Morning sports update: Tracy McGrady says Celtics are going to be ‘the Golden State of the East’
Sandy Leon hit a home run and two doubles to lead the Red Sox to an 8-3 win over the Blue Jays on Tuesday night. Xander Bogaerts also homered as Boston matched the second-best start in franchise history.
Tracy McGrady says Celtics are going to be ‘the Golden State of the East’
The Golden State Warriors developed the ‘Splash Brothers’ into the ‘Hamptons Five,’ winning two championships along the way. Now, with Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving set to rejoin Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Al Horford, Tracy McGrady believes the Celtics are headed towards similar heights.
“This team is going to be the Golden State of the East,” the Hall of Famer said on ESPN’s The Jump with Rachel Nichols. “They’re so deep. Even if they lose Marcus Smart, like, I’m trying to figure out their lineup for next year because either [Jayson] Tatum or [Jaylen] Brown is going to go to the bench.”
McGrady, who played with seven different NBA teams and earned seven All-Star nods, said that Brad Stevens will have to manage his players the way Gregg Popovich handled the talent-laden Spurs.
“Their bench is going to be so deep,” McGrady said. “I’m like, ‘He is going to have to coach these guys like Pop coached San Antonio Spurs, where you have just so much talent.’ I look for these guys to play no more than 30, 35 minutes a night. That’s how he’s going to have to juggle these guys, keep them fresh. They are going to be a serious problem in the Eastern Conference.”
The former Houston Rocket also noted that Irving’s absence during the postseason could turn out to be a positive for the Celtics. After the success Terry Rozier and company had without him, McGrady said, Kyrie knows that he can trust his teammates and doesn’t have to dominate the ball.
Start working on those nicknames, Celtics fans.
Would you trade Jayson Tatum for Ben Simmons?: Simmons passes like Magic Johnson and has a chance to win an MVP award someday. Tatum just dunked over LeBron James and looks like the next great Celtic. Would you trade one Rookie of the Year candidate for the other? (Boston.com)
Report claims 76ers GM used five secret Twitter accounts to blast players and defend himself: Philadelphia 76ers team president Bryan Colangelo is denying a report connecting the executive to Twitter accounts that criticized current and former Sixers players, former Sixers general manager Sam Hinkie, and Toronto Raptors executive Masai Ujiri. Joel Embiid said Colangelo called him to deny the story.
“That would just be insane,” Embiid tweeted. (Boston.com)
What Russell Martin had to say about getting hit by a pitch by Rick Porcello: With one out in the seventh inning of Tuesday night’s game, Porcello hit Martin with an 89-mile-per-hour fastball. The pair exchanged words following the pitch, which came immediately after Martin called time late in the Red Sox pitcher’s windup. Martin explained the incident postgame and said that “it ended up biting [Porcello] right in the butt.” (Boston.com)
Daily highlight:
https://twitter.com/RedSox/status/1001639893662097412
