Brad Stevens is already fourth on the Celtics’ all-time list for coaching victories, and he’ll have a chance to move up further now that the team has announced it is extending his contract beyond the 2020-21 season. Mike Ehrmann/Associated Press, Pool
BOSTON — The Celtics have signed Coach Brad Stevens to a contract extension, the team announced Wednesday. Terms of the new deal were not disclosed.
The Celtics signed Stevens to a six-year deal when they hired him in 2013. They gave him an initial extension in 2016 that would have expired following next season.
Stevens, 43, has a 318-245 record in seven seasons. His wins rank fourth in franchise history, trailing Red Auerbach (795), Tom Heinsohn (427) and Doc Rivers (416).
The Celtics are 48-23 this season and have won at least 48 games each of the last five seasons. Boston already has clinched the third seed in the Eastern Conference for the playoffs that start Monday, which will mark the team’s sixth straight trip to the postseason under Stevens.
During Stevens’ tenure, the Celtics made back-to-back trips to the East finals in 2016-17 and 2017-18, the first time since the 1986-87 and 1987-88 seasons that they’ve reached the conference finals in consecutive seasons.
“Brad is an accomplished coach and an outstanding person,” Celtics lead owner Wyc Grousbeck said in a statement. “We are proud to have him lead our team forward in our quest for banner 18.”
President of basketball operations Danny Ainge called Stevens “a great teammate.”
“His character and integrity have contributed to a culture that we all highly value here,” Ainge said.
BUCKS: Giannis Antetokounmpo has been suspended for Milwaukee’s final game of the regular season, handed a one-game penalty for headbutting Washington’s Moe Wagner.
It’s unknown if Antetokounmpo would have played in Thursday’s game against Memphis anyway, given that the Bucks have already secured the No. 1 overall seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs that start next week.
Antetokounmpo will be eligible for Game 1 of the Bucks’ first-round series against Brooklyn.
PACERS: Indiana added another year to Coach Nate McMillan’s contract, which was set to expire after next season.
McMillan, who is in his fourth season with the Pacers, is 659-588 in 16 seasons as a head coach, putting him 22nd in NBA history in victories.
THE NBA still has not had a confirmed coronavirus case among players inside the season-restart bubble at Walt Disney World.
The league released updated numbers Wednesday showing that none of the 342 players who were tested daily since the league last released results on Aug. 5 has had a confirmed positive.
• NBA players could have some family members or close friends inside the season-restart bubble with them by the end of the month.
And that raises the possibility of having a real, albeit small, cheering section for some playoff games.
The league detailed the policies for guest arrivals to teams on Wednesday in a memo, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press. The opportunity to bring guests into the bubble at Walt Disney World will be only for teams advancing to the second round of the playoffs, and the earliest any guest could satisfy quarantine rules and be reunited with a player is Aug. 31.
In most cases, players would be limited to four guests. The league told teams that any guests would have to be either family members, “longtime close personal friends with whom a player has an established, preexisting, and known personal relationship,” private security staff and established family childcare providers.
Those who wouldn’t be allowed into the bubble include: “trainers, physical or massage therapists, personal chefs, hair/apparel stylists, tattoo artists, and current/prospective business partners, and certified agents (other than family members), among others,” the memo said.
Also not allowed, according to the league: casual acquaintances, friends by association, anyone the player has not previously met in person or is “known by the player only through social media or an intermediary.”
WEDNESDAY’S GAMES
PACERS 108, ROCKETS 104: Myles Turner had 18 points, reserve Edmond Sumner added a season-high 17 and Indiana held off a late Houston rally.
The victory finalized the Eastern Conference first-round playoff matchups, which will include the Pacers vs. the Heat and the Celtics vs. the 76ers.
RAPTORS 125, 76ERS 121: Stanley Johnson scored the tiebreaking basket in the lane with 4.9 seconds remaining.
THUNDER 116, HEAT 115: Mike Muscala made a 3-pointer with 5.2 seconds left and Oklahoma City overcame a 22-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat Miami.
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