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New England Patriots: Bronze Brady

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FOXBOROUGH – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The New England Patriots, while inducting the legendary Tom Brady into their Hall of Fame on Wednesday, delivered a few surprises for the retired quarterback.

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Team owner Robert Kraft revealed that the Patriots are retiring Brady’s uniform No. 12 and are commissioning a 12-foot-tall bronze Brady statue that will be installed during the 2024 season.

“(The statue) will stand alone in the plaza outside of the Hall of Fame to symbolize his position, not as the greatest in franchise history, but as the greatest in all of NFL history,” Kraft said.

The ceremony drew a crowd of 60,000 to the Patriots’ home stadium in Foxborough, Mass. on the night of an NBA Finals game featuring the Boston Celtics. The three-hour festivities included appearances by scores of Brady’s former teammates and ex-Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. It was the first time Belichick returned to Foxborough since he resigned at the end of last season.

Brady gave thanks to all, saying, “I am eternally grateful. I am Tom Brady. And I am a Patriot.”

He added of Belichick, “It wasn’t me. It wasn’t you. It was us. … Let me make this crystal clear: There is no coach in the world I would rather play for than Bill Belichick.”

Brady, playing under Belichick, spent 20 years with the Patriots, leading the team to six Super Bowl championships. He later added another title with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Belichick, greeted with huge cheers from Patriots fans, said to Brady, “Thank you for all that you’ve done for us. Thank you for all you’ve done for me. And thank you for the example and model you’ve been for all of us on a daily basis for 20 years. Congratulations.”

Porzingis Out, Day-to-Day

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DALLAS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis missed Game 3 of the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night due to a lower left leg injury. The team ruled Porzingis out about 90 minutes prior to tipoff.

“The medical team and the staff just decided that it wasn’t what was best for him (to play) today,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said during his pregame availability.

Porzingis had missed Boston’s 10 games leading up to the Finals due to a calf strain, but he returned for Games 1 and 2 against Dallas, helping the Celtics build a 2-0 series lead. However, at the 3:27 mark of the third quarter of Game 2 on Sunday, Porzingis sustained a dislocation of his left posterior tibialis tendon.

The new injury has no relation to the calf strain.

In the first two games of the Finals, Porzingis averaged 16.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 blocks. He played 21 minutes in Game 1 and 23 in Game 2, coming off the bench both times.

Porzingis, 28, had averages of 20.1 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.9 blocks across 57 games (all starts) during the regular season. Boston acquired the big man in a trade with the Washington Wizards this past offseason.

Porzingis also played for the Mavericks from 2019-22.

–Field Level Media

Porzingis Hurt, Day-to-Day

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BOSTON – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis suffered a torn medial retinaculum allowing dislocation of the posterior tibialis tendon in his left leg at 3:27 of the third quarter of Game 2. The injury, considered rare, is unrelated to Porzingis’s prior right calf injury.

After consultation with numerous specialists regarding this injury, his availability for upcoming games will be determined day-to-day.

Top Dog for Boston? Who Cares?

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Dallas Mavericks Playing Those Mind Games

BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Prior to the Celtics’ 105-98 victory over the Mavericks in Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday, Dallas coach Jason Kidd seemingly tried to pit Boston stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown against each other.

Speaking to reporters Saturday, Kidd referred to Brown as the Celtics’ best player. Both Brown and Tatum were unfazed by the remark, but it later became evident that Boston coach Joe Mazzulla took it to heart.

“I’m really tired of hearing about one guy or this guy or that guy and everybody trying to make it out to be anything other than Celtic basketball,” Mazzulla said following Sunday’s win. “Everybody that stepped on that court today made winning plays on both ends of the floor, is the most important thing.”

Brown scored 21 points and Tatum finished with 18 to go along with 12 assists and nine rebounds in Game 2. However, it was Jrue Holiday, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard that ended up stealing the spotlight.

Holiday supplied team highs in points with 26 and rebounds with 11, while White sealed the victory by ferociously blocking P.J. Washington’s dunk attempt with 50.5 seconds left in regulation to prevent Dallas from pulling within 103-100. Pritchard gave the Celtics a lift as the buzzer sounded in the third quarter, banking in a 34-foot 3-pointer to put Boston up by nine.

And those plays didn’t go unnoticed by the man who was anointed as the Celtics’ best player just one day earlier.

“We got a lot of weapons on our team, so we just got to trust what we’ve been doing all season long, trust our game plan,” Brown said. “I thought we had a bunch of great looks. If you go back and look in the first half, Sam (Hauser) had a bunch of great looks, D-White had some looks that didn’t go down.

“But we didn’t panic. We kept guarding, we stayed in the game and we kept trusting it and we made enough (Sunday) to win the game. But we expect to shoot the ball better going forward when we get on the road.”

The series now shifts to Dallas for Game 3 on Wednesday, but playing as the visitor has presented few challenges for Boston. The Celtics are 6-0 on the road during the playoffs, and they have won 22 of their past 27 games away from home dating back to the regular season.

“They haven’t lost a game since May something, right? Yeah, they’re hot,” Kidd said of the Celtics. “And not just on the road, but at home. We’ve got to protect home, and that’s it. We’ve got to find a way, continue, again, to build on our defense. Our defense put us in a position to win (Sunday). Unfortunately, our offense didn’t help us.”

Kidd is hoping guard Kyrie Irving can get back on track, as the former Celtic has scored just 28 points on 13-of-37 shooting (35.1 percent) through the first two games of the Finals.

Boston fans were jawing at Irving any time he touched the ball in Games 1 and 2, a reaction stemming from Irving’s decision to leave the Celtics for the Brooklyn Nets once free agency hit in June 2019.

“You have to accept the ups and downs of this. That’s, I would say, the toughest challenge when you’re in a series,” Irving said. “You want to play extremely well, especially when you’re playing in a Finals. … (Sunday’s loss) wasn’t all on me, but I’m definitely taking the majority of it because my teammates look to me to convert a lot of these shots and ease the burden of not just Luka (Doncic) but everyone else and settle our team.

“We definitely made our dinner on the defensive end, but now offensively I have to play better.”

Doncic posted a triple-double on Sunday, racking up 32 points, 11 boards and 11 assists. Washington had 17 points and Irving chipped in 16.

“At the end of the day, it’s basketball, away or home,” Doncic said. “We’ve just got to play better basketball to win.”

– Field Level Media

Boston Perseveres, Beats Dallas, 105-98

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Celtics Take 2-0 NBA Finals Lead; Series Switches to Dallas

By TERRY LYONS, Editor-in-Chief  of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – Unlike Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals when Boston came out shooting bulls-eyes, hitting three-pointers, running the floor, blocking shots and creating easy baskets off the break, Game 2 was cause for concern to the Celtics as they shot only 45% from the field and 26% from the three-point line. The Dallas Mavericks had made some adjustments and it resulted in a stagnant Celtics offense and very physical play.

Boston persevered through early adversity as All-Star forward Jayson Tatum scored 18 points, grabbed nine rebounds and had 12 assists – an impressive line – but struggled from the field, shooting 6-for-22 and 1-for-7 from downtown. Jaylen Brown picked up the slack, scoring 21 points but it was point guard Jrue Holiday who stepped up to lead the Celtics to a 105-98 victory and a 2-0 series lead.

Holiday scored a team high 26 points, adding 11 rebounds and three assists while giving Dallas point guard Kyrie Irving fits on the other end of the floor for the second consecutive game. Irving managed only 16 points and six assists, well below his 25.6 ppg regular season average.

The Boston victory did come with one set back, as center Kristaps Porzingis tweaked his sore calf which had sidelined him for a month leading into the NBA Finals. Porzingis labored up and down the court for three possessions before Boston coach Joe Mazulla sent Al Horford to the scorer’s table to return to action. Dallas was able to score an easy basket on Porzingis as he failed to get back on defense, making the score, 97-89 Boston.

Mazulla called time out to sub with 4:40 remaining in the game.

“Obviously something happened a little bit,” said Porzingis, “but I have a couple days [to get ready] again, and believe me, we’ll do everything we can to be back and moving.”

After a key Doncic turnover, Boston backcourt took over with Holiday making a 26-footer (100-89) and Derrick White following with the back-breaker for the Mavericks, a 26-footer to make it 103-89. Dallas fought back to make it 103-98 on a Doncic lay-up and subsequent free throw, but White blocked a PJ Washington lay-in and as Boston ran down the clock, Jaylen Brown scored on a short, three-footer to end the scoring with Boston up, 105-98.

Doncic had 32 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in the losing effort.

Boston took a 83-74 lead as the buzzer sounded to end the third quarter and reserve guard Payton Pritchard banked home a 34-footer after crossing center court with no Dallas defender within reach. It capped a 29-23 third quarter tally to extend the Celtics’ lead to nine. After Dallas coach Jason Kidd subbed-out Doncic at the 3:27 mark, Kidd was forced to call a timeout and re-insert his best player into the game as his only reliable scorer. Irving continued to struggle from the field and he failed to orchestrate the Mavericks on offense as the TD Garden crowd let him have it with the jeers.

Both teams played a hard-fought, physical first half and Boston led, 54-51, behind 17 first half points by Holiday. The half was marked by tough, physical defense and poor long distance shooting by both clubs.

Boston shot a horrid 20% (3-of-15) from three-point land while Dallas shot a slightly better 30.8% (4-of-13) from downtown. Doncic was 3-of-6 from 3-point range and scored 23 first half points and leading the team in minutes played despite his pregame downgrade to questionable with a thoracic contusion added to his injury report in addition to the right knee sprain and left ankle soreness he’s been playing through for all of the NBA postseason.

Red Sox Beat White Sox in 10th

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CHICAGO – (Staff and Wire Service Report)  – Boston’s Jamie Westbrook and Rob Refsnyder drove in 10th-inning runs to help the visiting Red Sox rally for a 6-4 win against the Chicago White Sox on Sunday. Refsnyder and David Hamilton had two hits apiece for the Red Sox, who earned a split of the four-game series.

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Paul DeJong and Corey Julks contributed two hits each for Chicago. DeJong belted a three-run home run in the fourth to give the White Sox a 3-1 lead. Gavin Sheets delivered a go-ahead, opposite-field single to left in the seventh, but the Chicago bullpen was unable to maintain the lead.

Tanner Banks blew a save opportunity for Chicago in the ninth when Hamilton hit a leadoff double, stole third base and scored on a Reese McGuire RBI sacrifice fly.

Michael Soroka (0-7) took the loss, allowing two hits and a pair of unearned runs in the 10th while striking out two. Soroka dropped the ball on a throw to first base at the start of the inning, giving the Red Sox runners on the corners with no outs.

Boston pitched a bullpen game, with seven relievers beginning with Zack Kelly combining to scatter seven hits with four walks and 17 strikeouts.

Kenley Jansen improved to 2-1 after pitching two innings of one-run ball with five strikeouts. Cam Booser picked up the save, striking out two in the 10th.

White Sox starter Chris Flexen took a no-decision after scattering two runs and two hits in five innings with two walks and three strikeouts.

Flexen retired the first nine Red Sox before Jarren Duran lined a triple to right field to lead off the fourth inning. Enmanuel Valdez worked a walk before Refsnyder grounded into a double play to drive in the game’s first run.

Pressure Builds on Celtics for Game 2

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston Celtics stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown aren’t letting Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd create a rift between them ahead of Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night.

Kidd referred to Brown as Boston’s best player while speaking to reporters on Saturday. Whether he truly meant it or was simply trying to play mind games with the Celtics remains a mystery, but the comment didn’t elicit a reaction from Tatum or Brown.

“We understand that people try to drive a wedge in between us,” Tatum said. “Guess it’s a smart thing to do — or try to do. But we’ve been in this position for many years of guys trying to divide us and say that one of us should be traded or one’s better than the other. So it’s not our first time at the rodeo.”

Boston veteran Al Horford thought Kidd’s intentions were pretty clear.

“J-Kidd, man. I see what he’s doing,” Horford said. “Jaylen Brown is an unbelievable player … and very special for us.”

It will take a lot more than psychological warfare to slow down the Celtics if they manage to replicate their Game 1 performance. Boston cruised to a 107-89 victory on Thursday night, leading by as many as 29.

Brown finished with a team-high 22 points for the Celtics, while Kristaps Porzingis returned from a 10-game absence due to a calf strain to pour in 20 in 21 minutes off the bench. Tatum finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.

Luka Doncic went for 30 points and 10 boards for Dallas, but Kyrie Irving was held to just 12 points on 6-of-19 shooting. Irving missed all five of his 3-point attempts and committed three turnovers while being taunted by Boston fans all night.

Irving is now 0-11 in his past 11 games against the Celtics, a losing streak that he is confident he can shed on Sunday.

“Just got to calm our nerves, poise our nerves a little bit and also just be aware of the environment that we’re in,” Irving said. “It’s going to be high intense from who we’re going against. It’s going to be very physical. Some things are going to be called, some things aren’t.

“So I think we got all that experience in Game 1, and we’re looking forward to the challenge in Game 2 to playing better, and being who we have been since post-All-Star break. … We’re the only two teams playing, so we’re proud of ourselves, but we’re not satisfied.”

Most of the Mavericks’ struggles stemmed from a lack of ball movement, as Dallas finished with only nine assists — the fewest by any team in a game this season. Kidd is hoping for a more fluid performance in Game 2.

“I thought we were too much one-on-one. We’ve got to move bodies. We’ve got to move the ball. Multiple guys got to touch the ball,” Kidd said. “We were just too stagnant, and that’s not the way we play. So, we’ve got to be better (Sunday).”

– Field Level Media

White Sox Take Another from Red Sox

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CHICAGO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Chicago’s Gavin Sheets belted a grand slam among his three hits, Paul DeJong homered and four pitchers delivered 4 2/3 innings of three-hit relief to lift the host Chicago White Sox to a 6-1 victory against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday.

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After stopping a franchise-worst 14-game losing streak Friday night, the White Sox used a five-run fifth Saturday en route to winning consecutive games for the first time since May 14-15.

Chicago collected six of its 10 hits against Boston starter Brayan Bello (6-3) in the fifth. Sheets punctuated the rally with his first career grand slam one batter after Andrew Vaughn tied the game at 1 with an RBI infield single.

DeJong and Lenyn Sosa added two hits apiece for the White Sox, who out-hit the Red Sox 10-5. DeJong provided the final margin in the seventh with his team-leading 11th home run.

White Sox rookie right-hander Nick Nastrini was unable to earn his first victory despite delivering the best start of his young career, scattering one run and two hits in 4 1/3 innings with five strikeouts.

While he needed 71 pitches to do it, an effectively wild Nastrini held Boston without a hit over the first four innings.

Nastrini issued five walks but made pitches when he needed to, including when he induced Dominic Brown on a double-play grounder on a 3-1 count to end the third inning.

Bobby Dalbec delivered Boston’s first hit and the game’s first run with a solo homer that narrowly cleared the right field wall leading off the fifth.

David Hamilton followed with a bloop single to left. Jarren Duran walked two batters later to spell the end of Nastrini’s outing, but Chicago escaped further trouble. Tanner Banks picked Duran off at first base before throwing a pitch and then struck Jamie Westbrook out looking.

Home plate umpire Alan Porter ejected Boston manager Alex Cora for arguing balls and strikes moments later.

Banks (1-2) was the winner, allowing one hit in 1 2/3 innings to go with two strikeouts.

Bello allowed five runs in 4 2/3 innings with three walks and two strikeouts.

The Red Sox finished 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position while stranding nine. Hamilton had two hits.

–Field Level Media

37-Day Layoff No Issue for Porzingis

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s veteran center Kristaps Porzingis wasn’t going to let a 37-day layoff slow him down during the biggest game of his NBA career.

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Playing in the NBA Finals for the first time, the Celtics big man returned from a 10-game absence to record 20 points off the bench and Boston snuffed a second-half rally to beat the Dallas Mavericks 107-89 on Thursday night in Game 1.

Porzingis hadn’t played since April 29 due to a right calf strain that he sustained during Game 4 of the Celtics’ first-round series against the Miami Heat. He quickly found his groove again, though, making 8 of 13 field-goal attempts while collecting six rebounds and three blocks in 21 minutes.

“Even if I have time off, I can jump right back in and I feel the same way,” Porzingis said. “I get to my spots … so whether it’s playoffs, regular season or whatever, I know how to do this. That’s it, just having that confidence, going out there whatever, first round or Finals, just going out there with full confidence and giving what I have to the team.”

Can White Sox Break the Losing Streak

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CHICAGO – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The White Sox of Chi-town will attempt to win for the first time since May 21 when they face the visiting Boston Red Sox on Friday night in the second game of their four-game series.

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Boston opened the series with a 14-2 victory Thursday. That was Chicago’s 14th straight defeat, which broke the franchise record for consecutive losses in a season, set 100 years ago.

“It’s difficult, but today is over,” Chicago’s Paul DeJong said following Thursday’s loss. “We can flush it and prepare to win (Friday). That’s all we can really do is control what we can do in the moment. Right now the game’s over. Just go home and rest and get ready to go (Friday).

“Today could be a little different based on the score of the game, but overall I think in the last week we’ve been playing a lot of tight games and just can’t quite pull out that small margin of victory. I think we have to do everything we can each day to win a game. I think that’s what other teams are doing to us, and we have to match that intensity.”

Philadelphia holds the MLB record for consecutive losses in a season — 23 in 1961. Baltimore holds the American League record with 21 straight in 1988.

Chicago has been outscored 97-45 during its 14-game losing streak. The White Sox have lost 18 of their past 19 games.

Boston led 3-0 after two innings Thursday and 7-0 after four.

“We just got down early,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “They came out swinging it, and we faced a pretty good pitcher (Tanner Houck). We just have to regroup and get back after it.”

The White Sox haven’t won since they beat Toronto 5-0 on May 21 to end a four-game losing streak. Left-hander Garrett Crochet, who was the winning pitcher in that game, is scheduled to start Friday for Chicago.

Crochet (5-5, 3.49 ERA) is 0-1 with a 3.00 ERA in four career relief appearances (three innings) against the Red Sox.

Right-hander Cooper Criswell (3-2, 3.92) is Boston’s probable starter. Criswell didn’t figure into the decision in his only career appearance against the White Sox. He allowed a run on three hits in 2 2/3 innings on April 21, 2023, while pitching for the Tampa Bay Rays.

“He’ll give us at least five, probably more,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “The pitching has been good.”

The Red Sox hit three home runs and collected a season-high 24 hits in Thursday’s win. Each of the 11 Boston players who came to the plate had at least one hit. Ceddanne Rafaela led the offense with four hits and four RBIs.

Rafaela leads major league rookies with 37 RBIs.

“It’s nice to see that the hard work we put in pays off,” he said. “When we put it together, these are the types of games we’re going to have, where we pass it to each other. Just keep getting yours. Take as much as you can. It’s fun to have these type of games with my guys. It’s nice to get it going. It’s nice.”

–Field Level Media