Friday Was Fun, Now Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Programming: The Nets Owning The C's

 

    I thoroughly enjoyed Game 3 on Friday and I hope that you did too because now the Celtics-Nets first-round playoff series is all but over after Brooklyn gave Boston another reality check tonight at the TD Garden with a 141-126 beating that wasn't nearly that close. The Nets' big three of Kevin Durant (game-high 42 points, 5 assists, 2 blocks), Kyrie Irving (39 points, 11 rebounds, 2 steals) and James Harden (23 points, playoff career-high 18 assists, 3 blocks, 2 steals) combined for an absurd 104 points as Brooklyn took a commanding 3-1 series lead. Only 13 teams in NBA history have ever rallied from a 3-1 deficit so yeah, Game 5 on Tuesday (7:30, NBC Sports Boston) at the Barclays Center will be the last time that you thankfully see these woefully overmatched Celts for a long time. Let's just hope that Celtics GM Danny Ainge has the guts to make some real moves this summer for the first time in a while since this team is in desperate need of some major tinkering.  

     A tall task for Boston to even the series at two games apiece got even more unlikely right before tip-off as point guard Kemba Walker (left knee medial bone bruise) and center Robert Williams (left ankle sprain) were both ruled out. Williams is sadly made of glass so that wasn't a surprise by any means but it was a bummer that Kemba couldn't play either as bad as he's been in this series. That meant more pressure fell on Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum (team-high 40 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks) and he met the challenge about as well as you could possibly imagine given the impossible deck stacked against him. Point guard Marcus Smart (16 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds, 2 steals) and shooting guard Evan Fournier (16 points) were both predictably ice cold after they were each really good in Game 3's shocking win by the Celts. 

    The Nets also received 14 points from small forward Joe Harris while Boston native Bruce Brown added 14 points and seven rebounds off the bench. Boston had three bench guys in double-figures, only because there was so much garbage time after Brooklyn led by as many as 27 points. Rookie point guard Payton Pritchard scored 12 points, rookie small forward Aaron Nesmith added 11 points and the ghost of Jabari Parker notched 10 points and six rebounds in front of a sold-out Garden (for the first time at a Celtics game in 14+ months). The Nets improved to 6-1 against the Celtics this season so let's not kid ourselves into thinking that all this dominance is just because of Boston's current injuries. Brooklyn can put the C's and their fans out of their collective misery on Tuesday in what will undoubtedly be another blowout. Haha good times!

Salute To The BC Women's Lacrosse Team For Winning Its First NCAA Title, 16-10 Vs. Syracuse

 

    I simply had to write something about the BC's women's lacrosse team (and not just because my wife, her two sisters, her dad and one of my brothers-in-law all went there) after they did something this afternoon that had never happened before in program history: the Eagles rolled 16-10 over Syracuse in the 2021 NCAA national championship game at Towson University to win their first-ever title. What made it even sweeter is that BC was appearing in the title game for the fourth straight season after heartbreaking losses in 2017 to Maryland (16-13 at Gillette Stadium), in 2018 to James Madison (16-15) and in 2019 to Maryland again (12-10). Head coach and former Terps star Acacia Walker-Weinstein has quietly built a juggernaut of a program in Chestnut Hill in her nine seasons there and this solidifies her place as one of the best women's college coaches in the country these days. BC had a slim 9-8 halftime lead and their defense clamped down on Syracuse in the second half to deliver an exhilarating moment and lifetime memories for themselves and their school. 

    This was also BC's first NCAA title from a team other than the powerhouse men's hockey program which has won five. The Eagles finished the season 18-3 and in the process split four games (the first time in women's lacrosse that two teams had played four times in the same campaign) with their ACC rival the Orange. They each won once in the regular season at home, BC lost at Cuse in the ACC tournament semifinals but they got they ultimate revenge today behind senior attack Charlotte North (she scored a game-high 6 goals which gave her an NCAA record 102 this season) who was named the tournament's most outstanding player and junior goalie Rachel Hall (she made 9 saves) who was named to the all-tournament team along with three other teammates (attack Jenn Medjid, midfielder Belle Smith and defender Hollie Schleicher). As a college recruiting nerd what's interesting to me about North and Hall-besides the fact that they are two of the best women's college lacrosse players that I've ever seen at their respective positions-is that they are both transfers: normally you associate transfers with football, basketball and hockey but North began her collegiate career at Duke and Hall originally was at Oregon. Oh and they're also both from Texas which is very cool considering that lacrosse had always been viewed as a mostly regional (Northeast and Mid-Atlantic) sport before recent years have proven otherwise in both the men's and women's game.  

    Can we also recognize how hard it is to win a Division 1 NCAA championship for New England schools in sports other than hockey? BC joins a short list of champions in women's lacrosse that hail from New England: UMass won the inaugural NCAA women's lacrosse tournament in 1982, UNH followed in 1985 and Harvard was the most recent local champion in 1990. The Crimson also lost in overtime in 1992 to Maryland and Dartmouth fell in 2006 to Northwestern at BU's Nickerson Field. FYI Maryland with 14 titles and the Wildcats with seven titles are by far the most storied programs in NCAA women's lacrosse. It's hard to overstate how much an NCAA title can do for a program; BC is obviously a wonderful school academically to begin with so that aspect sells itself but now the fact that they can compete with the best women's lacrosse teams year after year means that Walker-Weinstein's recruiting classes (which are already extremely legit) will get even that much better. New England doesn't normally produce the same sheer number of D1 athletes that other areas do for many reasons (namely our spotty weather which limits outdoor training and the level of competition) but you can bet that BC will be at the top of the wish lists now for all the most decorated high school girls lacrosse stars in the area not to mention around the United States. Finally, this title also gives Acacia almost unlimited job security meaning that she can coach at BC basically as long as she wants to, kind of like legendary BC men's hockey head coach Jerry York who has won four crowns with the Eagles and is the all-time winningest coach in college hockey.

David Pastrnak Scored His Second Career Playoff Hat Trick As Bruins Beat Islanders 5-2 In Game 1

 

    After nearly a week off after dispatching of the Capitals in five tidy games, the Bruins opened up their second round playoff series with the Islanders tonight at a sold-out TD Garden (!!!). Boston did not look too rusty though in front of their biggest crowd in over a year as they used a strong third period to propel them to a 5-2 victory behind star David Pastrnak's second career playoff hat trick. The B's nearly doubled the Isles in shots on goal (40-22) and that constant pressure finally got to New York's rookie goaltender Ilya Sorokin (35 saves). The black and gold won their fifth straight game overall as they dropped Game 1 to Washington but so far, that's been their only loss in this postseason. 

    The regular season has little to do with this but we have to note that the Islanders won the first five meetings with the Bruins in 2021 before Boston took the final three. This made it four victories in a row for the B's against a very worthy second-round opponent who beat the Penguins in six games in their first-round series. The East Division foes traded leads as New York scored first in the first period before Boston answered; the Bruins took a 2-1 lead in the second period and then the Islanders responded. The third period is what separated them as the home team scored twice and then added an empty-net goal for good measure. 

    Both tallies in the first period came on the power play as Isles left wing Anthony Beauvillier tipped in a shot from the point by defenseman Noah Dobson at 11:48. Right wing Jordan Eberle had the other assist on Beauvillier's team-leading fourth goal of the playoffs. Pastrnak tied it late in the frame as Sorokin kicked a big rebound right to him and he waited for a second before snapping it in. Centers David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron had the assists on Pasta's third goal of the postseason (3-game goal streak) at 19:36. Boston took its first lead midway through the second period as once again Pastrnak was able to corral a rebound and fire it in past a diving Sorokin. Bergeron and left wing Brad Marchand notched the assists at 11:08. It was not 2-1 Bruins for long though as Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech unleashed a bomb from the point that went top shelf past a stunned Tuukka Rask (20 saves) at 12:34. Eberle and left wing Leo Komarov picked up the assists on Pelech's first goal of the postseason.

    Ironically, even though it was Pastrnak's night, Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy scored the game-winning goal at 6:20 of the third period. His low but hard shot from distance found its way through traffic for his first goal of the playoffs, assisted by Krejci. You had a feeling that Pasta was going to get a hat trick and he finished the job with a pretty move using Taylor Hall as a screen to fire in a wrist shot at 15:50 for the 4-2 Bruins lead. Speaking of Hall, he had the last goal-of the empty-net variety-at 18:35. Krejci and defenseman Mike Reilly notched the helpers on Hall's third goal of the playoffs.

    Game 2 is on Monday night (7:30, NBCSN) and I think it is almost a given that the Isles will play better. They were very lucky to be tied this evening headed into the third period since the Bruins had outshot them by a wide margin (30-12). The major questions will be if their offense can match Boston's and perhaps most importantly, Sorokin has to be better with his rebound control. Rask was not great but he did not have to be. Late in Game 1, New York clearly tried to target Pastrnak physically to send a message moving forward that it won't be that easy anymore. He has seven points (5 goals, 2 assists) in his last three games going back to Games 4 and 5 vs. Washington so he's on fire right now with multiple points in each of those tilts. Can the Islanders contain the Bruins' top line? We shall see but Game 2 is an important one since being up 2-0 in a series is a much different story than being tied 1-1. The one injury from Game 1 was to Bruins right wing Craig Smith who left in the second period (lower-body) after an awkward collision with Islanders goon Cal Clutterbuck and never returned. If he can't suit up on Monday, Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy will need to find a replacement for his second line.

Jayson Tatum Drops 50+ Points For The Fourth Time In 49 Days As C's Avoid A Sweep By The Nets

 

    Well tonight Kyrie Irving (16 points on 6-of-17 shooting, 6 rebounds) returned to the TD Garden with a decent amount of fans in the building and thankfully, there was nothing but a playoff basketball game to talk about after it was all over. In Game 3 of their first round series, Brooklyn jumped out to a 19-4 lead and at that point, I would have bet anything that they would cruise to another easy win. Not so fast my friends as Boston fought back and eventually held on for a pretty thrilling 125-119 victory behind star Jayson Tatum's latest postseason career-high 50-point, seven assists, six rebounds and two steals masterpiece. This being the predictable NBA, the Celts probably will not win another game in the series since the Nets have way more top-end talent than them but hey, at least they showed some life and were not swept away like a bunch of lifeless scrubs.

    If Kyrie had been a shell of his usual self, Brooklyn could have walked away with a 3-0 series lead (reminder: no team in NBA history has ever recovered from an 0-3 hole). Shooting guard James Harden (team-high 41 points, 10 assists, 7 rebounds) and power forward Kevin Durant (39 points, 9 rebounds, 4 steals) were both fantastic but with Jeff Green (planter fasciitis) out for the rest of the series, no other Net scored more than eight points. Despite what you might think, Tatum was not a one-man show as guard Marcus Smart added 23 points and six assists, center Tristan Thompson had his best game as a Celtic with 19 points and 13 rebounds then shooting guard Evan Fournier notched 17 points and five rebounds. If you're wondering about center Robert Williams, he played six minutes before leaving with a left ankle injury. He never returned to action and he was seen afterwards in a walking boot. Ugh, other than Gordon Hayward, he is the most injury prone guy on the C's that I've ever seen. You can never count on him for any stretch of time because there is always some injury or issue waiting for him around every corner.  

Whenever the Nets advance past the Celtics (I'm thinking in a gentleman's sweep of 5 games now, right?), they are going to have serious trouble when they face better teams like the Sixers or Bucks in the East. Their big three is normally incredible but the lack of depth is an issue, rookie head coach Steve Nash is as green as he can be in that role and most importantly, Brooklyn refuses to play any sort of defense at all. Yes they have some amazing highlights every game on the offensive end but how do you give up 125 points to a team with one great player? Their lack of size inside is scary as well.  

    Boston shot 5.4% better from the field (50.6%-45.2%), they grabbed nine more rebounds (46-37), they dished out five more assists (21-16), they scored six more points in the paint (21-15) and they tallied eight more second chance points (13-5). The Celtics led 33-32 after the first quarter which expanded slightly to 61-57 at halftime. Unlike in Game 1, the Nets did not come storming back in the third quarter as the C's were up by as many as 17 points (96-79) late in the frame before Brooklyn cut it to 96-84 going into the fourth quarter. They outscored the Celts 35-29 in the final stanza but it was not enough to steal the win or even force overtime. 

    Game 4 is on Sunday night (7, NBC Sports Boston) back at the Garden and the cool footnote to that is that there will be a full capacity crowd for the first time in the 2020-21 season since many of the Massachusetts Covid-19 restrictions go away on Saturday. If 5000 people made that much noise and caused Kyrie to be so shook, imagine what more than three times that amount of loud Massholes on a long weekend bender could produce? Like most realistic Celtics fans-which is an oxymoron-I was shocked that they pulled Game 3 out so I would be completely dumbfounded if they can do it again in Game 4 (let's call that extremely unlikely at best). It had been an all-around nightmare week for the Celtics so it was nice to see them put all the drama and negative attention to the side and show a little heart against the Nets.

Adios To The Other GOAT-Adam Vinatieri-Who Also Should Have Been A Patriot For His Whole Career

 

    I am old enough to remember when the Patriots once employed the greatest player in NFL history at his respective position. Yes of course I could be talking about Tom Brady but in this case, I'm referring to Adam Vinatieri who kind of announced his retirement from the NFL this afternoon on the Pat McAfee Show. There have been plenty of great kickers in the NFL but I am pretty certain that nobody will ever have a resume that matches a guy from South Dakota State that went undrafted and once played in NFL Europe before catching on with the Pats. He won four Super Bowls (3 with New England and 1 with Indianapolis that we won't talk about), was a three-time All-Pro and a three-time Pro Bowler.

    Much like Brady, Vinatieri's longevity and durability-granted kicker isn't the most physically demanding position in football-are legendary. He didn't play in 2020, but even so he played in 24 seasons in the NFL which is insane. He was 47 years old in 2019 when he last appeared in 12 games for the Colts. He also made kicking a little cooler which is hard to do for such a specialized role that is usually so isolated from teammates except for the long snapper and holder. He was tough (check YouTube for his tackle of Herschel Walker on a kickoff in Adam's rookie season) and he could throw the ball on the rare trick play (like the sweet touchdown pass that he threw to Troy Brown in 2004). 

    His records are endless: he's the NFL's all-time leading scorer (2673 points), he made the most field goals (599), had the most postseason points (238) and hit the most overtime field goals (12). More than anything though, he was incredibly clutch. His kicks in the blizzard against the Raiders in the 2001 playoffs are some of the greatest plays in any sport that I've ever seen. He had last second game-winning field goals in New England's Super Bowl upset over St. Louis that season followed by two years later, he did basically the same thing in another Super Bowl victory this time against Carolina. Finally, he capped his Patriots career with a field goal and three extra points in their Super Bowl 39 win vs. Philadelphia. All three of those Super Bowls were three-point wins by the Pats which was not a coincidence. 

    After playing for 10 seasons in New England, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick thought it was time to go with a younger kicker (that sounds loosely familiar) so they drafted Stephen Gostkowski (a fine kicker in his own right who also won 3 Super Bowls with the Pats but no Vinatieri). Adam left in free agency for the Colts where he would play for 14 seasons. In his first season in Indianapolis, they won their lone title under Peyton Manning as they beat the Bears in the Super Bowl (he had 3 field goals and 1 extra point) in the 12-point win. Through it all, Vinatieri never showed any ego and appeared to be the nicest guy in pro sports. He is a lock of the century to reach the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2025-the first year that he's eligible to go in. Not bad for a quiet guy from South Dakota.

This C's-Nets Matchup Is Going To Be One Of The Least Competitive Playoff Series In NBA History

 

Has there ever been an NBA playoff series that was effectively over after only two miserable games? I ask because our Boston Celtics got embarrassed by the Brooklyn Nets 130-108 at the Barclays Center this evening in Game 2 of their opening round playoff series. Brooklyn is now up 2-0 in the best-of-7 with the series coming to the TD Garden on Friday (8:30, NBC Sports Boston) and Sunday night (7, NBC Sports Boston). The Nets didn't waste any time as they raced out to a double-digit lead (40-26) at the end of the first quarter. That ballooned to 71-47 at halftime so you get the point, there was no need to watch the second half since you already knew the outcome halfway through Game 2. To make matters worse, Celtics star Jayson Tatum (9 points, 2 steals, 2 blocks) got poked in the eye by Brooklyn star Kevin Durant (game-high 26 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 blocks) in the third quarter and he never returned to action (granted it was a picture perfect blowout so there was no point anyway).

    Notably, the only two Celtics that seemed to take losing in such depressing fashion personally were guard Marcus Smart (team-high 19 points, 6 assists, 2 steals) and newcomer Evan Fournier (16 points, 2 steals). You can always count on Smart to give an honest effort but it was nice to see Fournier get in Durant's face after the latter got involved in Fournier's conversation with one of the referees. Brooklyn's sharp-shooting swingman Joe Harris (25 points, 2 steals) was unstoppable as he made a franchise playoff record 7-of-10 3-pointers. Shooting guard James Harden added 20 points, seven assists and five rebounds while point guard Kyrie Irving had 15 points, six rebounds and six assists. The ghost of Blake Griffin notched 11 points for the home team and nine guys appeared off the bench for Brooklyn with shooting guard Landry Shamet (10 points) the only one to score in double-figures. For the Celts, point guard Kemba Walker put up 17 points and seven assists while center Tristan Thompson had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. 

    Friday will be the first time that Kyrie returns to the Garden with actual live fans in attendance so he obviously couldn't help himself in his postgame press conference tonight as he alluded to Boston still being a racist city after all of these years. If you are dumb enough to spend however much money it takes to watch another blowout in this inevitable sweep, I suppose one of the only real fun aspects of it will be the chance to boo Kyrie in person as much as you want. Please don't do anything stupid and give more needless fuel to people that aren't from here to cling to the tired old stereotype that Boston is still a tough place to be for minorities. This fake series has already gone off the rails so there is absolutely no need to draw even more negative attention to the Celtics, their fanbase and our beloved home.

The Best Player On The Revs-Carles Gil-& One Of MLS' Top Stars Is Staying Here Until At Least 2024

 

    You probably did not even realize it but today was a great day for the New England Revolution and they have actually had a bunch of those lately. This morning, it was announced that they signed their captain and midfielder maestro Carles Gil to a contract extension that goes through the 2024 MLS season. Since he joined the Revs in January 2019, Gil has quickly developed into one of the league's top playmakers and this move for the designated player is awesome to see from a club that historically has not had many stars like him before. In fact, he is the rare talent that makes you want to tune into all the Revolution games and there are only a few guys in club history (Clint Dempsey, Charlie Davies, Lee Nguyen and Taylor Twellman all come to mind) that I feel like you can honestly say that about and I love soccer more than most Americans.

    A native of Valenica, Spain, the 28-year-old Gil has the pedigree of someone that you do not expect to find in Major League Soccer healthy and in the prime of his career: Valenica (La Liga) and Aston Villa (Premier League) are his most notable stops before he ended up calling Gillette Stadium home. Usually, it's the other way around as many top players use MLS as a stepping stone to bigger and better things (like Dempsey) or a last stop on a decorated career (think David Beckham). For those reasons alone, it makes you wonder what Gil likes so much about his situation with New England that he wants to see where it goes for the next three seasons (not including this campaign). 

    After missing the playoffs for three straight years, it is no coincidence that things turned around for the Revs as soon as Gil joined the team. Last season, they reached the Eastern Conference Final for the first time since 2014 and this season, they are off to a wonderful start as they own the best record (4-1-2) in the Eastern Conference. In his first season with New England, Gil started in all 34 games and had a team-leading 10 goals and 14 assists which earned him the team's Golden Boot honors, the 2019 MLS Newcomer of the Year award, an MLS best XI spot and the title of Revolution MVP. Injuries limited him to only six regular season matches last season but he came alive in the postseason with two goals and three assists in four games as New England made an unexpected deep run. So far in 2021, he has started every game and played in every minute with four assists (tied for the most in MLS) and a goal (on a clinical penalty kick) to his credit. 

    One of the main reasons that New England has never brought home the MLS Cup is that they are not a sexy destination for free agents like a New York or Los Angeles. That is why it's so refreshing to see a guy like Gil choose to remain here for a long time as the club tries to bring home its first title in franchise history. With him in the fold along with other very good players like forward Gustavo Bou, defender Andrew Farrell and goalkeeper Matt Turner to name a few along with sporting director and head coach Bruce Arena (arguably the best to ever do it in MLS), you have to like New England's chances to finally get it done at some point in the next few years. One of the league's original clubs was a disaster for awhile but they have clearly gotten their mojo back in the last few seasons and when it's all said and done, I'm confident that we will look back at signing Gil-already one of the greatest players ever on the Revs-as a major turning point along with the hiring of Arena.

Bruins Won Their Fourth Straight Game & Eliminated The Overmatched Caps In Five Games

 

    So it turns out that there really was no need to fear the overrated Capitals after all. The Bruins dispatched of them in only five games after taking Game 5 by a score of 3-1 tonight at the Capital One Arena in DC. After losing Game 1 in overtime and winning the next two games in overtime, Boston dominated in the final two contests as they outscored Washington by a combined score of 7-2. The B's head to the second round of the playoffs for the fourth season in a row-where they'll meet the Penguins or Islanders who are currently tied 2-2-while the Caps head home for the third consecutive year after a disappointing first round exit. For the Capitals, it must feel like a decade or more since they won that elusive Stanley Cup in 2018.

    This was a victory where the Bruins were led by many of their best players: goaltender Tuukka Rask (who was fantastic for the entire series) made 40 saves, captain Patrice Bergeron scored twice and right wing David Pastrnak added a highlight reel goal for the black and gold. This being the NHL playoffs, there was also much lesser known guys like defenseman Jarred Tinordi-he played 19:02 with four hits and three blocked shots in his Bruins playoff debut-who was fantastic in his unexpectedly vital role. It was a weird game as the Capitals outshot the Bruins 41-19 but trailed 2-0 in the third period before they tallied the fastest goal to start a playoff period in franchise history. Rask was not fazed by that and Bergy put it away with another clutch goal in a career full of them. 

    After no goals in the first three games of this series, Pasta is starting to heat up as he had a goal and assist in Game 4 and he matched that production this evening. He made Caps center Nic Dowd look silly when he did a sweet curl-and-drag move around him, drove to the net and wrapped a shot around goaltender Ilya Samsonov (16 saves). Defenseman Mike Reilly had the lone assist on the game's opening goal at 2:28 of the second period. Samsonov would probably want Bergeron's first goal back as it was a snap shot from distance. Reilly and Pastrnak had the assists on Bergy's second goal of the playoffs at 14:05 for a 2-0 Bruins lead. 

    UMass' Conor Sheary provided the lone positive note for Washington in Game 5 when he scored off his own rebound 11 seconds into the third period. He roofed a shot from in close that Rask couldn't react to in time to stop. Center T.J. Oshie and defenseman Dmitry Orlov notched the assists on Sheary's first goal of the postseason. Bergeron's second goal happened at 12:25 and while it was unassisted, he owed plenty of credit for it to Pasta who screened Samsonov at just the right time. 

    In the traditional handshake line after the game, Bergeron and former B's captain Zdeno Chara shared some words and a tight embrace which makes you wonder if that was Z's last NHL game. Boston will be one of the last eight clubs left in the playoffs and you have to acknowledge that they can play with anybody. As far as the Pens and Isles go, I think that besides rooting for a seven-game series, they want to see Pittsburgh (since they completely own them) rather than New York who is less talented but would be a major headache to face in a best-of-seven playoff series. Regardless, they get a few extra days to rest now which is very important if you want to make a serious run to the Cup.

In Gm 1 Of Their Playoff Series Vs. Nets, C's Played About As Well As They Could But Still Lost By 11

 

    Under the current impossible circumstances, you could not dream of a better start than what the Celtics got in Game 1 of their first round playoff series with the Nets tonight at Barclays Center. Boston led 21-16 after the first quarter and 53-47 at halftime. As shocking as that was, the second half was basically paint by numbers as Brooklyn decided to try a little bit and they blew the C's out of the water-winning by double-digits (104-93) in a contest where they played kind of terrible. Not that we needed it but it served as a sobering reality check for the Celts that no matter what they do (save for an asteroid hitting the Earth in the next week), they are going to get swept by the Nets in four forgettable games and their really disappointing 2020-2021 season will mercifully be over by next Sunday night.

    One of the only interesting sub-plots of this foregone conclusion of a series is the fact that Brooklyn's big three of power forward Kevin Durant (game-high 32 points, 12 rebounds), point guard Kyrie Irving (29 points, 6 rebounds) and shooting guard James Harden (21 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists, 4 steals) had only played together for a grand total of 202 minutes in the regular season. How would it look when they face the pressure of the postseason against a quality opponent? Haha well obviously that question will have to wait until at least the next round since this series basically serves as Brooklyn's extended warmup to the playoffs. Swingman Jayson Tatum led Boston with 22 points and five assists but he was held to 6-for-20 shooting from the field and he turned the ball over four times as well. Guard Marcus Smart (17 points, 5 assists) actually played pretty well and center Robert Williams was able to suit up and he nearly put up a triple-double (11 points, 9 rebounds and a team playoff record 9 blocks) in 23 minutes off the bench. Point guard Kemba Walker scored 15 points while shooting guard Evan Fournier added 10 points, six rebounds and two steals in his Celtics playoff debut. Center Tristan Thompson grabbed 10 rebounds and had two steals in his first playoff game as a Celtic.

    Nets head coach Steve Nash's first playoff game was far from a masterpiece but honestly, how much does he have to do? Small forward Joe Harris (10 points) was the only other Net to score in double-figures and just nine guys on Brooklyn saw the floor but when you have the best trio in the league, you can cut many corners. Brooklyn came out in the third quarter and finally looked a little like the title contender that they are expected to be as they outscored Boston 31-20. The Celtics kept trying in the fourth quarter but they are extremely limited offensively without Jaylen Brown in there so they were outscored 26-20 in the final frame. Neither team shot well at all but Brooklyn at least was over 40% (41.7%) while Boston was 36.9% which is pathetic considering how terrible the Nets are defensively. Brooklyn made six more free throws (26-20) and grabbed 10 more rebounds (50-40). The Nets had twice as many points off turnovers (18-9) as the Celtics. 

    If the C's were ever going to surprise the Nets, this was the time for it. Now, Brooklyn will be more dialed in from the beginning of the game and as a result, Boston will get destroyed and lose by way bigger margins in Games 2-4. This being the NBA, they already get a needless extra day off between contests so Game 2 is on Tuesday (7:30, NBC Sports Boston) and I expect a much uglier blowout loss for the Celts. The Nets were 8-of-34 (23.5%) on 3-pointers in Game 1 and if you think that number will stay in the same area code for the rest of the series, you are completely delusional.

B's Power Play (3-for-5) Pushes The Caps To The Brink Of Elimination With 4-1 Victory In Game 4

 

    After three straight overtime games to begin the series (not to mention 12 playoff games in a row decided by one goal), the Bruins and Capitals entered Game 4 of their first round series tonight at the TD Garden long overdue for a one-sided victory. Luckily, Boston was that team as they dominated Washington by a score of 4-1 which gives them a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. Game 5 is on Sunday night (7, NESN) back at the Capital One Arena where the B's will get their first chance at sending the Caps to their third consecutive playoff exit in the first round. Boston has already come a long way from their overtime loss in Game 1 against the Capitals. 

    After a scoreless first period, the Bruins got on the board first as left wing Brad Marchand tipped in a shot by right wing David Pastrnak and BU's Charlie McAvoy at 8:00 for a 1-0 B's lead. The power play goal was Marchand's third goal already in the postseason. The black and gold had never carried a lead into the third period in the first three games so they gave it a whirl in Game 4. They must have enjoyed it since they scored twice very early in the final frame (34 seconds apart). First, Pasta was given too much time and space so he ripped a low shot into the far corner against Capitals rookie goaltender Ilya Samsonov (33 saves). McAvoy and center David Krejci had the assists on Pastrnak's first goal of the playoffs at 29 seconds. On the next shift, right wing Jake DeBrusk got sent in on a breakaway but he missed the net with his wayward shot. However, he stayed with the puck and threw it back in front where BU's Charlie Coyle was able to flip in a backhander at 1:03.

        The only reason that Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask (19 saves) didn't finish with a shutout was because Alexander Ovechkin's power play shot (that caused his stick blade to shatter) went in off defenseman Brandon Carlo's skate at 4:54. Ovi's second goal of the series (and 71st of his postseason career) cut it to 3-1 Bruins with Caps defensemen John Carlson and center Nicklas Backstrom providing the the assists. Getting one more goal was not the main task at hand by that point but I'm sure the Bruins enjoyed one more power play goal just for the hell of it. McAvoy sent a pass to his fellow BU product Matt Grzelcyk and the Charlestown native unloaded on a one-timer that went top shelf by Samsonov. Left wing Taylor Hall added the second assist on Grzelcyk's first goal of the playoffs at 14:50. 

    The only bad news to come from this evening was that a dirty hit by Capitals defenseman Dmitry Orlov on B's defenseman Kevan Miller left the latter shaken up. Miller went to the hospital for CT scans and further evaluation which means that he might be concussed. Not only was the hit late since Miller had given up the puck seconds earlier but Orlov also leaped at him (both of his skates briefly left the ice) and he caught Miller right under the chin which any boxing fan will tell you is a very vulnerable position. Ironically, former Maple Leafs goon Nazem Kadri was just suspended eight games by the NHL's department of player safety for a similar albeit bigger and worse incident (plus he was a repeat offender) in Game 2 vs. St. Louis that left Blues defenseman Justin Faulk knocked out cold. I'm not predicting anything but we'll have to wait and see if Orlov faces any kind of punishment (fine or suspension) by the league.  

    After winning the last three games in the series, you have to love where the Bruins find themselves at the moment. It's not over yet though against Washington but if the B's get a decent lead on Sunday night, I would not be shocked to see the Capitals sneaky give up. Since they broke through and erased their playoff choker label by winning the Stanley Cup in 2018, the Caps have reverted back to that earlier stinky form the last few postseasons. Ovechkin is an all-time great player and they have plenty of other very talented guys on their current roster but their goaltending situation is a bit of a mess and their defense is nowhere near Boston's level. Then again, this is the NHL where teams routinely come back from the dead in a playoff series so Boston needs to get rid of Washington ASAP while they have the chance.  

Down To Their Last Out, The Red Sox Rallied For An 8-7 Victory & Series Win Against The Blue Jays

 

    With their lead in the AL East dwindling, the Red Sox (27-18 overall, 14-6 away) picked the perfect time to stage their best comeback win of the season, 8-7 tonight in Dunedin, FL (Toronto's spring training home stadium) against the Blue Jays (23-19 overall, 10-7 home). Down 7-6 in the ninth inning with two outs against the Blue Jays' shaky closer Rafael Dolis (1-1), Boston's star DH J.D. Martinez hit a two-run bomb (his 12th of the season and the 250th of his career) to right center that scored second baseman Michael Chavis (2-for-4, 2B, 2 runs). From there, UConn's Matt Barnes worked around a walk to strike out the side in the bottom of the ninth for his 10th save of the season. 

    After getting blanked 8-0 in the series opener on Tuesday, the Sox won 7-3 yesterday and topped that with this evening's dramatic victory which leaves them one game ahead of Tampa Bay (26-19)-who has won seven games in a row; 1.5 games in front of the Yankees (25-19) who are 7-3 in their last 10 games and the Jays dropped to 2.5 games in back of Boston. With an absurd six no-hitters (1 fewer than the MLB record for an entire season) already thrown in 2021, it was refreshing to see something more along the lines of a softball game. The final score could have been much higher too since the teams combined for 25 hits and they left 17 on base.

    Nick Pivetta (5 IP, 5 runs, 4 ER, 7 hits, 8 Ks, 2 BBs) has surprisingly been the best starting pitcher for the Red Sox this season but he predictably came back down to Earth a bit with this outing. He was better though than the Jays starter Steven Matz (6 IP, 5 ER, 10 hits, 4 Ks, 2 BBs) who looked like the mediocre former Met that he has always been. Weirdly, Boston only scored in two different innings-the second and the ninth. After Toronto scored twice in the first inning on RBI doubles by first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (2 hits, 2 runs) and right fielder Randal Grichuk, the Red Sox exploded for five runs in the second inning. First baseman Bobby Dalbec hit a three-run bomb that just stayed fair down the right field line for his fifth homer of the season that scored catcher Christian Vazquez (2 hits, walk) and right fielder Hunter Renfroe. The other two runs came on an infield single by center fielder Kike Hernandez (2 hits) that plated Dalbec and an RBI single by Martinez which scored Hernandez. 

    Toronto cut it to 5-3 in the bottom of the second with an RBI double by DH Bo Bichette (3 hits, 2 doubles, walk) that scored shortstop Marcus Semien, they tied it with a pair of runs in the fifth inning and they went ahead 7-5 in the sixth with two more runs. Semien scored on an error by Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers in the fifth and second baseman Cavan Biggio drove in Guerrero Jr. with an RBI single. Center fielder Jonathan Davis knocked in catcher Danny Jansen with an RBI single in the seventh then he was the tying run as Grichuk drove him in with an RBI single of his own. 

    Boston's bullpen finally settled things down beginning with Darwinzon Hernandez (1 IP, 1 K, 1 BB) who was followed by Phillips Valdez (2-0) who picked up four outs on just nine pitches to earn the win. Dalbec scored on a ground out in the ninth that preceded Martinez's heroics. This six-game road trip for the Red Sox ends with three games this weekend in Philadelphia (22-22 overall, 14-8 home) who is managed by former Yankees skipper Joe Girardi. Martin Perez (1-2) faces Phillies ace Aaron Nola (3-3) tomorrow night (7:05, NESNplus) followed by Nathan Eovaldi (4-2) against Chase Anderson (2-4) on Saturday night (7:15, FOX) and ending with the scuffling Eduardo Rodriguez (5-2 but 4.70 ERA) vs. Zack Wheeler (3-2, 2.52 ERA) on Sunday afternoon (1:05, NESN). The NL East is the worst division in baseball and the Phillies are 4-6 in their last 10 games so taking two more out of three games in another series would be a good way to end this trip for the Red Sox.

For The Third Straight Game, B's & Caps Went To OT But This Time, Craig Smith Won It For Boston

 

    This is getting silly: the last 12 playoff games between the Bruins and Capitals have all been decided by one goal with now eight of those ending in overtime. Tonight at the TD Garden for Game 3 of their first round series, Boston outlasted Washington 3-2 in double overtime with veteran right wing Craig Smith doing the honors with his second career playoff overtime goal which gave the B's a 2-1 series lead. Once again, the Bruins found themselves trailing in the third period before tying it then winning it in the extra session. All three contests in this series have gone to overtime which is crazy. This is a very tough way to live but it is somehow working so far for the black and gold. 

    The big news right before Game 3 started was that Washington's goaltender Ilya Samsonov would start while Pheonix Copley served as the backup and Craig Anderson (who started Game 2) did not even dress. For a guy who had not played since May 1 (due to being in the Covid-19 protocol), Samsonov (40 saves) did not show many signs of rust. Well except for the play that decided the game: he had a chance to the touch the puck behind his net but he hesitated which allowed Smith to swoop in and use a wraparound shot to stuff it in the net at 5:48. Fittingly Smith-who was Bruins GM Don Sweeney's only real notable free agent signed last off-season-was credited with an unassisted tally since nobody on his team helped him per se, that was all thanks to his hustle, speed and determination. 

    After a scoreless first period (which Boston dominated, outshooting Washington 10-4), the Caps built a pair of one-goal leads in the second period which they could not protect. Captain Alex Ovechkin made it 1-0 for the visitors with a one-timer from right wing Anthony Mantha at 8:21. It came on the power play and it was Ovi's first goal of the series. It took the Bruins 56 seconds to respond as left wing Taylor Hall scored a beautiful goal. He took a pass down low from Smith (with UVM's Kevan Miller picking up the other helper) and went backhand to forehand then he put the puck in the top shelf. Very few other B's could have pulled that entire sequence off that he made look so easy for his second goal of the series. Center Nick Dowd put Washington back in front 2-1 at 18:15 as he tipped in a shot from Brown's Garnet Hathaway. It was Dowd's second goal of the series as Boston's goaltender Tuukka Rask (35 saves) was victimized by another tip (or deflection) in the early going of this series. 

    The Capitals turned up the heat in the second period (outshooting the Bruins 16-11) and they tripled Boston's shots on goal total (9-3) in the third period but the black and gold probably did not care one bit since they tied it on left wing Brad Marchand's amazing reaction play. BU's Charlie McAvoy (who played a game-high 33:52) started it by shuttling the puck to captain Patrice Bergeron in the bumper position on the power play. Bergy's shot was deflected but Marchand was there to bat it out of mid-air and straight into the net at 11:32. His second goal of the series made the Garden explode with excitement.

    The B's will have an optional practice tomorrow before they hit the Garden ice on Friday (6:30, NESN) for Game 4. Obviously, that's a huge tilt as well since the difference between leading the series 3-1 or being knotted at two games apiece is enormous. I've accepted that most likely every game in this series will be close like this and perhaps more overtime will be needed to help settle things. Center Evgeni Kuznetsov returned as well this evening from his Covid-19 battle (he had also been out since May 1) so there really aren't any other big moves left for Caps head coach Peter Laviolette to make. It would be nice to see the Bruins carry the momentum from these back-to-back overtime triumphs into Game 4 but then again, I won't hold my breath for that.

Tatum Had 50 Pts As C's Beat Wizards In Play-In Tourney, Now They Get To Be Swept By Brooklyn

 

    If you were hoping for a quick exit (2 games) in the playoffs by the Celtics, you will not get your wish. Boston rolled 118-100 over Washington tonight at the TD Garden in the first year of the Play-In Tournament. With the victory, the C's earned the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference (haha what a prestigious honor!) which means that they will face the No. 2 seed Brooklyn in the first round of the playoffs starting on Saturday night (8, ABC) at Barclays Center. For the third time in 39 days, Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum dropped 50 points (including 17-for-17 on free throws!) plus eight rebounds and two blocks. He was incredible once again while C's point guard Kemba Walker (29 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals) was surprisingly the second best player on the court. 

    Washington's two stars Bradley Beal (22 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists) and Russell Westbrook (20 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals, 2 blocks) were both complete flops. The loss means that the Wizards will host Indiana-who destroyed Charlotte 144-117 in the first game of the Play-In Tournament this evening-on Thursday (8, TNT) with the winner advancing to meet the top-seed Philadelphia while the loser's season is over. Center Tristan Thompson (12 points, 12 rebounds in 30 minutes off the bench) was the only other Celtic to really do much as center Robert Williams played 14 minutes before he hyper-extended his toe (seriously). Besides Gordon Hayward, can you ever remember a more fragile Celtic? Backup point guard Ish Smith had 17 points, eight rebounds and two steals off the bench for Washington and backup center Daniel Gafford (12 points, 5 rebounds, 2 blocks) was effective before foul trouble slowed him down. 

    The home team got off to a nice start as Boston led 27-21 after the first quarter. The second quarter was the only one where the Wizards outscored the Celtics (33-25) which gave them a two-point halftime advantage (54-52). For a change, the third quarter was Boston's best (38-26) as they came out of the break on fire. They started to run away from Washington who as always refused to play any defense and that carried over to the fourth quarter (28-20) where the Celtics' lead reached as high as 22 points (116-94) in garbage time.  

    Boston had 10 more second chance points (21-11) and 14 more points off turnovers (20-6) than Washington. Additionally, the Celtics hit an absurd 12 more 3-pointers (15-3) and thanks to Tatum they made 10 more free throws (27-17). They also dished out three more assists (20-17), recorded three more steals (8-5) and turned the ball over five less times (15-10). In summary, the better team won this game.

    Do I think that the Celts have a prayer against Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, James Harden and the Nets in a best-of-seven playoff series? Of course not, even with Jaylen Brown the C's went 0-3 against Brooklyn in the regular season; those were all blowouts and keep in mind that they never faced the Nets' Big 3 at the same time. Gulp. They will be incredibly lucky to win a game against a team who is way deeper and has a ton more talent than they do even when they are at full strength. It has all the makings of a forgettable sweep in the usually terrible first round of the NBA playoffs. Good times, I can't wait!

The B's Even The Series With The Caps 1-1 After Hall's Clutch Goal & Marchand's OT Game-Winner

 

    As you've probably heard, there is nothing in sports quite like playoff hockey and that roller coaster of emotions was on full display tonight at the Capital One Arena. Boston rallied from a late 3-2 deficit in the third period to tie it on left wing Taylor Hall's first postseason goal in black and gold then star Brad Marchand scored the fastest OT goal in franchise playoff history (39 seconds!) as they won Game 2 by a score of 4-3 against Washington. After losing 3-2 in overtime in Game 1, the Bruins evened the series at one game apiece with Game 3 on Wednesday (6:30, NESN) at the TD Garden. The win snapped a five-game playoff losing streak for the B's dating back to last postseason in the bubble vs. Tampa Bay while the Capitals have now dropped three of their last four playoff games that have gone to overtime. 

    Up until their strong finish to Game 2, this felt like it would end on another sour note for Boston with them trailing 0-2 in the series and headed home for the next two contests. Two times in the first period the Bruins took the lead only to see the Caps quickly answer back. They also once again made 39-year-old goaltender Craig Anderson (44 saves) look way better than he should be in 2021. Right wing Jake DeBrusk has definitely put a terrible regular season behind him as he scored for the second straight game. BU's Charlie Coyle started the play by going around the net (while Anderson slid much too far out of the crease) then feeding DeBrusk in front for an easy tap-in. Nick Ritchie had the second assist on the opening tally at 5:05. Boston took a bunch of dumb penalties this evening and it cost them when right wing T.J. Oshie tipped in Alex Ovechkin's weak wrist shot at 6:31. Capitals defenseman John Carlson provided the second assist on Oshie's first goal of the playoffs.

    Boston's top line had been invisible in Game 1 so it was great to see captain Patrice Bergeron snipe a shot past Anderson at 9:21. Right wing David Pastrnak had the lone assist on Bergy's first goal of the postseason. Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask (36 saves) was good in Game 2 well except for the goal that Washington scored to make it 2-2. Defenseman Dmitry Orlov put the puck on net (or tried to) but the shot deflected off right wing Garnet Hathaway's skate and through a maze of bodies into the net. It was the first career goal for the Brown alum and Maine native with former Canadien Lars Eller (who later left with a lower-body injury and never returned) adding the second helper at 16:42. 

    After a scoreless second period, Hathaway handed the Caps their first lead (3-2) at 7:04. That wasn't a fluke although it started with a ill-timed pinch by Bruins defenseman Kevan Miller which led to a 2-on-1. Orlov fed Hathaway who beat Rask top shelf with left wing Carl Hagelin credited with the other assist. Hall's tying goal was not of the sexy variety that he displayed multiple times late in the regular season but nevertheless, it was highly effective and just as memorable. Right wing Craig Smith and defenseman Matt Grzelcyk had the assists but Hall did the most dirty work as Anderson stopped all of them before Taylor finally found an open space to knock the puck into the net. That huge momentum swing at 17:11 carried Boston through the rest of regulation and into the very brief extra session. The game-ending sequence started when Capitals defenseman Brenden Dillon's awful clearing attempt was intercepted by Bruins center David Krejci at Washington's blue line. He shuttled the puck across to Grzelcyk who found Marchand with another cross-ice pass. Brad made no mistake there since he crushed a one-timer that Anderson could not get over fast enough to stop. 

    You cannot emphasize enough how important this victory was to Boston since trailing 0-2 and returning to the pressure of the Garden could have been a tough combination for them to overcome. Luckily, they stepped up at winning time and hopefully cracked the code a bit on the mediocre Anderson. I'd love to say that the B's will win Game 3 in a blowout but the fact remains that the last 11 (!) playoff games between the Bruins and Capitals have all been decided by one goal. Enjoy the beautiful weather tomorrow, watch the goofy Celtics-Wizards Play-In Tournament game (9, TNT) and get ready for what should be a beauty of an event on Causeway Street on Wednesday. 

In True Bruins Style, They Wasted A Great Chance To Win Game 1 Vs. The Capitals, Falling 3-2 In OT

 

    The Bruins and Capitals had the honor of opening the 2021 NHL playoffs this evening at the Capital One Arena and Washington took Game 1 by a score of 3-2 in overtime as something called Nic Dowd tipped in the game-winning goal at 4:41. Boston never led but it still felt like a tilt that they should have found a way to win since Caps rookie goaltender Vitek Vanecek (3 saves, 1 goal allowed) went down with a game-ending lower-body injury only 13:10 into the first period. In his place stepped 39-year-old veteran journeyman (this is his 5th NHL team!) Craig Anderson-who had only played in four games during the regular season-and he proceeded to stop 21 out of 22 shots for the win. It is only one game so I'm not going to freak out yet but I will say that if Boston loses this series, I'm confident that Game 1 will be a result they would dearly wish to have back. 

    Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask (29 saves) was good for much of the night except of course when it counted most which seems to be one of his specialties when it comes to the playoffs. He actually made the initial save on Dowd's tip of right wing T.J. Oshie's shot but the puck bounced off Rask's chest protector directly down to his stick which knocked it into his net. Woof. There are plenty of B's fans who are very tired of Rask these days so I can only imagine how many of them said something along the lines of "I told you so!" in that instance. Washington's chief piece of human garbage Tom Wilson had the secondary assist on what was undoubtedly the biggest goal of Dowd's life. 

    Speaking of Wilson, he also opened the scoring with the first goal of the postseason in the NHL. Ugh, you can't make this stuff up. Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy's stick broke in the offensive zone so the Capitals got a 2-on-1 with Oshie feeding Wilson who picked the top corner over Rask's glove hand. Left wing Daniel Sprong had the second assist at 6:22 of the first period. Boston's fourth line surprisingly provided the timely response for the B's as left wing Jake DeBrusk fired a quick shot after a face-off scrum for the tying goal at 13:10 of the first period. Center Curtis Lazar had the lone assist (his 1st playoff point as a Bruin) as he got the puck back to DeBrusk. That goal is when Vanecek got hurt and Anderson had to come in ice cold and rusty, no pressure.

    Playoff hockey is all about random guys stepping up and the second period was more proof of that as Caps defenseman Brendan Dillon's shot from the point deflected off Bruins defenseman Jeremy Lauzon's stick and past Rask at 8:44. Right wing Anthony Mantha (1st career playoff point) and Capitals icon Alex Ovechkin had the assists on Dillon's first ever playoff goal. Once again, it did not take Boston long to answer though as left wing Nick Ritchie was credited with a power play goal after right wing David Pastrnak's shot went off Ritchie's skate in front of Anderson. McAvoy had the second assist at 16:38 that tied it up at two. 

         Game 2 is set for Monday (7:30, NESN) back at the Capital One Arena and while I would not call it a must-win for the black and gold, it is in that scary neighborhood. Who knows if Vanecek will be able to play then or for the rest of the series but regardless, Boston has to get much more out of their top two lines that were both basically invisible in Game 1. More than anyone, Rask could also use a win since if the Bruins returned to Boston down 0-2 in the series, you wonder if head coach Bruce Cassidy would be tempted to throw rookie goaltender Jeremy Swayman in there to turn things around? There is very little separating these clubs so expect a long and tight series, I don't think that there will be many blowouts or one-sided affairs.

Until Further Notice, There Will Be No Angels In The Outfield This Season For That Wretched Team

 

    After seeing last year's disaster of a season, I think that Red Sox (25-16 overall, 13-11 home) fans are experts on what an awful baseball team looks like (along with Boston's other last-place finishers from recent years). The Angels (16-22 overall, 8-13 away) appear to be that type of lifeless bunch as they got destroyed 9-0 this afternoon at Fenway Park on a beautiful day that felt like summer. Boston's starting pitcher Martin Perez (6 IP, 3 hits, 5 Ks, 4 BBs) threw six shutout innings to pick up his first win of the season (1-2) then three relievers followed him with scoreless outings. Former Orioles stiff Dylan "Don't Call Me Bud" Bundy (0-5) got rocked for seven earned runs in just four-plus innings of work if you can call it that. 

    The Red Sox had three times as many hits as the Angels (12-4) and Los Angeles did not record a single extra base hit while Boston had five doubles and three home runs on the day. Is that good? Center fielder Alex Verdugo (2-for-4 w/2 runs) celebrated his 25th birthday (damn I am old) with a solo homer (his 5th HR of the season) in the first inning that gave the Sox an early 1-0 lead. For the second game in a row, the last two hitters in Boston's lineup came through as first baseman Bobby Dalbec (2 doubles, 2 runs) had a two-run double in the fourth inning, followed by an RBI double by left fielder Franchy Cordero. PS you know that your team is rolling when that bum is doing positive things. 

    The best shortstop in MLB-Xander Bogaerts (double, 2 runs)-put it out of reach for LA with a three-run bomb over the Green Monster (and the Monster seats!) in the fifth inning. It was his ninth home run of the season and he continues to lead MLB in hits along with many other offensive categories for his position. Cordero notched another RBI double in the sixth inning and third baseman Rafael Devers (2 runs, walk) provided the last run with a solo blast to the bleachers in right field in the seventh inning-his 10th homer of the season (tied for the team lead with J.D. Martinez). The unlikely trio of Phillips Valdez (strikeout), Darwinzon Hernandez (strikeout) and Austin Brice (strikeout) each pitched an inning of scoreless relief to wrap the second shutout of the year for the Red Sox.

    Boston goes for the three-game sweep tomorrow afternoon (1:10, NESN) as Nathan Eovaldi (4-2) faces Jose Quintana (0-3, 9.00 ERA) who is off to a nightmare start to 2021. The Red Sox have won their last three games in a row and Monday is an off-day so another beating of the Angels would be the perfect ending to this recent stretch of strong play against an overmatched opponent. The Yankees (22-17), Blue Jays (21-17) and Rays (22-19) are all playing pretty well at the moment too so even though Boston has the best record in baseball, they only lead their AL East rivals by two games, two and a half games and three games respectively. The early returns show that their division is the best in the American League and maybe even MLB depending on how you view the top heavy NL West (home of the Giants, Padres and Dodgers).

With Nobody Watching, The Celtics Likely Won For The Last Time This Season (124-108 At Minnesota)

 

    For a variety of reasons-1) it was a gorgeous summer-like day in New England; 2) the game started at 2 p.m. on a Saturday; 3) it meant literally nothing-I'm guessing that today's 124-108 victory for the Celtics (36-35 overall, 15-20 away) against the Timberwolves (22-49 overall, 12-23 home) was probably their lowest rated game in years on NBC Sports Boston. The penultimate regular season contest of this terrible season had the feel of a preseason game in Springfield, MA. Boston is already locked into the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference but they still don't know who they will host in the Play-In Tournament on Tuesday since the eight through ten seeds (Charlotte, Washington and Indiana) all have the same exact awful record (33-38). Haha can you feel the excitement? 

    Anytime that Celtics power forward Semi Ojeleye (6 points, 7 rebounds) starts for Boston, you know that something has gone horribly wrong. I guess doubly so when center Luke Kornet (12 points, 6 rebounds, 4 blocks) aka the Murder Kornet joins him in the starting lineup. Celts star Jayson Tatum had a game-high 26 points and 11 rebounds in 27 minutes while shooting guard Evan Fournier added 18 points and six assists with rookie guard Payton Pritchard rounding out the starters with 11 points and four steals. 11 guys got to play for Boston (sorry Carsen Edwards) as point guard Tremont Waters (14 points, 7 assists) had what must have been his best performance in the NBA and power forward Grant Williams notched 11 points and six rebounds off the bench as well. 

    The win snapped a four-game losing streak for the C's while the Timberwolves jockey for position in the Draft Lottery. Center Karl-Anthony Towns (24 points, 14 rebounds) posted a double-double and rookie swingman Anthony Edwards-who is making a late push for Rookie of the Year-added 23 points, six assists and three steals. Point guard D'Angelo Russell put up 11 points and six assists with center Naz Reid (12 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks) padding his stats off the bench. Boston's regular season finale is tomorrow afternoon (1, NBC Sports Boston) at Madison Square Garden against the Knicks (40-31 overall, 24-11 home). Expect an ugly blowout loss for the Celts not just because New York is way better than them but also since the Knicks are tied with the Hawks for fourth-place in the Eastern Conference so they will no doubt want to get that home-court advantage for the first round of the playoffs.

If The Red Sox Can Get Anything This Season From Hunter Renfroe And/Or Bobby Dalbec, Look Out!

 

    One of the biggest question marks for the Red Sox (24-16 overall, 12-11 home) coming into the 2021 season was the bottom of their lineup-granted you could say that for basically any other team in MLB history. Tonight at Fenway Park in their series opener against the Angels (16-21 overall, 8-12 away), Boston's offense was actually carried by their No. 8 and No. 9 hitters for a change: right fielder Hunter Renfroe was 2-for-3 with a two-run homer and two runs scored while first baseman Bobby Dalbec had a clutch two-run bomb of his own in the seventh inning which gave the Sox a 4-3 lead and that is how it would end. This could be the start of a nice win streak as the Red Sox won back-to-back games while LA has dropped its last three games in a row. 

    Boston's starting pitcher Nick Pivetta (6+IP, 2 ER, 4 hits, 7 Ks, 0 BBs) and Angels starter Griffin Canning (6 IP, 2 ER, 7 Ks, 2 BBs) were essentially a draw so it came down to a battle of the bullpens in the late innings. Former Red Sox great Jose Iglesias hit an opposite field two-run double in the top of the seventh that scored third baseman Anthony Rendon and first baseman Jared Walsh to make it 3-2 Angels. Dalbec answered in the bottom of the seventh with his two-run homer (his 4th of the season) that went high over the Green Monster then bounced off the Draft Kings sign. Boston's set-up man and closer were both lights out as Northeastern's Adam Ottavino pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning with two strikeouts for his eighth hold of the season. Not to be outdone, UConn's Matt Barnes nearly pitched an immaculate inning (3 strikeouts on 9 pitches) as he struck out the side on 11 pitches for his ninth save of the season. 

    Renfroe opened the scoring with a two-run missile in the second inning that went to the first row of the bleachers in straight away center field. His fifth homer of the season gave Boston the 2-0 lead that they would carry until the sixth inning when the most exciting player in baseball-Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani-hit an opposite field home run of his own that cleared the Monster for his American League best 11th homer of the season. It was his first career home run at Fenway so I bet that he will remember that one forever even if it came in a loss for his crappy team. Seriously, what a waste that he plays for LA (for instance, any of the other four California clubs would be much appealing) which has been stuck in neutral for the better part of the past decade. 

        One of the key facets of this win was that LA's other superstar-center fielder Mike Trout-was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts including a bogus called third strike that Ottavino got on him to end the eighth inning. Trout is at least part robot so naturally he didn't even argue with home plate bozo, I mean umpire Ron Kulpa. Tomorrow afternoon (4:10, NESN) Red Sox pitcher Martin Perez (0-2) continues his quest for his first win of the season while the same could be said for Angels pitcher Dylan Bundy (0-4). Boston is two games ahead of New York (21-17) for first-place in the AL East and they are tied with Oakland (24-16) for the second-best record in the AL, trailing only Chicago (23-14) who has played three less games than them. The Red Sox have scored the second most runs in MLB (203), trailing Houston by only one.

The Red Sox Snapped Their Three-Game Losing Streak And Avoided A Sweep Against The A's

 

    After losing the first two games of the series with the A's (23-16 overall, 10-5 away) at Fenway Park, tonight the Red Sox (23-16 overall, 11-11 home) needed a win to salvage something from one of the toughest opponents (either them or the White Sox, take your pick) that they have seen so far early in the 2021 season. With their easy 8-1 triumph, the Sox were able to maintain a one-and-a-half game lead over Toronto (20-16) and remain two games ahead of New York (20-17) for first-place in the AL East. Boston's starting pitcher Garrett Richards (3-2) delivered the goods with six shutout innings of work: he allowed five hits, struck out four and walked three in 91 pitches. 

    It was not competitive for very long as the home team scored three runs in the first inning and three more in the second inning to take a commanding 6-0 lead. Oakland's starting pitcher Sean Manaea (2 innings, 10 hits, 7 earned runs, 2 strikeouts, 1 walk) got completely shelled as you can tell from his pathetic numbers. The Red Sox had 13 hits, led by shortstop Xander Bogaerts (3-for-3 w/HR, 2B, 3 RBIs, BB) and left fielder J.D. Martinez (3-for-4 w/run & RBI). Batting leadoff second baseman Michael Chavis added two doubles, first baseman Bobby Dalbec was 2-for-4 w/2-run HR and right fielder Hunter Renfroe was 2-for-4 with a run. Martinez got the party started early for Boston with an RBI single that scored Chavis in the first inning then Bogaerts followed with a two-run homer (his 8th of the season) over the Green Monster. Dalbec crushed a two-run homer (his 3rd of the season) to dead center in the second inning that scored Renfroe and Xander later notched an RBI double in the frame that plated shortstop Jonathan Arauz.   

     Boston made it 7-0 in the third inning as a run came home on a double play then Chavis scored in the sixth inning after an infield single by Martinez and a throwing error by third baseman Matt Chapman. Oakland was held to eight hits in the entire game and their lone run came in the eighth inning on a ground out. Red Sox manager Alex Cora must have been thrilled that he only needed to use one reliever as Garrett Whitlock covered the last three innings (3 hits, 1 ER, 2 Ks, 1 BB) all by himself and was credited with one of those goofy saves that MLB hands out in long relief blowout victories like that. What a silly rule.

    The other California team in the AL visits Fenway this weekend as the Angels (16-20 overall, 8-11 away) are here for three games. After a decent start to the season, LA is back where they have mostly resided for years: the basement of the AL West. Mike Trout is an all-time great player but in baseball, it takes more than one transcendent outfielder to get anywhere. The Angels are 3-7 in their last 10 games coming into this series. Sadly, we won't get to see Shohei Ohtani pitch against the Red Sox this time around after he started on Tuesday. Nick Pivetta (5-0) faces Griffin Canning (3-2) tomorrow night (7:10, NESN) followed by Martin Perez (0-2) vs. former Oriole Dylan Bundy (0-4) on Saturday afternoon (4:10, NESN) then concluding with Nathan Eovaldi (4-2) opposing Jose Quintana (0-3) on Sunday afternoon (1:10, NESN). I'm hoping that the Sox take at least two out of three against that crappy club. 

Will The Celtics Win Another Game In The Doomed 2020-21 Regular Season/Play-In Tournament?

 

    No matter how much we all want this Celtics (35-35 overall, 14-20 away) team to go away for awhile, it appears like the team itself is even more determined to end this season as soon as possible. The timing was just too perfect since star Jaylen Brown had surgery on his left wrist's damaged ligaments yesterday right before his lifeless team fell 102-94 last night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse to the Cavaliers (22-48 overall, 13-23 home). The win snapped an 11-game losing streak for Cleveland while Boston's tailspin continued with their fourth loss in a row. In the grand scheme of things, this game meant very little but technically, Boston still has not secured the No. 7 seed yet and they could drop to as low as No. 9. Granted, no matter where they land and if they somehow survive the Play-In Tournament, do you have any hope that they'll make any noise before getting swept by Philadelphia (47-22) or Brooklyn (46-24) in the first round?

    The C's actually led by two points (69-67) going into the fourth quarter before they crumbled. The ghost of Kevin Love has appeared in less than half the games this season (can you blame him?) but he turned in a vintage performance with a game-high 30 points, 14 rebounds and two steals. If the Cavs are ever going to get good again (assuming that LeBron James does not return home again for a second time), they will need point guard Collin Sexton (28 points, 8 assists) to become the star that he shows glimpses of from time to time. Rookie swingman Isaac Okoro added 15 points and six assists in the rare Cavaliers victory. 

    Boston's active star Jayson Tatum had some nice stats (team-high 29 points, 8 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks) but he shot 11-of-26 from the floor. With little left to play for, the Celts chose to sit down guards Marcus Smart and Kemba Walker while center Robert Williams (will he appear in another game this season?) continues to deal with his apparently deadly case of turf toe. Shooting guard Evan Fournier added 15 points, center Tristan Thompson notched 10 points and rookie guard Payton Pritchard scored 15 points and had seven rebounds off the bench. There are two games left for the C's in the regular season: at Minnesota (22-47 overall, 12-21 home) on Saturday afternoon (2, NBC Sports Boston) and at New York (38-31 overall, 22-11 home) on Sunday afternoon (1, NBC Sports Boston). The first ever Play-In Tournament in NBA history begins on Tuesday.

The Heat Swept The Two-Game Set With The Celts, Sending Boston To The Play-In Tournament

 

    Much like I was saying last fall and winter about the hapless Patriots, this miserable season for the Celtics (35-34 overall, 21-15 home) has to end and thankfully for us, that will probably come soon. Tonight at the TD Garden, the Heat (38-31 overall, 18-16 away) clinched a playoff spot and in the process, relegated Boston to the gutter I mean the lovely Play-In Tournament next week as the likely No. 7 seed. In their first game knowing that star Jaylen Brown (upcoming wrist surgery) was not going to return to this sinking ship of a campaign, the C's at least tried but even if Brown and Robert Williams (turf toe) were in the lineup, it does not matter. Who could argue at this point that Miami is not simply a better team than them? They took the season series 2-1 and they are playing like a group that is peaking as they head into the postseason (7-3 in their last 10 games) while the Celtics continue to unravel like you read about (3-7 in their last 10 games). 

    Miami's best player Jimmy Butler (13 points) did not even play in the second half after getting poked in the eye by Celtics guard Marcus Smart (10 points, 5 assists) in the second quarter. The Heat are so much deeper than the C's and they also have a cohesive gameplan which is a big advantage over the Celts who often play like they all just met earlier that same day. Heat guard Tyler Herro (24 points, 11 rebounds) single-handedly outscored the Celtics bench (20 points combined) by himself. Steady center Bam Adebayo (7 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks) and sweet shooting guard Duncan Robinson both scored 22 points while guard Kendrick Nunn added 18 points, seven rebounds and three steals. For the Celtics, point guard Kemba Walker (game-high 36 points, 7 rebounds), swingman Jayson Tatum (33 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists) and shooting guard Evan Fournier (20 points, 8 assists, 2 blocks) were all very good but nobody else really did anything for the home team.

    It was tied at 28 after the first quarter and Miami led by six points (62-56) at halftime. The Heat started to take over some more in the third quarter (31-23) and they opened up a 21-point lead early in the fourth quarter when backup point guard Goran Dragic (17 points) drained a 3-pointer to make it 105-84. From there, the Celts did their usual window dressing fake comeback thing which makes the final score look more respectable when in reality, it could not have mattered less. This evening was the last home game of the regular season for Boston, now they have three road games in the next five days to fully sort this mess out before the Play-In Tournament begins next Tuesday. 

    Boston is at Cleveland (21-48 overall, 12-23 home) tomorrow night (8, NBC Boston), they go to Minnesota (22-47 overall, 12-21 home) on Saturday (time TBA, NBC Sports Boston) and it ends on Sunday (time TBA, NBC Sports Boston) at Madison Square Garden against the Knicks (38-31 overall, 22-11 home) who are tied with the Heat and Hawks (38-31) for fourth-place in the Eastern Conference with each team having three games left. The Celtics have already lost to the Cavs earlier this season and needed overtime to beat the T-Wolves so I would normally say that they should win those games to get tuned up for next week but let's be honest, it could not matter less at this point. They are going nowhere fast and the off-season needs to happen as quickly as possible.

The Bruins Lost 2-1 To The Capitals In A Completely Meaningless Regular Season Finale

 

    In a goofy scheduling quirk, Boston (33-16-7 overall, 15-9-4 away) had to go to DC tonight to play the Capitals (36-15-5 overall, 17-8-3 home) at the Verizon Center in their final game of the regular season, only to return there on Saturday night (7:15, NBC) for Game 1 of the first round of the NHL playoffs. With almost all of their best players benched, the Bruins' backups and lesser known guys mostly held their own against an almost full-strength Caps lineup but Washington won 2-1 thanks to a last-second goal. Veteran left wing Michael Raffl scored his first goal as a Capital (4th of the season) with three seconds left in regulation to clinch the victory (assisted by defenseman Justin Schultz) and thankfully avoid a needless overtime and/or shootout. Boston finished 4-2-2 against Washington in the regular season which should give them plenty of confidence heading into their fourth ever playoff series against the Capitals. 

    Rookie goaltender Jeremy Swayman (30 saves, 7-3-0) made the start for the B's and besides Raffl's fluky game-winner (over his shoulder from no angle), his only other mistake was coughing up a rebound which led to the tying goal for left wing Carl Hagelin in the second period. He crashed the net and put in the loose puck at 16:15 for his sixth goal of the season, assisted by Brown's Garnet Hathaway and some guy named Zdeno Chara. Washington's rookie goaltender Vitek Vanecek (21-10-4) made 24 saves in the victory and the only goal he allowed came earlier in the second period. Center Curtis Lazar drove to the net and was there to re-direct a feed from defenseman Jarred Tinordi. Left wing Jake DeBrusk had the other assist on Lazar's seventh goal of the season at 10:11.

    The Capitals seemed to have run the much bigger risk by having so many regulars play tonight but the Bruins turned out to be the team to suffer an injury as defenseman Jakub Zboril left with an upper-body injury in the second period and he never returned to action. I'd love to tell you when Games 2-4 will be but thus far, Game 1 is all that has been confirmed by the NHL. Regardless of when it all takes place, I think we all know that this is going to be a hell of a series. With the Penguins (37-16-3) facing the Islanders (32-17-7) in the other East Division semifinal, I think that the winner of the Bruins-Capitals series (assuming that they don't have tons of injuries to key players) has a great chance to be the last team standing from the East. That's the thing about playoff hockey though, predictions are useless but the games are always out of this world. Enjoy them everybody, let's hope for a long run for the black and gold.