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Derrick White believes 2022 Finals heartache is motivating Celtics
The Celtics won the opening game of their NBA Finals series against the Mavericks on Thursday. Kristaps Porzingis returned from injury and immediately made an impact. Dallas had difficulty containing Boston's elite perimeter scoring, and Luka Doncic struggled to create opportunities for his teammates.
Boston has been here before. They made it to the 2022 NBA Finals before falling short against the Golden State Warriors. Derrick White believes that experience will help the Celtics as the series gets deeper.
"Yeah, I think anytime you go through something like that and all the experience that we've gathered through like the ups, the downs, all that has just helped us to be a better team," White said during his postgame news conference. "So we've learned from everything and this core group has been together through a lot of adversity, so I definitely think it helps."
Outside of Kyrie Irving, Dallas has a young team. This version of the Mavericks roster has never been to an NBA Finals, so they're learning on the fly. Boston is only two years removed from its last trip, so it's used to deep postseason runs. It knows how to handle the fatigue and increased expectations.
Unsurprisingly, Joe Mazzulla's team controlled both sides of the floor in Game 1. Boston has a deeper, more experienced roster, and the Celtics played like the championship favorites they've been made out to be.
After losing to the Warriors in 2022, every move Boston has made has been designed to get back to this point. The additions of Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis appear to have ensured they will be a formidable opponent. They know what it takes to win games at this level, but they've fallen short at the final hurdle before. That heartbreak will fuel Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Unfortunately for Dallas, they may need to suffer similar heartbreak before they're ready to win a championship.
More must-reads:
- Jayson Tatum's maturity shines in Celtics' Game 1 win
- Kristaps Porzingis the second player in 50 years with NBA Finals feat
- The 'NBA Summer League MVPs' quiz
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Brewers issue update on Jackson Chourio rehab timeline
Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio was tearing it up in July before he strained his hamstring legging out a triple. He was placed on the injured list, and it only got worse from there. Less than 24 hours later, manager Pat Murphy said Chourio would be out beyond the 10-day minimum and possibly at least a month. On Saturday, beat reporter Curt Hogg shed another tidbit of light on the slugger’s timetable. It’s not necessarily worse news, but Hogg’s update probably does not illuminate much. Fans already knew Chourio was going to be out a while after Friday’s report, so this latest info isn’t surprising. It isn’t all that encouraging, either. It certainly suggests no expedited return schedule. Not to make assumptions, but the emphasis on the location of the damage versus evaluating its severity seems to indicate the Brewers are just hoping Chourio avoided a worse-case scenario. In that case, caution would indeed be first in the order of operations. Only after ascertaining clarity would it make sense to seriously estimate a recovery timetable. That he won’t be ready to immediately resume baseball workouts further points to a slow, methodical recovery process. For however long he remains out, the lineup will miss him badly. Chourio’s 17 home runs rank second on the team behind Christian Yelich, as do his 67 RBI. His .786 OPS leads the offense among qualified hitters. In 90 at-bats in July, he hit .367/.408/.600. The Brewers are resilient everywhere, but without one of their few genuine power threats and hottest bats, plus an everyday outfielder, they are courting a potential offensive slump. The most fans can hope for from Chourio is that he returns fully healthy by the first week of September. Until then, Blake Perkins and trade pickup Brandon Lockridge should see plenty of playing time while Yelich takes more reps in the outfield after getting most of his at-bats this season as the designated hitter.
25-time Grammy winner's sports agency blasts Jerry Jones for 'comical' comment
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Braves star injured in Speedway Classic at Bristol
In a season full of hard luck for the Atlanta Braves, Sunday's game against the Cincinnati Reds brought more. Star third baseman Austin Riley exited the Speedway Classic at Bristol Motor Speedway after tagging out Elly De La Cruz at home plate and saving a run in the bottom of the first inning. Riley fielded a ball that was smoked to third base off the bat of Miguel Andujar and chased Cruz down at the plate to keep Cincinnati's lead at one run. The next time Riley came up in the batting order, however, it was 28-year-old Luke Williams who stepped into the batter's box. The official reason given for Riley's departure from the contest was lower abdominal pain. Riley struck out in his lone plate appearance on Sunday. Riley, 28, is hitting .260 for Atlanta in 415 at-bats this season. He's hit 16 home runs with a .309 on-base percentage in 101 games. Riley strained an abdominal muscle on July 11 in a game against the St. Louis Cardinals, which led to the Memphis, Tenn., native being on the injured list until July 25. Atlanta is hoping that the pain he suffered on Sunday doesn't lead to a long-term injury.
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