There's been a lot of praise heaped on Bruins goalie Tim Thomas this year, and it's all been deserved. The guy's been a huge reason why the B's are still very much in the playoff hunt. But man is mortal, and Tim looked anything but great last night in Florida, giving up four goals in 12 shots through two periods. His defense was far from blameless, but Tim's been great at covering for their mistakes.......

Is it just us, or does it seem like whenever the Bruins have the spotlight to themselves, they lose? When they play the same night as the Celtics, or Patriots, they're fine, but give everyone else the night off, and it feels like we always have to lead with a Bruins loss. Maybe it's just us. But they deserve better. They certainly deserved better last night, as they dropped a 4-3 OT game in Toronto.......

Let's say you're going to the Celtics-Timberwolves game tonight. If you're like most of the people at Celtics games these days, chances are you weren't there last year. Which is perfectly legal on your part. But there's something you should know. Most of the Timberwolves played here last year, during that long, miserable 06-07 campaign, and several of them - promising, hardworking youngsters for the most part - were sent away to make room for......

"Half the guys in our league couldn't shoot 15-for-21 if they were in a gym by themselves," said Doc Rivers. The man would know, having coached Kedrick Brown, Gerald Green, and Brian Scalabrine over the years. But 15-for-21 were the numbers Toronto rained down on the C's from 3-point-land, dropping the C's to their first division loss of the season. It was perhaps the Celtics' poorest defensive game of the year; the Raptors shot 58%......

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......

As fans, we can afford to be capricious. That's why the Kevin Garnett-to-the-Celtics rumors, which seemed way too expensive back in June when we thought we were building for the future, have us a little giddier now. ESPN is reporting that the trade talks are starting to swirl around again; the deal would still involve Al Jefferson, Theo Ratliff (who is the Celtics MVP based on how much everyone lusts after his expiring contract), and......

Last night, the Red Sox absolutely tore up the Orange County Angels - whoops, the Anaheim Angels of Los Angeles, 10 to 1. The Wakefield-Mirabelli machine was in top form. Pitcher Tim Wakefield pitched a beautiful game, allowing only one run, and catcher Doug Mirabelli surprised everyone, hitting a home run. That homer galvanized the Red Sox, and everything went downhill for the Angels. When Jonathan Papelbon arrived at the plate mound to close, he......

It seems like just yesterday that we were reading articles about the Sox home-field advantage, the way the team lights up the ballpark when they make it home to Yawkey Way. After Tuesday's 14-3 slaughter of the Mariners, Sox fans made their way into Fenway Park with cameras (lots and LOTS of cameras with very bright flashes) and the hopes that that advantage and the much-hyped Matsuzaka/Ichiro showdown would make for memorable baseball. It was......

--After the beauty that was Dice K's debut, the Red Sox suffered a letdown with a loss to the Rangers, 0 to 2. It was a low-scoring game, so clearly Tim Wakefield had a decent pitching effort, but the Rangers' Robinson Tejeda was better. It stings a little to lose to a team with Sammy Sosa, though. Tonight, Julian Tavarez and Kevin Millwood will match up, and we hope the Red Sox will enjoy a......

Cedric "Cornbread" Maxwell, Celtics basketball announcer and breakfast-lover, apologized publicly last night for saying female NBA referee Violet Palmer needed to "go back to the kitchen." Maxwell stepped up and said he was sorry. He didn't get all whiny about it. However, Maxwell's defenders seem to be the whiny ones. WBZ' Chuck McKenney felt the need to do the whining for Maxwell. He heard the tape, and he wrote, "The comment was nothing like it......

The Celtics lost to the Kings 104 to 101. They had no business losing. After some good luck with beating the Bucks and Gerald Green's victory at the All-Star Slam Dunk contest, the Celtics were coming into their game with the Sacramento Kings with a little momentum. They had a shot, as the Kings are low on the totem pole in the West, and they have a major dose of crazy since Ron Artest sprouted......

Let's just set aside the Celtics current troubles and cheer for Gerald Green, who won the NBA All-Star Slam Dunk contest with skill and some serious showmanship. Green needed to be flashy because the All-Star events were already set in the shiny, sparkly city of Las Vegas, and he lived up to the landscape. With Paul Pierce as his set-up man, Green competed against Orlando's Dwight Howard, Chicago's Tyrus Thomas, and last year's winner, Nate......

We were diligently writing today's Redux and thinking of lecturing Dan Shaugnessy for committing the major journalism fallacy of assuming everyone "stopped eating and sleeping" when Dice-K touched down in Fort Meyers. Not everyone is tracking every move of Dice-K. Everyone is actually obsessing over tracking every move of Britney Spears. OK, that's not true. But the 24-hour-cable-news channels are, anyway. You probably already heard about it - Britney Spears up and shaved her head.......

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 earned a little Valentine's Day present by finally snapping their 18-game losing streak against the Bucks last night. It didn't look pretty at first. The Bucks, who were also laboring under a rotten record, were pounding on the Celtics and closed the first quarter 32-19. And then Paul Pierce and Gerald Green, who is gearing up for the All-Star Slam-Dunk competition Saturday night, caught fire. We remembered why we love Paul Pierce so......

The big action in town Monday night was at the Garden. Finally, we knew some local teams would leave the big barn happy. The 55th Beanpot Tournament got underway, with B.U. knocking off Northeastern 4-0 and B.C. taking care of Harvard 3-1. There will once again be some icy glares on the B trains this week. Gerald Green got the nod to represent the Celtics at the Sprite Slam Dunk Challenge at the All-Star Game.......

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......