Boston Celtics, Former Hoosier Juwan Morgan Advance to NBA Finals
The Celtics defeated the Miami Heat 100-96 in game seven of the Eastern Conference Finals on Sunday night. Jayson Tatum became the first player to win the newly-named Larry Bird Trophy, which is given to the MVP of the Eastern Conference finals. Tatum led the Celtics with 26 points, followed by 24 points from both Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart.
Despite a 35-point effort from Miami's Jimmy Butler, Boston now advances to its first NBA Finals appearance since 2010. And for Indiana basketball fans, there is a familiar face on the Celtics looking to win the most highly-desired trophy in basketball.
Former Indiana forward Juwan Morgan signed a two-year, $1,834,863 deal with the Boston Celtics in April to fill an open roster spot before the NBA playoffs. Since joining the Celtics, Morgan has appeared in four games for a total of 10 minutes. He scored his lone point of the playoffs in Boston's 127-102 game two win in Miami on May 19.
As the No. 3 seed, the Celtics have now taken down the Brooklyn Nets, Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat en route to the NBA Finals where they'll face Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors in a seven-game series. Morgan first appeared for the Celtics during this year's playoffs when the Celtics defeated the Milwaukee Bucks in game seven of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
Playing for the Hoosiers for four seasons from 2015 to 2019, Morgan was a two-time All-Big Ten selection, averaging 16.5 points and 7.4 rebounds as a junior and 15.5 points and 8.2 rebounds as a senior. He started 85 of 128 games and was part of Indiana's 2016 Big Ten regular season championship team as a freshman.
Morgan joined Steve Downing as the second Indiana basketball player to ever record a triple-double when he scored 10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists on Dec. 22, 2018 in Indiana's 94-64 win over Jacksonville. He scored a career-high 35 points in Indiana's win over Butler in the 2018 Crossroads Classic, which also broke his own record of 34 points in the Crossroads Classic set the previous season.
The 6-foot-7 forward started his professional career as an undrafted free agent with the Utah Jazz. Morgan played for Utah in the 2019 Summer League and signed an Exhibit 10 contract with the Jazz in August of 2019. He spent the following two seasons playing for the Jazz and their G-League affiliate, the Salt Lake City Stars.
Morgan notably started his first NBA game for Utah in Game 1 of the 2020 Western Conference first-round matchup against the Denver Nuggets. Utah lost the game 135-125, but Morgan finished with a team-high plus-17 plus/minus rating, contributing three points, seven rebounds, one assist and one steal.
Following two seasons with the Jazz and Stars, Morgan signed with the Celtics in September of 2021. He was waived a few weeks later, but was quickly resigned by Boston's G-League affiliate, the Maine Celtics. Playing 13 games, Morgan averaged 12.3 points on 53.1 percent shooting, 6.2 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 1.0 steals in 28.2 minutes per game.
Morgan signed a 10-day contract with the Toronto Raptors in December of 2021 but was reacquired by the Maine Celtics on Jan. 1, 2022 after his 10-day contract expired. The first year of Morgan's new contract with the Celtics will allow him to play through the playoffs, but next year's portion of the deal is not guaranteed, according to reporter Keith Smith, who covers the Celtics.
While Morgan hasn't played a major role for the Celtics in their run to the NBA Finals, Boston's big man Robert Williams has been dealing with nagging injuries throughout the playoffs. Morgan could see an increased role if Williams or another Boston forward is sidelined with an injury. Nevertheless, it's good to see the undrafted Morgan have a chance to win basketball's most coveted trophy.
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