NBA Playoffs: Where punching Brad Miller in the face happens

In the all-important Game 5 last night at the Garden, the Celtics survived 106-104 to take a 3-2 series lead into Game 6 tomorrow night in Chicago.

Paul Pierce did what he do (as the rappers say), scoring 26 points and grabbing seven boards. He scored six huge points down the stretch in the fourth, including the tying bucket with 10 seconds left. He also had the clinching shot with three seconds left in overtime. Rajon Rondo continued his MVP play: 28 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds. Big Baby added 21 points and six boards.

The most unexpected huge contribution was from Kendrick Perkins who almost had a triple-double: 16 points, 19 rebounds and seven blocks. As cliche as it sounds, every point mattered since Ray Allen (10 points) fouled out in the fourth quarter and the C's bench continued to be non-existent.

Ben Gordon led the uber-resilient Bulls with 26 points. Kirk Hinrich scored 19 and John Salmons tossed in 17 points. Derrick Rose had 14 points, eight rebounds and six assists. The pug-ugly Joakim Noah had a double-double: 11 points and 17 rebounds while Tyrus Thomas managed 12 points and eight rebounds.

It looked like Chicago was going to send it to a second overtime when the seas parted on an inbounds play and Brad Miller had a clear path to the basket. Luckily for Boston, Miller is incredibly slow and also Rondo managed to punch the side of his face.

After receiving treatment for a bleeding mouth, a wobbly Miller bricked the first free throw and then intentionally missed the second (although he didn't hit the rim). Game over. A cheap way to win but the Celts will take them any way they come in this intense series.

Boston shot 48.8% to 40.0% for the Bulls. Chicago made 11 more free throws (27-16) and had six more rebounds (50-44). The C's had six more assists (24-18).

The Red Sox are playing some decent ball

Busy times in New England. The weather has been amazing lately and there's been plenty of actions in the arenas, fields and war-rooms of our favorite teams.

For the reasons just outlined, it has been overshadowed by the Celtics' mediocrity, the Bruins' dominance and the Patriots' 2009 draft class but last night at Progressive Field (no longer Jacobs Field?), the Sox (13-6) won their 11th game in a row.

Everyone's new favorite player Jason Bay provided all the offense in the 3-1 win as he bashed a three-run bomb off Indians (7-13) closer Kerry Wood in the ninth.

He had three of Boston's eight total hits. David Ortiz added two hits although he's still looking for his first homer of the season.

2008 Cy Young winner Cliff Lee pitched eight shutout innings, allowing just five hits with no walks and five strikeouts.

Tim Wakefield had his third straight outstanding start as he departed after seven scoreless innings. Manny Delcarmen (he of the 0.00 ERA) pitched a scoreless eighth for the win and Jonathan Papelbon was shaky in the ninth but recorded his fifth save of the season.

Mark DeRosa's RBI single in the ninth plate Shin-Soo Choo with the Indians' only run.

Boston looks to make it twelve in a row tonight as Brad Penny opposes Anthony Reyes.

Jacoby Ellsbury will steal your heart

What better way to heal the fresh wounds provided by yesterday's Celtics loss than a weekend sweep of the Yankees?

The Red Sox (12-6) won their tenth in a row, 4-1 last night at Fenway and in the process won the third and final game of the three game set vs. New York (9-9).

Friday night featured Jason Bay's two-run tying homer off Mariano Rivera then Kevin Youkilis' walk-off shot in the 11th. Saturday was an 16-11 marathon victory. Last night was pretty dull for the most part except for one play in particular.

Jacoby Ellsbury (2 runs, hit, 2 stolen bases) deftly stole home plate in the fifth inning as Andy Pettitte (2-1) and Jorge Posada didn't notice/took too long to throw home and tag Ellsbury. That gave Boston a 3-1 lead that was given one last boost on the next pitch as J.D. Drew doubled home David Ortiz.

Brett Gardner gave the Yanks a 1-0 lead in the third with a sacrifice fly. Ortiz tied it with a sac. fly of his own in the third before giving Boston the lead with an RBI double in the three-run fifth.

Justin Masterson improved to 2-0 with one earned run in 5.1 innings. He gave up four hits, one walk and struck out four.

Last night served as a reminder why the Red Sox have become baseball's model franchise while the Yankees continue to falter in the new millennium, no matter how much money they spend.

Boston obviously spends a ton of dough too but they've developed a top-notch farm system. Home-grown talent like Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, Youkilis, Jonathan Papelbon, Masterson, Jon Lester, et. al have proven to be great Major League players.

New York gets the big names but they fail to produce at the same level that they used to or they disappear in October (see: A-Rod).

Since the bullpen was so taxed from the weekend, rookie Michael Bowden was called up. All he did was pitch a scoreless seventh and eighth after another rookie, Hunter Jones, got the last two outs in the sixth. Takashi Saito got the save since Papelbon had the night off.

The Yankees will get better whenever A-Rod returns but they still have the worst middle relievers in baseball. It's like they don't realize anything from past mistakes.

Boston hits the road for nine games, starting with three in Cleveland beginning tonight.

This is not fun

This is the roller coaster of life in the NBA playoffs without KG and Leon Powe. The Bulls won 121-118 in double overtime yesterday afternoon at the United Center in Game 4, evening the series at two games apiece.

At various points, this was a game Boston should have lost, then won and finally lost again. Ray Allen (28 points) hit another clutchtastic 3-pointer to tie it late in regulation and send the game to overtime. Up three late in the first overtime, Ben Gordon (22 points, 6 rebounds) broke free and tied it with a three of his own. The C's had a chance to win it when Rajon Rondo (25 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists) had a jumper but it predictably missed and the Bulls simply made more shots to outlast Boston in the second OT.

Paul Pierce scored a game-high 29 points and grabbed seven rebounds but he had six turnovers. Kendrick Perkins was effective with 15 points and nine boards but he also committed six turnovers and fouled out in overtime, leaving Boston with few big available big men. Big Baby had a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds but he shot 4-of-16 from the floor.

This game was about the Bulls' heart and refusal to lose. They're a young team that makes a lot of mistakes but with Gordon and Derrick Rose (23 points, 11 rebounds, 9 assists, 7 turnovers), they almost always have a chance to win.

John Salmons scored 20 points for Chicago, Tyrus Thomas added 14 points and 10 rebounds while Joakim Noah notched 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Most importantly, Kirk Hinrich came off the bench to score 18 points and Brad Miller tossed in 12 points before fouling out. Boston does not have the depth or options that Chicago possesses.

Game 5 is tomorrow night at the Garden and Game 6 is Thursday back in the land of big shoulders. Any doubts this is going seven?

Get that weak shit outta here Chicago

Maybe the Bulls shot their load (too soon) in games 1 and 2? At least that's what Ron Jeremy and the porn-minded NBA fans will be thinking for the next few days after Boston embarrassed Chicago, 107-86 in Game 3 last night at the United Center.

The road win was big for the C's as it nullified their terrible performance in Game 1 and gave them back the homecourt advantage.

Paul Pierce stepped up after two sub-par (for him) performances. The Truth hit his first six shots of the night en-route to a game-high 24 points. Best of all, he only played 28 minutes in the blowout so he'll be fresh for Game 4 on Sunday.

Rajon Rondo continued to be the best player on the court as he submitted 20 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and five steals. Ray Allen added 18 points and Big Baby Glen Davis had a fine all-around game: 14 points, nine rebounds, six assists, six steals and three blocks.

Perhaps the most impressive part of this contest was Stephon Marbury, who had his best game in a Celtics uniform. The head-tatooed one had 13 points, five assists and zero turnovers.

The Bulls looked like the team that went 41-41 in the regular season. Ben Gordon led the way with 15 points but he was nothing like the guy in Game 2. Kirk Hinrich and John Salmons both scored 14 points. After collecting the Rookie of the Year trophy, Derrick Rose was a non-factor for the second straight game. Rose had nine points and seven turnovers as the Celts have started to figure him out while Rondo is running circles around the entire team.

The vaunted Celtics defense (which led the NBA in opponents field goal percentage) held Chicago to 37.5% shooting while they made 48.1%. Boston made 12-of-21 3-pointers and the Bulls missed 10 free throws (17-of-27). Boston had nine more assists (23-14), 11 more steals (16-5) and six more blocks (10-4). In short, they looked like the polished, experienced veteran team while Chicago couldn't get out of its own way.

I would term Sunday a must-win for Chicago. If they go down 3-1 to Boston, it's over. End of story.

Thanks for the memories Montreal

It's rare to see a playoff series that's over in two games but that much was clear in the Bruins-Canadiens first round series. Boston was a much better team and they lived up to their talent and smarts as they swept away the Habs with a 4-1 victory last night at the Bell Centre.

Who better to play a starring role in the sweep than former Montreal forward Michael Ryder? He led the Bruins with two goals and an assist last night (four goals and three assists in the series). David Krejci had a goal and assist, Phil Kessel added the other goal and Tim Thomas made 26 saves for his fourth straight playoff win.

This marked Boston's first playoff series win in 10 years, as they erased five straight losses in the first round (including three to Monreal).

It couldn't have been a better start for the Habs in game 4 as Andrei Kostitsyn scored 39 seconds into the game from Saku Koivu and Alex Kovalev.

Didn't matter one bit. This isn't the Bruins of recent ilk. They don't get rattled, even in a playoff road game against a team facing elimination.

Ryder tied it up with 2:33 left in the first period as ancient defenseman Roman Hamrlik coughed up the puck right in front of his terrible goalie, Carey Price.

Even better, the B's grabbed a 2-1 lead with 35 seconds left as Ryder and Krejci worked a perfect give-and-go. Ryder stole the puck, drove to the net which drew Price (26 saves) then dished across the crease to Krejci, who had a wide open net.

For all intents and purposes, Kessel ended it as he scored on a breakaway after he came out of the penalty box. Patrice Bergeron hit him with an indirect pass off the side wall and Kessel skated in alone.

Finally, Ryder lit the lamp one last time from Krejci and Dennis Wideman.

This is a perfect scenario for Boston as they get as much time off as possible before their next series. The New York Rangers are actually up 3-1 on the Capitals. If the Rangers can finish off Washington, it would eliminate the biggest obstacle in the Eastern Conference for the Bruins.

And thus ends one of the best days in recent memory

I'll be honest. After living at home for roughly two and a half years, there's been many times that I've been on the verge of losing my mind. I would like to move out before age 40 but a combination of low-paying jobs and a great situation with my parents makes it hard to leave the nest. Besides their support, one thing more than any other reason has kept me happy and sane for the past few years: the dominance of Boston sports teams.

I know when I'm old, I'll be telling my kids, grandkids and other random people at the bingo hall about this special time. It is ridiculous. And yesterday was a perfect example as the Sox swept the Orioles, the Bruins went up 3-0 on Montreal and the defending champion Celtics won a thrilling 118-115 game to even their series with the Bulls, 1-1.

It was an unbelievable game featuring some ridiculous individual performances: Ben Gordon scored a game-high 42 points for the Bulls. Rajon Rondo rolled his ankle and still had a triple-double: 19 points, 16 assists, 12 rebounds and five steals. Ray Allen came back from the dead (2 points in the first half after 4 points in Game 1) to finish with 30 points, including the two biggest hoops of the game (two 3-pointers; one with 20 seconds left that put Boston up 1 and then the clincher with two seconds left). Finally, Glen Davis looked like Kevin Garnett (haha, for one night) as he hit jumpers from all over the place, en route to a career-high 26 points and nine rebounds.

In such a wide-open, offensive game, Chicago had other notable stat lines. John Salmons added 17 points. Brad Miller had 16 points and nine rebounds off the bench. Joakim Noah notched 13 points, eight rebounds and four blocks and Derrick Rose was held to 10 points, seven assists and six rebounds.

Boston featured 18 points and eight boards from the Captain, Paul Pierce. The Bulls blocked a team-record 14 shots but Celts center Kendrick Perkins did a great job using his bulk inside over the slimmer, athletic Bulls. Perk had 16 points and 12 rebounds.

Chicago made nine more free throws (26-17) but Boston owned the glass (50-36; including a 21-8 advantage on offensive boards).

These first two games have been classics so who knows what to expect as the series moves to Chicago starting Thursday night.