If Rondo ever learns how to shoot free throws, look out world

Following up their Christmas day win over the Magic (their best win of the season thus far), the Celtics laid a Paris Hilton size dump fittingly in Los Angeles last night.

With the game tied at 90, Rajon Rondo (20 points, 6 assists) had a chance to close it out with 1.5 seconds left when he got fouled by Baron Davis (24 points, 13 assists) but Rondo bricked both shots.

And what do you know, Davis took the ensuing inbounds pass and hit a fadeaway buzzer-beater as the Clippers (13-17) stole one, 92-90 at the Staples Center.

Boston (23-6) led by as much as ten points in the second half but without Paul Pierce for the next week, they are desperately missing their most clutch player.

Tony Allen started for Pierce and he submitted 10 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and four steals. We know Tony Allen too well to get very excited about these flashes since he'll probably get hurt tonight and miss the rest of the season but Tony has played out of his mind since he came back.

Ray Allen scored 13 and Kevin Garnett added 12 points and eight rebounds. Rasheed Wallace and Eddie House both notched eight points off the bench.

The Clippers are still as mediocre as you remember but they should be better with stars like Davis and the underrated Chris Kaman (27 points, 12 rebounds). Eric Gordon added 15 points in the win.

For some reason, the Celts looked like a tired team as they shot a pitiful 1 of 12 on 3-pointers. They'll look to bounce back tonight in Golden State against the allergic-to-defense Warriors.

All the Bruins wanted for Christmas was a goal-scorer, it didn't happen

I'm sorry to say it but it is painful to watch the Bruins this season.

They've been desperate for a goal-scorer since Phil Kessel left over the summer but they haven't made a move yet.

With two solid goaltenders, the best defenseman in hockey, a great coach and one of the NHL's best playmakers, the pieces are there for a deep Stanley Cup run but without someone that can score 30+ goals every year, they'll be in 3-2 and 2-1 games for the rest of the season.

Last night in Florida stuck right to the script as the Bruins beat the Panthers 2-1, their third consecutive win.

Florida (16-17-7) scored first with a lucky goal-a staple of every Tim Thomas start-when former Harvard great Dominic Moore flipped a shot on Thomas (25 saves) that trickled in. Radek Dvorak and Jordan Leopold assisted on the goal.

Michael Ryder tied it in the second period with his 10th goal of the season. He tipped an Andrew Ference shot from the point with Blake Wheeler also notching an assist.

Marco Sturm, Boston's top goal-scorer at the moment, won it with his 11th 4:39 into the third period. Marc Savard and Dennis Wideman assisted as Sturm went to his patented move, cutting to the middle and snapping a quick shot. It went off the crossbar, off the post, off Scott Clemensen's (26 saves) pads and in.

The Bruins will try and get their fourth win in a row tonight as they continue playing in the Sunshine State, this time against the Lightning.

Where has this team been all season? Patriots win AFC East title

For most of this season, Patriots fans (that are somewhat rational) have been resigned to the fact that yes New England would make the playoffs but they'd probably get bounced in the first round. Bottom line, they weren't going to make any noise.

Well yesterday's events threw a wrench in that depressing blueprint as the Patriots played their best game of the season with a 35-7 win over the Jaguars at Gillette Stadium.

It was the Patriots' (10-5) third straight win and it clinched the AFC East title. Tom Brady (23 for 26, 267 yards) threw four touchdowns passes, three to Randy Moss and Wes Welker had 13 catches for 138 yards.

For the first time all season, New England's running game featured a stable of four healthy backs and they produced a season-high 197 yards rushing.

Still without Vince Wilfork, the defense looked great, making an early fourth-down stop and picking off two errant throws by David Garrard.

New England received the opening kickoff and marched down the field on their best, most creative drive of the year. However, Laurence Maroney fumbled at the 1-yard line and Jacksonville (7-8) recovered.

It seemed like a big deal at the time but on the ensuing Jags drive, head coach Jack Del Rio chose to go for it on fourth and 1 at their own 35-yard line. Maurice Jones-Drew (18 rushes, 63 yards) was stuffed by James Sanders and that was basically the game.

Moss gave the Patriots a 7-0 lead in the first quarter with a 2-yard touchdown catch. New England blitzed Jacksonville with 21 points in the second quarter-one of its best of the season. Forgotten man Chris Baker made a nice 26-yard touchdown catch, Sammy Morris (12 carries, 95 yards) scored on a 1-yard run and Moss caught a 6-yard TD.

Brandon Meriweather picked off Garrard in the first half and returned it 56 yards while Shawn Springs made his first play of the year, an interception in the red zone when New England was still preserving the shutout.

Moss' final score was a 17-yard catch and run where he dove near the end zone and stretched his arm and the ball over the line.

Garrard's two-yard run in the fourth quarter ended the shutout but by that time nobody cared.

Fred Taylor looked good in the fourth quarter, running for 35 yards on 11 carries. Kevin Faulk had 41 yards rushing while Maroney was on the bench for the rest of the game following his fumble.

Jerod Mayo had his best game of the season, making 15 total tackles, 11 solo.

Now the question is how much do you play Brady, Moss, Welker and other key players since next week at Houston doesn't mean much to the Patriots. They're locked in to the third or fourth seed but they will host a Wild Card game.

Bill Belichick hates to rest anybody so who knows how it'll play out. The AFC playoff scenarios are a mess which means there should be a lot of interesting games on the final day of the regular season.

Patriots find a pass rush, beat the hapless Bills

Once again, it wasn't pretty (at all) but the Patriots beat the Bills yesterday 17-10 at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

It was New England's (9-5) first true road win since their only other win away from Gillette was in London.

They also received two early Christmas presents as the Jets lost to the Falcons and the Dolphins lost in overtime to the Titans. The Patriots are two games up in the AFC East with two games to play.

The two things to take away from yesterday (besides how pathetic Buffalo is) were the reappearance of Randy Moss off milk cartons and post office walls. Plus, the Pats non-existent pass rush stopped by and sacked Ryan Fitzpatrick and Trent Edwards a combined six times.

Tully Banta-Cain led the Patriots' defense with three sacks, while Derrick Burgess, Gary Guyton and Mike Wright also recorded sacks. Finally, Jonathan Wilhite had an interception.

Buffalo (5-9) looked like world-beaters on their opening drive as they held the ball for 14 plays and 9:24 but they stalled in the red zone and were forced to settle for a 25-yard field goal by Rian Lindell.

Without Vince Wilfork (one of the NFL's best) and Ty Warren (a very solid defensive end), the Patriots defensive line was completely pushed around on that first drive.

Rookie Ron Brace (4 tackles) started in the middle for New England and Wright (6 tackles, sack, 2 tackles for loss) subbed for Warren. Brace proved why he's been inactive much of the season while Wright continued to get everything out of his limited ability.

Moss (5 catches, 70 yards) put the Pats up 7-3 in the second quarter on one of Tom Brady's (11 for 23, 115 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) only good throws: a perfect 13-yard strike to the back of the end zone that Moss controlled and tapped his feet down before going out of bounds.

Laurence Maroney (23 carries, 81 yards) gave New England a 14-3 lead with 24 seconds left in the first half. Nobody will ever credit him until he has an injury-free, solid season, but Maroney is slowly becoming the weapon he's shown glimpses of in the past.

Buffalo couldn't get out of its own way as they had 10 penalties in the first half-an NFL record this season-and finished with 11 overall for 124 yards.

Stephen Gostkowski's 30-yard kick put the Pats up 17-3 but the Bills made it close when Lee Evans caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Fitzpatrick.

The Bills recovered the ensuing onside kick but rookie Aaron Maybin was offsides so they chose to kick it deep and they never saw it again.

Jacksonville comes to Gillette next Sunday and then the Patriots wrap up the regular season at Houston in two weeks. If New England wins on Sunday, they'll clinch the division and would have to think hard about resting Brady since he's clearly banged up and not himself. He has an interception in four straight games.

If the playoffs started today, the Broncos would be coming to Gillette in the Wild Card round. Not a bad matchup.

Ho hum, Celts win 11th straight and have best record in the NBA

It's funny how fast things can change in the NBA. A few weeks ago, the Celtics looked old and very vulnerable. Well they're still old but after winning their 11th straight last night, 110-105 over the Grizzlies, Boston (20-4) has the best record in the NBA.

Sure, the Celts have thrived against mostly weak teams but still they are 12-1 on the road. Since last night was the final game of a brief three-game road trip and because it was against a team that plays the style that gives Boston the most trouble (young, athletic), a seasoned fan had to know it wouldn't be easy.

It was basically a carbon copy of countless games from the last three seasons; the Celtics made just enough winning plays at the end to come away with the win. The biggest shot was Ray Allen's (18 points) three-pointer off a busted play with 17.5 seconds left.

Paul Pierce led the C's with 19 points and six assists. Rajon Rondo had 18 points and nine assists, Kevin Garnett had 13 points and eight boards while Kendrick Perkins added 13 points and six rebounds before fouling out.

The bench gave Boston a big left as Rasheed Wallace scored 15 and Eddie House had nine points.

Memphis (10-14) has one of the best starting fives in the league, really. Rudy Gay was coming off a career-high 41 point game and he followed that up with a team-high 23 points and seven rebounds. O.J. Mayo had 21 points and Zach Randolph added 20. Marc Gasol, who's much tougher than his older brother Pau, notched 15 points and eight boards while Mike Conley Jr. tossed in 11. Rookie Sam Young had 11 points off the bench.

Memphis led 31-28 after the first quarter and 55-54 at the half. Boston turned it on in the third quarter (31-26) and held on in the fourth (25-24).

The C's come home for three games, starting with Allen Iverson and the Sixers on Friday night.

It's Tuukka time Claude, just go with it

Tim Thomas is a good NHL goaltender. He had a career year last season and was rewarded with a new contract and the Vezina trophy. All of that is irrelevant in the here and now because he is struggling and backup goalie Tuukka Rask is really starting to come into his own at the NHL level.

Thomas (7-8-4, 2.48 GAA) lost his third straight start last night as the Flyers won a Winter Classic preview 3-1 at the TD Garden.

It seems like every game Thomas is good for at least one soft goal. Last night didn't have any complete stinkers but Kimmo Timonen's game-winner is probably one that Thomas would like back.

Boston (16-10-6) led 1-0 on Vladimir Sobotka's tip in on Shawn Thornton's shot in the second period. Steve Begin also assisted on what turned out to be the Bruins' only goal of the game.

The Flyers (15-15-1) have been playing terrible so they desperately needed this game to gain some momentum. Rookie James van Riemsdyk (a UNH product) tied it early in the third with a redirection. Arron Asham and Timonen assisted.

Timonen's goal which put Philadelphia up 2-1 was a long shot from the point that was deflected off Blake Wheeler's glove and past a screened Thomas (35 saves). Jon Kalinski and Matt Carle assisted.

The B's had a chance as they received a power-play with 1:03 left. They pulled Thomas to make it a 6-on-4 advantage but they couldn't put one past Flyers goalie Brian Boucher (26 saves).

Timonen clinched it with an empty-netter that went the length of the ice.

Boston has today off and then practices the next few days before going to Chicago to play the high-flying Blackhawks (maybe the best team in the Western Conference) Friday night.

Rask (9-2-2, 1.97 GAA) deserves the next start.

Wes Welker is no Randy Moss, which is a good thing

For the last month as the Patriots have been in their worst tailspin in years (losing three out of four), it's become clear that for whatever reason Randy Moss is bailing on this team.

Things reached a boiling point on Wednesday when he showed up late for a meeting, along with Derrick Burgess, Gary Guyton and Adalius Thomas. Bill Belichik sent all four home for the day and Thomas wasn't active yesterday.

Burgess (3 tackles, sack) and Guyton (1 tackle) actually played decent in yesterday's 20-10 win over the Panthers at Gillette Stadium but Moss (1 catch, 16 yards, fumble) had his worst game in a Patriots uniform.

It doesn't help Moss that Wes Welker is a teammate; Welker represents everything Moss is not known for: hard work, toughness, going over the middle, a good attitude. On a day when Tom Brady struggled again (19 for 32, 192 yards, TD, INT), Welker was the passing game. He finished with 10 catches for 105 yards.

New England (8-5) had to win this game and while they played rather poorly and were fortunate to be facing a team going nowhere (with a backup quarterback), it's still a win. The Jets and Dolphins both won to remain one game behind New England in the AFC East.

The Patriots survived two fumbles and the interception by Brady. The good news was the defense looked good (save for a few breakdowns) and the running game was very productive on a rainy, messy afternoon.

Laurence Maroney had one of the best games in his career with 94 yards on 22 carries. Kevin Faulk added 58 yards rushing and a touchdown while Sammy Morris had 35 yards rushing (although he was stuffed on a predictable fourth down call and also fumbled).

Steve Smith gave Carolina (5-8) a 7-0 lead in the first quarter with a 41-yard touchdown catch from Matt Moore. Shawn Springs was left alone in coverage after Brandon Meriweather went to cover another Panthers receiver and Springs will never stop Smith by himself.

Faulk tied it up in the second quarter with a 3-yard run 1:08 before halftime.

Ben Watson (3 catches, 37 yards) capped off New England's longest drive of the season (13 plays, 96 yards) with a 5-yard touchdown catch from Brady. Watson is known for his Braylon Edwards-esque stone hands but give him credit as he held on after being drilled by a Carolina defender.

John Kasay's 36-yard field goal in the fourth quarter made it 14-10 New England but Stephen Gostkowski sealed it with two long kicks of his own (48 yards and 47 yards).

For reasons unknown, DeAngelo Williams (13 carries, 82 yards) didn't get the ball much even though it was obvious that Moore (15 for 30, 197 yards, TD) couldn't make the easiest of throws.

Burgess and Jarvis Green both recorded sacks on the final Carolina drive as New England showed some semblance of a pass rush for once. Ty Warren and Vince Wilfork both left the game with injuries so hopefully they'll be back next weekend. The Pats can't afford to have their two outstanding defensive lineman out for any time.

There are three games left in the regular season and the Patriots look for their first true road win next Sunday in Buffalo. Odds are there will be three feet of snow on the ground.