BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – With a long wait for the NBA Finals begin, Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla made it known that there is one storyline he will not delve into any further in the days before Game 1, scheduled for this Thursday.

The relationship between Celtics stars Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum has been analyzed for years. Brown is Boston’s former No. 3 overall pick in 2016 out of Cal, and Tatum was selected No. 3 overall from Duke a year later.

The draft pick slots were acquired through a pair of savvy trades by the Celtics’ front office and have restored a winning culture to a legendary franchise, but drama has followed the duo since they were paired together in the NBA.

While talk of the fractured dynamic has slowed somewhat in recent years, Mazzulla was asked about it potentially being a talking point before Game 1 when the Dallas Mavericks visit Boston.

“I’m kind of (considering) how deep I want to get into that because the whole thing about that really (angers me),” Mazzulla said at a news conference Friday. “I think it’s unfair to both of them and I think it’s stupid that people have to use those two guys’ names and use information they don’t know to create click bait so that they can stay relevant.”

The Brown-Tatum duo has never missed the playoffs. In fact, they have led Boston to the Eastern Conference finals in five of the past seven seasons and into the NBA Finals this season and in 2022, when they fell to the Golden State Warriors.

A bruising forward with long-distance shooting range, Tatum has finished at least sixth in NBA MVP voting in each of the past three seasons. Brown, an All-Star in three of the past four seasons, is a scoring guard who has averaged at least 20 points in each of the past five seasons.

“It’s very unfair that those two get compared,” Mazzulla said. “They’re two completely different people, two completely different players. They’re great teammates, they love each other and they go about winning and they go about their process in a different way. So why they have to be lumped together I think is unfair and people just use it for their own (relevance).”

Brown, 27, averaged 23.0 points with 5.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 70 regular-season games. Tatum, 26, averaged 26.9 points with 8.1 rebounds and 4.9 assists in 74 games.

“We need each other,” Tatum said in October, per The Boston Globe. “We can have enough individual success, making All-NBA and All-Stars and getting contracts, but ultimately we know what is going to matter: if we can hang a championship banner.

“It’s a long season, playoffs is long, and we understand I won’t be able to win a championship without him and he won’t be able to do it without me.”

Boston was far and away the NBA’s best team in the regular season with a 64-18 record that was good for a .780 winning percentage. No other team had better than a .695 winning percentage.

“At the end of the day, those two guys, their relationship is their relationship,” Mazzulla said. “They love each other, they push each other every single day in practice, they communicate with each other but they go about winning differently.

“I think they both get an unfair (treatment) being compared to each other. They’re different. You see other duos around the league that don’t have to go through that and it’s because of the platform they have, it’s because they have been so successful their entire careers, they’ve been able to have longstanding success at a high, high level so people need them in order to stay relevant.”

The Celtics’ dominance has extended into the playoffs with a 12-2 record, although each team they defeated — Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers, Indiana Pacers — was missing key pieces.

Now Boston enters the NBA Finals on an seven-game winning streak, with Tatum scoring 26.0 points with 10.4 rebounds and 5.9 assists in 14 playoff games. Brown is at 25.0 points with 6.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 14 games.

“They’re two of the greatest teammates and players you can have and it’s been a honor to coach both of them,” Mazzulla said. “It doesn’t mean they have to be the same, so it’s bull—t. And I love both of them and they deserve better.”

–Field Level Media

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s Jaylen Brown scored a game-high 40 points and grabbed five rebounds to lead the Celtics to a 126-110 victory over the visiting Indiana Pacers on Thursday in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Brown was 14 of 27 from the floor and made 8 of 11 free throws. Boston had a 13-point lead after three quarters and the Pacers were never closer than 11 points in the fourth.

The victory gave Boston a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series, which will shift to Indianapolis for Game 3 on Saturday. The Pacers have a 6-0 home record in the playoffs this season.

Indiana point guard Tyrese Haliburton left the game in the third quarter with left leg soreness. He collected 10 points and eight assists in 28 minutes.

Pascal Siakam made 13 of 17 field-goal attempts and led the Pacers with 28 points. Andrew Nembhard added 16 points for Indiana.

Jayson Tatum and Derrick White each scored 23 points for the Celtics. Al Horford had six points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

Brown led all first-half scorers with 24 points. Boston trailed 27-25 after one quarter but held a 57-51 halftime lead.

Boston surged in front thanks to a 20-0 run. The Celtics scored the final three points in the first quarter and the first 17 points in the second quarter to take a 42-27 lead. Indiana didn’t score in the second quarter until Aaron Nesmith made two free throws with 6:45 remaining in the quarter.

Indiana was within two points, 68-66, after Siakam’s 3-pointer with 7:55 remaining in the third, but Boston had a 93-80 advantage entering the final 12 minutes.

The Celtics’ Luke Kornet left the game in the first quarter with a sprained left wrist and did not return to the court.

Boston center Kristaps Porzingis missed his eighth straight game with a calf strain.

–Field Level Media

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NEW YORK – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Saturday’s results broke exactly how they needed to for the defending national champions. Those results caused a 180-degree opposite turn for St. John’s, Providence and Seton Hall – all the BIG EAST rivals who are likely to miss the big dance at the NCAA men’s basketball tournament which starts Tuesday in Dayton, Ohio.

No. 3 Purdue lost to Wisconsin in overtime in the Big Ten tournament semifinals while No. 7 Iowa State pasted No. 1 Houston for the Big 12 championship. Big East No. 1 and national No. 2 UConn took care of business in a hot-shooting second half to beat 10th-ranked Marquette 73-57, sweeping the Big East regular-season and postseason titles.

On the other end of the bracket spectrum, NC State upset Carolina, Oregon and Colorado will play for the PAC-12 title, Temple surprised all in the A-10 and the clouds settled over St. John’s coach Rick Pitino‘s home on a golf course he’ll soon be using daily.

At 31-3, UConn now could be in prime position to receive the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament on Selection Sunday. Coach Dan Hurley claimed that no team at the top of college basketball combined a successful nonconference stretch, a regular-season conference title and a tournament run the way the Huskies have.

“We’ve been the best team in college basketball,” Hurley said. “Obviously March Madness next week, who knows what goes on there, but we’ve clearly been the best program in the country this year.”

How did they do it? Contributions from up and down the roster — some returnees from last year’s championship team, some newcomers, all pulling on the same rope.

All five starters — Tristen Newton, Cam Spencer, Alex Karaban, Stephon Castle and Donovan Clingan — have taken turns leading the attack, and all five had double-figure scoring averages on the season. It was Clingan’s time on Saturday, pairing 22 points with 16 rebounds as he carried the team through a first half of cold perimeter shooting.

The 7-foot-2 Clingan filled the starting center role after Adama Sanogo went to the NBA. Now Clingan is a projected lottery pick this June along with Castle, while Karaban is projected to go in the second round by reputable mock drafts.

That’s to say nothing of Newton and Spencer, who both made the All-Big East first team.

“We’re deep, and we’re deep with NBA players that are unselfish and about winning,” Hurley said.

The Huskies rely on more than their starting five, though, and they needed to dig deep Saturday. Backup big man Samson Johnson provided a much-needed dunk after they went scoreless for the first 6:33 of the game. And with UConn hampered by a 2-for-15 start from 3-point range, freshman Jaylin Stewart delivered.

Stewart subbed in just before the midpoint of the second half and promptly buried a 3-pointer that gave UConn its first lead larger than four all night. Newton drilled a trey less than a minute later, and the floodgates burst.

Spurred on by the pro-UConn crowd at Madison Square Garden, Stewart made two more triples to finish the night with nine points, his second-best total this season. He hadn’t made a 3-pointer since Valentine’s Day.

“Our league is especially tough on freshmen because the league is so physical,” Hurley said. “But we see on a daily basis what he displayed out there on the court. … He’s a future star. You’re looking at a future star at UConn.”

Newton had 10 assists one night after going for 25 points and nine assists in the semifinals against St. John’s. UConn racked up 73 assists over its three-game stay in New York.

“Everybody runs and everybody can score,” Newton said. “Just share the ball, and it’ll be like that for a long time.”

If that adds up to a No. 1 overall seed for UConn, it would set the Huskies up with the simplest path back to the Final Four, as they try to become the first team to win back-to-back national championships since Florida in 2006-07.

“I know we’ve never gotten a No. 1 overall seed in program history,” Hurley said, “so this is a group that seems to be making history in a place that it’s hard to make history.”

–Field Level Media

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SEATTLE – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – Fifth-ranked Connecticut travelled to Seattle to face 10^th-ranked Gonzaga and impressed all with a 76-63 victory late Friday night. Earlier in the evening, Butler won its sixth straight by cruising past Saginaw Valley State 96-70.

UConn (10-1) got out of the gate quickly and held the lead throughout the contest. The Huskies shot 55.8 percent from the floor for the game and held Gonzaga to 30 percent shooting in the second half. Donovan Clingan led the way with 21 points and eight rebounds. Cam Spencer added 15 points. The win was UConn’s second over a top-10 team this season.

Butler opened its game with a 17-2 run and enjoyed a comfortable lead throughout the contest. Freshman Finley Bizjack took advantage of added playing time and scored a team-high 17 points. He is the 10^thBulldog to score in double figures this season. Leading scorer Pierre Brooks II (16.8) scored 15 points in 20 minutes of playing time.

Butler starts BIG EAST competition Tuesday at home against Georgetown while UConn opens at Seton Hall on Wednesday.

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INDIANAPOLIS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Indiana’s multi-talented PG Tyrese Haliburton turned a three-pointer into a tiebreaking, four-point play with 1:33 remaining as part of a triple-double and the Indiana Pacers outfinished the Boston Celtics for a 122-112 victory in the Eastern Conference semifinals of the NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament on Monday in Indianapolis.

The result vaults Indiana into the Eastern finals of the event, which will be played Thursday night in Las Vegas. The winner of Tuesday’s other Eastern semifinal between the New York Knicks and Milwaukee Bucks will join the Pacers in Las Vegas.

The Celtics will drop back into NBA regular-season action on Friday.

After a Jayson Tatum jumper produced the sixth and final tie of the fourth period with 1:57 remaining, Haliburton buried his game-changing shot at the shot-clock buzzer as he was being fouled by Jaylen Brown. Haliburton’s subsequent free throw put the Pacers up 109-105.

Indiana then put the game away by scoring the game’s next five points on a Buddy Hield 3-pointer and an Aaron Nesmith dunk, both assisted by Haliburton. Boston, meanwhile, missed three consecutive shots, including 3-point attempts by Tatum and Brown.

The Celtics held the upper hand for much of the first half before the Pacers, the NBA’s highest-scoring team, exploded for 37 points in the third period to go up 85-78. Haliburton had 12 of his team-high 26 points in the quarter, including two of Indiana’s six 3-pointers.

Boston drew even by the 6:07 mark of the fourth quarter on a 3-pointer by Brown.

Overall, Haliburton shot 5-for-11 from 3-point range to account for a majority of his scoring for Indiana, which connected on 19 treys and outscored the visitors 57-36 from beyond the arc.

The star guard also found time for a game-high 13 assists and a team-high-tying 10 rebounds.

Myles Turner compiled 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Pacers, who earned the home court in the Eastern semifinals by virtue of having gone 4-0 in group play. Hield finished with 21 points, while Bennedict Mathurin had 16, Nesmith 14, Bruce Brown 13 and Obi Toppin 12.

The Celtics, who had walloped the Pacers 155-104 at home on Nov. 1 and came into the Monday contest on a three-game winning streak, were led by Tatum with a game-high 32 points and Brown with 30. Tatum completed a double-double with a game-high 12 rebounds.

Derrick White had 18 points and a team-high eight assists for Boston, which was missing injured Kristaps Porzingis (calf). Sam Hauser came off the bench for 15 points.

–Field Level Media

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BOSTON – (Wire Service Report by Field Level Media) – The Boston Red Sox will attempt to end a four-game losing streak and pull themselves back into the American League wild-card race when they open a four-game series against the visiting Kansas City Royals tonight.

The Blue Jays completed a three-game sweep of the Red Sox with a 13-1 victory on Sunday. Boston was outscored 25-8 in the series.

“Tough weekend,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “They pitched better than us, played better defense, ran the bases better and hit. There’s not much we have to say. They outplayed us the whole weekend.

“Obviously we’ve been through stuff like this the whole season, up and down — we lose three, we win three; we lose six, we win six. So show up (Monday) and play good baseball. That’s all we can do.”

Left-hander Cole Ragans (3-3, 4.33 ERA) is scheduled to start on the mound for Kansas City, which had won seven in a row before suffering back-to-back losses against the Phillies on Saturday and Sunday.

Ragans will be opposed by right-hander Brayan Bello (8-6, 3.79), who will be pitching with an extra day of rest.

Kansas City acquired Ragans, 25, in the trade that sent Aroldis Chapman to the Texas Rangers in June. He made his Royals debut on July 15 in the second game of a doubleheader against Tampa Bay, limiting the Rays to one run on four hits in five innings, but was optioned to Triple-A Omaha after his outing.

The Royals recalled Ragans from Triple-A to start against the Mets last Wednesday, when he tossed six scoreless innings in Kansas City’s 4-0 victory. He struck out eight and walked one. This will be the first time Ragans has pitched against Boston.

“Ever since I got here, I feel like every chance I get to throw, I try to prove that they made a good move bringing me here,” Ragans said. “I’m excited for the opportunity.”

Bello, who has never pitched against Kansas City, allowed four runs on eight hits in six innings to earn the win in last Tuesday’s 6-4 victory against Seattle. He struck out seven and walked two.

It was Bello’s first victory in three outings. He allowed 13 runs in 16 innings during those three starts while also surrendering five homers.

“Bello … his innings are getting up there,” Cora said. “I think it made sense for us to push him back. It’s his second season. This guy is very important, not only for now but for the future. When we have a chance to give him a breather, we will.”

Kansas City catcher Salvador Perez left Sunday’s 8-4 loss to Philadelphia with a left hand contusion after he was hit by a pitch in the second inning. He is listed as day-to-day.

Freddy Fermin, who was in Sunday’s lineup as the designated hitter, replaced Perez behind the plate. Fermin homered twice in Saturday’s 9-6 loss to Philadelphia.

“(I’m) learning every day and creating a good plan when (it’s) time to hit,” Fermin said.

Boston outfielder Alex Verdugo collected three hits Sunday, one day after he was pulled from the lineup for reportedly arriving to Fenway Park late. Verdugo was originally in Saturday’s lineup, but was scratched. Cora called it a “manager’s decision.”

Monday’s contest will be the fourth game of Boston’s 10-game homestand.

–Field Level Media

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