Results tagged “Kevin Garnett”

The only thing that would have made yesterday even more perfect was for Wes Welker to intercept a Mark Sanchez pass. The combination of Welker (15 receptions and 192 yards) and the defense (five turnovers, four of them interceptions) led to a satisfying 31-14 smackdown of the Jets that erased last week's turmoil and transferred it to Rex Ryan's Kleenex budget.

For the second straight game, the Boston Bruins needed overtime to secure a road victory. For the second straight game, Patrice Bergeron delivered with a game-winning score. Bergeron, who buried a shootout chance and Atlanta on Thursday, beat Buffalo's Ryan Miller 0:47 into overtime, thanks to Zdeno Chara and Marco Sturm, to lift the Bruins to a 2-1 win. Milan Lucic tied the game at 1-1 with his first goal since April 2, according to NESN. Byron Bitz combined with Lucic and Tuukka Rask, who got his first career assist, on the end-to-end highlight-reel rush. Lucic and Bitz, a pair that had a solid outing, couldn't score on a similar play in the third. Rask had 25 saves.

Our long regional nightmare is over! After a five-game local losing streak, the Celtics - finally, eventually - shook off the civic torpor and wound up blasting the Golden State Warriors 109-95.

Sure, he may be the most expensive backup catcher in history. And maybe his stats aren't what they used to be, and even those stats aren't what they were a few years ago. But even if Jason Varitek the catcher is past his expiration date, Jason Varitek the heart of the Red Sox and the captain is still around. And still, we hope, worth the $3 million he decided to accept yesterday.

So says Doc, and it's a little easier to say now, after the Celtics withstood an early barrage from the Cavaliers and came back to win their season opener, 95-89.

The Boston Red Sox have scored one run in 18 innings against an Angels pitching staff that has been too hard for them to handle. The 2-0 deficit the Sox are in is even harder to deal with. We'll find out Sunday. We do know that the Red Sox have overcome a 2-0 deficit twice in a five-game series, most recently in 2003 against Oakland. Friday's 4-1 loss featured great pitching from the Angels and some textbook small-ball examples like stolen bases and hitting and running that produced runs.

Man. It seems like it's been forever, doesn't it? At least a week and a half since we had very much local to talk about.

While Bud Selig teases us with the idea of an actual playoff game involving the Red Sox, the rest of the sports world is moving at a faster pace. Your Boston Bruins signed Phil Kessel Milan Lucic to a three-year extension through 2012-2013. Good for the B's, and Lucic. He plays hard, fans love him and he is exactly the kind of player the franchise wants to have. However, they just gave $12.25 million over three years to a player with 25 career goals.

The "he" in question is Alex Ovechkin, the two-time NHL MVP and star of the Washington Capitals. The "you" in question is Tim Thomas, Dennis Wideman (the quotee), and the entire Bruins organization, which saw Ovechkin score two goals and an assist to spoil Opening Day for the B's, 4-1.

Mother Nature was as sick of it as you were. Josh Beckett was a very late scratch with back spasms, so the Sox sent young Michael Bowden to the mound with about 15 minutes' notice to try to stop the Blue Jays. Five innings later, Bowden and reliever Hunter Jones had both been sent to the showers with ERAs over 10. Two innings after that, the skies opened up and put the Sox and the Fenway crowd out of their misery. Final score: 11-5, Toronto, in seven innings.

The magic number is twelve. That's all that really matters, when you think about it; true, the Red Sox failed to complete the sweep of the Southern California Regional Angels of Los Angeles, and true, Billy "Country Time" Wagner suffered his first Boston loss. But these things happen.

Tampa Bay loaded the bases with one out in the first inning. Ah, nevermind. Friday's game was washed away and will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Sunday. Josh Beckett, Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester will start the three games versus Tampa Bay. It remains a mystery to Bostonist why Lester had to take the mound. Defer to the meteorologist umpire because we have nothing on that one. Since the rain nixed Friday's Sox game, all Bostonist has to worry about is the cost of pitching and beer. Both are expensive. According to OverTheMonster.com, Fenway Park has the most expensive beer in the MLB if you factor in the team's winning percentage.

They really did want it as bad as we did. On Monday, as Boston began to adjust to its new role as a one-sport city, the Bruins made their way to the Garden to pack up and ship out. That's when fans found out that the team wasn't just playing hurt in its effort to bring the Cup back to the Hub, but that Aaron Ward's face was minor compared to some of the injuries going on.

Sometimes, it takes a little while to remember how tense playoff hockey can be. When the Canadiens tied the Bruins 2-2 late in the second period last night, it all came back to us. Phil Kessel and David Krejci had staked the B's to a 2-0 lead late in the first.

Sorry to go all Darth Vader on you there. But we just learned that Doc Rivers thinks Kevin Garnett is probably out for the rest of the year, i.e., playoffs. It's not shocking, but it's super depressing. Here's hoping they find a way to have him on the bench, as an extra defensive assistant coach, if they can put him in the Hannibal Lecter cage or put an electroshock ankle bracelet on him from taking the court in street clothes.

Man, do we love seeing the athletic equivalent of home movies: minor league footage and the "where was he then" stories that chronicle a rise to greatness. As we had a day off from regular season play on Monday (simma down, Sox fans, we'll get to it), we can focus our attention on the love letter written by the Globe to Bruins bruiser Milan Lucic, who we manage to forget (frequently) is a mere 20 years old.

Things are looking good in the sports world today, but they could always be better. And we're not saying that in the stereotypical Boston sports fan sort of way. This isn't us making up scenarios. In the cases of both the Celts and Bruins, there's good news and there's sidelined news.

Everyone had legends on the brain on Monday, whether we fully realized it or not. In one case, the final (real-time, at least) words of a legendary story were being written; another couple of legends were continuing to add chapters to their tales. What it comes down to is the fact that a city that prides itself on its legends of old - with Williams, Orr, and Bird among them - is fortunate to have modern-day legends walking our streets.

It's never a good idea when a hockey team turns introspective and scared. But that's what happed to the Bruins last night, as they lost a 2-goal lead, a game (in OT, and we'll take every point we can at this point) and almost any shred of confidence they have left after their nightmarish last few weeks.

Imagine it: you're on a road trip that's already done some damage to your lineup. You've been hopping from city to city, and you're going to get farther away from home before you have a chance to get back.

Fool us once, shame on you...we're not going to say anything about Friday night other than the fact that both the Bruins and Celtics were off. That's it.

Yesterday, we griped that there was nothing really new to report. Today, we have something to report, but we don't like it. The Celtics lost to Utah, 90-85, which was bad enough, but it got worse when Doc benched Kevin Garnett for the second half after KG strained his knee late in the first. He warmed up for the second half, but Doc decided not to risk it, and instead have the real docs look at him today. "Obviously, I would much rather be playing instead of giving this statement," said Garnett in a postgame statement.

Well. That was disappointing. The Celtics' 12-game winning streak is over, thanks to a loss to the Lakers that featured trash talking, great shooting (in spurts), surprising physicality from LA, and some really interesting refereeing. 110-109 in overtime was the final.

Lots to talk about today! (Especially since we had technical problems yesterday. Sorry.) Let's go chronologically, based on yesterday's action:

The debates will continue well into this season and beyond: is the 2009 Jason Varitek worth $5 million and several months of speculation?

People aren't going to the Garden to see basketball games these days. They're going to watch helpless individuals devoured by lions. Such was the fate of the Dallas Mavericks yesterday; they're a good team, not a great one, and were torn limb-from-limb by a hungry, determined, focused Celtics team. Thumbs down, Dirk Nowitzki, thumbs down.

Admit it. There were moments in those dark dark days of a few weeks ago where we worried about the Celtics. The relentless Cavaliers and the upstart Magic were challenging our rightful spot at the top of the East.

At what point do we ready the panic buttons? Two legitimate losses to two legitimate good teams (LA, Portland), one stinker that can be chalked up to Laker hangover (G.State)...but then, this, now. The Celtics' eight-game winning streak against the Knicks, which stretched back to those prehistoric pre-KG teams, is over. The C's looked flat, couldn't keep up with New York's speed and intensity, and fell 100-88.

The boy is counseling the man. Except that Rajon Rondo's now The Man. It's confusing. Anyway, Rondo told Kevin Garnett late in last night's game to "relax a little bit" (yeah, good luck with that), and an inspired KG helped carry the C's down the stretch to another nailbiting win versus the Hawks.

There are some games the Celtics need to read the papers to get motivated for. Tonight is not one of them. The Atlanta Hawks, as you well know, improbably stretched the C's to the limit in the first round of the playoffs last year, taking every game in Atlanta, where they meet tonight. And it took some last minute heroics to dispatch them at the Garden last month. And the Hawks' website is calling this a rivalry, and bringing in Ludacris for halftime entertainment. And yet tickets are still available. Atlanta needs work on this rivalry stuff.