BOSTON (AP) — The Celtics have been one of the NBA’s hottest teams since returning from the All-Star break.
They can add one of the best offensive performances in league history to their list of accomplishments as they await a possible return of star Jayson Tatum to action.
Boston shot a season-high 66.7% (52 of 78) from the field in their 148-111 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Friday. It was the second-best field goal percentage in team history, falling just short of the 67.9% they shot against the Golden State Warriors on Nov. 21, 1984.
The Celtics also shot 64.7% from the 3-point line Friday, which equated to an 80.8% effective field goal percentage – the highest in NBA history. Effective field goal percentage measures shooting efficiency by adjusting for the fact that 3-pointers are worth more than two-point shots
All-Star Jaylen Brown led the way, finishing with 28 points, nine assists and seven rebounds. But he got plenty of support from his teammates, with trade deadline acquisition Nikola Vucevic adding 28 points and 11 rebounds for his third double-double as a member of the Celtics.
“I thought we just did a good job reading the game,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “I thought we made the right reads throughout most of the entire game. I thought tonight Vooch really looked comfortable in his offensive reads and his offensive screening. He unlocked a lot of stuff for us.”
All 13 Celtics players scored in the game, with Boston committing only three turnovers after halftime.
“We just try to read the game and take what’s there,” Brown said.
Boston, winners of five of its six games since the All-Star break, will now wait to see if Sunday night’s home matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers will mark the return of Tatum.
The game, originally scheduled to be played earlier in the day, was moved by NBC into an 8 p.m. primetime slot, creating speculation it could signal Tatum’s plan to return.
It’s been 41 weeks since Tatum ruptured his right Achilles tendon last May in the waning minutes of the Celtics’ loss to the New Knicks in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals.
The Celtics are required by the NBA to release an initial injury report by 5:00 p.m. EST on Saturday ahead of Sunday’s home game against the 76ers.
After practicing with the Celtics’ G League team two weeks ago, Tatum said he hadn’t yet made a decision of whether he’d return.
“It doesn’t mean that I’m coming back or I’m not, it’s just following the plan. So it’s just another step,” Tatum said. “I don’t know percentage. I just know I feel a little bit better everyday. I just try to focus on that.”
Tatum said in the same interview that he is also mindful of not wanting to disrupt the progress of a Celtics team that at 39-20 currently sits in second place in the Eastern Conference standings.
’I’m just hyper aware of what’s going on. I think it would just stem from that. Obviously, I know what I bring to the table and bring to the team. But I’m also aware that these guys have been playing extremely well,” Tatum said.
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Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla applauds during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Brooklyn Nets, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown, right, drives to the basket against Brooklyn Nets center Day'ron Sharpe during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, right, jokes with assistant coach Sam Cassell during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Brooklyn Nets, Friday, Feb. 27, 2026, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. and Israel launched a major attack on Iran on Saturday, and President Donald Trump urged the Iranian public to “seize control of your destiny” by rising up against the Islamic leadership that has ruled the nation since 1979. Iran retaliated by firing missiles and drones toward Israel and U.S. military bases in the region.
Some of the first strikes on Iran appeared to hit near the offices of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Smoke rose from the capital as part of strikes that Iranian media said occurred nationwide. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the 86-year-old leader was in his offices when the attack occurred.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC News that Khamenei and President Masoud Pezeshkian are alive “as far as I know,” and called the attack “unprovoked, illegal and absolutely illegitimate.”
In a video announcing the “major combat operations," Trump told Iranians that “when we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be probably your only chance for generations."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu echoed that goal, called for “the brave Iranian people to take their fate into their own hands."
The strikes during the holy fasting month of Ramadan opened a stunning new chapter in U.S. intervention in Iran, and marked the second time in eight months that the Trump administration has attacked the Islamic Republic during talks over its nuclear program. Weeks earlier, a U.S. military operation captured Venezuela’s president, Nicolás Maduro.
The targets included members of Iran's leadership, according to a U.S. official and another person briefed on the attacks who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing operation. There was no immediate information on whether top officials were killed.
Even if Iran's top leaders are killed, regime change is not guaranteed. Neither the U.S. nor Israel have articulated a vision for what new leadership might look like.
Democrats decried that Trump had taken action without congressional authorization. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said the Trump administration had briefed several Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress in advance of the attack.
The U.N. Security Council said it would meet Saturday afternoon. In a letter to the council, Araghchi said “all bases, facilities, and assets of the hostile forces in the region shall be regarded as legitimate military objectives.”
Iran also requested an urgent session of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors about “these threats to safeguarded nuclear facilities,” according to a letter posted by the semiofficial Tasnim news agency.
The U.N.’s nuclear watchdog said on X it was closely monitoring developments and had seen “no evidence of radiological impact.”
Tensions have soared in recent weeks as American warships moved into the region. Trump said he wanted a deal to constrain Iran’s nuclear program at a moment when the country is struggling at home with growing dissent following nationwide protests.
The immediate trigger for Saturday’s strikes appeared to be the unsuccessful latest round of nuclear talks. But they also reflected dramatic changes that have left Iran’s leadership in its weakest position since the Islamic Revolution nearly half a century ago.
Israeli and American strikes last June greatly weakened Iran’s air defenses, military leadership and nuclear program. A regionwide war, sparked by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, has left Iran’s network of proxies across the Middle East greatly weakened. U.S. sanctions and global isolation, meanwhile, have decimated Iran’s economy.
Iran responded to the latest strikes by launching missiles and drones targeting Israel and strikes targeting U.S. military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar.
Israel’s military said Iran fired “dozens” of missiles at Israel, with many intercepted and no serious injuries reported. Barrages continued after sundown.
In southern Iran, at least 57 people were reported killed after a girls’ school was struck, and dozens more were wounded, according to Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency. The White House and Israel's military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Flights across the Middle East were disrupted and air defense fire thudded over Dubai, the United Arab Emirates' commercial capital. Shrapnel from an Iranian missile attack on the UAE capital killed one person, state media said.
The U.S. military has for weeks amassed forces in the region, even as U.S. and Iranian envoys held talks in Switzerland and Oman.
“Active and serious negotiations have yet again been undermined,” Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, key mediator, said on X. “Neither the interests of the United States nor the cause of global peace are well served by this," he said.
Israel said the operation has been planned for months with the U.S. “Air Force pilots are striking hundreds of targets across Iran, at significant personal risk and in coordination with U.S. strikes,” Israeli military chief of staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said in a statement.
Targets in the Israeli campaign included Iran’s military, symbols of government and intelligence targets, according to an official briefed on the operation, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic information on the attack.
Trump, in seeking to justify the military action, claimed Iran has continued to develop its nuclear program, despite asserting last year the program had been “obliterated” by an earlier round of strikes. He acknowledged Saturday that there could be American casualties, saying “that often happens in war.”
It was a notable call from a U.S. leader who swept into office on an “America First” platform and vowed to keep out of “forever wars.”
Trump’s statement listed grievances beyond the nuclear program, stretching back to the beginning of the Islamic Republic, following a revolution in 1979 that turned Iran from an American ally into a fierce foe.
The U.S. president said he was aiming to “annihilate” the Iranian navy and destroy regional proxies supported by Tehran. He called on the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to lay down arms, pledging members would be given immunity, while warning they would face “certain death” if they didn’t.
Trump had threatened military action, but held off, following Iran's recent crackdown on protests spurred by economic grievances that evolved into a nationwide, anti-government push against the ruling clerics.
The Human Rights Activists News Agency says it confirmed more than 7,000 deaths in the crackdown and is investigating thousands more. The government has acknowledged more than 3,000 killed.
Iran has said it hasn’t enriched uranium since June, but it has blocked international inspectors from visiting the sites America bombed. Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press have shown new activity at two of those sites, suggesting Iran is trying to assess and potentially recover material there.
Iran said it hoped to avert a war, but maintained its right to enrich uranium. Its leaders did not want to discuss other issues, such as its long-range missile program or support for armed groups like Hamas and Hezbollah.
The strikes could rattle global markets, particularly if Iran is able to make the Strait of Hormuz unsafe for commercial traffic. A third of total worldwide oil exports transported by sea passed through the strait in 2025.
Saudi Arabia said in an announcement on state-run media that Iran had targeted its capital and its eastern region in an attack that was repelled.
Kuwait’s civil aviation authority said a drone targeted the main international airport, injuring several employees. Bahrain said a missile attack targeted the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters in the island kingdom. Explosions could also be heard in Qatar. Jordan said it “dealt with” 49 drones and ballistic missiles.
The Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen vowed to resume attacks on Red Sea shipping routes and on Israel, according to two senior Houthi officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because there was no official announcement.
U.S. embassies or consulates in Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Israel said staffers were told to shelter in place and recommended all Americans “do the same until further notice.”
Toropin and Madhani reported from Washington and Boak from West Palm Beach, Florida. Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman and Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv, Israel, Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad, Samy Magdy in Cairo, and Farnoush Amiri in New York contributed to this report.
This story has been corrected to show that IRNA reported 40 people were killed in the school strike, without specifying students.
A woman holds a picture of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a demonstration in support of the government and against U.S. and Israeli strikes in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
People rush to take shelter as warning sirens sound following missile fired towards Israel, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Civilians staying in a shelter after alarms announced that Israel had launched an attack on Iran, in Ramat Gan, Israel, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
People watch as smoke rises on the skyline after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026.(AP Photo)
Smoke rises on the skyline after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026.(AP Photo)
Smoke rises on the skyline after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026.(AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Smoke rises on the skyline after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026.(AP Photo)
Smoke rises on the skyline after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026.(AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
FILE -Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz makes statements with his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias after their meeting in Athens, Greece, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis, File)
