No one or nowhere does nostalgia quite like New England, and we have been indulging for the past few days. South Shore, North Shore, down the Cape, the islands, MetroWest, Boston, way inland, and even neighboring states: We are all sitting in multiple inches of snow and celebrating a comeback championship with the Patriots clinching the AFC title, just like the good old days.
Gonzalez had the highlight of the game - hitting a clutch corner 3 as time expired to send the game to a second overtime period. He finished his night with 10 points and seven rebounds. Mazzulla had benched Gonzalez for a large chunk of the middle of the game after being frustrated with the young guard. But he trusted Gonzalez enough to put him back in the game in a big spot late.
Halfway through the season, the weather has settled in and the Celtics runway has shifted into winter mode. January brought heavier fabrics, bigger textures, layered looks, and the occasional flex. Here's a midseason check on life lately in the tunnel. Wintermaxxing The winter arc period ended, and now we just have winter - a frigid one. What better way to deal than to embrace it? No avoiding the cold, rotting inside, or waiting for spring. People are fashionably wintermaxxing with velour, velvet, cashmere, and wool.
Porzingis, who played for the Celtics from 2023-25, will be sidelined due to left Achilles tendinitis when Boston visits the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday. The 7-foot-2 center was originally questionable to play, but was downgraded to out on Friday. The new-look Hawks, who recently dealt point guard Trae Young to the Washington Wizards, traded for Porzingis from the Celtics in what was a salary dump move for Boston last July.
While Gafford could be a useful addition to Boston's frontcourt, Stevens and his staff will have their work cut out for them when it comes to pulling off a trade with Dallas. The asking price for Gafford would presumably lower than the cost to pry Zubac out of Los Angeles. But, Dallas also can't take much money back in a trade with Boston due to being hard-capped at the second apron of the NBA's current luxury-tax structure.
The calendars have been flipped for a few days now, but before we dive headlong into the 2026 sports media scene, your semiloyal scribe (that's me) wanted to jot down a few national and local people, places, and things that I enjoyed or appreciated from the past year on this beat. Twenty-six of them, in fact ... · NBC Sports Boston's "Quick Slants," especially Tom E. Curran's good-natured "Irrelevant Questions" segments with Patriots players. · Phil Perry's knack for good-naturedly shutting down Felger-generated Patriots hot takes with facts and insight. · Lou Merloni's #walkthedog social media clips that never fail to offer clear-eyed assessments of the state of the Red Sox.
"You come from a news background, you're always thinking about what's the best way to tell a story," he said. "What better story is there to tell than those about Boston sports? Everyone who is from here or has lived here is in some degree a fan. I thought a look back at some great moments and some behind-the-scenes details that only the most plugged-in reporters would know would be a fun thing to do."
As a team, the Celtics finished 10-for-39 (25.6 percent) and went 1-for-18 from deep in the second and third as the Pistons built a four-point advantage going into the fourth. The overall shooting numbers were actually bailed out a bit by three tough makes in the fourth-two by Derrick White, one by Jaylen Brown-but the game ended with an appropriately disappointing thud: On a make-or-break possession down five with 45 seconds left, Payton Pritchard airballed a 3-pointer, and the Pistons held on for the win.
"I'm always appreciative of this opportunity. It's not any franchise; it's the Boston Celtics," Queta said. "I try not to [think about that], because I got to go out there every day ... the best thing I do is play basketball at the end of the day. "It's a great privilege, but still I got to go out there and play basketball and deliver on the court."
