Boston Celtics

The Golden State Warriors' warm-ups were put on pause Wednesday because their basket at Boston's TD Garden was a few inches too high.

Dubs’ warmups had to be paused because the hoop was too high 😳 pic.twitter.com/UgMkAB4EwE

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) June 8, 2022

https://twitter.com/warriorsvox/status/1534676149145686017

ESPN's Kendra Andrews broke down the situation:

With a little over 90 minutes to tip off one of the Warriors assistant coaches noticed that the rim seemed too high in early warmups. He brought a couple players out to confirm and they also believed the rim was too high. They measured and in fact the rim was 2 inches too high.

— Kendra Andrews (@kendra__andrews) June 9, 2022

Warriors guard Gary Payton II was one of the players who noticed the difference:

Was told that Warriors guard Gary Payton II thought the basket Golden State was warming up on was too high, pointed it out, and was correct. It's been adjusted.

— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) June 8, 2022

The Warriors and Boston Celtics will play Game 3 of the NBA Finals at 9 p.m. ET.

It's an unusually late start for an NBA Finals game in the Eastern time zone, and Warriors head coach Steve Kerr joked about it when asked about the basket height during a pregame press conference:

"It's a good thing the game starts at midnight." 😂

Steve Kerr jokes about the height of the hoop being off and the late start time pic.twitter.com/XykamGTX9M

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) June 8, 2022

The best-of-seven series is tied at one game apiece.

BOSTON—Paul Pierce is no stranger to the occasional exaggeration when he’s describing NBA talent. But the way he has consistently boasted about Jayson Tatum resonates a little differently than his usual praise for NBA newbies. He doesn’t speak about the Celtics forward in terms of being a very good player.

Pierce believes Tatum’s game has the potential to surpass Celtic luminaries such as Bill Russell, John Havlicek, Larry Bird, and himself.

“I really believe he’s going to win a championship in Boston and end up one of the greatest, if not the greatest, Celtic to ever play this game,” Pierce said back in March. “He has that type of potential, man. … He’s got everything.”

Maybe so, but it certainly hasn’t manifested itself thus far in the NBA Finals, where Tatum has struggled mightily.

In the first two games, Tatum is averaging 20.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 8.0 assists per game. Not bad. That is until you factor in him shooting just 30.6 percent from the field, which is almost 15 percentage points lower than his season average (45.3 percent).

Boston will need the 24-year-old to shoot better going forward if the Celtics are to maintain control of the series with a win tonight.

That’s just one of several topics as part of the discussion and debate about Tatum heading into tonight’s pivotal Game 3.

Here are the three biggest questions Tatum faces heading into tonight against Golden State.

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Why Has Tatum Struggled with His Shot? 

Tatum has proven himself to be one of the NBA’s better scorers because of his ability to get buckets in a multitude of ways. This past season, Tatum averaged a career-high 26.9 points per game, which ranked seventh in the NBA.

But beyond his overall scoring acumen, Tatum is no different than most NBA players when it comes to having a sweet spot or two on the court.

Finishing at the rim has been one of the knocks on Tatum early in his career. But the last two seasons, it's actually one of the more noticeable areas of growth in his game. He finished the regular season shooting 65.8 percent on shots taken five feet or less from the rim. Last season, he shot 65.9 percent at the rim, a 10.5-point jump from the previous season.

In the playoffs, Tatum is shooting just 58.5 percent within five feet of the rim. Not only has this impacted his scoring, but often those missed shots in the paint lead to turnovers and transition scoring opportunities for their opponent.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fioGFjvCio

Andrew Wiggins has spent the most time defending Tatum and has been surprisingly effective. The Warriors have gone with man-to-man coverage on Tatum with an occasional double-team or blitz. The goal is to force a turnover, or at a minimum, continue to keep Tatum from getting into any kind of rhythm.

It’s working.

"It's tough. It's tough," Wiggins said when asked about defending Tatum. "You've just got to try and make it hard for him. He has a lot of stuff he can do. He can score at all three levels. Just try to be there and make it hard."

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Is Tatum Making an Impact Defensively? 

Boston head coach Ime Udoka's decision to have center Robert Williams III patrol the paint akin to free safety in football provided a back line that has been one of the keys to Boston’s top-rated defense.

But the role that Tatum has played defensively is a piece of the Celtics puzzle often overlooked because he is such a dynamic scorer.

His length, lateral quickness, and improved focus on that end of the floor is why Tatum's defense was the main reason he saw action during his early years with the Celtics.

His defensive rating this season (103.4) was his best since he was a rookie (100.8), with a career-best net rating this season of plus-12.1.

Tatum’s defensive ratings in Games 1 and 2? 113.6 and 123.6, respectively.

He has alternated between sticking with Klay Thompson in Game 1 while spending more time on Stephen Curry in Game 2. Thompson has struggled with his shot as much as Tatum, and missed three of his four shot attempts when defended by Tatum in Game 1.

Curry had 29 points in three-quarters of play in Game 2, and missed three of his four shot attempts when defended by Tatum.

If Tatum can continue to make things tough on at least half of Golden State's one-two punch of Curry and Thompson, he's providing value to the Celtics when he's not making shots. And that's part of Tatum's overall growth and evolution into a player worthy of being named to the all-NBA First Team as he was this year.

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4th Quarter Scoring

Tatum simply has to be more consistent than what we've seen thus far in playoff 4th quarters.

Take Game 5 against Milwaukee in the second round, or Game 6 against Miami in the east semis: both were Boston losses in which Tatum was nowhere to be found in the fourth quarter.

In the three losses to Milwaukee, Tatum averaged 5.7 points in the fourth quarter. In the four wins, he averaged 10.3.

It was more of the same in the Eastern Conference finals against Miami when he averaged just 3.3 points in their three losses.

Big picture, this entire postseason run has been a series of validation moments that either soften or strengthen the argument for Tatum's status as one of the game’s best players. It's easy to say he's just 24 and well ahead of schedule, regardless of whether he can carry Boston when it matters most in Finals 4th quarters.

But Tatum's not dodging the pressure.

“If you win a championship, they can debate a lot of things,” he said. “They can't debate whether or not you're a champion.”

Crunch time has yet to take center stage during the 2022 NBA Finals. Officially, anyway.

Inevitably, though, this will change. And when it does, who will the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors lean on to get them by?

These two teams have played around 20 seconds in which the differential between them was no greater than five points inside the final five minutes. This brief stretch came in Game 1, amid Beantown's raging fourth-quarter comeback, which featured plenty of high-leverage moments and, therefore, some clues as to how both sides will handle themselves during traditional, by-the-book clutch time.

To be sure: Spitting out lineups for the Celtics and Warriors to rely upon when it matters most isn't only about weighting a snapshot of basketball. It's about the series in its entirety—what we've seen thus far, what's worked versus what hasn't and which unit is best built to navigate whatever combination the other team might roll out.

What Should Be the Celtics' Go-to Closing Lineup?

This should be a completely situational, if not overly complicated, question for the Celtics to answer. Their propensity for dual-big lineups and the ease with which they can pivot to five-out arrangements give them an armory of capable possibilities.

Theoretically.

Sticking with the starting five—Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, Robert Williams III—has quickly devolved into a no-go. That quintet was outscored by eight points over 14 minutes in Game 1 and then posted a minus-four through 10 minutes in Game 2.

Its matchup with Golden State's own open five—Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green, Kevon Looney—has been even worse. The Warriors' starters own a 19-point advantage across a 21-minute sample while downing 45.5 percent of their three-pointers and grabbing an annihilatory 46.2 percent of their own misses.

Golden State's offensive rebounding rate during this time is a gargantuan concern for Boston. What's the point of playing big if you're not capping second-chance opportunities? Mat Issa of The Analyst perfectly encapsulated the dilemma facing the Celtics in the larger context of this series:

"Well, as we saw in the Memphis series in which the Warriors topped the bigger, more athletic Grizzlies on the offensive glass, the group unlocks these second chances by leveraging their all-time exterior gravity. The attention Curry, Thompson and Jordan Poole demand from behind the arc stretches defenses out, leaving cracks for Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and Kevon Looney to slither into for offensive rebounds (plus, the way the ball bounces off 3-point misses is much more difficult to predict than shots closer to the rim)."

Boston's performance in the Starters vs. Starters minutes is especially problematic given these stretches don't even represent the spaciest version of the Warriors. Golden State can put Green in the corner, but a frontline of he and Looney still counts as fielding two non-shooters. If the Celtics can't buy time for the Horford-RW3 duo against that group, they can't hope for better results when the Warriors sub out Looney for Poole, Otto Porter Jr. or Gary Payton II.

Pulling RW3 and keeping the other four on the court is Boston's most logical option—and might even be an adjustment they must consider to start games.

Horford is moving better away from the basket than his younger frontcourt sidekick, who suffered a torn meniscus in his left knee at the end of March. As Basketball News' Nekias Duncan noted during an exhaustive breakdown of RW3's struggles this series:

"The Celtics have taken their chances with Andrew Wiggins as the Williams matchup, an option that's been mentioned in this space before the Finals began. In theory, Wiggins is the safest bet. He doesn't screen as often (or as well) as Looney. He doesn't offer the same blend of screening and playmaking as Draymond does. He surely doesn't shoot as well as the Curry/Thompson/Poole triumvirate. You worry about Wiggins as a driver, but it gives you a lesser-of-evils vibe. The Warriors have already started to poke at that matchup."

Golden State is averaging 1.13 points per possession as a team when RW3 registers as a defender on Wiggins. Boston has not been any better off when RW3 spends time on Looney (1.50 points per possession allowed) and doesn't seem inclined to test him against Draymond. Unless the Warriors decide to close with Andre Iguodala, who missed Game 2, the Celtics may find this just isn't an RW3 series.

Head coach Ime Udoka may actually already be there. RW3 tallied just 14 minutes during Boston's 107-88 loss in Game 2 after going for 24 minutes during their Game 1 victory. And if we're operating under the assumption the Horford-RW3 frontcourt is untenable in crunch time, the Celtics don't have anywhere else to turn other than Derrick White.

Sure, they can try preserving the dual-big look with Grant Williams or Daniel Theis. That's not very palatable. Grant Williams has played three minutes with the other four starters in this series, and it hasn't gone particularly well. Boston, meanwhile, hasn't tested out a Horford-Theis pairing—which is probably the right call.

The White-plus-starters combo was instrumental to Boston's Game 1 victory, outscoring the Warriors by 13 points in seven minutes. It didn't fare as well in Game 2 (minus-eight in eight minutes), but the Celtics didn't get to that fivesome nearly early enough, either.

Opting for White over RW3 juices up Boston's defensive mobility on the perimeter, and the former takes enough threes for the resulting quintet to check the five-out box. Perhaps the Warriors demand the Celtics travel a different path if they close with both Draymond and Looney. But even then, Boston is likely better off trying to capitalize on the offensive mismatches created in Small vs. Big situations.

Verdict: Boston's go-to closing lineup should be Marcus Smart, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Al Horford.

What Should be the Warriors' Go-to Closing Lineup?

For all the ado over the Warriors' "Poole Party" lineup, their most talked-about small-ball unit hasn't played an integral part in this series. The combination of Curry, Poole, Thompson, Wiggins and Green was a minus-nine through three minutes during Game 1 and then didn't see the court in Game 2.

That isn't necessarily telltale of anything. Poole proved to be a liability at both ends in Game 1 but was significantly better on offense during the latter half of Game 2. If the Warriors faced any resistance from the Celtics whatsoever after the third quarter, they might have revisited the Poole Party makeup.

Closing with the starters is, of course, in play. That fivesome is a plus-19 through 29 minutes in this series—success dramatic enough to be Golden State's default crunch-time crutch.

But holding serve with Green and Looney up front loses luster if Boston, as already suggested and expected, closes with Smart, White, Brown, Tatum and Horford. Golden State has almost entirely avoided using both Green and Looney against that five-out gaggle. Looney specifically has seen his time on the bench just about perfectly mirror the stretches in which Boston goes with Horford and four perimeter players.

This will lead many back to the Poole Party clique. But the Warriors have other configurations in mind.

Curry, GP2, Wiggins, Porter and Green was the Warriors' second-most-used lineup in Game 2 and delivered molten-hot results across an eight-minute sample. It's hard to envision Thompson riding the bench during crunch time, but GP2 offers more defensive pressure at this point, and such an awkward call gets a tad easier if Klay isn't raining hellfire upon Boston.

Really liked the two-way juice of the Steph-GP2-Wiggins-OPJ-Dray lineup last night. Warriors were +9 during its 8 minutes together. Good mix of offensive and defensive personnel.

— Jackson Frank (@jackfrank_jjf) June 6, 2022

The Warriors also tried GP2-plus-starters in Game 2, as well as the super-small combination of Curry, Poole, GP2, Thompson and Green. The latter seems too nuclear for the highest-stakes possessions; that's a lot of size to give up on the perimeter, and Wiggins is almost a nonnegotiable inclusion relative to how much time he logs opposite Tatum.

Remove sentiment from the equation, and the Curry-GP2-Wiggins-Porter-Green lineup oozes the most appeal. It gives the Warriors four shooters around Draymond—Payton hit 35.8 percent of his 120 three-point attempts this season—while still playing four of their five best defenders (GP2, Wiggins, Porter, Green). But sidelining both Poole and Thompson adds a layer of combustibility.

Poole is the team's second-best off-the-dribble creator. Thompson is its second-best shooter. There is too much offensive variability in a closing lineup without either of them, one in which Wiggins takes on the second-best-shot-creator role.

Turning to the GP2-plus-starters model makes the most sense. GP2 can guard up and won't be targeted like Poole on defense, and the Warriors should get more than enough supplementary creation from Thompson and Wiggins to protect the offense against sloggy stretches.

Verdict: Golden State's go-to closing lineup should be Stephen Curry, Gary Payton II, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green.

Unless otherwise noted, stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference, Stathead or Cleaning the Glass. Salary information via Spotrac.

Dan Favale covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@danfavale), and subscribe to his Hardwood Knocks podcast.

The Boston Celtics are hoping the officiating in the 2022 NBA Finals is more consistent for the remainder the series against the Golden State Warriors.

There was plenty of controversy in Game 2 of the Finals when Draymond Green wasn't given his second technical foul of the contest and ejected from the game following an altercation with Jaylen Brown.

Speaking with Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes, Celtics forward Grant Williams noted that he hopes the officials will be as graceful if he or any of his teammates end up being considered for a second technical foul and possible ejection moving forward.

"By the rules, a tech is a tech regardless of the situation. But as players, all we want to see is consistency," Williams said. "When the refs decided not to give Dray a second tech, we expected it and we moved on. We didn’t harp on it. We just hope that grace is extended for everyone."

Williams added:

“If the refs are taking into consideration that a player — a key player — already has a technical and then they decide for whatever reason that a similar incident doesn’t warrant a second technical, that’s fine as long as there is consistency. The problem is there is no consistency. As players, we just want to know how the game is going to be officiated and then we’ll adjust. I personally believe you have to understand the magnitude of the game and how an ejection can impact the game. No one wants to see the game impacted by an ejection. But either all techs are the same or you consider the situation when [contemplating] a second tech. We just want the rules to be enforced straight forward and consistently.”

Green was a force to be reckoned with from the get-go in Game 2 on Sunday.

First, the 32-year-old forced Al Horford into a jump ball on the opening possession of the game. He then baited Williams into a foul, though he also earned a technical foul on the play, before getting into an altercation with Jaylen Brown.

Green was considered for a second technical foul for his altercation with Brown, but nothing came of the incident.

Green wanted to make sure he was matching Boston's intensity, and he certainly went above and beyond, earning the admiration of Warriors head coach Steve Kerr.

"No, just let him be him," Kerr told reporters. "He's at his best when he's passionate and emotional. I thought he played a great game the other night. He got the early tech, but he left the officials alone all night.

"The play is always going to be physical in the playoffs. Being physical is part of it. So the main thing is you have to leave the officials alone, and Draymond did a good job of that."

This series will be one in which the Celtics and Warriors continue to exchange jabs. The officials set the tone for the series in both Game 1 and Game 2, so it's hard to imagine a player getting ejected for anything similar to what happened with Green on Sunday.

That said, Boston guard Marcus Smart added that the Celtics plan to fight "fire with fire," so neither of these teams will let up in fear of potentially being ejected.

Game 3 between the Celtics and Warriors is set for Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET at TD Garden in Boston. 

After the Boston Celtics' Game 2 blowout loss against the Golden State Warriors on Sunday in the 2022 NBA Finals, star forward Jayson Tatum believes he knows the solution for how the team can bounce back.

"It's simple, we've just got to take care of the ball. We've done it. We're a really good team when we take care of the ball," Tatum told reporters. "But we have those lapse, the snowball effect where we pile on turnovers and dig ourself into a hole."

The Celtics committed 18 turnovers on Sunday. Tatum had the second-highest total on the team with four giveaways, behind Marcus Smart's five.

In Thursday's Game 1, the Celtics committed only 12 turnovers as they went on to steal a road victory.

Boston also struggled mightily with its efficiency on Sunday, shooting 40.5 percent from three-point range but just 37.5 percent overall. Tatum led the team with 28 points on 8-of-19 shooting with six three-pointers. Jaylen Brown added 17 points, but he shot 5-of-17. Derrick White was the only other player to score in double figures with 12 points off the bench, but he went 4-of-13.

The Celtics were done in by a disastrous third quarter that saw them get outscored 35-14. The Warriors led by as many as 29 in the second half as Boston head coach Ime Udoka was forced to empty his bench early in the fourth quarter.

Returning home for Wednesday's Game 3 at TD Garden should help the Celtics put forth a cleaner performance.

Boston Celtics wing Jaylen Brown offered his perspective to reporters about his confrontation with Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green during Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday.

"I don't know what I was supposed to do there. Somebody got their legs on the top of your head. And then he tried to pull my pants down."

Jaylen Brown details the dust-up with Draymond pic.twitter.com/VZtw3t0edv

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) June 6, 2022

The interaction occurred late in the second quarter after Green fouled Brown on a three-point attempt:

Draymond Green and Jaylen Brown had to be separated after this interaction. pic.twitter.com/pyEdSepMjV

— ESPN (@espn) June 6, 2022

Things getting chippy between Draymond and Jaylen Brown 👀 pic.twitter.com/O2aylDtIfz

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 6, 2022

Green tangled his legs up on Brown, leading to the altercation. The Warriors forward was not called for anything outside of the personal foul.

Green had been called for a technical foul earlier in the game for arguing with officials. He was on the hook for an ejection if called for a second T following the Brown incident, which did not happen.

Given the scenario, Celtics head coach Ime Udoka wasn't surprised that the referees decided against calling a double technical.

Ime Udoka said he was "not surprised at all due to the circumstances" that the referees did not give Draymond Green or Jaylen Brown technical fouls for their dust-up. The circumstance, of course, was that Green already had one technical foul before that.

— Jay King (@ByJayKing) June 6, 2022

The Warriors ended up winning 107-88 behind a 35-14 third-quarter advantage to tie the NBA Finals at one game apiece. Warriors guard Stephen Curry led all scorers with 29 points.

The Boston Celtics opened the 2022 NBA Finals with a spirited performance to steal a road victory. But the energy the Celtics brought to Sunday's Game 2 was the polar opposite of that, as they trudged their way to a 107-88 blowout loss against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center.

Jayson Tatum had a bounce-back game with 28 points on 8-of-19 shooting with six three-pointers, but he was the only Boston player to have offensive success on Sunday. His running mate Jaylen Brown added 17 points, but he shot 5-of-17 from the field.

Derrick White was the only other Celtic to score in double figures with 12 points off the bench, but he also struggled with 4-of-13 shooting. Starters Marcus Smart, Al Horford and Robert Williams III combined for just six points.

Boston played an uncharacteristically sloppy game with 18 turnovers. The Celtics had a hot start from three-point land with 10 triples in the first half, but the team struggled mightily from inside the arc. Things fell apart in another disastrous third quarter that saw Golden State outscore them 35-14. Overall, Boston shot 37.5 percent from the field and 40.5 percent from three-point range.

Fans and critics online didn't hold back in their assessment of the Celtics' lackluster performance.

This looks like Celtics offense from first half of the season right now.

— Brian Robb (@BrianTRobb) June 6, 2022

The Celtics are shooting 27.3 percent on 2-pointers tonight. Not finishing through contact, and consistently rushing shots in the paint.

— Marc D'Amico (@Marc_DAmico) June 6, 2022

Celtics are 9-for-32 inside the 3-point line. Tough game scoring for players not named Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

— Jeff Zillgitt (@JeffZillgitt) June 6, 2022

29 Warriors points off 16 Celtics turnovers.

21-point difference in points off turnovers.

Warriors up 23.

That's a huge part of the story of this game.

— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) June 6, 2022

A complete disaster of a third quarter for the Celtics.

— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) June 6, 2022

A 35-14 3rd quarter for Dubs

Celtics shooting 12-27 from 3

9-34 from 2.........

— Robert Littal BSO (@BSO) June 6, 2022

Points off turnovers...

33-8.

"There's no other reason why...."

— Sean Grande (@SeanGrandePBP) June 6, 2022

I knew the Celtics weren't gonna shoot like game 1 again

— The Realest Swerve Strickland (@swerveconfident) June 6, 2022

Combined 9-for-35 FG from Brown, Smart and White. #Celtics #Warriors

— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) June 6, 2022

For the Celtics, 18 turnovers (on 96 possessions) is just death against the Warriors.

— Shane Young (@YoungNBA) June 6, 2022

It's been over a month since Boston put forth such a dismal effort. The Celtics were the best team in the NBA in the second half of the season, going 28-7 after Jan. 23. But Sunday's game was a regression back to the start of the year that saw the team struggle with chemistry issues and inept offense.

However, the Celtics can take comfort in the fact that they are heading back to Boston for Wednesday's Game 3 with the series tied at 1-1. They are 6-0 when coming off a loss in this year's postseason, so the team's confidence shouldn't be affected.

But against the Warriors, the Celtics cannot afford another game with subpar energy and effort. It will take complete focus from here on out if Boston hopes to earn its 18th NBA title.

Both the Boston Celtics and the Golden State Warriors wore shirts urging for the end of gun violence ahead of Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night.

https://twitter.com/KerithBurke/status/1533576049677676544

The Warriors players and staff will be warming up in “End Gun Violence” shirts today. Various activism organizations are featured on the back of the shirts. pic.twitter.com/hqiT1BMrGl

— Jason Dumas (@JDumasReports) June 5, 2022

"There are things we can do to limit gun violence that would not violate people's second amendment rights but would save people's lives," Warriors head coach Steve Kerr told reporters. " ... The majority of people in this country want sensible gun laws that would limit gun violence."

Celtics head coach Ime Udoka also spoke on the matter:

“Awareness and change needs to happen,” says Celtics coach Ime Udoka, commenting on both teams wearing the “End Gun Violence” shirt. #nbafinals pic.twitter.com/Bw4BDO1G6L

— Alisha Miller (@alisha_m_miller) June 5, 2022

Celtics coach Ime Udoka on the “End Gun Violence” campaign pic.twitter.com/IWEY2ZltCE

— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) June 5, 2022

"Wearing this is really about things that are continuing to happen in our communities. They're devastated by it, their families are devastated, and we kinda go on with our normal life and business. ... Wearing this [represents] that change needs to be made, and we're all on the same page as far as that."

A number of sports teams and federations, including the Philadelphia Eagles and the United States men's national soccer team, have recently called for gun reform in the country:

pic.twitter.com/KYufRQzXE2

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) June 3, 2022

Today we are sending this letter to every member of Congress pleading with them to act and help end gun violence. #BetheChange #DontLookAway pic.twitter.com/KWb5Eb1Z0K

— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) June 5, 2022

pic.twitter.com/9DpyuwEzJo

— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 26, 2022

pic.twitter.com/UIlxqBtWyk

— New York Yankees (@Yankees) May 26, 2022

A statement from the Washington Nationals.

Join us and other local sports teams as we turn outrage into action.

Donate today to support Everytown for Gun Safety’s Community Safety Fund: https://t.co/5spsJy82OE#WearOrange / #Nats4Good pic.twitter.com/WPVKkR3Kge

— Washington Nationals (@Nationals) June 3, 2022

pic.twitter.com/8d0HuS1VOR

— Washington Mystics (@WashMystics) May 28, 2022

Tennis star Coco Gauff wrote "Peace. End gun violence" on the camera Saturday after her semifinals win at the French Open.

The United States has seen a string of mass shootings in the past month, including the deaths of 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas; 10 deaths at a grocery store in Buffalo; four deaths at a hospital in Tulsa; and three deaths and 11 injured people in a Saturday night shooting in Philadelphia.

According to a new poll from ABC News/Ipsos, 70 percent of Americans believe passing laws to curb gun violence should take higher priority than gun ownership rights.

"There simply has to be change!" LeBron James tweeted in May after the Uvalde massacre. "HAS TO BE!!"

Al Horford has been invaluable for the Boston Celtics, and his teammates have taken notice.

"Al [Horford] is the best teammate ever, just a consummate professional," Celtics star Jayson Tatum told reporters.

Horford is by far Boston's most experienced player in his 15th year in the league—Marcus Smart comes in second in his eighth year—and he has provided valuable leadership helping the squad reach the NBA Finals.

The 36-year-old also showed in Game 1 of the Finals he can still score when he needs to, providing a team-high 26 points in the 120-108 victory over the Golden State Warriors. He finished 6-of-8 from three-point range and hit several big shots during the 40-16 fourth-quarter domination.

Though Horford averaged just 10.2 points per game during the regular season, he has started every game he played this year and is clearly making a big impact on and off the court.

Horford and the Celtics will look to keep their strong play going Sunday at 8 p.m. ET in Game 2 at Golden State.

The Boston Celtics are playing in the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010, and they're using the opportunity to show their support for WNBA veteran Brittney Griner, who has been wrongfully detained by the Russian government for 107 days.

Ahead of Game 2 against the Golden State Warriors, the Celtics wore T-shirts that read, "WE ARE BG," during Saturday's practice and media availability. National Basketball Players Association Vice President Grant Williams told reporters the shirts were a collaboration between the NBPA and WNBPA:

The shirts were super important not only showing our support for our sister that is detained over in Russia, Brittney Griner, we just wanted to show that togetherness and love that we have throughout not only the NBA but the WNBA. She's been a vital part of the WNBA over years past, college, and in the amount of impact she's had on young female athletes, USA and overseas.

We hope to have her back in the U.S. and reunited with her family and do what she loves and bring that love and tenacity she always plays with on the court.

Williams added that the WNBPA sent the T-shirts overnight and that every Celtics player put one on without hesitation as soon as they received them.

#FreeBrittneyGriner 👉 https://t.co/NilQSP8giS pic.twitter.com/6tw5S3dwAL

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) June 4, 2022

Marcus Smart with a t-shirt supporting imprisoned #WNBA star Brittney Griner pic.twitter.com/6dLsD1Sasm

— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) June 4, 2022

"As a collective, we wanted to come out and show our support for Brittney Griner," Jaylen Brown added. "She's been over there for an extended amount of time, and we feel like enough is enough."

“She’s been over there for an extended amount of time, and we feel enough is enough.”

Jaylen Brown on Russia holding Brittney Griner for months. pic.twitter.com/8Va9zPFwf4

— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) June 4, 2022

Jayson Tatum also spoke about his relationship with Griner. He said the two got to know each other while playing for Team USA at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo and they became good friends.

"So it's extremely tough seeing what she's going through," Tatum said. "I know everybody sees and feels that, and obviously we're all together in support trying to bring her back to her family and things like that. Yeah, wearing those shirts today in support of her."

.@FCHWPO @jaytatum0 @smart_MS3 and the rest of the Boston Celtics showed support for Brittany Griner during their media availability 🙏 pic.twitter.com/Eq12Ch8rzW

— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) June 4, 2022

Griner has been detained since February after Russian officials said they found vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage at a Moscow airport.

State Department representative Ned Price said in a briefing last month that Griner is "continuing to do as well as could be expected under these exceedingly challenging circumstances":

But again, our message is a clear and simple one—we continue to insist that Russia allow consistent and timely consular access to all U.S. citizen detainees. One-off visits are not sufficient, and we will continue to call on Moscow to uphold its commitments under the Vienna Convention for consistent and timely access as well.

According to ESPN, Griner's lawyers have visited her at least once a week while she has been detained. She is also receiving letters from friends and family in the United States, her agent, Lindsay Kagawa Colas, told CNN.

"While sporadic, written communication from her wife, family, friends and global sport community has been a source of comfort for BG during her wrongful detainment, going without real-time, regular contact with loved ones is inhumane," Colas said.

The Phoenix Mercury selected Griner with the No. 1 pick in the 2013 WNBA draft. She has gone on to have a successful career with the franchise, averaging 17.7 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 254 games across nine seasons.

The 31-year-old is one of a number of players who compete overseas during the WNBA offseason, and she last took the court for Russia's UMMC Ekaterinburg in January.