Wanted: a big guy that can score off the bench

Heading into this four-game West Coast swing, I think most people expected the Celts to go 3-1, maybe even 4-0.

Can't say anyone was guessing 1-3 but that's the way it turned out as the Celts had another fourth quarter meltdown (though it certainly wasn't as drastic as the Warriors game) in a 91-86 loss to the underrated Portland Trailblazers at the Rose Garden last night.

Playing without star Brandon Roy, the Blazers (20-12) used a fired up home crowd to pull off the upset.

Steve Blake led Portland with 21 points while LaMarcus Aldridge notched 20 points and seven rebounds. Travis Outlaw (one of the best sixth men in the NBA) had 17 off the bench while Greg Oden had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

For the Celts (28-5), Paul Pierce scored a game-high 28 points, including 14-of-15 from the free throw line. Kevin Garnett added 17 points and eight rebounds and Rajon Rondo filled the stat sheet with 13 points, eight boards, seven assists and three steals.

Ray Allen managed to get 12 points but he shot a Larry Hughes-esque 2-of-11 from the floor.

The story of the game was the Portland bench which outscored Boston 29-9.

Jeff Van Gundy pointed it out during the Lakers game on Christmas and it gets more clear every night what the C's biggest hole is at this moment. They need another big guy, preferably one that can score off the bench. P.J. Brown was perfect in that role late last season and especially in the playoffs.

He seems content in retirement and the Rockets just brought back Mutombo, a name that had been floating around for a while (not that he can score at all anymore). Antonio McDyess would have been exactly what they needed but he returned to the Pistons after being traded to the Nuggets.

Boston came out strong and led 23-13 after the first quarter. The Blazers started to wake up in the second and only trailed 45-40 at the half.

Portland took the third (29-24) and fourth (22-17) both by five points as Boston came unraveled in crunch time.

The one good thing about the outcome is that it the Blazers didn't win by one or two points. Late in the first half, Portland had six men on the court (something I've never seen) and scored a hoop. Naturally, Boston stopped playing and the shot shouldn't have counted but for whatever reason, the refs allowed it to stand. Uh, Really? Somewhere Tim Doneghy nods his head in approval from his jail cell.

Eddie House had a chance to tie it with a 3-pointer with 20 seconds left but he shot an airball over Oden.

Portland shot 45.2% to Boston's 40.3%. The C's were 3-of-14 on threes but 29-of-31 at the line. The Blazers killed the Celtics on the glass (44-29) which is something that never happens to this team.

After what was no doubt a long, quiet flight home, the C's get back to action on Friday night with a gimmee when the worst team in the Eastern Conference, the Washington Wizards limp to the Garden.

Bruins on longest win-streak of my lifetime

Another night, another solid performance from the Boston Bruins.

The B's (28-5-4) went into Mellon Arena last night, facing a Penguins (19-14-4) that is really underachieving and would miss out on the playoffs if they started today.

Pittsburgh was desperate but it didn't matter since right now, the Bruins are the better team. Boston won 5-2, increasing their current win-streak to nine games (the longest since Dec. 1982).

With three minutes left in the first, Pittsburgh got out to a 1-0 lead as Petr Sykora (13th goal) put in a rebound from Ruslan Fedotenko and Dustin Jeffrey.

Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury (35 saves) was giving up juicy rebounds all night and the B's made him pay starting in the second when they scored two power-play goals.

First Zdeno Chara (7th) finished a perfect pass from P.J. Axelsson (and Dennis Wideman). Marc Savard (12th) made it 2-1 (with assists from David Krejci and Wideman) by settling the puck near the goal-line then roofing it (hitting the Gatorade bottle) over Fleury.

Pascal Dupuis (9th) tied it up later in the second. Chara couldn't clear a bouncing puck from the Boston zone and Sidney Crosby intercepted it. He found Dupuis, who blasted a slapshot over Thomas' glove hand (a very rare occurrence).

Phil Kessel (23rd) scored what turned out to be the game-winner, 90 seconds later when he redirected Savard's cross-crease pass.

Martin St. Pierre made his first goal of the season (and 2nd career NHL strike) really count. He scored when the Bruins were short-handed in the third. St. Pierre blocked a Crosby pass then broke out 2-on-1 with Savard, who no surprise hit him with a crisp pass.

At 9:28 Wideman ended it with a screen shot that Fleury probably never saw. It was Wideman's eighth of the season from Axelsson and Chara.

Tim Thomas was stellar in net once again, making 32 saves while improving to 16-3-3. Even though he's not on the ballot (which is a complete joke), Thomas should be starting in the All-Star game. He had as usual a couple show-stopping saves.

These two teams have New Years Eve off and then they'll face each other once again, tomorrow night in Boston.

Milan Lucic and Pens rookie Tim Wallace threw down near the end of the game and Lucic recorded the win. It was a pretty nice fight and a fitting way to top off this beatdown of the Penguins.

Was there any doubt?

After consecutive losses for the first time this season, what NBA fan didn't know the Boston Celtics would make quick work of the Sacramento Kings last night at Arco Arena?

A 108-63 humiliation was just what the doctor (Rivers) ordered as the C's put the bad taste out of their collective mouths.

Boston (28-4) got solid production throughout the lineup and was able to sit the starting five for much of the second half.

KG continued his hot shooting (10 of 11) as he led the Celts with 21 points and 11 rebounds. Ray Allen had 19 points and Eddie House added 15 off the bench. Paul Pierce scored 13 and Kendrick Perkins looked good in his return (7 points, 12 rebounds, 4 blocks) after missing the Warrriors game.

The Kings (7-24) are a complete mess as John Salmons was the only double-digit scorer with 11 points.

Boston figures to have much more of a challenge as they travel to Portland tomorrow night in their West Coast finale to take on Brandon Roy and the improving Blazers.

Plenty of room left on this bandwagon folks

As my friends and I watched the Patriots' playoff chances go down the tubes yesterday afternoon, one thing brought us the most temporary relief: the Boston Bruins, who won their eighth game in a row.

Playing less than 24 hours after their last game, the B's (27-5-4) survived in Atlanta (12-20-4) and came away with an exciting 2-1 win.

One of the greatest ongoing storylines of this wonderful season has been the outstanding play of goalie Manny Fernandez. Mocked by many (myself included), he has quickly found his game as the Bruins have established the best 1-1A goaltending duo in the NHL.

The numbers just keep getting better for Boston too; they lead the NHL in goals and have the fewest goals allowed. They are also tied with San Jose for the most points in the league.

It's heady stuff and none of it would be possible without Fernandez, who made 32 saves (including 12 in the third) to up his record 12-2-1.

A neutral zone turnover late in the first period allowed the Thrashers to skate in and score when Bryan Little threw a centering pass of Bruins defenseman Matt Hunwick and past Fernandez with 15 seconds left.

It didn't take Boston long to tie it as Phil Kessel scored his team-high 22nd goal of the season at 1:43 in the second period from Marc Savard and Dennis Wideman.

Atlanta dominated the third but the B's made the most of their one real scoring opportunity.

David Krejci (from Blake Wheeler) found Michael Ryder right on the doorstep for a redirection goal at 13:56. Ryder has really played well lately as he potted his 14th goal of the season.

The B's wrap up their road trip with a visit to Mellon Arena to see Sidney Crosby and the overrated Pittsburgh Penguins tomorrow night.

And that's a wrap: the 11-5 Patriots sit out January

I promise not to whine, too much. The New England Patriots finished 11-5 with their 13-0 shutout of the Bills yesterday and yet they didn't advance to the playoffs. They are the first team since the playoffs expanded to 12 teams to miss out with 11 wins.

Since the loss to the Steelers, the Patriots' playoff fate was partially out of their hands. They won their last four games (and were playing their best football of the season) but they still needed the Ravens to lose to the Jaguars or the Jets to beat the Dolphins. As expected, neither scenario came through.

I could go on (and on and on) about how pathetic Brett Favre is (retire already) or that Eric Mangini is a terrible coach (he was fired this morning) but I'll leave that to everyone else in New England. This was the first season in a while that the AFC East was competitive and the fact that the AFC West and NFC West were terrible is irrelevant. Division strength is cyclical in football and there were two losses you can point to (Colts, Jets) that if the Pats had pulled out, we wouldn't be having this discussion.

For the third week in a row, the Patriots had to play in ridiculous weather. They won in the pouring rain in Oakland. They dominated in a snowstorm last weekend at Gillette against the disinterested Cardinals and finally yesterday they won in god-forsaken Upstate New York where the winds were 30-40 m.p.h with gusts up to 50.

In likely his last game for New England, Matt Cassel only attempted eight passes but he still was outstanding and showed just how far he's come since September. He finished 6 of 8 for 78 yards with 19 yards rushing on three attempts (including two fourth-down conversions).

I've never seen a game where it mattered so much if you had the wind at your back. Stephen Gostkowski made a 33-yard kick in the first quarter and the Patriots led 3-0 at the half.

The Bills' miserable end to the season was best summed up by their last possession of the second quarter. With time running out (and no timeouts left), they ran the ball in the Patriots' red zone then took too much time to get back to the line before the clock showed zeros. Dick Jauron is from Swampscott, two towns over from my hometown, but he's clearly over his head.

Sammy Morris (20 carries, 84 yards) and LaMont Jordan (20 carries, 64 yards) continued their fine late-season play. If they could both stay healthy consistently (a huge if), I'd much rather prefer them over the more talented but enigmatic Laurence Maroney.

Jordan plunged in from two-yards out in the third quarter. It turned out to be the game's only touchdown as the inept Bills couldn't get out of their own way.

Marshawn Lynch sat out but backup running back Fred Jackson (27 carries, 136 yards) was great.

Gostkowski added a 23-yard kick in the fourth. He had a solid day even though he missed a 26-yard field goal in the second quarter and almost missed an extra point. The missed field goal was right down the middle then the wind hooked it wide right. During the extra point, the wind almost completely knocked it down as it barely went over the crossbar.

You're only kidding yourself if you think the Patriots would have won the Super Bowl this season with all their injuries and obvious flaws but with the way they'd been playing over the last month, it would have been interesting to see what Cassel would have done in the playoffs. Especially if they won the AFC East and hosted a home game or two.

It's going to take more than Hurricanes to stop the B's

The runaway freight train that is the Boston Bruins continued to barrel down the tracks. Last night, the B's (26-5-4) picked up a tight 3-2 win in Carolina (17-15-5) at the RBC Center.

With the two points and coupled with the Sharks loss, the Bruins are one point shy of the best record in the entire NHL.

Matt Cullen gave the Hurricanes a 1-0 lead in the first period as he scored a goal from Chad LaRose and Frantisek Kaberle.

Rookie phenom Blake Wheeler continued his hot streak as he scored two goals in the second period (in a span of 3:41).

Fellow rookie and defenseman Matt Hunwick assisted on the first tally while David Krejci and Dennis Wideman assisted on the second (Wheeler's 13th of the season).

Carolina's Anton Babchuk tied it up later in the second with help from Brendan Sutter (the sixth Sutter to play in the NHL, really) and Ryan Bayda.

Michael Ryder scored the game-winner for the Bruins, 13:46 into the third period. Marc Savard whipped a crisp pass right to Ryder's stick and Ryder used his quick release to put it by Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward (18 saves).

Chuck Kobasew's empty-netter (from Savard and Wideman) with 16 seconds remaining ended any doubt that Boston would skate away with two points.

Carolina actually controlled most of the play but Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas stood tall with 29 saves as he improved his record to 15-3-3.

The Bruins go to Atlanta this afternoon for a game with the pathetic Thrashers (who they've already beaten three times this season). It is the teams' last meeting of the season.

a sober Don Nelson didn't see this coming

The Boston Celtics experienced their second indisputable shitty loss (the Pacers being the other one) last night as they fell 99-89 to the Golden State Warriors at the Oracle Arena.

Playing without Corey Maggette, Monta Ellis and Jamal Crawford, the Warriors (9-22) picked up their biggest win of the season thus far.

Stephen Jackson led Golden State with a game-high 28 points (15 in the fourth) and seven rebounds while Marco Belinelli (some Italian bozo) aided 22 points. That eclectic duo was added by Ronny Turiaf, who had 14 points and eight rebounds.

It was a strange game as Boston (27-4) seemed to be firmly in control for most of the game until they completely unraveled in the fourth quarter.

Paul Pierce led the C's with 21 points, Kevin Garnett had 14 points and Leon Powe made the most of his start (Kendrick Perkins sat out with a sore shoulder, gulp) by putting up 12 points and seven rebounds. Rajon Rondo flirted with a triple-double (11 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists) but he also registered a troubling seven turnovers.

The Celts led 29-19 after the first quarter and it looked like they'd cruise. Boston took a 51-39 lead into halftime. The Warriors started to make their move in the third (25-21) before the mind-numbing fourth (35-17).

Golden State seemingly couldn't miss in the fourth and they also got to the line and converted at will. Conversely, the Celtics struggled to get the offense started when it counted and to make matters worse, Ray Allen (7 points) fouled out. It was Ray's worst game since the playoffs.

With two more stops on this West Coast trip, the Celts will look to get things back under control tomorrow night in Sacramento against the Kings (another very winnable game).