For The Third Time In The Last Four Years, The Celtics Bow Out In The Eastern Conference Finals

 

    In 2020 and with the easiest path that they'll ever see (think the Bruins last postseason) in real life, it shouldn't have ended like this for the Celtics. Being overmatched in the NBA Finals vs. the Lakers (as painful as it is to say this) would have been understandable and the end to a wonderful season. Instead, dreams of another Celtics-Lakers NBA Finals meeting will have to wait for at least another year as Boston lost 125-113 in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals tonight vs. Miami in the Disney World bubble. It sucks that it had to come against my favorite team but in a weird way, it was very refreshing to see a team-first club succeed in a league that's typically dominated by stars and little else (see: this season's Lakers). The Celts might have more top-end talent but that couldn't have mattered less as the Heat used great teamwork, balanced scoring and better coaching (and front office moves!) to reach their first NBA Finals since 2014. 

    Boston trailed for most of Game 6 but of course they led by six points (96-90) after a bucket by Jaylen Brown (team-high 26 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals) early in the fourth quarter. From there, Miami went on a crazy closing run of 35-17 to take it. From the outside, this might have been a stunning ending but not if you've watched the C's blow leads and falter in fourth quarters repeatedly in the Toronto series and basically every game vs. the Heat. Bam Adebayo (career-high 32 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists) was the best player on the court this evening and likewise the best overall player in the entire series from start to finish. Jimmy Butler added 22 points and eight assists while Duncan Robinson added 15 points and six rebounds while crafty veteran Goran Dragic notched 13 points and seven assists. Miami basically only used two guys off their bench but that's all they needed as rookie shooting guard Tyler Herro (19 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds) closed out his star-making series with a flourish and old man Andre Iguodala (15 points, 2 steals) had his best game as a member of the Heat. Jae Crowder is also going to the NBA Finals after he put up nine points, six rebounds and two blocks to close out his former club. 

    Jayson Tatum (24 points, career-high 11 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 steals) had a weird Game 6 as he went scoreless in the first quarter before taking over in the second quarter. Hopefully this pumps the brakes a bit on those that want to say he's one of the best players in the league. Yes, he had a really good season and he shows signs of being a special player all the time but a better, more complete player takes over that series and doesn't get overshadowed by Adebayo or frankly anyone else on Miami. Kemba Walker (5 assists) and Marcus Smart (8 rebounds, 2 steals) both scored twenty points but the real cause of Boston's downfall was their brutal 3-point shooting (15-for-46, 32.6%) which was reminiscent of their Game 7 loss two years ago to LeBron James and the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals. I have been a Brad Stevens honk going back to his magical days at Butler but is it time to wonder if he'll ever get over the hump of the ECF? Furthermore, would it kill him to try and change things up in an elimination game when guys like Smart (4-for-13), Tatum and Walker (both 3-for-10) have no solutions to a contest that's quickly slipping away from their grasp then to continue to jack up dreadful 3-pointers with no hope of going in. 

    Gordon Hayward (12 points) just wasn't enough of a factor either in 32 minutes off the bench. Five different Celtics made appearances off the bench but they still managed to get outscored by the unlikely Herro/Iguodala tag team by a count of 34-17. Maybe Danny Ainge could have made a move or two at the trade deadline (groundbreaking idea, I know!) like Miami did to pick up valuable experienced veterans like Iguodala and Crowder. It was easy to make fun of what seemed like minor moves at the time but who's laughing now? Trader Danny gets way too fixated on hoarding draft picks which doesn't make sense since when he's not in the lottery where he can get studs like Tatum or Brown, he honestly does not draft all that well. Like at all. Tatum, Brown and Kemba are a great base to start with but like Stevens, this seems to be their ceiling if they don't decide to further reinforce things by surrounding them with more quality players. 

     Miami led 33-27 after the first quarter then Boston responded to outscore them 33-29 in the second quarter to cut it to a one-possession game (62-60) at halftime. Both teams scored 26 points in the third quarter which should have set up a fantastic fourth quarter but instead the Celtics chose to collectively pee their shorts. They should be embarrassed as the Heat outscored them by 10 (37-27) with a possible Game 7 looming on Wednesday night. Instead, Game 1 between the Lakers and Heat will begin that night (9, ABC). Just like the ball, these numbers don't lie: Miami shot nearly 13% better from the floor (56.3%-43.4%), 15.5% better on 3s (48.1%-32.6%), they attempted 11 more free throws (26-15) and hit 10 more of them (22-12). The Heat also grabbed nine more defensive rebounds (38-29) and handed out four more assists (30-26). 

    Bigger picture, other than some obvious moves by Ainge (another big guy, please!), we can only hope that this serves as another valuable lesson to this team's nucleus of what it takes to win more often at this level. From all accounts, they are likeable guys that put in the work and have more important things than just basketball on their minds 24/7. This is all well and good but professional sports are a results oriented business and going out with a whimper like this will never be an acceptable conclusion for such a proud franchise. The sad reality is that they were frontrunners who started the postseason 6-0 in the bubble, only to sputter to a 4-7 finish after this final debacle. 

     

    

    

    

Pats Barely Needed Cam Newton As They Blew Out The Raiders 36-20 Behind Rex Burkhead's 3 TDs

 

    I'm not going out on a limb here when I say that the 2020 Patriots (2-1) are not going to win many beauty pageants: there most likely will be many games this season that are clunky and frustrating at times but I'm also willing to bet that they still find different and interesting ways to win more than their fair share of those. This afternoon at Gillette Stadium, they got off to a bumpy start as they were blanked in the first quarter but they steadied themselves enough to take a 13-10 halftime lead before absolutely running over Las Vegas (2-1) in the second half on their way to an impressive 36-20 victory. We all know that the Raiders were a fraud 2-0 team but needless to say, the Patriots have to play much better next Sunday afternoon (4:25, CBS) to have even a slim chance to beat the defending champion Chiefs (2-0 going into tomorrow's Monday Night Football showdown in Baltimore).  

    For the first time in his brief New England tenure, Cam Newton (17-of-28 for 162 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT; 27 yards rushing) was mediocre but that didn't matter since Rex Burkhead (6 carries, 49 yards, 2 TDs; 7 catches, 49 yards, TD) had the game of his NFL life. It was his first career three touchdown performance as a pro and the Patriots used a punishing ground attack (250 total yards rushing!) to wear down Vegas who played last Monday then had to travel across the country during a pandemic. Fun! Patriots running back James White remains out as he deals with the loss of his father but surprisingly, New England more than made up for his absence thanks to Sony Michel (9 carries, 117 yards-5th career 100+ yard game; 2 catches, 23 yards) showing he deserves to still have a decent role on this team. Undrafted rookie running back J.J. Taylor also got 11 carries and ran for 43 yards because Bill Belichick doesn't give a shit about your silly fantasy football team. 

    When you look at Derek Carr's numbers (24-of-32 for 261 yards, 2 TDs) from this afternoon, you might be fooled into thinking that he had a pretty decent outing. Not quite, he lost two fumbles and he piled up much of those stats in garbage time when the Pats were up 36-13 with less than five minutes left in the fourth quarter and they no doubt were starting to look ahead to their matchup with Kansas City. Tight end Darren Waller (2 catches, 9 yards on 4 targets) and running back Josh Jacobs (16 carries, 71 yards, fumble lost; 3 catches, 12 yards) are two bright young stars in the league but the Patriots did a great job of shutting both of those guys down. The only Raiders offensive player who was that consistently effective was their slot receiver Hunter Renfrow (6 catches, 84 yards, TD) who at some point in his life is guaranteed to be a Patriot. 

    The first quarter was straight out of a high school JV football game as the first three possessions resulted in punts then the Raiders drove to the red zone only to see Jacobs fumble at the 12-yard line (caused by former Raider Shilique Calhoun and recovered by J.C. Jackson). Cam returned the favor on the ensuing drive by throwing an awful interception right to Johnathan Abram. Las Vegas couldn't really take advantage of the great field position though as they settled for a 29-yard field goal by Daniel Carlson. 

    With a drive (9 plays, 60 yards, 2:46) that started in the first quarter and extended into the second quarter, New England finally started to find its footing. They also stalled out in the red zone-something that figures to be a major issue all season with no legitimate tight end and no dependable wide receiver outside of Julian Edelman (2 catches, 23 yards on 6 targets) who was invisible after his incredible game vs. Seattle last Sunday night. Nick Folk got them on the scoreboard with a 33-yard field goal then struck for another from 23 yards shortly after that as Chase Winovich caused a Carr fumble and Lawrence Guy recovered it. The Pats put together their best drive (12 plays, 86 yards, 5:04) of the day late in the second quarter that culminated with a screen pass to Burkhead where he juked, spun and crashed his way into an 11-yard touchdown. The Pats defense fell asleep at that point as the Raiders answered with a touchdown of their own in 28 seconds. Stephon Gilmore had a brutal pass interference penalty and two catches by Renfrow got them down to the 1-yard line where Carr threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to backup tight end Foster Moreau. 13-3 Patriots at halftime would have been nice but 13-10 was much harder to swallow. 

    Proving that they are listening to their legendary head coach, New England made some adjustments and played lights out in the second half. Burkhead added a five-yard touchdown run and Folk had a 32-yard field goal in the third quarter as the Pats extended the lead to 23-10. Vegas' red zone failures continued to plague them as Carlson kicked a 25-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter to cut it to 23-13. Burkhead put it to bed with a two-yard touchdown run (Folk missed the PAT) then on the next play, Carr fumbled in the end zone and Deatrich Wise Jr. recovered the football for the biggest play of his forgettable Patriots existence. 

    For New England to have any chance to upset the Chiefs, Newton will have to go crazy similar to the way that he did against the Seahawks. Likewise, Edelman will need to ball out along with some big plays by the defense and maybe an unlikely other source or two. Fall is officially here though: the Red Sox' miserable 60-game horrorshow mercifully ended today and the Celtics bricked their way to another Eastern Conference Finals loss (more on that later!) so if you want to watch a local team for the rest of 2020 this is your squad. Sorry Revs, you couldn't matter less to anyone besides the players, the coaches and their families. You can already tell that it's going to be a two team race in the AFC East this season: Buffalo (3-0) stayed perfect with a referee assisted 35-32 win over the Rams (2-1) while the Dolphins (1-2) picked up their first win of the season on Thursday 31-13 at Jacksonville (1-2) and the Jets (0-3) got curb-stomped by the Colts (2-1) 36-7 this afternoon. The Bills are legit, the Pats are good, the Dolphins are going nowhere as always and the Jets might be the worst team in the NFL.

After An Awful 1st Quarter, Boston Rallies To Force Game 6 vs. Miami With 121-108 Victory

 

    Admit it, there were many times in the first half of tonight's Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals between the Celtics and the Heat that you were screaming at the TV for how badly Boston was playing. In an elimination game from the Disney World bubble, they were completely lifeless in the first quarter as the Heat outscored them 26-18 and things didn't get better at the start of the second quarter as they trailed by as many as 12 points (40-28). Full credit to the C's though who were down 58-51 at halftime but just when everyone started to fully doubt them, they submitted their best frame of the season-starting out on a 20-5 run and outscoring Miami 41-25 (the most points they've scored in a quarter in the playoffs and +16 tied for their best scoring differential in a playoff quarter as well) in the third. From there, they coasted to a 121-108 win which cut Miami's series lead to 3-2. Game 6 is on Sunday night (7:30, ESPN). 

    It was all about picking up the pace for the Celtics as they continued to get stops against the Heat and turned those into layups, wide open 3-pointers and free throws. No surprise that Jayson Tatum (game-high 31 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists) was in the middle of everything for Boston since his 17 points in the third were a new playoff career-high for him. Jaylen Brown (28 points, 8 rebounds) was also really good and it felt like the first time in weeks that they both played well in the same playoff game. Daniel Theis (15 points, 13 rebounds, 3 blocks) outplayed Bam Adebayo (13 points, 8 rebounds) so obviously it was his best game of the series thus far. Kemba Walker (15 points, 7 assists) had a mostly quiet performance although Jeff Van Gundy was raving about it for some reason and Marcus Smart (12 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 steals) was back to his old self-in a good way. Even Boston's much-maligned bench made some things happen: Gordon Hayward scored 10 points and Enes Kanter scored eight points in 10 minutes of action. 

    Early on when it looked like Boston's season was going down the tube faster than you could say "1-2-3 Cancun," Duncan Robinson (20 points) scored 12 in the first quarter including two drives to the basket which resulted in easy baskets which should never ever happen. Goran Dragic (team-high 23 points) was the only other guy on the Heat to have a solid game but luckily he fouled out in the fourth quarter after he went in for a layup and kneed poor Theis in the junk. Ouch babe. Jimmy Butler was held to 17 points, eight rebounds and eight assists while Jae Crowder added 14 points and six rebounds. Game 4 legend Tyler Herro (14 points) thankfully came back down to Earth in a major way. 

    Boston outscored Miami by 20 points in the second half thanks to some atrocious 3-point shooting by the Heat: 7-of-36 for 19.4%. That set a franchise-low for their worst ever shooting percentage from long distance when they had 30+ attempts. It's foolish to think that the Heat will do anything like that in Game 6 but what is sustainable for the Celtics is their determination on rebounds (50-38 overall and 13-6 on offensive boards) while also tallying more than twice as many steals (7-3) as Miami. Boston also hit five more 3-pointers, two more free throws (25-23), had two more assists (29-27) and committed one less turnover (12-11). 

    It sounds silly to say it since most were probably picking the Green to win this series coming into it but right now, all the pressure still lies on the Heat. Sitting in the bubble for months, they've had little else to do but watch the Nuggets twice rally from 3-1 deficits which in normal NBA postseasons are a borderline lock to be over. Boston has more talent than Miami and while it is super frustrating that it takes an elimination situation for it to finally come out again, at least we see that it is still there. The Celtics can reach a level that the Heat can't but the key to that remains in their attitudes and desire to play to their strengths (defense, transition, spreading the ball around, etc.). Boston has already beaten Miami more times this postseason than Indiana and Milwaukee combined. Now, they need to focus and try to duplicate that near perfect third quarter and more than acceptable fourth quarter (29-25). We all desperately want a Game 7 in our lives and the only way to get it is for the C's to once again prove that Games 1-2 and 4 vs. the Heat weren't a true reflection of their capabilities.

      

    

    

Herro (Career-High 37 pts!) & Heat Push Celtics To The Brink Of Elimination With 112-109 Gm. 4 Win

 

    How much difference can one spot in the NBA Draft sometimes make? Well my friends, look no further than the 2019 NBA Draft where Miami had the 13th pick with Boston right after them. The Heat took shooting guard Tyler Herro from Kentucky while the Celtics selected small forward Romeo Langford from Indiana. The story goes that C's GM Danny Ainge loved Herro when he crushed it at a pre-draft workout in Boston but that meant absolutely nothing as he dropped a career-high 37 points tonight at the Disney World bubble while Langford's utterly forgettable rookie campaign is already over after surgery on his wrist. Miami held on for a 112-109 victory in Game 4 to give them a 3-1 lead in the Eastern Conference Finals. Game 5 is on Friday night (8:30, ESPN) and I don't blame you for starting to drink already in anticipation of that one last disappointment from the C's. 

    Only 13 teams in NBA history have ever rallied from a 3-1 deficit although that includes Denver twice already this postseason-against Utah and the fraud Clippers. Boston has done it twice before but not in a long time: 1968 vs. Sixers and 1981 vs. Sixers. This is all glossing over the fact that the Heat are a better team right now at this moment. It doesn't matter how many high draft picks the Celts have on their current roster, Miami has more guys that can go off in a given contest while Boston cannot figure things out from game to game. In fact, since leading 2-0 in the last round vs. Toronto, the C's fell to 3-6 in their last nine games after this loss. Besides Herro (who has scored in double-figures every playoff game), Jimmy Butler (24 points, 9 rebounds), Goran Dragic (22 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals) and Bam Adebayo (20 points, 12 rebounds, 2 steals) all continued to play their roles to perfection and carve up Boston in the process. 

    The final score was closer than it really should have been because numerous questionable foul calls and replays all seemed to go Boston's way near the end. Make no mistake, as ugly as the first half was for both teams, the Heat outscored the Celtics in the first, second and fourth quarters therefore they deserved to win this more. Oh and the simple facts that the Heat had three times as many steals as the Celtics (9-3) while Boston turned the ball over an absurd 11 more times (19-8). Nobody in Green better illustrated the unpredictable nature of the Celtics than Jayson Tatum (9 rebounds, 3 blocks): he went scoreless in the first half then caught fire in the second half to the tune of finishing with a team-high 28 points. Two other Celtics scored 20+ points but just barely: Jaylen Brown had 21 points and nine rebounds while Kemba Walker notched 20 points with five assists. Marcus Smart (10 points, 11 assists, fouled out) picked a poor time to morph back into Marcus Smart when it comes to shooting as he went 3-for-12 from the floor including a disgusting 1-of-8 on 3-pointers. Props to Gordon Hayward (14 points, 7 rebounds in 31 minutes off the bench) who missed the birth of his son (after 3 girls!) this afternoon for this frustrating setback. You think his wife will hold that decision against him for the rest of his life?

    You have to hand it to the NBA for sucking most of the life out of this series by putting two extra days off since Game 3 which in case you forgot happened way back on Saturday night which in 2020 terms was a lifetime ago. The first half was borderline unwatchable and it looked like anything but a game this deep into the postseason. Miami led by one point after the first quarter (24-23) and 50-44 at halftime-the first time that they were up at the break in this series while holding Boston to its lowest scoring first half of the playoffs. 

    We all know how poorly the Celts typically perform in the third quarter at the bubble but not this evening as Tatum caught fire and they outscored the Heat to trail by just one point (77-76) heading into the fourth quarter. To say that the last 12 minutes were a slog is being generous, is there anything more tedious than the end of a close NBA playoff game when there are roughly a thousand whistles and 500 replays/reviews? I didn't think so. Boston shot almost five percent better from the floor (47.6%-42.9%), they hit four more 3-pointers (14-10), grabbed six more rebounds (46-40), handed out eight more assists (28-20) and blocked three more shots (5-2). Bottom line: if they weren't so careless with the ball and/or if they found a way to slow down Herro a tad, this would have been a win. 

    The Celtics have already won when facing elimination this postseason but that was a little different scenario as they had blown a 3-1 lead vs. Toronto and had to survive Game 7 just to reach the Eastern Conference Finals. Adebayo appeared to pick up a hand/wrist injury late in Game 4 but he never came off of the court so who knows how serious it is. To lose to the Heat is one thing, I doubt that many Celtics fans realized how good they are but to lose in a gentleman's sweep (5 games) would be downright pathetic. I'd like to think that the C's have too much fight left in them to go out like that but if they get down early and/or big on Friday, do you have any confidence that they'll battle back and not fold? Yeah, me neither. Time to prove us wrong guys! PS I love Brad Stevens but are we starting to see that his teams only have a certain ceiling? Something to chew on until Game 5 tips off, I'll bring the alcoholic beverages-we'll surely need them.

Seattle Nearly Gave Away Another Game To The Pats, Until Newton Got Stopped On The Final Play

 

    I don't think that many sane and/or rational people gave the Patriots (1-1) much of a chance at all to win tonight in Sunday Night Football at CenturyLink Field vs. the Seahawks (2-0) which is why Seattle's 35-30 victory was entirely predictable if you only look at the final score and knowing that the Pats were a 4.5 point underdog coming in. However, the way that New England hung around while Russell Wilson (21-of-28 for 288 passing yards, 5 TDs; 39 yards rushing) absolutely shredded their overrated secondary was more than admirable, especially since it took a goal-line tackle by Seattle on the game's last play (an ill-fated 1-yard loss by Cam Newton) to seal the win. It's a real shame that these two teams (fun fact: with the league's oldest current head coaches) don't meet more often because every time that they do, it's an instant classic. In fact, their last five meetings have all been decided by seven points or less and the last three have all ended on the goal-line. 

    Newton (30-of-44 for 397 passing yards, TD; 47 yards rushing, 2 TDs) deserved better but he can at least take solace in the fact that this performance likely earned him a ton of money since at the moment he is the 48th highest paid QB in the NFL (gross, right?). Down one of his few weapons-James White-who missed the game for a tragic reason (his dad was killed in a car accident while his mom is in critical condition from it), Newton did everything he could to win his Patriots road debut. He already has built an obvious connection with Julian Edelman (8 catches on 11 targets for a career-high 179 yards) but perhaps the most promising aspect of Cam's numbers was his constant involvement with Damiere Byrd (6 catches, 72 yards) and N'Keal Harry (8 catches, 72 yards). We'd all love for New England to trade for a star receiver-say Allen Robinson or Odell Beckham (on second thought....) but the reality is that Newton will likely have to make the most of his new underwhelming at best supporting cast. 

    I didn't realize until the incomparable Sunday Night crew of Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth mentioned that Wilson had never received a single vote for NFL MVP. Wait what? If this non-stop highlight reel for him was any indication, that will soon change this season. He spread the ball around to seven different receivers led by a second-year beast named DK Metcalf (4 catches, 92 yards, TD) and the speedy Tyler Lockett (7 catches, 67 yards, TD) and five guys caught touchdowns from Ciara's husband. Amazingly, Seattle almost found a way to blow it as they stupidly tried a deep pass to Lockett on 3rd-and-1 from their own 31. Starting at the 19, the Patriots got the ball back and quickly marched the ball down the field (9 plays, 79 yards in 1:42) so that awful decision by the Seahawks definitely stirred up memories of their Super Bowl 49 blunder for the ages. 

    It felt like Bill Belichick should have used his last timeout earlier in the drive but the Patriots almost made that null and void since Henry's 12-yard catch-and-run ended at the 1-yard line with three seconds left in regulation. This is when the Pats offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels got in the way by calling for the most obvious play that he could think of: Newton took a shotgun snap and tried to run to the left but he was easily gang-tackled at the 2-yard line as time expired. After running for a pair of touchdowns again in his second game as a Patriot, it felt like everyone knew that they'd keep it in his hands to try and win it. Is it crazy to ask why Cam couldn't have done a play action pass but honestly who would be open since I'm sure that Edelman would have been doubled. 

Losing is never enjoyable but games against teams from outside of your division and conference often times aren't as valuable for the most part. I don't want to make too big a deal out of it but this was that elusive loss that proved to a national audience that with a healthy Newton, the Patriots will be a factor both in the AFC East (one of life's greatest certainties) and possibly the AFC as well. Honestly, what more could we ask for in this most uncertain year/season in our lives? Things couldn't have started better for the visitors as they picked off Wilson three plays into the game with Devin McCourty being in perfect position to intercept a pass that clanked off of ancient Greg Olsen's hands and the captain returned it 43 yards for the touchdown. 

    It takes way more than that to rattle Wilson as he brought his team 13 plays for 75 yards in 8:12 right after Devin's pick-six. Seattle tied it with a four-yard touchdown catch by Lockett from Wilson. Newton and the Pats took another lead on their following drive which eerily imitated Seattle's opening score: 12 plays, 72 yards in 6:28 that ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by Newton. This won't be the last time I probably say this in 2020 but this evening was the first time that the Patriots clearly missed Dont'a Hightower and Patrick Chung-two of their veteran leaders on the defense that understandably opted out from this nightmare Covid-19 season. Stephon Gilmore was the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year in 2019 and he just got a very rare raise from the Pats but much like Newton on the other side of the ball, he simply cannot do it all alone. He got burned by Metcalf for a 54-yard bomb that tied it at 14 midway through the second quarter and that turned out to be the score at halftime. The Pats had another chance to grab another lead earlier in the second but Nick Folk yanked a 51-yard-field goal that would have made it 17-14.

    Cam seemed to have things cooking on the opening drive of the third quarter (13 plays, 68 yards, 4:48) but it stalled in the red zone and they were forced to settle for a 25-yard field goal by Folk. The rest of the frame was defined by depth players on Seattle's roster making incredible plays: David Moore had a twisting catch and got his feet inbounds (with the second one hitting the end zone marker) for a ridiculous 38-yard touchdown that gave the Seahawks their first lead at 21-17. We all know that Bill struggles so much to draft decent wide receivers so maybe he should start to mimic Seattle who finds good ones on scrap heaps and deep into the later rounds of the NFL Draft. For instance, Moore was a seventh-round pick in 2017 and rookie Freddie Swain was a sixth-round pick who made the most of his one target by converting a short catch into a 21-yard touchdown that put the Seahawks up two scores (28-17). That drive began thanks to Cam's only significant mistake of the game: he forced a pass to Byrd on the sideline that got intercepted by cornerback Quinton Dunbar. 

I'm sure that many Pats fans went to bed at that juncture, figuring that it's late on a Sunday and their favorite team was probably done at that point. Have a little faith, my friends. Less than a minute into the fourth quarter, Newton found fullback Jakob Johnson with a play action pass for a 1-yard touchdown (the 1st career NFL TD for the German). Things looked bleak again as Wilson hit running back Chris Carson (72 yards rushing; 36 yards receiving) with an 18-yard touchdown pass. Trailing 35-23 with 4:32 left in the fourth and being so far away from home during a pandemic, I honestly would not have blamed Newton or other Patriots for (basically) giving up by then. Newton and Edelman thankfully didn't agree with that loser's mentality though as they hooked up for a 33-yard catch that went down to the 1-yard-line. On the next play, Cam took it in for his second rushing touchdown of the game. With only 2:16 left, New England was running out of time on the clock but incredibly, they got the ball back and had a wonderful chance to steal the win. 

    The stats show a game that you normally would believe that the Patriots found a way to win: they had seven more first downs (29-22), they ran 10 more offensive plays (70-60), gained 35 more total yards (464-429) and committed seven less penalties (9-2) so just how did they lose? It's tough to single out a player when the defense gives up 30+ points but I thought that former Jet Jamal Adams (game-high 10 total tackles, 6 solo tackles, 1 sack and 2 quarterback hits) proved as always that getting the hell away from that dumpstar fire of a franchise is a good thing. New England's offensive line or assigned blockers could never seem to slow him down. 

    No doubt that the Patriots will have the next few days off (at least in terms of normal practices) since they'll need their bodies to get reacclimated from traveling back here from the West Coast. When they do return to work, they'll be focused in on the Vegas Raiders (0-1) who host the Saints (1-0) tomorrow night in their team's home opener in Sin City. Regardless of what happens against New Orleans (that figures to be a Saints win), the Raiders coming to an empty Gillette Stadium next Sunday afternoon (1, CBS) has to be a win if the Patriots have any plans of going back to the playoffs this season. In fact, I think that's one of Belichick's most underrated genius aspects: his teams hardly ever lose to an opponent that is clearly below their weight class. The Pats almost always take every game seriously and their singular focus is annually rewarded by piling up double-digit win totals year after year. 

Maybe The C's Aren't Front-Running Frauds As They Take Must-Win ECF Gm 3, 117-106 vs. Heat

 

    It was a tough night for the hot take artists both locally and nationally as the Celtics led from start to finish en route to a 117-106 victory in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals vs. Miami at the Orlando bubble. Trailing 0-2 in the series, Boston simply had to win to at least temporarily save their season and they delivered with their best performance of this postseason (sorry, Game 7 vs. Toronto was a great result but too clunky). Now rather than making vacation plans, the C's get additional time to think about Game 4 which doesn't happen until Wednesday night (8:30, ESPN) thanks to the NBA's wacky schedule. This was only the second loss in the playoffs for the Heat and their first in regulation which has to count for something. 

The gameplan for the Celtics was obvious as they went to the basket at will and outscored the Heat there 60-36 (tied for the most in the past 20 postseasons). If you're looking for a good sign as a Celts fan (haha no Heat fans allowed here anyway!), the last two Eastern Conference champions-Cleveland in 2018 and Toronto last year-also trailed 0-2 in the ECF. I'm just saying. This was the first time all postseason that Boston had four guys score 20+ points: Jaylen Brown led the way with 26 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals; Jayson Tatum (25 points, 14 rebounds, 8 assists) just missed out on a rare triple-double; Kemba Walker had 21 points and six rebounds; Marcus Smart added 20 points and six assists. We found out this afternoon that Gordon Hayward (6 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, block) would return after missing over a month with an ankle sprain and while his shot was rusty (2-for-7 from the floor), he made a real impact off the bench in 31 quality minutes. 

    Bam Adebayo (game-high 27 points, game-high 16 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks) continued to be a force for Miami but luckily, Tyler Herro (22 points off the bench) was the only other Heat to have a solid outing. Jimmy Butler (17 points, 8 rebounds) wasn't much of a factor while Goran Dragic (11 points, 5 assists) and Jae Crowder (10 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists) were both locked down as they each shot a miserable 2-for-10 from the floor. Fake me out 12-year-old sharpshooter Duncan Robinson put up 13 points on four 3-pointers and an ultra rare (for him) free throw. Boston outscored Miami in the first, second and third quarters but their 20-point lead in the fourth quarter was whittled down to five measly points before they closed it out with some Smart free throws (he was 10-of-10 from the line overall!) down the stretch. 

    The C's led 31-22 after the first and 53-50 at halftime. We held our breath waiting for the inevitable implosion in the third but it never happened as the Celts topped them by a bucket (26-24). The Heat are impossible to put away which coupled with the fact that the Celtics can't close anyone out makes no Boston lead ever safe in this series. Miami outscored them 32-28 in the fourth but thankfully it was too little, too late. Make no mistake, the Green deserved to win as they shot nearly 10% better from the floor (48.2%-38.8%), they pulled down eight more rebounds (50-42), notched six more assists (27-21) and made three more steals (8-5). 

    Looking at the first three games of this series, Boston has outplayed Miami for long stretches, they have been up by double-digits in every contest and yet they still trail 1-2. In many ways since Game 1 was decided in overtime, they could easily lead 2-1 or even 3-0 but here we are. Tonight was further proof that they have a slightly higher ceiling than Miami when they choose to share the basketball and play their signature lockdown defense. Hayward gives them a boost and he brought more positive news saying that his wife Robin (who is very pregnant with the couple's fourth child) will let him stay in the bubble rather than leave for the birth which would require another quarantine. Miami's last loss came in Game 4 vs. Milwaukee so it's nice that they will be hearing and thinking about this setback for longer than usual. We'll see how they respond to a little adversity but you can bet that they are going to be a notch above this imperfect showing. I'm just happy that the Celtics have more meaningful games to play since if they trailed 0-3, Game 4 would have been more useless than those extra days off.

C's Waste Another Big Lead (17 pts) & Nightmare 3rd Quarter Puts Them In 0-2 Hole vs. the Heat

 

    After sweeping the Sixers in the first round and winning the first two games vs. the Raptors, the Celtics fell to 2-5 in their last seven contests after an extremely frustrating 106-101 loss tonight to the Heat at the Disney World bubble in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Miami improved to a remarkable 10-1 this postseason and took a commanding 2-0 series lead which as we learned in the last round against Toronto, teams that are up 2-0 in a best-of-7 series have advanced 93% of the time (like the C's in 7 games vs. the Raptors). Ruh roh. Game 3 is on Saturday night in primetime (8:30, ESPN) and needless to say, Boston will be playing to save their postseason since no team in NBA history has ever rallied from an 0-3 deficit. No pressure or anything. This loss does not fall solely on Celts head coach Brad Stevens but this series means very much to his NBA career and he fell to 4-10 (.286) all-time in the ECF including 1-5 (.167) in his last six games. 

    If you watched the game or even just by glancing at the box score, you can see that the third quarter essentially decided everything: down 13 at halftime, Miami absolutely blitzed Boston 37-17 (their worst scoring margin all season!) which was enough to help them survive getting outscored in all three other quarters. Oh and double-digit leads continue to mean nothing as Boston was up by as many as 17 points in the second quarter (58-41 with 3:19 left in the half); they've now blown double-digit advantages in four of their five playoff losses. I despise cliches but watching these first two games, you can clearly see that Miami is the much hungrier team. The Celtics have more talent on paper than the Heat but Miami is playing more unselfish, team basketball. How else do you explain six Heat scoring in double figures led by Goran Dragic's game-high 25 points while Boston only had four guys in double figures? 

    Duncan Robinson (18 points) caught fire early on with a trio of 3-pointers but the Celtics managed to lead 31-28 after the first quarter. Boston's best 12 minutes of Game 2 came in the second quarter as their defense locked down Miami to the tune of 29-19. The C's outscored the Heat in the third quarter in Game 1-which didn't matter since they lost in OT-but they were back to their nightmare third quarters from the Toronto series. Suddenly, they forgot how to defend simple pick-and-rolls where Bam Adebayo (21 points, 10 rebounds, 2 steals) got dunks and easy buckets over and over again. Neither Jae Crowder (12 points, 3 steals) nor Tyler Herro (11 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists) were as good as they had been in the series opener but at least they did something. Jimmy Butler (14 points, 4 steals) was invisible but somehow his teammates lifted him up and you can bet that he won't have another complete clunker like that in this round at least.

    Kemba Walker (23 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals) was Boston's highest scorer and best player, Jayson Tatum (21 points, 5 rebounds) and Jaylen Brown (21 points, 6 rebounds) were fine and Marcus Smart (14 points) did his thing but collectively it wasn't enough. Boston's bench was a factor in the first half as Enes Kanter made a rare playoff appearance and put up nine points and six rebounds which sadly turned out to be his final stat line as well. Brad Wanamaker made a pair of 3-pointers in the first half but he predictably was held to one point in the second half while Semi Ojeleye and Grant Williams combined to play 19 minutes but they went scoreless (granted they took 2 shots, both misses by Semi). Romeo Langford also came out of witness protection in the first quarter, got hurt in 1:21 (right adductor strain) and never returned. He was the 14th overall pick in last year's NBA Draft, what was Celts GM Danny Ainge thinking there? 

    You look at the stat sheet and in some ways, it's stunning that the Celtics found a way to lose. They shot 5.6% better from the floor (50%-44.4%), hit seven more free throws (19-12) and grabbed three more rebounds. On the other hand, Miami hit four more 3-pointers (14-10), pulled down five more offensive rebounds (11-6), they dished out eight more assists (27-19), had more than twice as many steals (11-5) and committed 11 less turnovers (20-9). Therefore the Heat boatraced the Celtics on points off turnovers (26-10) and put up five more second chance points (16-11). This evening was the first time in the postseason that Boston trailed in a series and we saw how well they dealt with a little adversity in that instance. 

    If we are being real here, Game 3 is all about the Celtics since the Heat are playing with house money at this point (not only making it this far but surprisingly leading the series 2-0 to boot). If they fold and go down 0-3, there will be endless questions asked of Ainge, Stevens and their top players for however long this unpredictable offseason lasts. Celtics fandom aside, we all know that this should be a six or seven game series because there really is not that much separating them from the Heat or at least there shouldn't be. Saturday will show us what they're truly made of and if we have grossly overrated them all along. 

If Gm. 1 of the ECF-Won 117-114 by Miami in OT-Is Any Indication, Buckle Up For A Hell Of A Series

 

    A very troubling trend for the Celtics began in the last round of the playoffs vs. the Raptors: they really struggled to put away Toronto time and again which is why what should have been a gentleman's sweep (5 games) ended up going the distance. Even in Game 7, their defense-and the Raptors' inept offense-were the main reasons that they were able to hold on. Up 14 in the fourth quarter of Game 1 tonight vs. Miami in the Eastern Conference Finals in the Disney World bubble, you might have put that painful theme out of your mind. Unfortunately, the Heat outscored the Celts 35-23 in that frame and 11-8 in overtime en route to a crazy 117-114 victory. This was an especially rough loss for the C's since they not only had a chance to win it at the end of regulation (with the ball in their best player's uber-talented hands) but they were also up by one point late in overtime and they could not hang on. 

    Jayson Tatum's (game-high 30 points, game-high 14 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals & 2 blocks) numbers look great but his 3-pointer to win it at the buzzer was a questionable decision at best and then after Kemba Walker (19 points, 6 assists, 6-for-19 shooting) hit a clutch basket to put Boston ahead 114-113 with 23.6 seconds left in OT, Jimmy Butler (20 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals) answered with a big-time And-1. He made the free throw too which set up the play of the game: Tatum drove to the basket but was stuffed at the rim by Bam Adebayo (18 points, 9 rebounds, 2 blocks). Of course the former Kentucky star only made one of his two free throws, leaving just enough time for Tatum to catch a long inbounds pass, fall down, get up then have a heavily contested tying 3-pointer rim out. Ugh, just brutal.

    It was a bizarre contest from start to finish since Boston outscored Miami 26-18 in the first quarter then the Heat couldn't miss in the second quarter (37-29) to make it 55-55 at halftime. The Celts got over their series-long bugaboo of terrible third quarters vs. Toronto with a solid 12 minutes this evening (28-16). Boston's foul trouble caught up to them when it mattered though as Miami shot 12 of their 28 free throws in the fourth after the Celtics got into the penalty early.

    Both clubs were understandably gassed by the time that overtime came around and it showed in Tatum's uncharacteristic ice cold shooting (2-of-10 in the 4th quarter and overtime combined). Goran Dragic somehow led the Heat with 29 points and he added seven assists as well while former Celtic Jae Crowder (22 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks) was fantastic. Williams College alum Duncan Robinson (6 points in 17 minutes) was a non-factor since he picked up three fouls in the first half but it wasn't much of a loss since Tyler Herro played 40 minutes (!) off the bench and almost notched a triple-double (12 points, 11 rebounds, 9 assists). 

    Marcus Smart (26 points, 6-for-13 on 3-pointers!) continues to play great while Jaylen Brown (17 points, 5 rebounds) could never really get untracked. Boston's bench was outscored 22-18 by Miami but more importantly, they wasted Brad Wanamaker's (11 points, 6 assists, 5 steals!!) best performance in the NBA. The main story was that the Heat surprisingly played bully ball on the Celtics, to the tune of outscoring them 48-26 in the paint. Yeesh. Miami shot 2.8% better from the field (47.1%-44.3%), hit one more 3-pointer (16-15), grabbed four more rebounds (41-37) and handed out eight more assists (32-24) which sneaky was another huge subplot-too much 1-on-1 by the C's. Boston made three more steals (9-6) and had two less turnovers (12-10) as both teams played pretty clean playoff basketball.

    No rational person thought this would be a quick series but clearly, it's imperative for the Celtics to make the proper adjustments and get a win in Game 2 on Thursday night (7:00, ESPN). They didn't play bad in Game 1 but they have to find a way to seal up these playoff wins when they get the chance. Brown will be better and I'd say that Kemba is due as well after three straight sub-standard outings by him. Dragic won't drop 29 points again or I might keel over. Whatever it takes, Boston can't afford to go down 2-0 vs. Miami because they are a real tough matchup/mirror image of them.  

     

     

    

Led By Cam Newton, The Patriots Smother The Dolphins 21-11 In A Bizarre 2020 Season Opener

 

    With Tom Brady in Tampa Bay (that will never stop being weird) not to mention six months into a unfathomable global pandemic, we are just happy to have the NFL back to take our minds off of the constant nightmares going on daily all around us. With no preseason, today was the first time we saw Cam Newton (15-for-19, 155 yards; 15 carries, 75 yards, 2 TDs) in game action as a Patriot and it was a major success. In front of an empty Gillette Stadium, New England (1-0) beat Miami (0-1) 21-11 to begin the 2020 campaign. Showing off their totally revamped offense, the Pats ran the ball a whopping 42 times to control the clock for nearly 35 minutes (34:49). 

    After beating them in the 2019 regular season finale (which cost the Patriots the No. 2 seed and a bye), Ryan Fitzpatrick (20-for-30, 191 yards, 3 INTs) turned back into a pumpkin well before Halloween. With no Brady to lean on anymore, this season will be all about head coach Bill Belichick and offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels doing everything they can to get the most out of a limited roster. Let's remember though, that the Pats still reside in the AFC East where the Jets (0-1) and Phins are basically rebuilding for life while the Bills (1-0) look like their one legitimate threat. As much as those guys have to prove, Newton is in the same boat when it comes to his on-the-field production. At 31 and after only playing in two games last season with Carolina, his career is at a serious crossroads (shoutout to Bone Thugs-N-Harmony!) and he figures to make an absurd amount of money if he can regain some of his 2015 MVP form.

    It should come as no surprise given Cam's incredible running skills and New England's lack of dangerous receivers other than Julian Edelman (5 catches, 57 yards; 1 rush, 23 yards) that the playbook was essentially whittled down to a Massachusetts high school style run-heavy attack. Outside of Newton-who set a Patriots record for most rushing attempts by a QB-four other Patriots had at least four carries: Sony Michel (10 carries, 37 yards, TD) was followed closely by Rex Burkhead (7 catches, 32 yards) while tiny (5-foot-6) rookie J.J. Taylor (4 carries, 28 yards) and James White (3 catches, 30 yards; 5 catches, 22 yards) had over 50 combined yards on just eight touches. 

    When the Patriots face a true No. 1 cornerback that can cover Edelman, they are going to be in trouble at least in terms of their shaky passing game. Ditto for any high-scoring opponent that will force them to speed things up and match them touchdown for touchdown. N'Keal Harry (5 catches, 39 yards) showed flashes but he fumbled right on the goal-line when New England could have put the game away at 21-3 late in the third quarter. If only they had a real tight end and not Ryan Izzo (1 catch, 25 yards). Miami used three different running backs but none of them could gain much traction as they combined for only 87 yards on 27 carries (3.2 yards per carry). The Pats also had some good fortune when the Dolphins only above average wide receiver-DeVante Parker (4 catches, 47 yards)-left in the third quarter with a hamstring injury that had been bugging him lately. 

    After a scoreless first quarter, Newton put the Patriots in front with a four-yard touchdown run to cap off an 11-play, 80-yard drive that lasted 6:11. In the first half, New England didn't make Fitzpatrick pay for his mistakes since they went three-and-out and punted after Gilmore picked him off. Jason Sanders cut it to 7-3 Patriots with a 46-yard field goal that was tipped but still somehow had enough power to make it over the crossbar. New Patriots safety Adrian Phillips intercepted Fitzpatrick near midfield with time running down in the half. Six plays later, New England was in field goal range (45 yards) but Nick Folk missed it wide right so it was 7-3 Patriots at halftime. 

    Like the good old days with Brady, the Pats began the third quarter with the ball and marched right down the field (8 plays, 75 yards, 4:46) and ended it with another TD run by Cam-this time from 11 yards out. New England's defense forced a three-and-out and after another long drive, it looked like they would go up 21-3 but then Harry was crushed by linebacker Jerome Baker (13 solo tackles, 3 assists, sack) and the football went out of the end zone for a touchback. That pumped up Miami as they put together their only real drive (11 plays, 80 yards, 5:23) of the entire day. Jordan Howard ran it in from one-yard and Fitzpatrick followed with a run of his own for the two-point conversion that made it 14-11 Patriots. New England responded as they went 75 yards in 10 plays and 5:18. Michel ended it with a one-yard touchdown run and on the ensuing drive for the Dolphins, Fitzpatrick lobbed up one more grenade-this time to J.C. Jackson to clinch the victory for the home team.

    All and all, it was a fun day as the Pats proved right off the bat that this season shouldn't be a total waste of our precious time. They still have the best coach ever in the NFL and if Newton can play like this, there's no reason they can't win the AFC East and make the playoffs. With that said, next week's Sunday night (8:20, NBC) showdown in Seattle (1-0) could be a sobering reality check. Russell Wilson is one of the top quarterbacks in the league and they will definitely have their hands full trying to stop him. Let the record show that 43-year-old Brady (23-for-36, 239 yards,  2 TDs, 2 INTs; rushing TD) looked his age in a clunky 34-23 loss at New Orleans this afternoon. It sucks that it had to end like that for the greatest athlete in Boston sports history but at least if properly managed, New England seems to have found a bargain basement steal in Newton.

        

Celts Reach Their Third Eastern Conference Finals In Four Years After Holding Off The Raptors 92-87

 

    It was rarely pretty and never easy but all that matters is that when the final buzzer sounded in the Disney World bubble tonight, the Celtics had beaten the Raptors 92-87 in Game 7. Now for the third time in four years, Boston has reached the Eastern Conference Finals as they meet Miami starting on Tuesday night in Game 1 (time TBA-either a 6:30 or 8:30 p.m. start-depending if Clippers-Nuggets needs a Game 7). Jayson Tatum (game-high 29 points, game-high 12 rebounds, game-high 7 assists) will get the headlines-and rightfully so-but the C's don't win this one without Jaylen Brown (21 points, 8 rebounds, 4 steals) or Marcus Smart (16 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals). For what it's worth-next to nothing-Boston was 2-1 vs. Miami way back in the pre-pandemic regular season. 

    As you can tell by the late 90s type NBA final score, this was a tractor pull as expected. Toronto is a good defensive team but Boston is a great defensive squad. 100 points was the magic number of the series as Toronto went 0-4 when they scored under 100 and 3-0 when they scored 100+. Smart's block of Norman Powell (11 points) in the fourth quarter with Boston up two points and 58 seconds left in regulation was unquestionably the play of the game. The Celtics had 11 more steals (12-1) and eight less turnovers (18-10) than the Raptors along with 13 more points off turnovers (31-18) and 13 more fast break points (23-10). 

    When Kyle Lowry (16 points, 6 rebounds)-the heartbeat of Toronto-fouled out late in the fourth quarter, you knew that the Raptors were cooked. They finally ran out of gas but major props to Fred VanVleet (team-high 20 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocks) who was also really tough all series long. Pascal Siakam (13 points, 11 rebounds) had another of his customary missing person's double-doubles while Serge Ibaka (14 points, 8 rebounds off the bench) outplayed Marc Gasol one last time (or Games 1-7). This game and this series by extension should not have been nearly this tight but that's a testament to Toronto's effort and desire to show that they weren't a fluke last season (of course minus Kawhi Leonard this year). 

      Nobody on the Celtics needs a break more than Kemba Walker (14 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals) who has not been himself for the latter part of this series. He was a brutal 5-for-16 from the field and 1-for-7 on 3-pointers but he did make two huge free throws in crunch time and a couple key hoops along the way. Daniel Theis (5 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks) flopped in Game 7 as he fouled out in just 23 minutes of action. Both benches were short as Boston used only four guys outside of the starting lineup and Toronto had just three and yet they combined to outscore the Celtics 28-7. Yikes. Semi Ojeleye made a 3-pointer in the first half, Robert Williams (4 points, 6 rebounds) was OK in 18 minutes while Grant Williams played great defense on VanVleet forcing a terrible 3-pointer on Toronto's last meaningful possession.

    The C's started out well in the first quarter but the Raptors predictably battled back to take a 27-26 lead at the end of the frame. Boston's best quarter was the second (24-19)-which wasn't saying much this evening-and that gave them a slim 50-46 advantage at the break. Would you believe that Toronto outscored Boston in the third quarter for the seventh time in a row? Oh it's true, the C's were alright but the Raptors were better (25-22) which made it 72-71 in favor of the Green heading into the fourth quarter. It was the lowest scoring 12 minutes for either club (since they were both completely exhausted) with Boston hanging on 20-16 for the five-point victory. 

    Even though they are the fifth seed, the Heat are no joke. They swept the Pacers in the first round and took out the top-seeded Bucks in a gentleman's sweep (5 games) in the second round. Jimmy Butler (21.8 points per game, 5.6 rebounds per game, 4.2 assists per game) is a certified badass and he's been a beast in the bubble. Miami plays a similar style to Boston with legit defense, an underrated All-Star (Bam Adebayo) and tons of great shooters (Goran Dragic, Duncan Robinson, Tyler Herro, etc.) with two former Celtics-Jae Crowder and Kelly Olynyk-in the rotation. Boston figures to be a slight favorite but it'll be another long series (think 6 or 7 games easy) against a more than worthy opponent. Gordon Hayward could be an X factor for the Celts because he's back in the bubble and reportedly close to returning to game action. Who knows what his role will be? However, Boston can always use more quality players and that's a good problem for head coach Brad Stevens to have as they sit only four wins away from the NBA Finals.

The Raptors Survive An Epic Double Overtime Thriller (125-122) To Force Game 7 vs. The Celtics

 

    Where do you begin after watching the craziest game of the NBA playoffs this season? Let's start with the most important fact: Toronto outlasted Boston 125-122 in double overtime meaning that Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals will be in primetime on Friday night (9, TNT). The winner advances to face Miami in the Eastern Conference Finals while the loser exits the Disney World bubble for good. As you can assume by the score and the stage, there were many heroes for both teams and perhaps only one real goat. There was no question who was the star of the night (and perhaps the best player of the series): Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry (game-high 33 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals) simply refused to let his team lose. Toronto has now won three of the last four games in the series after Boston took the first two games. 

    The Raptors also received a solid outing from Lowry's backcourt mate Fred VanVleet (21 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 blocks, 2 steals) which was not a shock. Arguably, Toronto's second-best player on the night was an unexpected one-Norman Powell-who scored 23 points (including 10 points in OT) off the bench. OG Anunoby (13 points, 13 rebounds) had a double-double while Pascal Siakam (12 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals) didn't do much when you consider that he played the most minutes of anybody on either side (54). Serge Ibaka was questionable coming into Game 6 with a sprained ankle but he gutted it out and posted 13 points with three blocks in 21 minutes off the bench.

    Before this evening, the Celtics were 15-0 when Jaylen Brown scored 25+ points in a playoff game. As I've always said, goofy stats are made to be broken since Brown was excellent with a team-high 31 points, a team-high 16 rebounds and two steals. Marcus Smart (23 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists) had a triple-double while Jayson Tatum (29 points, 14 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks) nearly matched that. Daniel Theis (18 points, 7 rebounds) also played well, particularly in overtime where he finished a pair of alley-oops. I can't fairly pin the loss on one guy but Kemba Walker (5 points on 2-for-11 shooting, 7 assists) was invisible. If he had been anywhere near his normal self, Boston would have won this going away by double-digits. 

    This followed Game 5's start as Toronto was ice cold but the Celtics weren't much better as they grabbed a 25-21 lead after the first 12 minutes. Both teams scored 27 points in the second quarter giving Boston a slim 52-48 advantage at halftime. A disturbing storyline from the entire series continued as the Raptors outscored the Celtics in the third quarter (33-25). I could probably be on Brad Stevens' staff (assuming that I could quarantine and pass a bunch of Covid-19 tests in time) if I solved that riddle, why does that keep happening? The first quarter was a brickfest and the fourth quarter was the sequel that nobody wanted as neither team could buy a bucket but the C's did just enough (21-17) to force overtime. The first overtime was pretty gross as well because each club could only manage a measly eight points apiece. Things heated up in the second overtime with the Raptors outscoring the Celtics 19-16.

Take a breath, I think that we all need one at this point. Some stats were eerily similar: they each hit 44 shots from the floor including 19 3-pointers. Toronto had twice as many steals (10-5) and blocks (8-4) and three less turnovers (15-12) which gives you an idea how Boston lost when they grabbed 12 more rebounds (58-46) including six more offensive (14-8) and dished out 10 more assists (32-22). Oh and the Raptors' bench outscored the Celtics' bench 38-16. Yeesh. 

    Looking ahead to Friday which promises to be very exciting for basketball and sports fans in general, Boston is 23-7 all-time in Game 7s (2-1 under Stevens) while Toronto is 3-2 all-time although they've won their last three in a row. There really isn't that much left to say, it's just a question of which players/team will step up when it matters the absolute most? The stakes are going to be very high as the Raptors bid for their second consecutive Eastern Conference Finals appearance while the Celtics try for their third trip there in four years. You figured that this would be a great series and while it's been bumpy at times, here we are.  

     

    

    

    

    

    

In The Awkward Timing Department: B's Head Coach Bruce Cassidy Won The Jack Adams Award

 

    Sometimes the way that life works, you just have to laugh at the absurdity of it all. Case in point: tonight while he probably was getting ready at his house to watch Game 2 of Lightning-Islanders in the Eastern Conference Finals, Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy found out that he had won his first Jack Adams Award. That honor is "given annually to the coach who has contributed the most to his team's success" as voted on by the National Hockey League broadcasters association. So on one hand, Cassidy was out of the Toronto bubble and with his family therefore they could all enjoy the biggest achievement of his coaching career. Truthfully, I'm sure that he would give it all up in a heartbeat just to have his team still competing in the 2020 NHL playoffs after Tampa Bay knocked them out of the Eastern Conference semifinals in five games. 

    This was the second time in just three years (he finished 2nd in 2018) as an NHL head coach that Cassidy was nominated for the biggest award in his profession. He beat out Philadelphia's head coach Alain Vigneault and Columbus' head coach John Tortorella so he has that going for him. Surprisingly with all of Boston's history, Cassidy became only the fourth Bruins head coach to ever win the Jack Adams Award, joining Don Cherry (1976), Pat Burns (1998) and his predecessor-Claude Julien (2009). You had a feeling that this was his time to win it since Boston had a spectacular regular season (44-14-12) to capture the dreaded Presidents' Trophy (most points in the regular season). When the Coronavirus pandemic halted play in mid-March, the Bruins led the league in wins, regulation wins (38) and goals allowed per game (2.39).

    I will never claim that head coaches make a huge difference in the NHL but just from being around Cassidy since Day 1 in Boston, you can clearly see that he's been exactly what the B's needed after Julien got tuned out for his last few seasons here. They've posted 100+ points in each of his campaigns in charge which is nothing to scoff at. Now, he needs a Stanley Cup-the toughest championship to win in American pro sports-to round out his personal trophy case. With Tampa Bay up 2-0 on New York in their series, it feels like the Lightning are going to win the Cup this fall (that sounds so weird to say) although don't count out the Golden Knights if they beat the Stars in the Western Conference Finals. There is no doubt that Boston left one on the table last season by choking in Game 7 at the Garden vs. St. Louis. Regardless of what happens the next few years, Bruins GM Don Sweeney can rest easy knowing that he has the right guy behind the bench as they transition from one era of veterans into the future.   

      

    

After Getting Embarrassed In Game 5, The Raptors Look Like A Team That's Ready To Exit The Bubble

 

    When it comes to playoff series in any sports, it's all about the bounce back effort-after a win or a loss. For a still relatively young group like this edition of the Celtics who sprinted out to a 2-0 series lead vs. the Raptors, only to lose the next two games in frustrating fashion, tonight showed why they have a great chance to reach the Eastern Conference Finals and perhaps even beyond that. Boston led Toronto from start to finish in a true Game 5 beatdown, 111-89 (it wasn't even that close since they were up 30 points for a brief moment) that gives them a 3-2 series lead with a chance to send the Raptors back to Canada on Wednesday night (6:30, ESPN). 

    The C's defense was locked in from the opening tip as they held Toronto to just 11 points in the first quarter which tied a franchise record for the lowest output in a playoff frame. This had the feeling of an early-round March Madness mismatch as Boston was in front by 27 points (62-35) at halftime before the ultra rare extended garbage time (basically the entire second half) in an Eastern Conference semifinal game. The Raptors outscored the Celtics 28-25 in the third quarter and 26-24 in the fourth quarter, haha they should be very proud of themselves for that.  

    After being held under 20 points in each of the first four games of the series, Jaylen Brown exploded for a game-high 27 points with six rebounds and three steals. He had the highlight of the game (and one of the top plays thus far in the postseason) when he dunked on Game 3's hero but current zero OG Anunoby (who was a game-low minus-26!!!!!). I've maintained that Boston's starting five is better than Toronto's and they proved it once again this evening as they all had at least 12 points: Kemba Walker (21 points, 7 assists)-who has been the best all-around player in the series-was over 20 points for the second time in the series, Jayson Tatum (18 points, 10 rebounds) notched another double-double, Daniel Theis (15 points, 8 rebounds, 2 blocks) put together one of his best performances as a Celtic and Marcus Smart (12 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists) was back to his usually most effective self in a more defensive-minded role. Hell my man Brad Wanamaker played 28 minutes (which is a lifetime for a substitute like him) and scored a playoff career-high 15 points which is really all you need to know about how well Game 5 turned out for the Green. 

    Toronto's offense was extinct all game long (too soon dinosaur fans?) with only three starters scoring in double-figures: Fred VanVleet (team-high 18 points, 5 assists, 3 steals) was the lone Raptor who showed up while Kyle Lowry (10 points, 5 assists, 2 steals) morphed back into the guy who used to always disappear in the playoffs while Pascal Siakam (10 points) continues to fortify his case as the fraud of this round of the playoffs for either conference. Marc Gasol was held scoreless in 14 invisible minutes which is saying something for where he's at in his long NBA career and the only explanation for him starting every game is that he must have naked pictures of his goofy head coach Nick Nurse or something. Off the bench, Norman Powell (16 points) was Toronto's second-leading scorer which is never a good thing unless it's a preseason game and something called Matt Thomas added 10 points. As you can imagine, the stats were all laughably in Boston's favor: they shot nearly 11% better from the floor (49.4%-38.8%), hit more than twice as many free throws (24-11) and they grabbed nine more rebounds (45-36) than Toronto.   

I would not assume that Game 6 will be easy for the Celtics but the fact is that the Raptors have been in the Disney World bubble longer than any other team so you have to wonder if they already each have one large foot out of their luxury hotel room doors. They won an NBA title last season and without Kawhi Leonard, nobody thought that they would come anywhere close to a repeat. They have had a great season but Boston is a better club in almost every measurable way. Miami failed yesterday in their first opportunity to eliminate Milwaukee but no worries there since they still lead the very overrated Bucks 3-1 and Giannis has seriously hurt his ankle two games in a row. The point is that the C's should bring this same level of focus and intensity to Wednesday so they don't give the Raptors any hope in a winner-take-all Game 7 on Friday night which nobody from Boston wants any part of, trust me on that. The C's cannot expect the Heat to lose again to Milwaukee so they'd best follow their lead and get to the Eastern Conference Finals ASAP.  

 

    

    

The Celtics Should Have Buried The Raptors When They Had The Chance, Because Now It's A Series

 

    Well it's time to take the Raptors seriously since they outplayed the Celtics tonight in Game 4 and evened up the series 2-2 with a grimy 100-93 victory. Toronto hit 10 more 3-pointers than Boston and for the fourth straight contest, they outscored the Celts in the third quarter (32-24) to create some separation after it was tied 49-49 at halftime. Jayson Tatum (24 points, 10 rebounds) was really the only Celtic that played well as Kemba Walker (15 points, 8 assists) somehow only took nine shots in the entire game while Jaylen Brown (14 points, 6 rebounds) was ice cold shooting 4-for-18 overall and 2-of-11 on 3-pointers.

    The best players on the Raptors carried them as Pascal Siakam (23 points, 11 rebounds), Kyle Lowry (22 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 blocks, 2 steals) and Fred VanVleet (17 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists) all played the entire 24 minutes of the second half. Meanwhile, Serge Ibaka (18 points, 7 rebounds) continued to be very effective in limited minutes (22) off the bench. The Game 3 hero OG Anunoby (11 points, 2 blocks) was back to being a nobody. We can all agree that Game 3 was a fluky win by the Raptors but they didn't need any luck in this one, they were the superior team and they earned the right to be back in the series. They doubled up the Celtics in second-chance points (24-12) which perfectly illustrates how much more they wanted this. Boston has to be kicking themselves for not hanging on in Game 3 and now they've dropped two games in a row after starting the postseason 6-0.

    Using the momentum from Thursday night, Toronto got things going with a strong first quarter-outscoring Boston 31-27. Foreshadowing the fourth quarter, the C's clawed back in a gross second quarter (22-18). The Celts only were able to put up 20 points in the fourth quarter while the Raptors had 19 points, so they needed way more offense in crunch time to grab the win or at least to send it to overtime. Since his excellent Game 1 outing, Daniel Theis (8 points, 7 rebounds) has been contained while Marcus Smart (8 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists) predictably has struggled for the past two games after dominating in the first two contests. For once, Boston's bench was actually pretty solid as Semi Ojeleye and Brad Wanamaker both scored seven points but Robert Williams continues to fade as well as he was held to six points and five rebounds after he scored in double-figures in the first two games of the series. 

    Toronto handed out five more assists (23-18) than Boston, they blocked three more shots (5-2) and had two fewer turnovers (14-12). Needless to say, Game 5 on Monday night (6:30, ESPN) is enormous for both teams. The Celts went 3-1 against the Raptors in the regular season then after going up 2-0 in this series, you felt like Boston was in great shape, especially when they led by two points with 0.5 seconds left in Game 3. Since then, things have completely been turned upside down starting with Anunoby's prayer followed by tonight's sloppy performance by the C's. I still have confidence that they will win this series but Toronto is for real and Boston can't let up anymore. They should take a cue from Miami who is about to surprisingly sweep Milwaukee to reach the Eastern Conference Final. 

    

      

      

    

    

Anunoby Hits A Game-Winning 3-Pointer At The Buzzer, Toronto Gets By Boston 104-103 In Gm 3

 

    Tonight was a painful reminder to the Celtics and their fans to not get too ahead of ourselves. Relax with all the NBA Finals talk since they still have a ton of work to do to make that dream a reality. Kemba Walker (team-high 29 points) found Daniel Theis (9 points, 7 rebounds) with a beautiful no-look bounce pass and the resulting dunk put the C's ahead 103-101 with 0.5 seconds left in regulation. Suddenly, a 3-0 series lead (then maybe a sweep?) and a guaranteed trip to the Eastern Conference Finals was on all of our minds. That came to a crashing halt though since Kyle Lowry (game-high 31 points, 8 assists, 6 rebounds, 2 steals) threw a perfect inbounds pass from one side of the court to the other to OG Anunoby (12 points, 10 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks) and he hit a wide-open 3-pointer as time expired. If nothing else, at least now we have a series more befitting of these two clubs-not the first-round joke of a sweep against the Sixers. 

    Before Game 1, I don't think anybody expected a sweep or even a five-game series so perhaps this was long overdue after the Raptors didn't show up in the opener and then they fell short in Game 2. Toronto's stay in the bubble was basically on the line since no NBA team has ever rallied from an 0-3 deficit and they stepped up as you would expect from a defending champion. Along with Lowry, Fred VanVleet (25 points, 6 assists) played much better than he had in the first two games. Pascal Siakam (16 points, 7 rebounds) still hasn't made much of a difference so he's probably due to have a big performance at some point. Maybe his 14 points in the second half of Game 3 was a sign of things to come for him. Marc Gasol (10 points, 6 rebounds) remained in the starting lineup and he was better than Game 1 or 2 which isn't saying that much.

    This was Tatum's worst game of the postseason as he went 5-for-18 from the floor for 15 silent points. Jaylen Brown (19 points, 12 rebounds, 4 blocks) played well until the final sequence where he got caught doubling Gasol in the lane thus leaving Anunoby by himself standing at the 3-point line. He was very frustrated after the loss which is completely understandable but I am confident that he will channel that energy into Game 4 on Saturday night (6:30, TNT). Tatum getting contained for one night wasn't surprising but the real lock of the century was Marcus Smart (11 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals) going ice cold (4-for-15 overall, 2-for-9 on 3-pointers) after doing his best Steph Curry impression to start this series.

    Kemba dropped an amazing 17 points in the first quarter as Boston led 33-28. He hit his customary buzzer beating 3-pointer to cap off a stellar first half for the C's who were up 57-47 at halftime. Toronto fought back with a strong third quarter (29-23) and they squeaked by in the fourth quarter (28-23) to regain some life in this series. The bottom line was that the Celtics let this one slip away despite the Raptors hitting four more 3-pointers (13-9) than them. The C's hit seven more free throws (16-9), grabbed five more rebounds (44-39) and blocked two more shots (7-5).

    The players were allowed to have family members join them in the bubble before the second round of the playoffs so it'll be nice to get away from basketball for a bit before they get back to work. Game 4 will likely dictate if this will be a long series or not. If Toronto wins and ties the series at two games apiece, they start over and it becomes a best-of-3 series. Conversely, if Boston bounces back and takes it, that should be a wrap. Tatum was awful tonight and what are the odds that will happen again? Plus, it took a miracle finish for the Raptors to win so as frustrating as this was for the C's, I wouldn't sweat it too much. They are bound to play better on Saturday and I doubt that Lowry and VanVleet will combine for 56 points (or more) for the second game in a row.