Termine » e in New York in May.

Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward exchanged the kind of toothy giggles normally only found between kids on a playground when they were introduced as the new faces of the Celtics.

”It’s about to be crazy Sven Baertschi Jersey , G,” Irving said in the ear of Hayward to a soundtrack of clicking camera lenses as they sat on a dais back in September two days after Boston’s blockbuster trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Seven months later, Irving has proven to be prophetic – albeit not how he had in mind.

It has been crazy unlucky for the Celtics. Stunning too. Al Horford said even shocking.

And though things haven’t gone as scripted in Boston, the Celtics will open the playoffs at the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference believing they can win it all without their injured offseason acquisitions.

”Finals. I’m very confident,” guard Terry Rozier when asked how far Boston can go. ”Everybody has to be on the same page. And we just gotta play. And play hard.”

That’s been Boston’s calling card throughout the season. They have no choice but to play hard because from Hayward’s gruesome, season-ending left ankle injury on opening night, to the recent pair of left knee surgeries that has sidelined Irving, luck has been in short supply beyond the Celtics’ Leprechaun mascot named Lucky.

Horford acknowledged being shocked when he heard that Irving was done for the season. But he said the time has passed for sulking about misfortunes.

”We can’t dwell on the past,” Horford said. Obviously it makes it more difficult. Kyrie, he’s the leader of this team. We won with him and now we have to find ways to do it without him.”

In addition to Irving and Hayward, Boston will also be without productive rookie Daniel Theis (left knee surgery) for the season and Marcus Smart (right thumb surgery) until at minimum the second round. That’s not to mention a plethora of nagging injuries that have dogged the rest of the roster.

Yet, in an Eastern Conference that features a less-than-dominating LeBron James-led Cavaliers team, Boston veterans Horford and Marcus Morris and its corps of talented young players led by Jaylen Brown Womens Jake Gardiner Jersey , Rozier and rookie Jayson Tatum give it as legitimate a chance as anyone to make it to the NBA Finals.

The Celtics will finish with their second straight 50-win season and their highest number of victories under coach Brad Stevens.

Last season as the East’s top seed, Boston made it to the conference finals in spite of being smacked with adversity on the eve of the postseason following the death of Isaiah Thomas’ sister. Thomas returned to the team, but was then lost midway through the conference finals to a hip injury he’d been quietly playing through.

”With Isaiah, we had him all year. Even though he was banged up, he was with us,” Horford said. ”Now with our group this year it’s different. We’ve been having so many injuries throughout the year that I feel like our guys – we’re much more prepared handling everything that we’re going through.”

The good news is this Celtics team has already done an admirable job of figuring things out without Hayward and Irving.

They’ve played all but five minutes this season without Hayward. In 20 games without Irving they are 13-7.

Irving played his last game on March 11. That’s given Boston time to see what its remaining rotation will look like. One thing it will certainly mean is a lot more minutes for reserves like Shane Larkin and Greg Monroe, as well as rookies Semi Ojeleye and Guerschon Yabusele.

Stevens acknowledged that there was hope after Irving’s first surgery on his knee last month that removed a tension wire that he would be able to return early in the playoffs. Having him ruled out has ”just solidified that this is where our focus needs to be” he said.

”It’s a great opportunity for the other guys and it’s our job to coach them,” Stevens said. ”I believe in the guys in our locker room. They believe in themselves.”

Without Irving, the most glaring deficiency for Boston is its lack of a go-to scorer. Brown is just a few games removed from scoring a career-high 32 points, and Rozier only recently had a 25-game double-digit scoring streak stopped. He’s also proven to be a dependable defender.

Still, there is a sense in the East that Boston may be susceptible to a first-round upset. Miami and Milwaukee, currently have the same record (43-37) as the No. 6 and 7 seeds respectively. The Heat won 2 of 3 meetings this season with Boston, while the Celtics split their four games with the Bucks. Washington Youth Brandon Sutter Jersey , at No. 8 leads the season series with Boston 2-1 with the series finale set on Tuesday night.

Vulnerable or not, Horford has a message for whoever their first-round opponent is.

”We’re the (No.) 2 seed. We have home-court advantage,” he said. ”And this point, the only thing I can say to that is I can’t wait for the playoffs to start.”

—

More NBA basketball:

NEW YORK — When the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox get together for their next series, both teams could feature somewhat different rosters.

After Sunday’s finale of the three-game series at Yankee Stadium, the longtime rivals will not meet again until Aug. 2 at Fenway Park — two days after the non-waiver trade deadline.

Both teams will play 25 games before the next installment of the rivalry.

The teams head into the ninth meeting with four wins apiece after Chris Sale fanned 11 in seven one-hit innings in an 11-0 rout Saturday. Rafael Devers hit a grand slam among a career-high five hits while J.D. Martinez drove in three runs as the Red Sox rebounded from opening the series with an 8-1 loss Friday.

Devers has 14 RBIs in his last 12 games while Martinez is hitting .432 with 12 of his major league-leading 67 RBIs in his last nine games.

The Yankees will be looking to rebound from getting shut out for the fourth time this season and third time since June 23.

Off the field, trade talks were a popular topic as both Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and Red Sox general manager Dave Dombrowski addressed it.

The Yankees are in the market for a starting pitcher to bolster the back end of their rotation anchored by Sunday’s starting pitcher Luis Severino (12-2, 2.10 ERA).

With the crosstown New York Mets falling to one of the worst records in the National League, talk of a possible deal for Jacob deGrom is circulating, though Toronto’s J.A. Happ or Texas Rangers left-hander Cole Hamels could be more realistic.

“If the best business decisions happened to be with a rival, that’s not a problem for me,” said Cashman on Friday, while noting he has been in touch with Omar Minaya Evgenii Dadonov Jersey Kids , one of three men holding the Mets GM role in Sandy Alderson’s leave of absence. “As far as I’m concerned it match just makes sense, I don’t care who (it’s) with.

As for the Red Sox, they already filled a need by adding a right-handed hitting first baseman in Steve Pearce. Pearce was obtained Thursday night from the Toronto Blue Jays but Dombrowski said Saturday the deal could have been completed earlier and any changes would not be overly significant.

“People are calling, and you just kind of check in and make sure they know what’s taking place and vice versa,” Dombrowski said Saturday afternoon. “The one thing with us is, we’re going to try to be the best club we can, regardless of what the Yankees do. And we all know that they have a really good team.”

Neither team is motivated to get something done now and both executives will watch Severino face David Price (9-5, 3.66) in a matchup of pitchers who are rolling of late.

Severino can become the first 13-game winner in the majors after he allowed six hits in seven scoreless innings Tuesday in Philadelphia.

“There’s no question that he’s our ace, and we know that when he gets the ball, he has a chance to dominate and we have a good chance to get it done that day,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Tuesday.

Severino also is 7-0 with a 1.83 ERA in nine home starts this season. He also is 10-0 with a 1.98 ERA in his last 13 regular season home starts, the longest streak at home since David Cone went 16 starts without a home loss from Aug. 17, 1997 Youth Brandon Carlo Jersey , to Aug. 27, 1998.

Severino’s home unbeaten streak matches Seattle’s Wade LeBlanc for the longest active streak in the majors.

The right-hander has turned in 14 straight starts without allowing more than three runs. It is the longest active streak in the majors and the longest by a Yankee starting pitcher since Rudy May from Aug. 2, 1980-April 20, 1981.

Besides racking up wins, Severino also is maintaining velocity, especially late in outings. His 98th pitch Tuesday was tracked at 100.1 mph, was among 12 at least 100 mph and his 44 pitches tracked at 100 leads all starting pitchers.

Severino’s last home loss was to the Boston Red Sox on Sept. 3. He is 2-5 with a 4.61 ERA in 10 appearances (nine starts) against Boston.

Price is 7-1 with a 2.72 ERA in his last nine starts and has allowed three earned runs or fewer in each outing. He last pitched Tuesday against the Los Angeles Angels and recorded his ninth win by allowing one run and five hits in six innings.

Things are going so well that he ended his press conference following his last outing by making fun of his carpal tunnel syndrome that some speculated was due to playing the video game Fortnite and kept him out of a game in New York in May.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to go, so I don’t think so,” Price said before adding “Yeah, Fortnite.”

Price is attempting to reach double-digits in wins before the All-Star break for the first time since 2012 with Tampa Bay and third time overall.

The left-hander is 15-12 with a 4.67 ERA in 39 appearances (38 starts) against the Yankees. At the current Yankee Stadium, he is 8-6 with a 4.27 ERA in 19 starts.

Since joining the Red Sox in 2016, he is 2-4 with a 7.42 ERA in eight starts against the Yankees.

Detroit Lions Customized Jerseys