Havlicek Stole the Pod NBA Basketball Podcast

With the tilt against the Milwaukee Bucks in the rearview mirror, the Boston Celtics train their sights on the last marquee matchup remaining in the 2022-23 regular season against the Philadelphia 76ers. Though some of the suspense of the regular season has been dimmed by the Celtics' failure to deliver against eminently beatable opponents late in the stretch run, a win over the Sixers would go a long way toward preventing a slide to the third seed while throwing some much-needed momentum Boston's way.

And Philly could very well be an obstacle between the Celtics and a return to the 2023 NBA Finals, too, depending on how they are playing and the health they are in once the postseason is underway.

How dangerous are the 76ers in the playoffs for Boston? Are they trending towards full health for a change at the end of the season? What else should Celtics fans want to know about this iteration of their Atlantic Division foes?

To answer all of these questions and more, the hosts of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast -- powered by Fan Duel and Better Help -- linked up with Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire to get us up to speed on everything we need to know about Philly ahead of their Tuesday meeting and potential playoff series.

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The Boston Celtics are nearly done with their 2022-23 slate of regular season games, with only the tilts against the Philadelphia 76ers and Milwaukee Bucks remaining as games likely circled on the calendar for most Boston fans given the potential for each to impact the 2023 NBA Playoffs seeding.

The Bucks in particular loom largest if the Celtics hope to have a chance at stealing the East's top seed, as Boston already owns the upper hand in the regular season record with the Sixers. And Milwaukee could very well be the team left standing in the East Finals that the Celtics will have to get past to get back to the 2023 NBA Finals.

To that end, the hosts of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast (now powered by Fan Duel and Better Help) linked up with Dalton Sell of Behind the Bucks Pass to talk over all things Milwaukee, Giannis, and their potential meetings in what's left of the regular season and beyond.

We also get into the recent Jaylen Brown interviews and what they might mean for his future with the team, the Celtics' recent play, and more.

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The Boston Celtics have hit a late-season slump that has fans rightfully alarmed about how the ball club could respond in the postseason should they find themselves facing a moment of weakness against much more dangerous teams than they've been dropping games to of late.

But at the same time, they hold the NBA's second-best record while having candidates on the team for many of the league's major regular-season awards at the same time many other projected contenders are also experiencing a bit of turbulence. Is it time to panic, or enjoy what the Celtics are capable of when locked in vs. the league's best ball clubs?

To answer that question, the hosts of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast (sponsored by Fan Duel and Better Help) linked up with Anna Horford of "Horford Happy Hour" podcast fame to ground our tendency to be a prisoner of the moment.

And hopefully, to help us get back to enjoying Boston on the court again given just how much the Celtics have done with a season many worried might have been upended before it even began.

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The Boston Celtics may be a band of brothers, but lately, they have been playing like that garage band many of us were in back in high school -- fun, full of energy and new ideas, but sloppy and not quite putting all the necessary components together for success.

So, to figure out whether the team is finally getting their act together for the big tour into the 2023 NBA postseason, the hosts of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast (brought to you by FanDuel, the exclusive wagering partner of the CLNS Media network) linked up with Indie Basketball's Matt Consolazio to talk all things Celtics, indie music, and NBA basketball writ large.

We get into the Portland Trail Blazers win and how we're feeling about the Celtics ahead of a long road trip, how news about Grant Williams playing through injury impacts our view of his play, Marcus Smart's opinions on officiating, and tons more on the indie music side.

We also touch on the arrival of sports betting in the state of Massachusetts and how that can impact the NBA as well as a look around the league's Western Conference, so be sure to tune in to this episode.

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The Boston Celtics have hit some late season turbulence with several recent contests ending in a Celtics collapse, and those defeats often taking the shape of an overtime loss after being up double digits. Is it the lack of continuity for Boston's best players? A need for rest? Coaching inexperience under head coach Joe Mazzulla, or a problem with his preferred, 3-point heavy style of play that has become known as Mazzulla ball?

Whatever it is, the Celtics need to identify and solve the root cause(s) before it derails their designs on getting back to the 2023 NBA Finals this postseason. And with 16 games left on the 2022-23 schedule, there's not a lot of time to get it right. What can the team try to right the ship?

To get to the bottom of why Boston has been playing poorly of late and what they can tinker with to change that, the hosts of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast linked up with NBC Sports Boston's Chris Forsberg to talk it over.

We also get into the typology of Mazzulla ball, Jaylen Brown's case to make All-NBA this season compared to the field and why that matters for retaining him, and get caught up on the rest of recent news, so be sure to tune in.

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The Boston Celtics are inside of the last quarter of the 2022-23 NBA season and will need to make some decisions on whether to prioritize getting to the postseason as healthy as possible or pushing as hard as they can for the best playoff seeding possible. They also need to find opportunities for their ostensible starters to play more than the sparse minutes they have had together -- but need to tinker a bit to maximize bench rotations as well.

With just 19 games left in this season at the time of this writing, the Milwaukee Bucks in the East's first-place slot with a half-game lead, and the Philadelphia 76ers far enough behind that the Celtics ought to be safe from falling lower than the No. 2 seed. But could the other late-season priorities -- or the Bucks' seeming inability to lose -- change the calculus of the ball club?

To get a handle on where the team is at as we enter the meat of the stretch run, the hosts of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast linked up with "Celtics Beat" co-host Evan Valenti.

We also get into Boston's recent play against the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers, Grant Williams' surprising DNP-CD vs. the Cavs, rumbles of Celtics ownership having an interest in European football ownership again and much, much more.

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The Boston Celtics kick off the stretch run Thursday as they return to action after the NBA's annual All-Star Week festivities with the best record in the league, a new big man on the roster, a newly-anointed full head coach, and expectations of contention.

Yet, the league did not stand still, and other squads have gotten better as well. How are we feeling about this team ahead of the stretch run in terms of the players, the coach, and the team overall? In many ways, the monumental task the Celtics have between them and winning it all is not unlike an intrepid mission to explore the final frontier.

From leadership to the away team doing the dirty work so that the mission doesn't fail, the parallels between the Celtics' quest to win the 2023 NBA Championship and the Starship Enterprise's mandate are strong as the crew of the Enterprise and Boston's roster all hope to boldly go where no one has gone before.

And while we might be overselling Boston's hopes to win a record 18th banner, there is no one better to make those connections with than the New York Times' Sopan Deb, who recently interviewed the cast of "Picard," a new series in the Star Trek universe, in between his insightful coverage of the Celtics and wider NBA.

To that end, the hosts of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast linked up with Deb to talk all things Celtics, Star Trek, and stretch run in a framework Gene Roddenberry would have been proud of.

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The Boston Celtics and the rest of the NBA have made it to All-Star Week for the 2022-23 season, a moment to rest up, recalibrate, and enjoy what they have accomplished so far this season ahead of the annual exhibition tilt for the league's very best (or at least most popular) players.

They will do so with a freshly-minted head coach with no "interim" label in front in Joe Mazzulla after his promotion this Thursday, whose job at the helm of the Celtics has gotten them to the East's top record -- and Mazzulla to coach the All-Star game, to boot.

With solid wins and respectable losses behind them and a surprisingly good add at the trade deadline in Mike Muscala on the roster, the team can now take care of adding a buyout player if they choose while the team gets R&R and some deserved adulation in the case of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. 

To talk about all of the above, the hosts of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast linked up with comedian and friend of the pod Gary Gulman to offer our thoughts on the state of the Celtics, how to make All-Star Week better, and even give you a review of a certain Boston-oriented cereal a try.

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The 2023 NBA trade deadline has come and gone for all 30 teams in the Association, and the landscape of the league has shifted with it. But the Boston Celtics have made merely one comparatively minor move to bolster their frontcourt.

Adding veteran big man Mike Muscala from the Oklahoma City Thunder for a pair of second round picks and the contract of Justin Jackson, Jr., Boston eschewed sexier moves like dealing for now-Toronto Raptor Jakob Poeltl. Was this the play for the Celtics? What can they expect from Muscala? And most importantly, what can we say about the myriad moves made elsewhere in the NBA in terms of the race for the 2023 title?

To get a handle on one of the most active trade deadlines in the history of the league, the hosts of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast linked up with Thunder Wire editor Clemente Almanza for the lowdown on Muscala.

We also get into our favorite moves of the day, ones we found confusing, and how concerned we are about the recent damage to Jaylen Brown's handsome face.

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Star Boston Celtics wing Jaylen Brown is used to having his name in the media whether for what he does on the court or how much value he could bring in a deal for a certain Brooklyn Nets star whose ties to the Georgia native in trade rumbles just won't seem to go away.

But it's what his stardom allows him to do as an activist that Brown recently spoke at length about with SLAM! editor Deyscha Smith for a cover story featuring the Boston guard recently. To get a bead on where Brown's mind is at regarding the Celtics' title aspirations, his relationship with Jayson Tatum, his activism, and how stories like this come together, the hosts of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast sat down with Smith on a recent episode.

Take a look at the clip embedded below to hear how high-profile interviews like this come together, and what the Cal-Berkeley product wants us to know about the causes close to his heart.

We also get into the latest trade rumbles just ahead of the 2023 deadline, other moves around the league, and more.

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