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Celtics Force Game 7 vs Sixers

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PHILADELPHIA – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – “See You Sunday, See You Sunday” was the common chant when the Philadelphia 76ers upset the Boston Celtics, 115-103, in Game 5 at TD Garden this past Tuesday night. The chant echoing after Game 5 but born in 1982, passed the torch to the 2023 Celtics and their All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum who hit four 3-pointers in the final 4:14 of the fourth quarter and the Boston Celtics defeated the host Philadelphia 76ers 95-86 on Thursday to tie their Eastern Conference semifinal series at three wins apiece.

Game 7 will be played on Sunday in Boston.

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Tatum started 1-for-14 but rallied to finish with 19 points, nine rebounds and six assists on 5-of-21 shooting.

“I’m one of — humbly, one of the best basketball players in the world,” Tatum said in a postgame interview on ESPN. “You go through struggles. You go through slumps. My teammates trusted me.”

Marcus Smart led the Celtics with 22 points and Jaylen Brown added 17. Malcolm Brogdon contributed 16, Robert Williams chipped in with 10 points and nine rebounds, and Al Horford grabbed 11 rebounds.

Joel Embiid put up 26 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots and Tyrese Maxey added 26 points for the Sixers, who haven’t advanced to the Eastern Conference finals since 2001.

James Harden had 13 points and nine assists.

The Sixers shot just 8-of-34 (23.5 percent) from 3-point range, with Harden going 0-for-6.

“I would say we had a lot of wide open threes,” Sixers coach Doc Rivers said. “We just didn’t make them.”

Philadelphia is looking for its first playoff series victory over the Celtics since 1982, having lost to Boston five times in the postseason since then.

Tatum hit back-to-back contested 3-pointers and the Celtics led 87-83 with 3:35 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Maxey shot an airball on a trey attempt but then came back to hit 1 of 2 free throws to cut the deficit to 87-84.

The 76ers led by five points late in the third quarter and by two in the middle of the fourth.

In the second quarter, the Celtics controlled the tempo, led by as many as 16 and took a 50-43 lead into halftime even with Tatum shooting 0-for-10 from the field.

Smart paced the Celtics with 15 first-half points. Maxey kept the Sixers close with 15 points before the break.

The Sixers led 73-71 at the end of the third.

–Field Level Media

Antetokounmpo, Tatum, Embiid Headline All-NBA First Team

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NEW YORK – (Staff, Wire Service and Official News Release Report) –  Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo and Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum were among those selected to the 2022-23 Kia All-NBA First Team on Wednesday night.

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The duo led the voting, with Antetokounmpo receiving 100 first-team votes from a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. Tatum trailed close behind with 92 first-team votes while also receiving eight for the second team. It was the seventh All-NBA team selection for Antetokounmpo, and the fifth for Tatum.

In 63 games this season, Antetokounmpo averaged a career-high 31.1 points, 11.8 rebounds and 5.7 assists. But it was a sour end to the campaign for Antetokounmpo, who saw his top-seeded Bucks ousted by the eighth-seeded Miami Heat in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Tatum posted averages of 30.1 points, 8.8 points and 4.6 assists per game during the regular season, all of which were career highs. Boston is on the brink of elimination, as it trails 3-2 in its semifinal series against the Philadelphia 76ers. The Celtics will attempt to keep their season alive on Thursday, when they travel to Philadelphia for Game 6.

Joining Antetokounmpo and Tatum on the first team is Sixers center and league MVP Joel Embiid (fifth All-NBA team selection, 87 first-place votes), Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (first, 63) and Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (fourth, 60).

Embiid and Doncic posted the highest scoring averages in the NBA during the regular season, averaging 33.1 and 32.4 points per game, respectively. Gilgeous-Alexander averaged the fourth most (31.4) while leading the Thunder to an appearance in the play-in tournament, where they beat the Pelicans before losing to the Timberwolves.

In his first season with his new team, Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell received 45 first-team votes, but ended up on the second team along with Denver Nuggets center and two-time MVP Nikola Jokic, Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, Heat forward Jimmy Butler and Celtics forward Jaylen Brown.

After a surprising season in which they broke the longest playoff drought in North American professional sports, the Sacramento Kings had two players selected to the All-NBA third team in guard De’Aaron Fox and center Domantas Sabonis. Both Fox and Sabonis celebrated their first selection to an All-NBA team.

Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard, New York Knicks forward Julius Randle and Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James also made the third team. James has the most All-NBA selections with 19.

Notable players to receive votes but not be named to an All-NBA team included Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant, Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen, forward Kevin Durant and guard Devin Booker of the Phoenix Suns and Lakers center Anthony Davis.

–Field Level Media

Embiid Proves MVP Resume vs Celtics

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Philadelphia’s center Joel Embiid scored 33 points, grabbed seven rebounds and blocked four shots to lead the 76ers to a 115-103 road victory over the Boston Celtics in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

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Tyrese Maxey added 30 points and seven rebounds for Philadelphia, which leads the best-of-seven series 3-2. The 76ers can wrap up the series on Thursday, when Game 6 will be played in Philadelphia.

James Harden of the 76ers added 17 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds, while Sixers’ forward Tobias Harris contributed 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Jayson Tatum led Boston with 36 points and 10 rebounds. Jaylen Brown (24 points) and Marcus Smart (14) were the only other Celtics who scored in double figures.

The 76ers never trailed after the first quarter, and the lead never dipped below nine in the second half.

Boston was within 11 points early in the fourth quarter, but Philadelphia went up 98-81 on an Embiid 3-pointer with 8:33 to play. The 76ers took a 113-92 lead — their largest advantage of the series — on a Maxey 3-pointer with 3:57 remaining.

Boston’s Al Horford missed each of his seven 3-point attempts and didn’t score in the game.

Philadelphia had a 49-36 edge in rebounds, and Boston shot 39.8 percent from the field (33 of 83). The 76ers hit 50.6 percent (40 of 79) of their shots.

Philadelphia led 33-26 after one quarter, then opened the second quarter on a 7-0 run. The Celtics closed the half with an 8-3 spurt but trailed 58-49 entering the third quarter.

Embiid had 21 points and five rebounds in the first half. Tatum missed his first six shots on the night but had 15 points at the break.

The 76ers stretched their nine-point halftime lead to 18 points on two Harden free throws with 2:44 left in the third, then went up by 19 on a Maxey layup with 29 seconds left in the period. Boston trailed 88-72 with 12 minutes to play.

The Celtics took their third loss in six home playoff games this season. The 76ers improved to 4-1 on the road in the postseason.

–Field Level Media

NWSL: Boston Breakers Might Return

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Break out the Champagne, the Boston Breakers might be back in action by 2026.

(Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

The National Women’s Soccer League, which already has plans to expand to 14 teams in 2024, is not done growing. In an interview with the Washington Post on Tuesday, NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman said that the league is angling to add two more clubs by 2026.

“We do expect for the 2026 season to add two more teams,” Berman said. “That process will begin later this calendar year, and through the process we ran in 2022 for this round of expansion, we have an incredible amount of interest from qualified investors who want to get in early.”

The NWSL is playing the 2023 campaign with 12 teams, the most recent additions being Angel City FC and the San Diego Wave last year. The Utah Royals, who played in the NWSL from 2018-20, are returning in 2024 and last month the league granted an expansion franchise to the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Wall Street Journal reported in January that the league was in “advanced discussions” on bringing a team back to Boston. The city was home to the Boston Breakers from 2013-17. That would mean one more market could land a new franchise in the next few years.

“Even though our (team) valuations have increased in a meaningful way, to $53 million with the team we sold to the Bay Area, we’re still really early in our process in terms of our growth and where we think this league is going to be in three to five to 10 years,” Berman said.

–Field Level Media

Sox are Sweeper, Not Sweepee

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – A month ago, the Boston Red Sox were being swept in a three-games series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The three losses at Fenway Park dropped the Sox record to 2-4 and they plummeted from second to last place in the American League East.

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This week, Boston won four consecutive games against a talented Toronto Blue Jays team to sweep their series and improve their record to 19-14 and are five games over the .500 mark and they are 7-3 in series play, including 5-1 at home. Boston owns the AL’s longest active winning streak and are tied with the LA Dodgers for the longest win-streak in the majors.

It is far better to be the sweeper of a series, rather than the sweepee.

Boston’s Masataka Yoshida went 3-for-5 with a first-inning home run, three RBIs and three runs while Rafael Devers also went deep to help the Boston Red Sox complete the sweep of the visiting Blue Jays with an 11-5 win Thursday evening (6:10pm start).

Boston led 6-0 and 8-1 through two and four innings, respectively, en route to its sixth straight win.

The Red Sox put up a series-high 16 hits — delivering one more hit in each successive game of their series after 13 hits Monday. Justin Turner, Devers and Jarren Duran added three apiece as the Nos. 2 through 5 spots in Boston’s lineup went a combined 12-for-20 with nine RBIs.

Devers had four RBIs, including hitting his 150th career homer and American League-leading 11th this season to highlight the team’s three-run eighth. Raimel Tapia and Yoshida each scored three runs.

Winning pitcher Brayan Bello (1-1) struck out five and walked one while allowing four runs (two earned) on six hits over five innings.

Toronto SS Bo Bichette, first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (double, home run, two RBIs) and OF Daulton Varsho had two hits apiece for Toronto.

The Red Sox teed off on Toronto starter Kevin Gausman (2-3), who was charged with eight runs on 10 hits in 3 1/3 innings. The right-hander had pitched seven scoreless innings in his each of his previous two outings with 24 strikeouts in 14 innings.

Yoshida opened the scoring with a one-out solo shot into the center-field bullpen in the first.

Boston blew the game open with a five-run, six-hit second inning that moved Gausman over the 60-pitch mark. Catcher Reese McGuire’s one-out RBI single started the barrage to make it 2-0. After Tapia reached on a run-scoring fielder’s choice, he stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on Yoshida’s sharp single to right. A Turner single moved Yoshida to third and Devers scored both on a double that was inches shy of clearing the fence in deep right.

In the fourth, the visitors got on the board on a Guerrero homer to center, but Boston made it 8-1 after Yoshida and Duran each hit RBI singles with Gausman exiting in between.

Toronto cut its deficit to 8-4 in the fifth. Bichette grounded a hit to right before Guerrero’s ground-rule double over Tapia’s head plated another run. Varsho capped the three-batter scoring span with a sacrifice fly to left.

In the eighth, an RBI single by Turner preceded the Devers bomb to right.

The Jays got a run back on George Springer’s one-out single in the final frame.

Toronto reliever Zach Pop exited with two outs in the eighth due to an apparent leg injury.

–Field Level Media

Celtics Roll Over Sixers in Game 2

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Philadelphia’s oft-injured center Joel Embiid returned to the 76ers’ lineup for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinals Wednesday night, but the Sixers fell victims to a 34-point blowout looking like a completely different club than the one who upset Boston in Game 1 Monday night.

In Game 2, host Boston benefitted from a game-high 25 points from all-star swingman Jaylen Brown and pulled even in the best-of-seven series, earning a 121-87 victory.

The second-seeded Celtics led by only eight at halftime and took control of the game in the third quarter, when they outscored the third-seeded Sixers, 35-16, to take a 92-65 advantage into the fourth.

Malcolm Brogdon came off the bench to toss in 23 points for the Celtics, who won even though leading scorer Jayson Tatum finished the game with seven points in 19 minutes. Marcus Smart (15 points), Derrick White (15) and Grant Williams (12) also scored in double figures for Boston, which made 20 of its 51 (39.2 percent) 3-point attempts.

Embiid, who was named the NBA’s MVP on Tuesday, sprained his lateral collateral ligament on April 20 during Game 3 of Philadelphia’s first-round series against the Brooklyn Nets. He didn’t play in Game 4, when the 76ers completed a four-game sweep of the Nets. He also sat out Philadelphia’s 119-115 Game 1 victory over Boston on Monday.

Embiid finished Game 2 with 15 points and five blocks in 27 minutes. He won a second straight scoring title by averaging 33.1 points per game during the regular season.

Tobias Harris led Philadelphia with 16 points. James Harden, who scored 45 points in Game 1, scored 12 in Game 2. The 76ers were 6 of 30 (20 percent) from behind the 3-point arc.

The Celtics led 28-22 after one quarter and increased their lead to 12 points — their largest lead of the first half — when an Al Horford 3-pointer made it 50-38 with 4:41 left in the second quarter. The 76ers missed 12 of their 13 3-point attempts in the first half and trailed 57-49 entering the third quarter.

Boston cruised from there, leading by as much as 36. The series continues with Game 3 in Philadelphia on Friday.

–Field Level Media

Red Sox Can Take Series vs. Blue Jays

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Red Sox had a season series to forget against the Blue Jays in 2022, but Boston came out swinging in back-to-back games vs. visiting Toronto to begin the week. After losing 16 of the 19 games between the teams last season, Boston has banged out double-digit hits twice and shown resolve to pick up a pair of one-run wins.

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Boston will chase a fifth straight win and aim to clinch the four-game series when the American League East foes meet tonight.

“Last year, they had our number,” Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo said. “It’s one of those things, man, we want to play competitive games against these guys. Last year there were a lot of blowouts, a lot of uncompetitive games.”

Verdugo hit a walk-off home run on Monday in a 6-5 Boston win, and catcher Connor Wong was the hero on Tuesday. His 4-for-4 effort included two long balls, the second of which came in the eighth inning to decide a 7-6 ballgame.

The Red Sox, who have come from behind in 12 of their 17 wins, tied a season high with four home runs on Tuesday. Christian Arroyo and Masataka Yoshida also went deep.

The contributions of Wong and others have brought a new dynamic to the lineup.

“He’s been (hitting like) the best catcher in the league,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “Defensively, obviously, he’s doing what he’s doing. It’s cool to see all these kids coming in here and getting a chance to play and contributing to this.”

Nick Pivetta (1-2, 5.11 ERA) will get the start for Boston on Wednesday. The right-hander has pitched at least five innings and recorded at least five strikeouts in four of his first five starts.

Pivetta is looking to bounce back from a Friday loss to the Cleveland Guardians in which he allowed four runs on five hits but struck out five in five innings. His lone win came a week earlier in Milwaukee.

“I feel like I’ve been competitive, making small increases as I go forward, staying healthy, which I’m happy about,” Pivetta said. “I feel like I’m close to … taking a step in the right direction.”

Pivetta is 1-4 with a 5.83 ERA in 11 career starts against Toronto.

The Blue Jays have scored at least five runs in seven of their past nine games, but they have allowed six or more in three straight, all losses.

A six-run fifth inning, including a three-run homer by Daulton Varsho, was not enough for Toronto on Tuesday.

Bo Bichette, who was 7-for-11 with two homers and six RBIs in his previous two games, went 0-for-2 with two walks and a run on Tuesday.

“Competing is when he’s taking his skill set along with a really good approach to what the pitchers are doing to him,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said.

Bichette leads the major leagues with 43 hits.

Alek Manoah (1-1, 4.88), Toronto’s scheduled Wednesday starter, has not been victorious since April 5 in Kansas City, though he allowed just two runs total over his past two starts. He struck out seven in five innings of two-run ball during a no-decision against the Seattle Mariners on Friday.

Manoah has been outstanding in six career starts against the Red Sox, going 4-0 with a 1.46 ERA and 33 strikeouts over 37 innings.

“I pitch with passion and I love competing,” Manoah said prior to the series. “When you are a competitor like that, a lot of teams like to come at you with their best. They lock it in that day or they’re extra aggressive that day. They play harder, and that’s what I love.”

Three of Manoah’s four victories over Boston came last season, including a Sept. 30 start in which he allowed just two hits in six shutout innings.

– Field Level Media

Celtics Shy on Defense; Drop Game 1

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – A better brand of defense will be on the mind of the Boston Celtics when they try to rebound from a series-opening defeat on their home court against the Philadelphia 76ers tonight after their 119-115 loss on Monday.

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The Celtics’ Al Horford admitted that team defensive intensity was lacking when they played the 76ers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals. Boston must win Game 2 at home to avoid falling into a deep hole of being down 2-0 in the best-of-seven series.

Although they played without MVP candidate Joel Embiid (knee), Philadelphia prevailed 119-115 in the series opener. James Harden poured in a game-high 45 points, but the 76ers also received plenty of offense from their supporting cast.

Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey scored 26 points, Tobias Harris finished with 18 and De’Anthony Melton came off the bench to toss in 17.

In addition, Philadelphia received 10 points and 13 rebounds from Paul Reed, who started at center in Embiid’s absence.

“We didn’t do as good a job defensively as we could,” Horford said, alluding to an inability to adjust defensive strategies. “As much as you don’t want to say (Embiid’s absence) wasn’t a factor, I think it was. We have to be better. We have to understand that we have to be able to play with whatever happens, whatever variables.”

Embiid’s status for Game 2 remained unchanged as of Tuesday afternoon, according to head coach Doc Rivers. He hasn’t played in Philadelphia’s last two games after injuring his knee in Game 3 of the team’s first-round series victory against the Brooklyn Nets.

“In a lot of ways, when Embiid doesn’t play everybody else is empowered,” Boston’s Malcolm Brogdon said. “Everybody else has the green light and guys are gonna step up, and I thought that’s what happened. I think we expected that, guys to step up, but we still struggled with it. We just gotta be prepared.”

Boston had a 115-114 lead after Jayson Tatum made two free throws with 26.1 seconds left, but Harden sank a 3-pointer – his seventh of the game on 14 attempts – that put Philadelphia in front for good with 8.4 seconds to play.

Harden’s 45 points matched his career-high in a playoff game. He also scored 45 points when he played for Houston in a victory over Golden State in the 2015 Western Conference finals.

“We didn’t come into this game expecting to lose,” Harden said. “We’re here to win. Even after this one I told guys, ‘Don’t get too happy.’ We’re even-keeled. We’re coming in here to get Game 2 as well. That’s the mindset we have as a unit and whether (Embiid) comes back or not we’re going to be ready to go.”

Boston received 39 points from Tatum and 23 from Jaylen Brown in the loss, but Harden alone outscored Tatum and Brown 15-10 in the fourth quarter. Philadelphia was better down the stretch, ending the game on a 12-4 run.

The Celtics had a 66-42 advantage in points in the paint, but that wasn’t enough to overcome Harden’s 17-for-30 (56.7 percent) overall shooting performance.

“(Harden) was phenomenal for us,” Harris said. “He had a huge amount of confidence in his game and what he works on. He’s been doing it for so long and it was an amazing time to come out and just dominate.

“He dominated the whole game and carried us to the victory. It was a team effort, but he did an amazing job of having his composure all throughout the game to help us win.”

–Field Level Media

Bergeron Played with Bad Back

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BOSTON – Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron told reporters that he was playing with a herniated disc in his back during Boston’s first-round Eastern Conference playoff series against the Florida Panthers.

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Bergeron sustained the herniated disc during the Bruins’ final game of the regular season, a 5-4 victory over the host Montreal Canadiens back on April 13. It was labeled as an upper-body injury at the time, and Bergeron did not return to the game against Montreal for precautionary reasons.

The injury forced Bergeron to miss the first four games of the series against Florida, but the Bruins won three of those contests. Bergeron returned for Game 5 and scored a goal — his lone point of the 2023 playoffs — but it wasn’t enough, as Boston fell 4-3. The Panthers then won Games 6 and 7 to stun the Bruins and advance to the second round.

With the offseason now upon Boston after its historic 65-12-5 (135 points) regular season, Bergeron also said that he was weighing his options when it came to the future.

“I gotta take some time and talk with the family and go from there,” Bergeron said. “Right now it’s too hard to process anything. Obviously we’re shocked and disappointed.”

Bergeron, 37, recorded 58 points (27 goals, 31 assists) in 78 games this season, his 19th with the Bruins.

–Field Level Media

Bruins Eliminated in OT

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – While Boston Bruins fans were ruing their team’s first-round upset at the hands of the Florida Panthers, oddsmakers were understandably not shedding many tears.

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The Stanley Cup favorites at every sportsbook following their historic regular season, the Bruins were the biggest liability at many entering the playoffs. That includes at BetMGM, where Boston had accounted for 28.1 percent of the Stanley Cup champion bets and a whopping 42.7 percent of the money wagered.

“Entering the playoffs, the Bruins were the betting favorites to win the Stanley Cup and a significant liability for the sportsbook,” BetMGM Sports Trader Seamus Magee said. “While heartbreaking to fans and those who closely followed their run, Boston losing in the first round was a good outcome for the sportsbook.”

Boston’s demise coincided with the defending champion Colorado Avalanche bowing out on Sunday night, and the good news kept on rolling for the sportsbooks on Monday when the New Jersey Devils took out the New York Rangers in yet another Game 7. That meant the top three liabilities at BetMGM entering the playoffs failed to make it out of the first round.

With the top three American teams eliminated, the new Stanley Cup futures list has a distinctly Canadian flair.

The new favorite entering the second round is Toronto, with the Maple Leafs being offered at +350 at BetMGM and DraftKings. Next are the Edmonton Oilers, who are +375 and +425 at the two sportsbooks, respectively.

The Oilers do remain the biggest liability at BetMGM to win the Western Conference, having drawn 23.2 percent of the total bets and 26.1 percent of the money at +750 behind the prohibitive favorite Avalanche at +175.

Since we’re talking about sports betting, it’s fair to say the Seattle Kraken are “playing with house money.”

The first team to claim a franchise’s first playoffs series victory against a reigning Stanley Cup champion, the Kraken are significant longshots across the boards. They are by far the longest shots to win the title at both BetMGM (+1600) and DraftKings (+2000), where the Kraken have twice the longest odds of the next-closest team — the Panthers at +1000.

Stanley Cup championship odds (BetMGM/DraftKings)
Toronto Maple Leafs (+350/+350)
Edmonton Oilers (+375/+425)
Dallas Stars (+600/+550)
New Jersey Devils (+600/+600)
Vegas Golden Knights (+600/+650)
Carolina Hurricanes (+600/+700)
Florida Panthers (+1000+1000)
Seattle Kraken (+1600/+2000)

–Field Level Media