Dick Lipe

The Sultan of Stat, @dicklipe.bsky.social, sends Jayson Tatum-centric noteage in the wake of the Celtics' OT win against the Nets. Larry Bird, Paul Pierce and John Havlicek make cameo appearances. ⬇️

Jayson Tatum became just the 2nd Celtic with 40+ points, 8 rebounds and no turnovers in a game, in addition to draining the buzzer-beating game-winner Larry Bird did it twice, against Portland in 1988 and against Orlando in 1990.

Tatum enters tonight as the only player in the NBA with at least 10 rebounds and 10 assists in the 1st quarter this season.

The Celtics did something for the first time in their history Monday night - ans something else for the first time since 2014. ... The Sultan of Stat, @dicklipe.bsky.social, has those answers and more from the blowout of the Bulls. ⬇️

MOST GAMES WITH 5+ 3’S OFF BENCH, CAREER 57 - Malik Beasley, 2018-25 47 - Tim Hardaway Jr, 2013-26 47 - Buddy Hield, 2017-26 44 - J.R. Smith, 2006-14 41 - Payton Pritchard, 2020-26

Tatum was the first Celtic to have at least 5 FG, 5 FT, 5 REB and 5 AST in a 1st half since Paul Pierce (twice in 2004). It was only the 2nd time in his career he's had at least 19 points, 6 rebs and 5 assists by halftime.

Tatum was the first Celtic to have at least 5 FG, 5 FT, 5 REB and 5 AST in a 1st half since Paul Pierce (twice in 2004). It was only the 2nd time in his career he's had at least 19 points, 6 rebs and 5 assists by halftime.

Tatum had 5 assists in the 1st quarter and is now tied for 2nd most 1st Q assists this season with 11. Only Keyonte George (Utah) has more.

The Sultan of Stat sends the email, and I pass it along... @dicklipe.bsky.social with the relevant noteage from the Celtic victory over the Knicks. ⬇️

The Knicks are only the 7th defending NBA champion to start the season 0-2! Dallas had been the most recent (2011-12) and the Lakers are on the list twice, once in Minneapolis (1953-54) and once in LA (2002-03).

CELTIC HISTORY: MOST STEALS IN SEASON'S 1ST 2 GAMES 9 - Larry Bird, 1985 7 - PAUL GEORGE, 2026 7 - Kenny Anderson, 2000 7 - Kenny Anderson, 2001 7 - Sherman Douglas, 1993

This is the 1st time in 28 career regular season games for Anunoby that he has scored more than 14 points vs. the Celtics. He does have 4 20-point games vs. Celtics in the postseason. Anunoby's career regular season scoring average vs. Boston (9.0) is his lowest vs. any team.

Garza, Hauser and Pritchard have combined to make 5 of 8 three-pointers off the bench so far tonight. Garza, in 3:30, has 8 points (2/2 3's), 1 o-board and a steal

Celtics are 51-24 all-time in home-openers, including 2-2 vs. the Bulls 1967: W 105-90 1996: L 107-98 1997: W 92-85 2002: L 99-96

In today's season-opener at Detroit, Paul George became the 3rd Celtic, age 36 or more, to score at least 38 points in a game. John Havlicek, vs. Washington, 4/11/76, 38 pts, Robert Parish, vs. Denver, 12/8/89, 38 pts George was the oldest of the 3. at 36 yrs and 171 days.

The Sultan of Stat, @dicklipe.bsky.social, has the good, the bad and the ultimately ugly from the Celtics' season-opening loss in Detroit today. ⬇️

Paul George - 1st career game with at least 38 pts, 7 3's and 5 steals 8th player in NBA history to hit each of those marks, and the 2nd oldest (Steph Curry last year)

DUNCAN ROBINSON: 21 points today, including 15 in 4th quarter Previous 15 regular season games vs. Celtics: 16, 6, 5, 0, 3, 9, 5, 15, 5, 5, 6, 8, 11, 7, 15

Paul George has broken the record for most points in a Celtic debut with 31 so far. Porzingis has 30 against the Knicks in 2023.

Tatum: only 4th player in PxP era to have at least 11 pts, 5 reb, 6 asst, 1 stl in 1st half of season-opener (Anthony Davis, Doncic, Michael Finley) George: 17 points ... tied for his 2nd most in the first half of a season-opener Celtics: kept DET to 27% FG and 2/10 3's in 2nd Q

CELTICS: MOST CAREER OPENING DAY POINTS 371 Pierce, 1998-2012 (14 G) 298 Bird, 1979-91 (13 G) 279 Cousy, 1950-62 (13 G) 274 Havlicek, 1962-77 (15 G) 240 Parish, 1980-93 (14 G) 227 J. Brown, 2016-25 (10 G) 214 TATUM, 2017-24 (8 G) Tatum has the highest scoring avg (26.8)

With the OT win in Philadelphia Friday, the Celtics finished undefeated for the preseason. Meanwhile, the Sultan of Stat remains undefeated for life. @dicklipe.bsky.social has noteage that can make even an exhibition game seem interesting. ⬇️

Career points for tonight's starters: Boston 6 (all by Hayden Gray) Philadelphia 89,240 (regular season), 14,588 (playoffs)

The Sultan of Stat putting this much work into preseason game noteage is like Jayson Tatum and LeBron James each playing 48 minutes in the exhibition finale Friday night. The fact they won't is why Sultan's rookie card is more valuable. @dicklipe.bsky.social delivers from Celtics-Hornets. ⬇️

Jaylen Brown, LeBron James and Joel Embiid didn't play... but the Sultan of Stat always answers the bell. @dicklipe.bsky.social with your relevant noteage from the Celtics' preseason win over Philadelphia. ⬇️

The Sultan of Stat actually sent along noteage from tonight's Celtic preseason game, meaning: a.) the man loves you, his loyal subjects b.) stats never sleep c.) he could probably use some counseling In any case, @dicklipe.bsky.social delivers. ⬇️

Garza has 3 threes, 4 o-boards, 3 blocks so far. Only 6 Celtics have hit all those marks in a game that counts ... Porzingis 3x, Tatum, Horford, Raef LaFrentz, Todd Day, Rick Fox

Celtics had 10 offensive rebounds in the first quarter. Their high for o-boards in the first quarter of a regular season game since 1997 is 11, set vs. Orlando on Nov. 2, 1997.

Before today, there had only been 4 trades between BOS & PHI Only one of note was 6/19/17: 76ers traded 2017 1st round pick (Tatum was selected) and 2019 1st-rounder (Langford was selected) to Boston for a 2017 1st-rounder (Fultz was selected) Others: 2/8/24, 2/21/19, 8/3/01

Paul George averaged 17.4 points while shooting 49 percent overall and 55 percent from 3 in the 2026 playoffs vs. Boston. George will enter the 2026-27 season 662 points shy of 20,000 career and 51 3-pointers away from 2,500. Only 6 players in NBA history have reached both marks

Including the postseason, Mike Conley has been in 1,346 games and played over 41,000 minutes without picking up a technical. Conley and Al Horford will both be playing their 20th NBA season this year, second only to LeBron. Conley was selected 4th in 2008, right after Horford.

Mitchell Robinson was one of three players in the NBA to have at least 250 offensive rebounds, 50 steals and 70 blocks last season The only Celtics to have hit those marks in a season are Parish (6x), Cowens (2x) and Maxwell (7) Robinson: 23 O-Reb vs. C's in 2025 playoffs

JAYLEN BROWN, IN CELTIC HISTORY Regular Season 3-Pointers - 3rd, 1,284 Steals - 7th, 684 Points -10th, 13,474 Field Goals - 11th, 5,034 Games - 15th, 674 Playoffs 3-Pointers - 2nd, 280 Field Goals - 6th, 1,043 Steals - t/6th, 140 Points - 7th, 2,788 Games - 7th, 142

MOST 3-POINTERS MADE, 1ST HALF, NBA FINALS 14 - SAN ANTONIO VS. NEW YORK, TONIGHT 13 - Cleveland vs. Golden State, 6/9/17 12 - Golden State vs. Cleveland, 6/7/17 11 - 6 times, including Boston vs. Dallas, 6/6/24

MOST 1ST-HALF POINTS, NBA FINALS GAME 86 - Cleveland vs. Golden State, 6/9/17 79 - Boston vs. LA Lakers, 5/27/85 76 - Boston vs. St. Louis, 3/27/60 75 - LA Lakers vs. Boston, 6/4/87 73 - LA Lakers vs. Boston, 4/8/62 73 - Philadelphia vs. San Francisco, 4/4/67

Was honored to be a guest recently on John Leahy's "Airing It Out-Files From Leahy's Broadcast Booth" podcast. www.leahystorytelling.com/a-conversati...

In tonight's game, OKC's Alex Caruso became the first player in NBA playoff history to have at least 8 3-pointers, 2 blocks and 2 steals in a game.

What a performance by Wemby! PLAYERS WITH 40+ PTS, 20+ REB AND 3+ BLOCKS IN PLAYOFF GAME Wilt Chamberlain - 4 times Shaquille O'Neal - 3 times Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - 2 times Hakeem Olajuwon - 2 times David Robinson - once Victor Wembanyama - tonight

Because of the Celtics' Game 7 loss, the Sultan of Stat doesn't have to sultan beyond the first round. Yet he's still a champion. How is that possible? Math, my friends, advanced math. @dicklipe.bsky.social delivers, as always, with the noteage you need to know. ⬇️

Derrick White is just the 3rd player to have at least 5 3-pointers and 3 blocks in a Game 7 Kevin Durant, GSW at HOU, 5/28/18 Robert Covington, HOU vs. OKC, 9/2/20

Derrick White's 19 points is his most in any game since Mar. 16 (21 vs. Phoenix). He also had a block and a drawn charge at the defensive end. Bench points: BOS 18 (8/15 FG), PHI 2 (1/5 FG)

Tonight's starting lineup for the Celtics has not played a single minute together all season. White Brown Garza Scheierman Harper Jr.

Pregame thoughts... Boston has won the 1st Q in all 6 games, outscoring the 76ers 170-126. C's are 23-5 this season when the centers combine for at least 23 points. It's happened only once in series. Brown, who is playing in his 9th Game 7, leads the NBA in isolation points in the postseason (41)

After Thursday's loss in Philadelphia, the Sultan of Stat scrambled to come up with noteage for a Game 7 few expected. The Celtics needed to win a home game Tuesday to get a playoff rest. Now they need to win a home game to avoid being eliminated. Dick Lipe with the details. ⬇️

Tatum with another big 1st quarter: 9 pts, 9 reb, 2 asst. He has 29 1st-quarter rebounds in the series, most of any player in the postseason, and 17 assists, 2nd most. He is also 1 of only 6 players with at least 40 1st quarter points.

Pregame thoughts... Since mid-January, the Celtics are 12-1 after a loss. Brown: 27.1 PPG, .507 FG% in those games In 10 career Game 6's, Tatum has averaged 25.9 PPG, best ever by a Celtic. He's had 30 or better in 4 of his last 6 White: NBA's 4th best defensive FG% in playoffs (.378)

Since 2022, Boston is just 4-11 in the game following a postseason win of 20+ points. 2022: -2, -11, -6, +13 2023: +12, -7 2024: -10, +14, +25, -24 2025: -3, -8, -38 2026: -14, -16

CELTIC HISTORY: FEWEST 4TH Q POINTS, POSTSEASON 8 - at New York, 4/20/13 9 - vs. Milwaukee, 4/29/83 10 - vs. Indiana, 4/25/05 10 - vs. Syracuse, 3/27/54 11 - VS. PHILADELPHIA, TONIGHT 11 - vs. Atlanta, 5/6/12

Jayson Tatum with his 39th career 20 point-10 rebound postseason double-double, which moves him ahead of Kevin McHale into sole possession of 3rd most in Celtic history Bird - 61 Russell - 48 Tatum - 39 McHale - 38

1st half notes... Both teams shot poorly from 3, but Celtics were 18/25 (.720) inside the arc. Celtics have a +9 advantage in rebounds and a 22-8 edge in bench points Tatum: 2nd 1st half in series with at least 14 pts, 8 reb, 4 asst, 2 stl