Does this game really have to start at 9? The fretting, the pacing, the worrying, the shot after shot of tequila - can't the NBA string this brutal and glorious anticipation out for three more hours? How about midnight basketball? No, it's going to start at 9. Or 9:07 or 9:15 or whatever. The Celtics and the Lakers are finally going to play basketball. It's almost impossible to sift through all the previews and projections,......

A June battle with Tampa Bay for first place? Is that what we've got tonight? Really? Well...yeah. And the Sox had to scramble yesterday to put first on the line tonight. Down 4-3 in the sixth (three runs on homers by Lowell and Drew), the Sox hit the Rays for four game-winning runs. The Sox loaded the bases unconventionally (HBP, error, walk), then got an RBI single from Varitek and a 2-run double from the......

The pressure's off. We thought Manny Ramirez was the one guy on the planet who pressure couldn't get to, but he obviously had the Quest for 500 on his mind the last few weeks, in between radio signals from Neptune. Now that that's done, Manny can just do his thing, which he did yesterday, homering again and going 3-5 with 3 RBI in the Sox' 9-4 win at Baltimore. Manny broke a 1-1 tie with......

Don't listen to the so-called experts. Kids LOVE pitchers' duels. Go up to any schoolboy and mention some of the great mound rivalries of the past - Koufax/Marichal, Gibson/Seaver, Palmer/Hunter - and, well, you'll probably get a blank look. But maybe you'll find a kid who knows what you're talking about, and chances are that kid appreciated the gem last night at Fenway. For the Sox, Jon Lester was throwing strikes (yay) and inducing groundouts,......

...only makes you stronger. That has to be the attitude the Bruins take today, after having their winning streak stopped, killed, set on fire, stomped, buried, and the earth salted. The good news is, they will never play a worse game than they did last night. It was 6-0 Capitals in the first period. Alex Ovechkin had a hat trick before half the fans had found their seats. Tim Thomas got pulled, put back in......

On the way out of the TDB Garden last night, we weren't completely thrilled about the Celtics' victory over King James and the Cavaliers last night. It was a kind of sloppy game, Paul Pierce was way off-target all night, and the effects of jet lag were obvious. Then we stopped for a second and remembered where this team was a year ago. In one season, we've gone from plummeting towards ignominy, to beating the......

So much for the idea that the thrilling shootout win over Buffalo would spark the Bruins. They followed up that great win with an official stinkeroo last night, turning a 3-2 lead into a 6-3 embarassing loss at the hands of the Panthers. Zdeno Chara, Glen Murray (yay!) and Marco Sturm scored for the B's, but then the defense broke down and Tim Thomas stopped looking like himself for a while. Bad news all around.......

The losing streak is over! The Celtics got back on track yesterday, though it was no sure thing. They survived a valiant effort from a spirited Portland team; even sans Rondo, their offense finally clicked in the second half thanks mostly to Ray Allen and 26 of his season-high 35 points. Good thing Ray was on target, because Pierce wasn't, and neither were Tony or Perk. Garnett had a quiet 26 (still waiting for that......

Hope you sports fans were able to relax yesterday. The disappointing non-slaughter of the Jets is in the rear view mirror, the Dolphins game isn't quite as exciting since the stupid Ravens ended Miami's bid for a winless season, everything is sewn up in the AFC, and the Monday Night game wasn't that exciting. Plus, the Celtics and Bruins were off. But we've got some big games coming up in the next 48 hours, so......

You may have heard that the Patriots are undefeated, the only team so remaining in the NFL, and are causing many a sleepless night among the '72 Dolphins champagne brigade. It may not be as flashy - it may not even last 'til tomorrow - but the Boston Celtics enjoy a similar distinction. With their brushing off of the Hawks last night, combined with the Clippers' (!) loss to Detroit, the C's begin today as......

We sure hope Josh Beckett found time during yesterday's off-day to watch High Noon. If you haven't seen it, the plot is that Sheriff Gary Cooper has one day left until retirement, and a pack of mean outlaws are coming to town to wreak havoc. He tries to round up a posse to meet them, but everyone in town has a dentist appointment, or their hair is drying, or they don't roll on Shabbos, or......

Yeah, baby! We all know that the Red Sox should be thumping the Devil Rays, but it's hard to argue with two consecutive hard-fought, come-from-behind wins from a lineup that's been painful to watch for stretches this season. Last night, the Sox surrendered four early runs to Tampa Bay, with starter Jon Lester throwing 65,431 pitches and only making into the fourth inning. Rays starter Edwin Jackson, looking like a Cy Young candidate (the Sox......

Green Kool-Aid is our favorite flavor. (Yes, Green is a flavor.) We've been chugging the semi-sour variety of it for three years now, as Danny Ainge has told us that we'd been assembling key parts for a magical youth movement that would lead the Celtics back to glory. And we've sipped the ultra-sour variety for a month, trying to figure out what kind of a youth movement features a creaky 32-year-old shooter. But today, the......

Our familiarity with German legends is admittedly not what it's supposed to be, but we are familiar with the tale of Faust, the medieval alchemist who made a deal with the devil to acquire riches and earthly pleasures. The tale's already been updated and retold once in a baseball context, in Damn Yankees. Now, we're not suggesting that Indians pitcher Fausto Carmona has made his own deal with the devil, but there's certainly circumstantial evidence.......

How would you have scripted this comeback? How would you write the pivotal scene in a movie about a promising young pitcher whose career is threatened by cancer surgery, but comes back less than a year later to light a needed fire under his first-place team? You probably would have written it to be against the Yankees. But other than that, it was a storybook night for Jon Lester, who tamed Cleveland to the tune......

This should be fun. The best team in the American League against the best team in the National League. Two of the greatest pitching matchups we'll see all season. A glimpse of old friend David Wells. It's not that crazy to say the Red Sox and Padres will be eyeing each other with visions of an October rematch dancing in their heads. Daisuke Matsuzaka goes tonight in the first game. So this will be his......

We know you're Red Sox fans. We know that, much like every home is supposed to have emergency supplies (flashlight, bottled water, etc.) close at hand at all times, every good Red Sox fan should know where the panic button is. Just in case. Don't press them yet; just make sure everyone in the family knows how to get at it if the worst should happen. Yes, it's only one game. And yes, it's only......

"Enough is enough. I am bitterly disappointed, as I'm sure all Yankee fans are, by the lack of performance by our team," said Yankee owner George Steinbrenner. But in the same statement, he reaffirmed his faith in manager Joe Torre and GM Brian Cashman to right the ship. With rumors of a deathwatch swirling in the Bronx, it will be real interesting (and, from Boston's perspective, joyous) to check the Boss' pulse after the next......

Things were looking bleak in Canada yesterday. Leonard Cohen bleak. Down 3-1 after seven innings, the Sox looked like the "feast or famine" roller coaster was about to take another big dip. Then Manny homered to tie it. He's finally off the schnide, and only one behind Miracle Mirabelli now. Then in the bottom of the eighth, Alex Cora survived a tough slide by the Jays' Lyle Overbay to turn a rally-killing double play. Cora,......

Have we pretty much run out of Japan-themed headlines? Almost? OK. After all the hype and promise, Daisuke turned out to be everything Red Sox Nation could have hoped for. Of course, he gave up six hits and a run, so there's room for improvement, but Dice was firmly in control of the hapless Royals in the 4-1 victory. Which puts the Red Sox alone in first place, and makes us feel a little silly......

There's two ways to handle a loss. Even if that loss is an utterly flat performance against an utterly forgettable K.C. team that made Gil Meche look like Christy Mathewson and Mark Grudzielanek look like Rogers Hornsby. The first way to approach it is, hey, it's only one game. Even the best teams in history lose more than fifty times a season. And Pedro lost Opening Day in 2004, and we know how that turned......

You probably read yesterday that Jonathan Papelbon will, in fact, be the Red Sox closer this year, and probably for years to come. Why they didn't just announce this at the beginning of camp, when we all suspected this was going to happen eventually, is beyond us. But we still love the idea of players blogging, if it means Dan Shaughnessy will fade further into irrelevance. The bad news in Fort Myers is that......

Sure, you can spend your time dealing with the celebrity implications of Tom Brady's recent...prolific spree. But at Bostonist Sports, we're really looking forward to that 2031 NFL Draft. We can just see Mel Kiper III now, projecting that 12 of the first 13 picks will be quarterbacks with Tom Terrific's championship DNA. (The other pick will be the Detroit Lions, who will still be looking for a top-flight WR for Charlie Batch Jr. to......

The defining moment in the career of Dennis Johnson - who Larry Bird called the best teammate he ever had - came in the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals against the evil Pistons (as seen on this clip). Everyone remember's Bird's steal, but it was Dennis' layup that won the game. And check out the clip; DJ is breaking towards the basket even before Bird picks off the pass. It was like telepathy. And now DJ......

Yeah. We know the New York Islanders don't use their angry-fisherman logo anymore. But we love it, and can't help ourselves. The Bruins last night held tough with the Gorton's Gang, but the Isles racked up three quick goals in the third period and sent the B's packing 4-1. They'll play the Sabres, seemingly for the 43rd time this season, tomorrow night. The Celtics, finally able to breathe again, turn their eyes to Gerald Green......

The Celtics have a chance to make history tonight, but it's not the kind of history that will make anyone proud. As you're probably aware, if the Celtics lose to the Clippers tonight (completing the L.A. Sweep), they will be the owners of the longest losing streak in franchise history. 14 in a row. How...Clipper-esque. But the C's will make their presence felt at the All-Star Game; there are rumors that Gerald Green may......