Ukrainian guard of Boston Celtics Max ShulgaThe player, who currently plays for the Maine Celtics farm team, talked about his personal development and recalled how he was selected in the 2025 draft.

– The Maine Celtics are improving and it seems like you are becoming more confident on the court. Your NBA debut is still ahead of you, but how do you feel about your first year after the draft?

– It was a good experience, you can learn a lot. As in every season, there are ups and downs. Individually and as a team. Good learning curve, valuable experience.

– I want to go back to the moment when the Celtics drafted you. How did you feel? What went through your mind when you saw your name?

– I was in Dallas with the agency and doing pre-draft training. We had a draft party in Dallas.

I was with everyone in the agency, along with Maxim Renault. He was also drafted by the Sacramento Kings. He’s a good friend. We had a pre-draft workout with a few people: Jaxsen Mauney of the G-League Golden State Warriors and Nelly Joseph, who currently plays in France.

We all watched the draft. I wasn’t sure if I would be selected or not. If so, it’s probably in the 50-60 range. Many teams started searching. I didn’t know until five minutes before the draft when he told me the Celtics were drafting me. My manager Brad said: I was so excited.

Words cannot express this because it is a dream you always strive for. But you never really know until it happens. It was such a surreal feeling. It took time to realise.

– You mentioned two teams that wanted to draft you before the Celtics…

“The Grizzlies called and wanted to draft me, but sent me to play in Europe for a while. A lot of other teams, probably the Bucks, were still calling.”

– You worked with Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. What did they recommend?

– No, they didn’t give direct advice, but by watching them, I learn how they approach it every day. They come to training, work on themselves, do shooting practice with coaches.

Their attention to detail is impressive every day. JB practiced dribbling and shooting all over the court, repeat after repetition. I realized that this was necessary to reach their level.

– What about Joe Mazzulla? They talked about the “machine gun sound” in training…

– It was one of the real standout moments of training camp (laughs). We did it one on one, defending against each other, and machine gun fire was coming out of the speakers.

He was very demanding every day, he left no one alone, he held everyone accountable. It doesn’t matter if you are 15th or first in the squad, everyone is at the same standard. He also works out in the gym and gets up with us.

He even discusses the rules with the referees and looks for ways to “manipulate” the game. Incredibly competitive and demanding.

Shulga is averaging 13.3 points, 4.2 rebounds and 6.6 assists per 33 minutes on the court in the current G-League season.

Seven games were played in the NBA regular season on the night of January 14-15.

Chicago hosted Utah and earned a hard-fought victory.

The match turned out to be equal: The teams changed the lead 27 times and the fate of the match was decided in the last seconds. Sensabaugh tied the score with an accurate two-point shot 29 seconds before the siren, but the final attack fell to Chicago. The Bulls used the available time and, thanks to Vucevic’s efforts, the center made the two-point basket 4 seconds before the siren. As a result, the home team won with a score of 128:126.

Vucevic was the most productive name for Chicago, scoring 35 points.

Svyatoslav Mikhayyuk He did not take the field in this game like several other starters.

Indiana lost to Toronto at home after three straight wins.

The winner of the game was decided in the first quarter, which the Raptors won with a score of 39:18. Then the guests calmly controlled the course of the meeting and led it to a confident victory – 115:101.

Three players recorded double-doubles for Toronto: Barnes (26 points + 13 assists), Dick (21 points + 11 rebounds) and Murray-Boyles (10 points + 10 rebounds).

Denver was able to beat Dallas on the road with limited rotation.

Nuggets won the first half of the match by 17 points, deciding the fate of the winner of the match. Afterwards, the Mavericks managed to narrow the gap, but they could not fully return to the game. As a result, Denver, which played with a 9-player rotation due to numerous injuries, won with a score of 118:109.

Murray scored 33 points for the winners.

NBA. Regular season, December 15

Chicago – Utah – 128:126 (36:39, 35:23, 23:32, 34:32)

Chicago: Vucevic (35 + 7 rebounds), Okoro (12), Jones (7 + 8 assists), Buzelis (7), White (6 + 7 rebounds + 7 assists + 5 turnovers) – start; Dosunmu (15 + 6 assists), Williams (13), Smith (12 + 10 rebounds), Terry (11), Herter (10).

Utah: George (25 + 7 assists), Filipovski (19 + 7 rebounds), Bailey (10), Collier (8), Williams (6 + 7 rebounds) – start; Sensabaugh (43), Anderson (7), Clayton (5), Hendricks (3).

Indiana – Toronto – 101:115 (18:39, 30:28, 30:27, 23:21)

indiana: Siakam (26 + 10 rebounds), Nembhard (14 + 6 assists), Furphy (10 + 10 rebounds), Huff (7), Nesmith (6) – start; Jackson (14), Walker (11), McConnell (8 + 6 assists), Sheppard (3), Bradley (2), Thompson (0), Jones (0), Potter (0).

toronto: Ingram (30 + 7 rebounds), Barnes (26 + 7 rebounds + 13 assists), Murray-Boyles (10 + 10 rebounds), Shead (7 + 6 assists), Bettle (5) – starter; Dick (21 + 11 rebounds), Agbaji (10), Lawson (5), Martin (1), Mobo (0).

Dallas – Denver – 109:118 (23:29, 23:34, 32:25, 31:30)

dallas: Marshall (24), Washington (12), Hardy (8), Gafford (6 + 10 rebounds), Flegg (6) – start; Williams (20 + 7 rebounds), Caleb Martin (15), Thompson (8), Powell (5), Nembhard (5), Kelly (0).

Denver: J. Murray (33), Gordon (22), Watson (18), Jones (10), Pickett (9) – starter; Hardaway (12), B. Brown (7), Nnaji (4), Holmes (3).

Philadelphia – Cleveland – 107:133 (18:33, 29:27, 28:33, 32:40)

Philadelphia: Embiid (20 + 6 losses), George (17), Maxey (14), Edgecombe (9), Barlow (2) – starts; Grimes (8), Drummond (7 + 9 rebounds), Oubre (7), Bona (6), McCain (6), Edwards (6), Watford (3), Walker (2).

cleveland: Mitchell (35 + 7 rebounds + 9 assists), Garland (20 + 7 assists), E. Mobley (17 + 13 rebounds + 6 assists + 4 blocks), Tyson (12), Allen (10) – start; Hunter (17), Ball (9), Bryant (4), Nance (3), Merrill (3), Proctor (2), Porter (1), Tomlin (0).

New Orleans – Brooklyn – 116:113 (27:31, 27:24, 33:32, 29:26)

New Orleans: Murphy (34 + 9 rebounds), Williamson (25), Bay (12), Fiers (7 + 7 rebounds), Quinn (4) – start; Missy (12 + 12 rebounds), Matkovic (8), Poole (7), McGowens (5), Hawkins (2).

Brooklyn: Porter (20 + 7 rebounds), Djomin (17), Powell (16), Claxton (10), Clowney (6 + 7 rebounds + 6 assists) – start; Thomas (16), Sharpe (15 + 9 rebounds), Wolf (5), Traore (5), Mann (3).

Sacramento – New York – 112:101 (32:17, 24:25, 40:34, 16:25)

sacramento: DeRozan (27), Lavigne (25), Achiuwa (20 + 14 rebounds), Westbrook (19 + 11 assists), Reynaud (10) – start; Monk (9), Cardwell (2), Ellis (0), Clifford (0).

New York: Bridges (19), Anunoby (15), Towns (13 + 5 steals), Hart (10), Brunson (4) – start; Clarkson (11), McBride (10 + 6 assists), Robinson (8 + 11 rebounds), Kolek (7), Hookporti (2), Yabusele (2), Diawara (0), Dadier (0).

Clippers – Washington – 119:105 (37:22, 33:29, 26:38, 23:16)

cutting machines: Leonard (33), Harden (22 + 8 assists), Senders (11), B. Lopez (11), Dunn (4) – start; Niederhäuser (16), Miller (11 + 10 rebounds), Batum (9 + 8 rebounds), Christie (2).

washington: George (23), Middleton (17), Johnson (10), Sarr (4), Coulibaly (3) – starts; Bagley (15 + 11 rebounds), Riley (12), Vukcevic (10), Shempeny (7 + 8 rebounds), Carrington (4 + 7 assists), Brenham (0), Johnson (0), Hill (0).

Six regular season games were played in the NBA on the night of January 12-13.

Cleveland hosted Utah and suffered an unexpected defeat.

Jazz started the game with a 21:4 attack and controlled the game until the middle of the second quarter. Cleveland gradually closed the gap and made a 17:2 move before the big break to take a 62:54 lead. Utah recovered and took the lead again in the third quarter, widening the gap in the last 12 minutes and bringing the score to double digits again. As a result, Jazz won with a score of 123:112.

Svyatoslav Mikhayyuk He was in Utah’s starting 5 and played 26 minutes, during which he scored 11 points (1/1 two-point, 3/6 three-point), 1 rebound and 3 assists.

The most productive player of the match was George with 32 points, while Markkanen (28 points + 12 rebounds) and Nurkic (11 points + 17 rebounds) made double-doubles.

Indiana defeated Boston at home in sensational fashion.

The match was quite even. No team managed to get more than 13 points away from the opponent, and most of the time the difference was two accurate shots. At the same time, Indiana was heavily ahead, which never allowed Boston to take the lead in the second half. But with 30 seconds left in the match, White equalized the score – 96:96 and could have sent the game to overtime, but the Pacers attacked this time and grabbed the victory. Siakam scored the winning two-point basket 7 seconds before the siren. As a result, the score became 98:96 in favor of Indiana, and this was already the third victory in a row.

Siakam scored 21 points and Huff scored 20 points for Indiana.

NBA. Regular season, January 13

Cleveland – Utah – 112:123 (22:34, 40:20, 24:36, 26:33)

cleveland: Garland (23 + 8 assists), Mitchell (21), E. Mobley (15 + 9 rebounds + 8 assists), Merrill (14), Allen (8) – start; Tomlin (13), Tyson (11), Porter (5), Hunter (2).

Utah: George (32 + 9 assists), Markkanen (28 + 12 rebounds), Mikhailyuk (11), Nurkic (11 + 17 rebounds), Williams (8) – start; Love (11), Collier (7+8 assists), Sensabaugh (7), Filipovski (4), Bailey (4).

Indiana – Boston – 98:96 (19:24, 34:32, 26:21, 19:19)

indiana: Siakam (21 + 8 rebounds + 6 assists), Huff (20), Nembhard (13 + 9 assists), Nesmith (6), Furphy (4) – start; Walker (11 + 7 rebounds), Jackson (8), Sheppard (5), Potter (5), McConnell (5), Bradley (0).

Boston: Pritchard (23 + 8 assists), White (18), Keta (15 + 8 rebounds), Houser (8 + 8 rebounds), Scheuermann (2) – start; Simons (16), Walsh (6+9 rebounds), Garza (6), Gonzalez (2).

Toronto – Philadelphia – 102:115 (28:45, 23:35, 26:19, 25:16)

toronto: Quickley (18), Ingram (17 + 10 rebounds + 7 assists), Barnes (15), Murray-Boyles (12 + 7 rebounds + 6 assists), Shead (3 + 6 assists) – start; Lawson (14), Mamukelashvili (8), Martin (6), Dick (4), Bettle (3), Mobo (2), Temple (0), Agbaji (0).

Philadelphia: Maxey (33), Embiid (27 + 8 rebounds + 7 turnovers), Edgecombe (15 + 8 assists), George (15 + 6 assists), Barlow (4) – starts; Oubre (7), Walker (6), Grimes (6), McCain (2), Bona (0), Edwards (0), Lowry (0), Watford (0).

Dallas – Brooklyn – 113:105 (32:23, 24:22, 28:32, 29:28)

dallas: Flegg (27), Marshall (22 + 9 assists), Hardy (14), Christie (10), Powell (5 + 10 rebounds) – start; Thompson (18), Nembhard (9+8 assists), Kelly (5), Cisse (2), Caleb Martin (1).

Brooklyn: Porter (28 + 9 rebounds + 6 turnovers), Clowney (13), Clexton (13), Powell (10), Menn (5 + 6 assists) – start; Sharpe (14+12 rebounds), Martin (7), Wilson (6), Traore (6+6 assists), Wolf (3).

Sacramento-Lakers-124:112 (32:28, 29:26, 34:29, 29:29)

sacramento: DeRozan (32 + 6 assists), Westbrook (22 + 7 assists + 5 turnovers), LaVine (19), Reynaud (11), Achiuwa (9 + 7 rebounds) – start; Monk (26 + 8 assists), Ellis (3), Cardwell (2 + 7 rebounds), Clifford (0).

Lakers: Doncic (42 + 7 rebounds + 8 assists), James (22), Ayton (13 + 13 rebounds), Larevia (2), Smart (1) – start; Hayes (12), Vincent (9), James Jr. (6), Knecht (5), Vanderbilt (0), Kleber (0), Smith (0).

Clippers – Charlotte – 117:109 (24:26, 21:17, 41:41, 31:25)

cutting machines: Leonard (35), Harden (32 + 10 assists), Zubac (9 + 11 rebounds), Collins (3), Dunn (0) – start; Miller (14), B. Lopez (9), Senders (8), Batum (7), Brown (0), Christie (0), Niederhäuser (0).

Charlotte: Ball (25 + 9 rebounds), Knippel (18), Diabate (13 + 15 rebounds + 4 blocks), Miller (13), Bridges (11) – start; Menn (9), James (8).

tournament tables

Western Conference

Eastern Conference