NBA

Wembanyama admits Celtics have 'something extra' after New Year's Eve blowout

By Sports Desk January 01, 2024

Victor Wembanyama and Gregg Popovich accepted the San Antonio Spurs had been unable to live with an NBA championship contender after Sunday's 134-101 blowout loss to the Boston Celtics.

The league-leading Celtics improved to 26-6 with a dominant performance to round off 2023 at Frost Bank Center, extending their winning streak to six games.

Boston never trailed at any point as Jayson Tatum led six visiting players in double figures with his 25-point haul, while Jaylen Brown added 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting.

Rookie Wembanyama had 21 points and seven rebounds for the hosts, but it was not enough to stop them sliding to 5-27 with a seventh defeat in the space of eight games.

While Wembanyama said the Celtics were simply too good on the night, he believes the Spurs will have learned something from the defeat.

"I can feel that compared to the past years, they have something extra this year," Wembanyama said of Joe Mazzulla's Celtics team.

"Of course, it’s difficult to play against them and it is a good challenge. But I think we learned today."

San Antonio coach Popovich concurred, saying: "They are a championship-calibre team, that's what they are out there for, that's their goal, and they proved it once again.

"Joe does a great job with them. They've got good talent, obviously, all-star talent; and they've got the grit. 

"They've got the execution and are getting better all the time. That's a tough challenge at this particular time for our group."

Boston closed out the month of December with a 12-2 record and were able to rest their starters for much of the fourth quarter, having led by as many as 37 points at one stage. 

"We got stops," Mazzulla said. "I thought we were really good at doing both, protecting the paint and getting out to contest, which allowed us to get out in transition. 

"I think our secondary transition, we did a good job of recognising where the mismatch was and getting to it fast and playing together as a team through it."

Related items

  • Kerr demands improvements from Team USA as Olympic opener looms Kerr demands improvements from Team USA as Olympic opener looms

    United States coach Steve Kerr wants to see higher levels of intensity from his team as their Olympics campaign approaches.

    Kerr was unhappy with the lacklustre displays from his side in their warm-ups against Germany and South Sudan.

    Germany led 71-68 at the end of the third quarter before LeBron James conjured up 11 points in the final four minutes to give the USA a 92-88 win, while South Sudan were 20 seconds away from pulling off one of the biggest shocks in basketball history, before eventually falling to a 101-100 loss.

    The USA face a dangerous Serbia side featuring reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic on Sunday, and Kerr is adamant that improvements are required if they are to win a fifth consecutive Olympic gold medal.

    He said: "It's got to be 40 minutes of force and attention and focus, and we can't let teams outplay us effort and energy-wise like we did the other night against Germany, like we did against South Sudan.

    “We have another level. I think we have another two levels that we can get to, but it's a collaboration, always.

    "We can show them, 'Let's do this, let's do that. Let's learn personnel.'

    "We got to know the shooters, know the non-shooters, all that stuff. So that's where we can help them. Where they can help themselves is just effort and energy play after play, after play. This is different."

    Kerr is a four-time NBA champion as a coach, and was part of the triumphant Olympics team in Tokyo in 2021, but the Golden State Warriors boss knows the experience of the Games will only be enhanced if the USA were to come out on top again.

    "This should be one of the great experiences of our lives. But the best way to make it an incredible experience is to win a gold medal," he said.

    After facing Serbia, the USA will once again go up against South Sudan, this time in a competitive format, before ending the group stage with a match against Puerto Rico.

  • Durant warns Team USA 'everybody is a contender' in Olympic basketball tournament Durant warns Team USA 'everybody is a contender' in Olympic basketball tournament

    Kevin Durant has warned Team USA they will not have an easy ride through the basketball tournament at the Paris Olympic Games, declaring: "Everybody is a contender".

    The United States will go in search of a fifth straight men's basketball gold in the French capital, where they open their Group C campaign against Serbia on Sunday.

    After that meeting with Nikola Jokic and company, the star-studded USA team featuring Durant, LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Joel Embiid and a host of other NBA stars take on South Sudan and Puerto Rico.

    With Steve Kerr having so much talent at his disposal, the roster has been compared to that of the 1992 'Dream Team', who took gold in Barcelona behind the efforts of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Scottie Pippen and other great names.

    However, at a press conference ahead of Team USA's 2024 opener, Curry reminded reporters that the class of 1992 only faced nine other active NBA players.

    Durant is expecting a much tougher assignment this year, responding to Curry by saying: "Everybody is a contender. Everyone is here for a reason.

    "We're playing against 65 or 64 NBA players in Paris. So you know they're the best in the world."

    Asked to identify the main players to watch from other nations, the Phoenix Suns forward said: "Giannis [Antetokounmpo] or Jokic."

    While Durant adopted a cautious tone, Golden State Warriors star Curry was more bullish regarding the USA's gold medal hopes.

    Quizzed on who he was most excited about facing, Curry simply said: "Whoever's in the gold medal game."

  • Knicks, head coach Thibodeau agree to three-year contract extension Knicks, head coach Thibodeau agree to three-year contract extension

    The New York Knicks and head coach Tom Thibodeau have agreed to a three-year contract extension through the 2027-28 season.

    New York went 50-32 last season to earn the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference before losing to the Indiana Pacers in the semi-finals of the play-offs.

    The Knicks were also ousted in the East semis in 2022-23 and reached the play-offs during Thibodeau’s first season in 2021-22, when he won his second NBA Coach of the Year award.

    Prior to 2021-22, New York’s previous post-season appearance came in 2013.

    The Knicks have gone 175-143 over the last four seasons under Thibodeau, who earned his first NBA Coach of the Year award in 2011 as a rookie head coach with the Chicago Bulls.

    The 66-year-old Thibodeau owns a 527-389 record in 12 seasons as a head coach with Chicago, the Minnesota Timberwolves and New York.

    His teams have gone 38-47 in the post-season, and Thibodeau’s only appearance in the conference finals came in his rookie head coach season.

© 2023 SportsMaxTV All Rights Reserved.