Sports Redux: They Deserve A Break Today

The All-Star Break couldn't have come at a better time for the Celtics. It's a few extra days of rest for KG, of course, but after last night, almost everyone over 6'8" is in agony this morning and needs some time off. Brian Scalabrine fled the court with a groin pull very early, then Glen Davis went down VERY hard in the second half. He was in so much visible pain that they didn't immediately kick it to the dancing idiots on the Jumbotron. What happened to him is being called a "strained left quadriceps".

What was left of the Celtics - Doc Rivers said, "We were a Leon away from a lot of trouble" - managed to hold on for a 111-103 thumping of the Knicks that wasn't really as close as the score indicated. Pierce had 24, Ray Allen (more on him in a moment) 21, and Powe and Rondo had 18 apiece. Isiah Thomas got the heave-ho from the refs in the second half (leading to an inevitable Knick rally), and it's become clear that it's time for someone to drive Dick Bavetta to a farm somewhere. (Double lane violation = jump ball? Really??)

Amid all this came the word that Ray Allen is in fact going to be on the Eastern All-Star team in New Orleans this weekend. He got the word at halftime, then the crowd got the word at a timeout in the third. We'd like to think that the standing O was for Ray and not because Lucky was spending the timeout flinging halfcourt shots. Doc should remember not to overwork Ray and Paul this weekend; the C's may have clinched a .500 record (!) but there's still a long way to go.

The Bruins are banged up, too. Aaron Ward got clocked in the throat last night and spent the night in a Pittsburgh hospital. Still better than that Panther getting his carotid artery slashed, though. Petteri Nokelainen and Vladimir Sobotka (say that three times fast) stayed healthy enough, though, to score the goals in the B's' 2-1 win over the Penguins. Which puts them back in the top eight in the East. It's going to be a wild couple of months.

If you need one catchphrase to stick from yesterday's three-ring, two-bozo circus on Capitol Hill, please let it be the following from Rep. Tom Davis: "Mr. Clemens, do you recall bleeding through your pants in 2001?" (Mr. Clemens claims he does not.) The whole Clemens/McNamee thing yesterday played out like a Saturday Night Live skit; worse, like one of the skits after the second musical number when they're just killing the clock until 1:00. Dan Shaughnessy writes up the whole thing, in case you're stuck in a dentist's waiting room for three hours today.

Also, everyone's showing up in Fort Myers. We'll check in on them soon enough.