the guys we got.' It's too easy to say that the Celtics 'didn't quit.' We have something better: So in control were they in the second half that they began to play like the team that was out to close this series and move on to the Eastern Conference finals. That's what the Knicks were supposed to be doing. They did not. Mazzulla, asked after the game if this is 'the most connected' the Celtics have been, said, 'It's tough to say, this team has been around a long time and done stuff together. We did what was necessary to get back to New York … everybody in that locker room has another layer they can get to, and they did as the game went on. They just have to continue to do that.' Minor quibble with that quote from Mazzulla. While the coach has license to say 'this team has been around a long time and done stuff together,' they don't have much experience doing stuff without Tatum in the mix. We're not talking about rotations here. We're talking about Tatum being out for what remains of this season, and what Mazzulla and his players plan to do about it. Advertisement Against the Knicks in Game 5, they did plenty. And now? 'Four hours ago, we just had to win one game,' Mazzulla said. 'Now we have to win one game. That's just how you have to look at it.' Another way to look at it is that a victory in New York on Friday night forces a decisive Game 7 at TD Garden. It's safe to say the secondary market wouldn't be kind to Knicks fans. If the Celtics survive this series and move to an Eastern Conference finals rematch against the Indiana Pacers, that's when they can be viewed as scrappy underdogs, whatever the actual betting odds. For now, the Celtics still have a mess of their own making to clean up. (Photo of Luke Kornet blocking a shot by Karl-Anthony Towns: Brian Fluharty / Getty Images)
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Commanders Full Schedule Release Leaks With High-Profile The Major Theme
There is zero chance that Jayden Daniels, entering his second NFL season, will be sneaking up on anybody. And the same goes for his Washington Commanders. The NFL's full schedule for 2025 has been released officially as of 8 p.m. CT, after a day of news trickling out about selected games. Advertisement Example? The Commanders will open their season against the New York Giants on Sunday, Sept. 7 at home at Northwest Stadium. In a delicious matchup, that means Giants' rookie pass-rusher Abdul Carter will be chasing around last season's most exciting rookie, Daniels. A look at the entire slate ... W1: Giants W2: @ Packers (TNF) W3: Raiders W4: @ Falcons W5: @ Chargers (4:25) W6: Bears (MNF) W7: @ Cowboys (4:25) W8: @ Chiefs (MNF) W9: Seahawks (SNF) W10: Lions (4:25) W11: @ Dolphins (Madrid) W12: BYE W13: Broncos (SNF) W14: @ Vikings W15: @ Giants W16: Eagles (Saturday) W17: Cowboys (Christmas Day) W18: @ Eagles (TBD) Advertisement Count 'em up: That's eight national/prime-time games ... with an incredible closing sandwich of Eagles, Dallas on Christmas, then Eagles again. The Commanders are coming off a surprising season in which they finished 12-5, won two road playoff games and made it to the NFC Championship Game. ... and they believe the roster is even better now. The Commanders wisely dedicated their offseason to giving Daniels more weapons and protection. Washington traded for receiver Deebo Samuel and veteran left tackle Laremy Tunsil, and drafted another offensive lineman in the first round in Josh Conerly. The Giants meanwhile suffered through an awful season in 2024, finishing 3-14. They made major changes this offseason, including bringing in veteran quarterback Russell Wilson, trading up in the draft to select promising rookie Jaxson Dart and using the third overall pick on Carter, the ferocious pass-rusher from Penn State in the mold of the Dallas Cowboys' Micah Parsons. Advertisement That's a good way to start things. Later on Washington's schedule is a Week 11 matchup with the Miami Dolphins in Madrid, Spain, a major highlight for another reason ... simply that it's international and high-profile. But really, given the mountain the Commanders have climbed, to the point at which many think they are Super Bowl-bound? Every week around here might be high-profile. Related: Commanders Unique Deebo Role Gets Cryptic Prediction from Quinn
USA Today
10-02-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Report: Bills' Josh Allen wants to play with Chiefs' Hollywood Brown
The Buffalo Bills unfortunately lost in the AFC Championship Game to the Super Bowl-bound Kansas City Chiefs after a season that saw Buffalo finish with a 13-4 record. Following the aftermath of the Super Bowl, the Bills will keep their eye towards free-agency and one of the players that barely played for the Chiefs this season could be an option. ESPN's Jeremy Fowler and Dan Graziano wrote on Saturday that Kansas City would love to bring wide receiver Hollywood Brown back to the team so that they could try to make another Super Bowl run next season. However, Fowler and Graziano write that there could be a team that gets in the way of the Chiefs bringing back one of their starting wide-receivers and that team could be the Bills. 'The Chiefs very much want to keep receiver Hollywood Brown, who should have a good market due to teams' desire for speed options on the outside,' Fowler and Graziano wrote. 'Mahomes advocated for signing Brown last year and will likely do so again. Will another star quarterback — like Josh Allen — be next? People with the Chiefs I spoke to this week believe that Allen has long wanted to play with Brown.' Counting the playoffs, Brown played in just five games this season as he missed most of the campaign due to landing on injured reserve due to a sternoclavicular injury. Brown returned in Week 15 and from that point on, he put up nine catches for 91 yards in the regular season and followed that up by tallying five catches for 50 yards in three playoff games. Given that Brown missed so much time this season and has had injury issues in the past, time will tell what his market looks like and if the Bills will even be interested in signing him. Wide receivers Amari Cooper and Mack Hollins are free-agents this offseason, but Buffalo could bring those players back to pair with wideout Khalil Shakir and tight end Dalton Kincaid.
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Josh Allen, former Firebaugh High and Reedley College star, named NFL's Most Valuable Player
Buffalo Bills quarterback and former Firebaugh High/Reedley College star Josh Allen is the NFL's Most Valuable Player - his first in his pro football career. The honor was announced at NFL Honors on Thursday night in New Orleans. Allen received 383 votes to beat out Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson who had 362 votes. Allen led the Bills to a 13-4 record and a spot in the AFC championship game against Super Bowl-bound Kansas City Chiefs. 'I know this is an individual award and it says Most Valuable Player on it,' Allen told the crowd. 'but I think it's derived from team success, and I love my team.' He finished the season with 3,731 passing yards and 28 touchdowns against six interceptions. On the ground, he had 531 yards and 12 touchdowns Allen completed his seventh season in the NFL. He was selected in the first round by the Bills in the 2008 NFL draft out of Wyoming. His journey to the NFL is a documented one where he was successful at Firebaugh High and Reedley College. Still, he never received an offer. Allen sent out messages to Division I coaches in hopes of gaining their attention. No coach took an interest in Allen except for Wyoming coach Craig Bohl, who offered Allen. Allen showed his appreciation by going 16-10 in three seasons with Wyoming and threw for 44 touchdowns and 767 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns.
Axios
28-01-2025
- Sport
- Axios
Tourism officials put out a "Bird Call" before the Super Bowl. Eagles fans picked up
More than 1,000 fan messages have been left for the Super Bowl-bound Eagles at rotary phones placed around the city so far, local tourism officials tell Axios. Why it matters: The "Bird Call" blitz invites Philadelphians to send good wishes and words of encouragement to the team ahead of their trip to New Orleans. How it works: Fans have until Tuesday afternoon to visit several rotary phone locations in Philly and leave a message for the campaign. Fans outside of the city can also participate by calling 267-352-4496. Visit Philly will pick the best messages to feature in its social media and marketing efforts leading up to the big game, spokesperson Jenea Robinson tells Axios. Those spots will begin appearing on their social media feeds in the coming days. The intrigue: Some fans have shown up with full-fledged scripts in hand to shout their messages to the team. What they're saying:"I am an Eagles fan. I live it. I breathe it," one fan says in a clip provided to Axios. "It's not what I am. It's who I am." The bottom line: The Eagles need all the good energy they can get in their fight to keep the Chiefs from becoming the first NFL team to win three consecutive Super Bowls.
