Sports Redux: Survivors

Everybody's still alive. But for very different reasons. Bostonist covered the Celtics and the Bruins live, and they won. Now let's try to figure out why.

It's a little easier to figure out the B's. They stopped the slow death of their season in Games 2-4, came out swinging and firing, and took back the momentum in Game Five. Last night, in Game Six, they kept up the pace, burying Carolina in a 2-0 hole in the first five minutes before cruising to a 4-2 win. Cam Ward suddenly looks very vulnerable, and Tim Thomas suddenly looks like the All-Star he is. And that's why we're going to Game Seven.

Much credit to the B's, too, for letting their play on the ice do the talking. With the unwelcome presence of Scott Walker on the ice, after not getting suspended for breaking Aaron Ward's face, the temptation must have been there for the team to beat down every Hurricane they could find. But Recchi and Montador scored quickly in the first, and Savard and Kobasew scored in the second to take any wind out of Carolina's sails. The retaliation can come later. There are games to win.

How the Celtics won is still a bit of a mystery. We had to rely on Orlando's choke for the ages (not that surprising), and the sudden appearance of Stephon Marbury (pretty surprising). It's baffling. Orlando built a lead and maintained it, thanks to Ray Allen being frozen in carbonite for most of the game and Rondo seemingly stuck to the floor with molasses. OK, that happens. But Doc sent out a lineup of Steph, Scalabrine, Ray, Eddie and Baby to start the fourth, and suddenly good things started to happen. Marbury found that large gray area between Way-Too-Passive Steph and Way-Too-Aggressive Steph, hitting for 12 quick points and keeping the game in reach.

Doc brought back the starters with a little under five minutes to go. Ray suddenly rediscovered his range. Pierce got a little aggressive. Perk kept Dwight Howard out of his range (which we confidently can state is 6" or less from the basket), and successfully lobbied the refs that a 24-second-clock-beater actually touched the rim, which we're still not sold on, but we'll take. Orlando went into full-fledged "oh, crap, what do we do now" mode, flinging up wild shots and showing the world that they don't have anyone with the guts to take the game on their backs. And so the Celtics get a win they didn't deserve but are happy with. "I don't know if people appreciate what people are doing here, with the minutes and the legs. But we know we've got to get wins. There's only so long you can go," said Doc afterwards. Amen.

The Red Sox torched the Angels' bullpen to turn a 3-1 deficit into a 4-3 win on the first game of their Western swing. Jason Varitek got the game-winning double, making a winner and a happy 4-0 pitcher out of Ramon Ramirez. This, despite Dustin Pedroia sitting out with a groin strain, and Youkilis going on the 15-day DL with a strained oblique. So much for Dusty's vow to go the full 162.

Image from Wikipedia.