Nikola Vucevic could make his debut with the Boston Celtics when they take on the visiting Miami Heat on Friday night.

Boston acquired Vucevic, 35, in a trade with the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday. The Celtics gave up guard Anfernee Simons and a 2026 second-round draft pick in the deal. Boston also received a future second-round pick.

Vucevic, a 6-foot-9 center, is averaging 16.9 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game in 48 games this season, but he hasn’t been as effective at the defensive end of the court.

“I know some of the limitations I have,” Vucevic told The Athletic. “I’m aware of them.”

Neemias Queta has been Boston’s starting center this season. The Celtics have also used center Luka Garza, whose skillset is similar to what Vucevic brings.

Queta and Garza both started in Wednesday’s 114-93 road victory over Houston. Queta finished with 10 points, 19 rebounds and five blocks in the win. Garza, who made his second start of the season, added 19 points and six rebounds.

“It just helped us on multiple fronts,” Boston coach Joe Mazzulla said when he was asked about the double-big lineup. “It helped us defensively. It helped us offensively with matchup recognition. We were able to kind of be in our matchups because of that. I thought those guys did a great job. I thought Luka and Neemi were great. Neemi was kind of the best version of him.”

The Celtics also reportedly made two minor moves Thursday. Boston sent Chris Boucher to Utah, and traded Josh Minott to Brooklyn. Like Vucevic, Boucher is in the final year of his contract.

The Heat will be looking to end Boston’s four-game winning streak Friday.

“We’re just going to forge ahead until we conquer it,” Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. “It’s disappointing. I see the potential with our team. I really do.

“That ability to sustain — get a quality win and then do it again. Then rinse and repeat. That’s what all the very good teams are able to do. They’re just more consistent.”

The Heat didn’t have Andrew Wiggins (left hamstring tightness) for Tuesday’s 127-115 home loss to Atlanta. Norman Powell (personal reasons) and Tyler Herro (ribs) also did not play against the Hawks. Powell has missed Miami’s last three games and Herro hasn’t played in the last 11.

Herro didn’t make the two-game trip that includes Sunday’s game against the Washington Wizards. Wiggins and Powell will likely be back against the Celtics.

“Whoever we got out there, we take the approach we always have what it takes to win,” Miami’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. said. “Obviously, guys are dealing with things. We want them to get better, get all the rest they can so they’re healthy when they come back to us. Until then, we’re gonna try to hold it down as best we can.”

Atlanta made 21 of 50 3-point attempts Tuesday. Chicago also made 20 of 40 shots from beyond the 3-point arc in a 125-118 win over Miami on Saturday, one day before the Bulls shot 14.6% on 3-point attempts (6 of 41) in a 134-91 loss to the Heat.

“We just couldn’t get it done defensively (against Atlanta),” Jaquez said. “They lit us up from 3 — something that’s kind of been a theme for us the last couple (losses).”

–Field Level Media

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — Italy’s Olympic title defense got off to a mixed start at the Milano Cortina Games on Thursday, as the mixed doubles curling champions beat South Korea before suffering their first defeat in major competition at the hands of Canada.

The Italian pairing of Stefania Constantini and Amos Mosaner, who are also the world champions, cruised to an 8-4 victory over Koreans Jeong Yeong-seok and Kim Seon-yeong in the morning session.

However, a poor start in their game against Canada’s Brett Gallant and Jocelyn Peterman ended their record, after they had made it through the only two competitions they played together — the 2022 Olympics and the 2025 World Championships — undefeated.

An inch-perfect play from Peterman left the Italians trailing 5-0 after the first end and the home favorites quickly unraveled, with Mosaner missing a string of shots as they reached the halfway mark trailing 6-2.

That deficit proved too much for Italy, who eventually conceded at 7-2.

“It went terrible in the first end for me. We gave up five in the first end, but I have to accept I missed the shots and they played better. We have to accept the loss and we try to start better tomorrow,” Mosaner said.

The Canadians, making their mixed doubles debut at the Games, produced an impressive display on Thursday as they also beat Norway’s two-time Olympic medalists Kristin Skaslien and Magnus Nedregotten in the afternoon session.

Asked how it felt to end Italy’s unbeaten record, Gallant said: “It feels great, obviously. Going into that game, you really only have one option, you have to play really well because they’re such a strong team.

“Defending world champs, defending Olympic champs. You have to get off to a great start, play really well. I’m just proud that we were able to execute that plan tonight.”

Canada’s win moved them level at 3-0 with Great Britain’s Jennifer Dodds and Bruce Mouat, who beat the Czech Republic and Estonia on Thursday.

Switzerland (2-1) and the United States (2-0) occupy the remaining two playoff spots.

American curlers Korey Dropkin and Corey Thiesse, world champions in 2023, prevailed 8-6 over Norway’s Skaslien and Nedregottenand later beat Switzerland 7-4.

The Norwegian duo was leading for a large part of the contest, before their opponents flipped the script in the final end.

“We struggled early on with our draw weight and had a really good fourth end break, refocused, talked about the different speeds and the different paths, and just wanting to communicate that more out on the ice,” Thiesse said.

In the evening session, Estonia’s Marie Kaldvee and Harri Lill claimed their country’s first ever curling victory at the Olympics in any category, beating Sweden’s brother-sister duo of Isabella and Rasmus Wrana 7-5.

Teams play nine matches in the round-robin stage, which continues on Friday at the Cortina Olympic Curling Centre, with the top four advancing to the semi-finals next week.

–Reuters, special to Field Level Media

As the clock counted down on the NBA trade deadline Thursday, it was the Los Angeles Clippers who drained a shot at the buzzer, while the Chicago Bulls seemed unable to execute the play drawn up in the huddle.

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Ja Morant were supposed to be the biggest names on the move by Thursday afternoon and yet the Milwaukee Bucks and Memphis Grizzlies held their ground. And yet the Grizzlies managed to show they had other options.

The Dallas Mavericks were still trying to dig themselves out of the hole they made for themselves in advance of last year’s deadline, while the Golden State Warriors shut down the trade season after inspiring some head scratching.

With the second half of the NBA season already upon us, even if the All-Star break has yet to arrive, there were multiple winners and losers as the trade deadline passed.

WINNERS

Cleveland Cavaliers

At least for the time being, the Cavaliers figured out how to make themselves a better team, all while sitting in a top-four spot in the Eastern Conference. Good-bye Lonzo Ball, De’Andre Hunter and the injured Darius Garland. Hello Keon Ellis, Dennis Schroder and James Harden.

Cleveland loses 10 years in the Harden-Garland swap but they suddenly have scoring punch for when star guard Donovan Mitchell goes to the bench. It was a glaring weakness for a top team, and while Harden, 36, is an older player, he has been durable.

The Cavaliers are on a 9-2 run and they have yet to integrate their new pieces, although Ellis and Schroder did make their team debut Wednesday … in an blowout road victory over their trade partner, the Los Angeles Clippers.

Los Angeles Clippers

Considering the Clipper were an old team with no first-round draft pick this year and a 6-21 record to start the season, the path to a brighter future is now paved.

Harden was swapped for a 26-year-old in Darius Garland, who has a two All-Star Game appearances and a tight relationship with Los Angeles head coach Tyronn Lue. What Garland will need moving forward is better health.

The Clippers also addressed their empty vault of draft picks by landing two first-rounders when they moved center Ivica Zubac, whose old-school game lacks the versatility of today’s big men. And yet the Clippers also added Bennedict Mathurin from the Pacers in the deal.

The Clippers now have the fifth overall pick from the 2019 draft (Garland), the No. 6 overall pick from 2022 (Mathurin) and two first-round picks for the future.

Memphis Grizzlies

Trading Morant was supposed to bring Memphis the kind of draft capital, similar to what the Oklahoma City Thunder had acquired to build their current empire and make it formidable for years to come.

With teams seemingly unsure of where Morant sees himself down the road, the Grizzlies traded Jaren Jackson Jr. to the Utah Jazz for a package that includes three first-round draft picks. Add that the to the four first-round picks they landed this offseason by trading Desmond Bane to Orlando, and Memphis can see a bright future, all in a matter of nine months.

LOSERS

Chicago Bulls

A haul of second-round draft picks would be impressive in baseball and formidable in football. In basketball, the stars that emerge from the second round do exist, but not as much as the Bulls are going to need them to develop.

The Bulls now have 14 second-round draft picks through 2032 and only five of them are their own. And Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu and Nikola Vucevic are gone now from a roster that was hovering around the bottom of play-in eligibility.

Guard Jaden Ivey is a nice pickup, assuming injury issues are behind him, but was there not a single first-round pick to be had this week?

Golden State Warriors

The reported pursuit of Antetokounmpo inspired dreams of the Greek Freak playing alongside Steph Curry as the former champions combine their star power to chase at least one more title. Oh well.

Not only that, sending out Jonathan Kuminga seemed like it would bring a decent return. But even while combining Kuminga with Buddy Hield, the Warriors were only able to land Kristaps Porzingis. At least Porzingis is on an expiring contract.

Golden State is currently eighth in the West, but that is merely a spot in the play-in tournament. Can Curry will another deep playoff run with the squad he has around him?

Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers won last year’s trade season by ripping away Luka Doncic from the Mavericks, but with merely a handful of expiring contracts to deal, they were going to have to be clever to land the kind of upgrade they needed this time around.

Enter Luke Kennard, who was acquired Thursday. While Kennard coached by JJ Redick offers intrigue, he is not the most aggressive of talented sharpshooters and it is hard to see him being more assertive on a team when Doncic and LeBron James are yearning for the ball.

If only Dalton Knecht turned into the confident shooter Los Angeles envisioned. Maybe a 3-and-D forward would be on his way instead.

–Field Level Media