T he Boston Celtics began play in the 2024 NBA Cup on Tuesday, but Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla did not find himself any more excited for the NBA Cup than for any of the team's

Charles Lee won a championship as the lead assistant on Joe Mazzulla's staff with the Boston Celtics last season. When Lee left to become the coach of the Charlotte Hornets, Mazzulla informed Lee that he was now the "enemy" and shouldn't expect to chat like they did when they were on the same side.

BOSTON -- Just one game into this year's NBA Cup, the Boston Celtics are already facing an uphill battle in their quest to make it to Las Vegas. The Celtics were completely outplayed by the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night, and have a lot of work to do to simply make it to the Knockout round of the NBA's second annual in-season tournament.

Just 24 hours after being outworked by the Atlanta Hawks in their NBA Cup opener, the Boston Celtics walked the walk against the Brooklyn Nets. They talked the talk Tuesday night, saying that they needed to be better and play harder and did just that in Brooklyn on the back end of a back-to-back when they issued fans a 25-point apology in their whomping of the Nets.

The New York Knicks (5-6) welcome the Brooklyn Nets (5-7) to Madison Square Garden for NBA Cup group play Friday. Tip is set for 7:30 p.m. ET. Let's analyze BetMGM Sportsbook's NBA odds around the Nets vs.

The Nets are coming off a 139-114 loss to the Celtics in which Brooklyn played winning basketball in the first half of the game before the team dropped the ball in the final 24 minutes. With forward Dorian Finney-Smith missing the contest due to a left ankle sprain,

The first iteration of the Clash of the Boroughs this season gets underway Friday night as the Nets visit Madison Square Garden to take on the Knicks. Both teams are coming off a loss, with Brooklyn suffering a 25-point defeat to the Celtics,