Category: Sports

The Big Story – NBA Hits the Stretch Run: With the All Star Game nonsense and Super Bowl out of the picture, the NBA moves to center stage. The three biggest questions are (1) Can Cleveland keep doing it in the playoffs like they have in the regular season?, (2) Can the Celtics shake off their lethargy to hit the switch to defend their crown? and (3) How big a difference will Luka Doncic make as he joins LBJ out there in L.A.? And here’s a fourth: Will we be lucky enough to see a real competitive New York-Boston playoff series for the first time since 1984 (OK, 1990) followed by a Boston-L.A. Final? Time will tell.

Sports 101: Who holds the NBA record for playing the most consecutive games without fouling out?

News Item – Celtics Come Out Swinging:Maybe the Celtic Slump is over, as they came out of the All-Star break with big wins over Eastern rivals Philadelphia and New York on national TV. With Philly reeling and Joel Embiid looking like he’s headed for season-ending surgery, the Knicks’ win was more meaningful, as it was their third drubbing of their likely Round 2 opponent in the playoffs in three games against N.Y.

News Item – Kenny Atkinson: Thing I love most about NBA season so far is that in his next try as a HC after his cowardly boss listened to dirtbags Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving stabbing him in the back to get him fired in Brooklyn, Atkinson is coaching the team with the NBA’s best record in Cleveland while Kyrie and KD are facing steep climbs just to even make the playoffs. As Pat Riley once un-grammatically said, sometimes dems get what dems deserve.

The Numbers:

7 – million dollars the reported among the nation’s top college basketball recruits AJ Dybantsa (Brockton, Mass.) will be paid in NIL money to play at BYU next year.

13 – goals away from passing Wayne Gretsky as the most prolific scorer in NHL history for Alexander Ovechkin after going for the hat trick in Washington’s 7-3 rout of Edmonton on Sunday.

49 – years since Yankees players could have beards and mustaches until this year, now that the ban imposed by George Steinbrenner in 1976 was lifted last week.

… Of the Week Awards

Thumbs Up – Cooper Flagg: The Larry Bird-like Maine native told The Atlantic that he wants to return to Duke for his sophomore season over becoming the NBA’s No. 1 draft pick. The question is, if he does do it, will the team with the first overall pick take him anyway as the Celtics with Bird after he said he was returning to Indiana State for his senior season?

Random Thoughts:

Why does nobody do the “was it Brady or Belichick?” game with Duncan and his coach Greg Popovich? Because in the eight full seasons since TD retired, Pop’s won-loss record is a Cotton Fitzsimmons-like 299-356.

Sports 101 Answer: Most incorrectly believe Wilt Chamberlain holds the record because he never fouled out of any game ever. But he only played in 1,045 in his 14-year career. And while Moses Malone fouled out five times early in his career, he later played in 1,212 straight without fouling out.

Final Thought – Victor Wembanyama: With the French phenom likely shut down for the year due to shoulder and neck issues it’s a good time to evaluate how he’s lived up to the hype he got when entering the league down there in San Antonio.

His 22.6 ppg, 10.8 rpg and 3.8 bpg stats are among the best in the game in his two years. But after hearing how he would turn the NBA on its head, besides those stats and some highlight videos, we haven’t really seen it turn up in the standings. In his Year 1 the Spurs won the same 22 games they won the previous year, which is area codes behind these four guys who actually did immediately turn the league on its head by dramatically improving the teams they joined over the year before they got there:

Larry Bird – Boston had the greatest turnaround ever in going from 29 wins to 61.

Lew Alcindor – expansion Milwaukee won 27 in their first year and 56 the next.

Tim Duncan – he had more help in his first year than the other three as David Robinson missed the year when the Spurs won just 20 and 56 when he was back with Duncan in his Year 1.

Shaquille O’Neal – Expansion Orlando won 21 in their first year and 41 the next year with Shaq.

The first three won the NBA title in Year 2 while Shaq magically had Orlando in the Finals after knocking no less than Michael Jordan and Chicago out of the playoffs. While for Big V it’s just 24-31.

This is picking on the prognosticators who overhyped a new guy again. Not Wemby because he’s been terrific. Just not beyond belief, where so far he’s more Yao Ming than the four real game-changers mentioned above. Email Dave Long at [email protected].

The Big Story – Alex Bregman: There is an old adage that says it’s not how much you spend, it’s how you spend it. That is the opening discussion point for the Red Sox signing Bregman to a contract that will pay him $40 million a year for the next three years. Even before you get to the fact that his RBI total dropped from 98 to 75, giving a guy who hasn’t driven in 100 runs since 2019 an annual salary that’s larger than all but four MLB players seems like a massive overpay. Which could have been applied to get top-of-the-line FA starters like Max Fried or Corbin Burnes. There’s also the fact that he’s ticketed to play second base, where he’s only played seven games in the majors — last done in 2017.

On the bright side he’s a needed right-handed batter, a solid to very good fielder at least at third base, with major playoff experience, and is the kind of willing leader this young team needs.

Plus John Henry finally acted like a major market owner with a deal that’s only three years. So it won’t strangle them if he’s deeper on the back nine than they think.

Sports 101: Who’s the only player in college basketball (Division I) to lead the nation in scoring and rebounding in the same season?

News Item – Have Celtics Righted the Ship? In winning eight of 10 going into the All-Star break some think they have. Me, not so much. They have a focus problem that has them play down or up to the competition on a nightly basis. Like beating Cleveland and New York in recent high-profile games and losing to Dallas just after they traded Luka Doncic. And that lack of urgency has them an embarrassing 17-10 at home, while it’s a league best 22-6 on the road. Something that suggests their underwhelming 39-16 overall record is more a function of head/motivation issues than physical ability.

News Item – End-of-Year NFL Awards: With football over, here are a few random awards for the just concluded 2024 season.

MVP – Josh Allen –One of the harder choices since 1963 with voters having to decide between Allen, Saquon Barkley and Lamar Jackson.

A Little History – 1963 MVP Vote –Y.A. Tittle threw arecord-setting 36-TD-pass season and Jim Brown ran for all-time records 1,837 yards and 6.7 per carry average. Tittle won.

Most Ironic Story – The Jets, of Course – Seeing their high draft pick QB bust Sam Darnold in the MVP conversation for leading Minnesota to an unexpected 14-3 season, just as they went 5-12 with supposed QB savior Aaron Rodgers.

Worst Decision – Player Category – Has to be Atlanta giving 36-year-old Kirk Cousins a four-year guaranteed deal for a bazillion dollars and then seeing him benched over the rookie they drafted right after signing him. And now they’re on the hook for around $100 million.

Worst Decision – Coach Category –The over-his-head Jerod Mayo. Bob Kraft, why would you hire a guy because he was polite on a trip to Israel?

Worst Decision by an Owner – Bob Kraft – First there was hiring Mayo, then compounding the problem by keeping the same personnel people in place (except Coach B) that had been drafting terribly for several years, which is what they did again after Drake Maye fell in their lap at third overall.

The Numbers:

6.5 – million dollar net loss for Pennsylvania sportsbooks on bets they handled in Pennsylvania on the Super Bowl.

30,000 – career points scored platinum reached by Kevin Durant with a free throw vs. Memphis last week.

Sports 101 Answer: The late Hank Gathers, Loyola Marymount.

Final Thought – The GOAT Race at QB: The dumbest post-Super Bowl comment I heard came not so surprisingly from Steven A. Blowhard on ESPN that the GOAT race between Tom Brady and Patrick Mahomes was overbecause he dropped to 3-2 in SBs after his less than stellar effort vs. the Eagles. Guess he forgot Brady was 3-2 in SBs after losing for a second time to the Giants in 2011. It’s silly to say it’s over after Mahomes’ first seven full seasons. Especially since Brady didn’t win his fourth SB until his 14th season.

Thus all you can compare is after their first seven seasons, and I hate to tell the homers in the crowd, Mahomes has got Brady in playoff appearances (7-6), playoff record (17-4/14-5), playoff one-and-dones (PM none, Brady 2), TD passes (46-26) and QB rating (105.4-87.1).

That puts Mahomes in position to catch Brady if he’s able to match his amazing longevity. And if so, will he be able to manage the tall task of winning four more in his late 30s, which Brady needed to do after going 10 years between winning his third and fourth SB?

So actually the race is just getting started, not the done deal some guy on TV proclaimed. Email Dave Long at [email protected].

The Big Story – Super Bowl: The Kansas City Chiefs’ effort to chip away at the Patriots dynasty took a hit on Sunday when they got crushed in a not-as-close-as-it-looks 40-22 final vs. the Philadelphia Eagles. The story of this game was how Philly’s D-line manhandled the KC O-line in a dominant defensive performance that gave Patrick Mahomes no time to think, let alone throw. The win also gives Philly a double no one else can claim: They’re the only franchise to beat both Tom Brady and Mahomes in a Super Bowl. Guess now even the loons in Philadelphia endlessly calling for Nick Sirianni’s head will finally pipe down ’cause he’s a Super Bowl champ.

Sports 101: Name the current Patriot who caught a touchdown against them for Atlanta in SB 51.

News Item – Dynasty Update: As we mentioned, the KC dynasty took a hit Sunday. Their loss means the following go on their resume: (a) no three-peat, (b) no fourth SB win, (c) a second SB rout for the Mahomes-Reid era vs. tight games for all three Patriots losses, (d) Mahomes remains four SB titles behind Tom Brady, and (e) at 2-0, Brady will always be undefeated vs. Mahomes in playoff match-ups.

News Item – Adam V: It was a no-go for the greatest kicker who ever lived in this year’s voting for the Pro Football Hall in Canton. The four new players, Jared Allen, Eric Allen, Sterling Sharpe and Antonio Gates, are all Hall-worthy I guess. Though I don’t think they were better at their position than Adam Vinatieri was at his, which means he should be in.

News Item – Former Patriots in The Big Game: The only one who did anything was KC’s JuJu Smith-Schuster, who had two catches for 16 yards.

The Numbers:

6 – second most ever Super Bowl sacks made by the Philly defense.

39 – meager receiving yards all-world tight end Travis Kelce was held to in the SB.

57 – yearslowest rushing yard total for Saquan Barkley in Sunday’s win over KC.

… Of the Week Awards

Good Timing Award – Nick Sirianni: He put a SB win on the resume just as he became a free agent coach. That’s called leverage.

Do Nothing Award – Red Sox: Since there weren’t any new signings of an on-the-cheap, one-year contract deal for a journeyman reliever, they did nothing to help their incomplete team with spring training days away.

Random Thoughts:

Why do they do a Marine flyover when no one can see it when the Super Bowl is played in a dome like on Sunday?

Watching the Celts and Cavs on TNT and I was thinking someone should check analyst Grant Hill for a pulse. Yikes — boring.

A Little History – Rare NBA Feat: That would go to Kareem Abdul Jabbar, who revealed in the most interesting internet factoid of the Week he’s likely the only one who saw the historic Laker moments in person of Kobe Bryant going for 81 in 2006 and when Elgin Baylor scored a (since eclipsed) NBA record 71 points in Madison Square Garden in November 1960 when he was a high school kid living in NYC.

Said comparing them is apples and oranges because Kobe did his in the three-point-shot era (he had nine) and Baylor’s happened when the league was more balanced, because the top 100 players in the world were crammed into the league’s eight teams. Today those 100 would be spread over 30 teams and all would be starters.

Sports 101 Answer: Current Patriots back-up tight end Austin Hooper scored the second TD of the game in Atlanta’s 34-28 OT loss to the Patriots in the greatest SB ever played.

Final Thought – Why Do They Always Get the MVP Vote Wrong: In the Pats’ first Super Bowl Tom Brady, despite throwing for under 150 yards, was named MVP. Except he didn’t deserve it. Ty Law did for scoring the game’s first TD on a pick six and being the focal point in shutting down the most prolific passing attack in league history in their 23-20 upset of the St. Louis Rams. Brady was again MVP while throwing for a meager 201 yards for Tampa Bay in SB 56. Except the story was TB defense holding the NFL’s highest-scoring offense to just eight points, and LB Devin White was all over the field for the Bucs and should have won.

My point is the QB unfairly wins MVP half the time in reputation more than results. Case in point: Sunday.

I know Jalen Hurts had a terrific game. But he was mostly in position to do it because Philadelphia’s dominant defensive performance makes their field position and giant time of possession edge the story of the game. So common sense suggests the best person on the D should have been MVP. That was edge Josh Sweat, who was disruptive all game long with 2.5 sacks and six more solo tackles. So he gets my vote.

Email Dave Long at [email protected].

The Big Story – The Super Bowl: Can the Chiefs pull off the first three-peat in SB history in a rematch of SB 57? A great game where KC scored 17 fourth-quarter points to come back from down 27-21 to win 37-35.

Two weeks ago after KC beat Buffalo to get to the big game again Ben Volin of the Boston Globe asked, is it time for the Bills to change coaches to finally get them past KC? And my answer was, Buffalo isn’t the only one who can’t beat Patrick Mahomes. No one else has either except Tom Brady twice. So the only question that matters in this one is can the Philadelphia Eagles stop Mahomes when it matters most? We’ll know by around 9:45 on Sunday night.

Sports 101: Name the only two people to win a Super Bowl as a player, an assistant coach and a head coach.

News Item – Kelly Jumps Again: In the shocker of the week former Central QB Chip Kelly’s stay at Ohio State lasted just one year. Two weeks after winning a national title he left OSU on Sunday to return to the NFL to be Pete Carroll’s Offensive Coordinator with the Las Vegas Raiders.

News Item – Big NBA Trade: Got to give it to the Lakers for always looking to make the big deal. On Sunday it was trading their second best player, Anthony Davis, for a Top 5 NBA player, Luka Doncic. Which is what they call a blockbuster trade in my neighborhood. Have said a few times in this space: Imagine how good Luka would be if he ever got in shape. Which apparently is what got to the Dallas brass too, and motivated them to make the shocking trade.

Wouldn’t have done it if I were them on age alone, sending an age 26 star for a 32-year-old who breaks down a lot. Plus AD can’t win on his own, which was evident when he went to the playoffs only twice in seven seasons with New Orleans, while Luka can, whether in great shape or not. Plus, since Doncic got traded, L.A. gets him cheap, as now he’s not eligible for a super max contract he would have been in Dallas this summer. L.A. wins this one.

The Numbers:

4 – ex-Patriots players — Joe Thuney, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Josh Uche and Tyquan Thornton — who’ll be in Sunday’s Super Bowl.

8 – million dollars to buy a 30-second ad in Sunday’s Super Bowl broadcast.

26 – point fourth-quarter deficit the Celtic needed to overcome to beat the Joel Embiid-less 76ers on Sunday in their latest non-effort given against teams playing without their star.

… Of the Week Awards

Thumbs Up – Hubie Brown: The great analyst will retire from ESPN/ABC when he hangs up his mic at 91 after Sunday’s NBA broadcast.

Imaginary Fake News Donald Trump Crybaby of the Week – Chiefs Owner Clark Hunt: The owner of the team that now gets every call in their favor gets it for having the stones to ask the NFL to ban Tom Brady from doing the SB on Fox because he correctly said refs in the Houston-KC playoff game made awful calls on two imaginary roughing penalties against Mahomes.

Idiotic Podcast Idea of the Week – Bill Belichick: For saying on Jim Gray’s podcast they should take the name Vince Lombardi off the Super Bowl Winners Trophy and rename it the Tom Brady Trophy. Love TB-12, but dumping Lombardi’s name is a slap in the face of league history.

Random Thoughts:

Stumbled on a YouTube clip of great plays by Ben Coates last week. It convinced me that, thanks to leaving just before the dynasty started, he’s the greatest forgotten Patriots player ever. Check the stats. He was Gronk before Gronk. Even wore 87.

The side note to the Doncic-Davis trade is can Kyrie Irving’s latest trade demand be far off?

Sports 101 Answer: The two triple SB winners are Mike Ditka (P, Dallas; AC, Dallas; HC, Bears) and Tom Flores (P, Chiefs; AC, Raiders; HC, Raiders).

A Little History – Super Bowl 1: Seems hard to believe after what it has become, but nearly 30,000 tickets went unsold for the first Super Bowl, between the Packers and the Chiefs. It was played in the still standing L.A. Memorial Coliseum, which was built in 1923 and will be in 2028 the first place to host three Olympic Games after also doing it in 1932 and 1984.Ticket prices, which are $3,800 to $8,000 for Sunday’s game, were just $12 (about $90 in today’s money) for SB1 and attendance was 61,946 in the 90,000-seat Coliseum. It was also broadcast on both CBS and NBC with a combined viewing audience of 51 million. Pretty big, but not near last year, when 123 million TV sets were tuned in to the game with 210 million total viewers!

Last Word – Prediction: KC 23, Philly 20 — Mahomes does it again.

Hope I’m wrong.

Email Dave Long at [email protected].

The Big Story – The Super Bowl Match-up is Set: The Kansas City Chiefs’ effort to outdo the Patriots dynasty continued Sunday by beating Buffalo again when it counted, this time 32-29, to give themselves a chance to be the first team to win three straight Super Bowls. They’ll try to do that in a rematch of SB 57 thanks to the Eagles crushing Washington 55-23 in the NFC title game.

A win over Philadelphia will put the Andy Reid/Patrick Mahomes Chiefs two wins shy of the Pats’ six SB wins and move 29-year-old Mahomes one step closer to matching or passing Tom Brady’s seven titles, all with TB-12 in the booth calling the action for Fox.

Sports 101: Lamar Jackson will find out next week if he’ll be NFL MVP for a third time. Name the six players who’ve won it three or more times already.

News Item – Philly Runs Over Washington: That is what the Eagles did in going for 229 yards on the ground and a league record seven rushing TDs in their 55-23 win over Jayden Daniels and company. Three of those TDs came from Saquon Barkley and three more from QB Jalen Hurts with rookie Will Shipley getting the final one.

Barkley’s first was a 60-yard scamper on Philly’s first play from scrimmage to give him a league record seven TD runs of 60 or more yards in one season. Overall it was 115 yards on 15 carries.

News Item – Red Sox in Free Agency: It was another week of the brass treating their fans like they’re stupid by talking a good game and doing nothing as the Dodgers signed the best closer on the market, 23-year-old Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki, and Alex Bregman is looking like he could be headed back to Houston.

News Item – NBA Feb. 6 Trade Deadline Predictions:

Portland refugee Lob it to Robert Williams is reunited with Ime Udoka via a trade to the surging Houston Rockets.

Despite sinking in the west, Golden State holds on to dynasty relic Draymond Green six months after losing Klay Thompson for nothing.

Pat Riley doesn’t give in to petulant Jimmy Butler and give himthe ticket out of Miami he wants.

Brad Stevens has Celtics fans saying “I hope you’re right” when he does little to add to his bench.

The Numbers:

11.9 – far short of the 75 percent needed for election, percent of voters saying Dustin Pedroia belongs in Cooperstown.

18 – after sitting on the bench for over seven minutes to start the NFC title game the number of seconds it took the Eagles offense to score when Barkley ran for that 60-yard TD.

… Of the Week

Thumbs Up – Josh McDaniels Returns as Patriot OC: He’s not the New Age thinker Ben Johnson is but he has the championship resume and after doing a great job with Mac Jones in his rookie year he’s a good fit for Drake Maye.

Thumbs Down – Notre Dame: After their championship game loss to Ohio State USA Today’s Dan Wolken reported a locker-room scene with players cursing out reporters for asking questions they didn’t like, him being threatened as he left and ND staffers contributing to the chaos.

Why Can’t We Get Guys Like That Award – JuJu Smith-Schuster: The latest recent ex-Patriot to do something big in the playoffs was Ju Ju coming up with two huge catch-and-runs of 32 and 29 yards on separate drives KC cashed in for TDs vs. Buffalo.

What a Stupid I Yam Awards – Me: Whiffed on both predictions for last weekend’s games.

Random Thoughts:

Earth to Tony Romo – It’s true no QB has ever led his team to three straight Super Bowl wins as he reminded us Mahomes is trying to do. But the Super Bowl is just a fancy name for winning the NFL Championship and Bart Starr and Green Bay did that in 1965, ’66 and ’67.

Sports 101 Answer:Jim Brown, Johnny Unitas, Brett Favre and Tom Brady all won MVP three times, while Aaron Rodgers did it four times and Peyton Manning five.

Final Thought – Last Week’s Hall of Fame Voting: The biggest takeaway should be to take away the voting rights of the only person who voted against Ichiro to prevent the Japanese great from being the second unanimous selection behind Mariano Rivera. Of course Willie Mays had people who voted against him, so my grandfather was right when he said there are more horses’ behinds in the world than there are horses. But congrats to CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner, who deserved their selections as well. And the same people who let steroids enabler Bud Selig breeze in still held it against three high-profile users who Bud looked the other way on during his watch in A-Rod, Manny Ramirez and Andy Pettitte. If Bud’s in, they should be too.

Email Dave Long at [email protected].

The Big Story – OSU’s Big Day: Monday was a great day for former Central High quarterbacks Ryan Day and Chip Kelly as they led Ohio State to a 34-23 win over Notre Dame for the college football championship. They’re the first locals to win a national championship since Concord’s Matt Bonner won the NBA title in 2013-14 with the San Antonio Spurs. Congrats, fellas.

Sports 101: Travis Kelce (172) now has a sizable lead over Jerry Rice (151) for most catches in playoff history. Who are the three guys who round out the top five?

News Item – Celtics Play-By-Play Guy Drew Carter Drools Over Jayson Tatum Feat: Good god, young fella, pump the homer-ism brakes on Tatum climbing the list of the highest point totals by the age of 27. Journalists are supposed to give context, not drool. Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, Elgin Baylor and Bob McAdoo didn’t have two gigantic advantages Tatum’s era has. Those guys couldn’t enter the league until 22, while for JT it was 19. Plus there was no three-point shot then. Which means JT got a 4,312-point head start. Take that away and he’s at 8,628, which isn’t even in the top 25. Though many ahead of him also had his advantages.

News Item – Playoff Notes:

Player of the Weekend – Jayden Daniels: The dynamic rookie was the catalyst for Washington’s shocking 45-31 upset of 1-seed Detroit by throwing for 299 and two TDs and running for another 51 yards.

Player of the Week II – Saquon Barkley: Ran for yards 205 on 26 carries and two TDs on runs of 78 and 62 yards.

Smartest Decision – Bills Coach Sean McDermott: For taking the FG to make it an eight-point lead over a TD on fourth and 1 with 3:29 left like most automaton analytics followers of the day. Because when Baltimore couldn’t convert the two-point try to tie it at 1:33 the sure-thing FG won the game.

Turnovers Kill – Lesson 22,015: All the stats went to Baltimore. But they lost three and the Bills had none.

The Numbers:

2 – in Shaq Mason and Joe Thuney, guards playing in the playoffs for the Chiefs and Texans on Saturday who were shown the door by the offense-line-challenged Patriots.

6 – with two more in Philly’s win, league record TD runs of 60 yards plus in one season by Barkley.

100 – percent for sure prediction/boast from Rex Ryan he was a shoo-in to become Jets coach for a second time. But not so, as he was out of it before he even got interviewed.

… Of the Week Awards

Thumbs Up – Major League Baseball: For banning Yankees fans/nitwits Austin Capobianco and John Hansen from all major league parks indefinitely for grabbing Mookie Betts’ arm and ripping the ball out of his glove on a play down the line in the World Series to “help their team.”

Sports 101 Answer: Nos. 3-5 all-time playoff reception leaders are Julian Edelman (116), Rob Gronkowski (98) and Tyreek Hill (96).

Prediction – Next Week NFL:

Buffalo 23-16: Bills finally get by KC thanks to the league laying down the law to the officials to not give KC any more game-changing gift calls.

Washington 27-24: Commanders stay the actual biggest story in D.C. by getting to their first SB since 1992.

Final Thought – Slump or Something Else for Celtics: On Sunday the Celtics were 8-8 in their last 16 games and playing awful basketball. What is the problem? Could be just a slump as guys like Derrick White and Jrue Holiday are not playing well. Could also be teams adjusted to defending their three-point barrages or the self-satisfied complacency of a one-time champ that doesn’t have the hunger. It’s likely all of that plays a role. But it’s also time to call out the coach for the following:

Always making excuses for players rather than calling them out when they show little effort.

Having no alternative when threes aren’t falling besides Tatum and Jaylen Brown driving.

Never getting a good shot at the end of a quarter or game. Same thing: Tatum isolates one on one, wastes too much time, then takes a horrible off-balance fade-away that bricks.

Dumb strategy to give two FT’s when up by three with seconds left. That cost them Saturday’s game vs. Atlanta and gave New Orleans a two-point shot for the win that went in and out on Friday.

An idiotic day-off rest plan, like when Al Horford and fragile flower Kristaps Porzingis played against the worst team in the league (New Orleans) and then sat the next night vs. Atlanta, who they have trouble against because they kill them on the boards.

In short: Joe Mazzulla isn’t the only reason but he’s killing them.

Email Dave Long at [email protected].