Sports Redux: Longer Hours, Mixed Results

Two local teams in action last night, two overtimes. As usual, we'll start with the one that ended well.

And at least it ended well. The Celtics, trying to avoid a disastrous two-game losing streak, took a decent second-half lead in Milwaukee and almost squandered it. Nobody in green could buy a basket. The depleted Bucks (no Michael Redd, no Charlie Villanueva) clawed back to tie it at the end. "I'm not going to lie. It was probably one of the more toughest stretches I've experienced in my career," said Ray Allen, either about the near-collapse or the cruel vagaries of the schedule that had them playing eight games in twelve days.

But the C's found a little bit left in the tank in OT, even though KG fouled out and they went down the stretch with Scalabrine. Pierce's 3 was the only basket of the overtime period, but he and Ray hit all six free throws in the closing seconds, and the Celtics were happy to get the hell out of Milwaukee with a 102-97 win and two days off before the Knicks come in on Tuesday.

The Bruins also went to OT on the road, in New York, after blowing an early lead. Zdeno Chara and Dennis Wideman scored in the second, but the Rangers solved Tim Thomas twice, tying it with less than a minute to go. "A two-goal lead is probably the worst lead in hockey," said Chara, a bit of hockey wisdom we weren't aware of. Chris Drury hit his shootout goal, and Patrice Bergeron's shot looked like it went in, then it didn't, then they reviewed it, and it turned out the shot went through goalie Henrik Lundqvist, but bounced off the post and never actually crossed the line. Rats.

BC, at least, held on to their lead and sealed the deal in regulation, beating Florida State 27-17 in Tallahassee and keeping their hopes of an ACC title alive.