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Kyrie Irving “No Fear” As Finals Begin

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – A pair of stars will need no introduction when the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks meet for Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night.

Dallas guard Kyrie Irving and Boston big man Kristaps Porzingis find themselves pitted against their former teams, with Irving’s breakup with the Celtics getting much messier than Porzingis’ departure from the Mavericks.

Irving spent two seasons in Boston and told fans that he planned on re-signing with the Celtics following the 2018-19 campaign.

That didn’t happen, though, and Irving broke for the Brooklyn Nets once the summer rolled around. He has been met with boos when playing in Boston ever since while posting an 0-10 record overall in his past 10 games against the Celtics.

But a hostile environment is the last thing Irving is worried about on the NBA’s biggest stage.

“There’s no fear out here, man. It’s basketball,” Irving said. “The fans are going to say what they’re going to say. I appreciate them and their relationship they have to the game. But it’s about the players at the end of the day.”

Dallas moved on from Porzingis at the 2022 trade deadline, shipping him to the Washington Wizards after deciding that he wasn’t the right piece to pair with star guard Luka Doncic.

“I don’t know why it didn’t work out,” Doncic said. “We were still both young. We tried to make it work, but it just didn’t work.”

History aside, both Irving and Porzingis are primarily concerned with helping their current teams lock up a championship for the first time in over a decade. The Mavericks’ last title came in 2011, while Boston hasn’t gone all the way since 2008.

The Celtics had a golden opportunity to secure their 18th title in franchise history just two years ago, but they fell 4-2 to the Golden State Warriors in the Finals. Looking back on it now, Boston star Jayson Tatum thinks there was a silver lining in coming up short.

“It was a lesson to be learned,” Tatum said. “I told myself that if I ever got the opportunity again to make it to the Finals, that (I’d) never take it for granted. Obviously, we’re here now and thankful to be here.

“I’m excited to get ready to play and have fun (Thursday).”

Dallas, on the other hand, will be appearing in the Finals for the first time since its title run 13 years ago. Irving, Markieff Morris and Derrick Jones Jr. are the only Mavericks with experience in this stage of the postseason.

“Some of us for the Mavs have been here, some of us haven’t,” said Dallas coach Jason Kidd, who was the starting point guard on the Mavericks’ 2011 championship team. “We’re going to embrace that and find a way to hopefully win a series.”

Beating the Celtics could get a lot harder depending on the health of Porzingis, who has missed the past 10 games due to a right soleus (calf) strain. Porzingis will be good to go for Game 1, but he’s unsure if he will be operating at 100 percent.

“I did as much as I could to prepare for this moment, but there’s nothing like game minutes and game experience that I’m going to get (Thursday),” Porzingis said. “It will be tough to jump into the Finals like this.”

– Field Level Media

Morikawa Gets Second Chance at Jack’s

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DUBLIN, Ohio – (Staff and Wire Service Report – Collin Morikawa recalled that he was nearly moved to tears when he had to withdraw from the 2023 Memorial Tournament on the morning of the final round because of a back injury.

But Morikawa has returned for this year’s edition of the Memorial, which starts on Thursday at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Ohio.

Morikawa will be trying to capture the victory that eluded him a year ago while also going for a handshake from the event’s longtime host, golf legend Jack Nicklaus, on the 18th green.

“I felt gutted last year,” said Morikawa, who was tied for ninth at 4-under par and two shots behind the leaders after three rounds when he suffered back spasms during a workout that Sunday morning.

“I hurt myself on Sunday and I felt like I had a chance,” Morikawa said Wednesday. “I went in there and I was nearly sobbing because I had to go tell (Nicklaus) that I had to withdraw. It sucks because you show up to certain events and you just, you have this thing about an event that you just love, and I love this golf course.”

Morikawa, 27, is a two-time major champion since turning pro in 2019, having won the PGA Championship in 2020 and The Open in 2021. Among his six victories on the PGA Tour is his win at the Workday Charity Open held at Muirfield Village in 2020, but that didn’t come with a handshake from Nicklaus.

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Another shot to win the Memorial came in 2021, when Morikawa lost to Patrick Cantlay in a playoff.

“Oh, it would be so special,” Morikawa said of getting a handshake from the 84-year-old Nicklaus, an 18-time major champion. “Look, what Jack has done for this game, what his voice does, what he represents, it’s a lot. You can’t replace history, you can’t replace someone like that, so to have that chance hopefully come Sunday, it would mean the world. …

Sox, Pivetta One-Hits Braves

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s starting pitcher Nick Pivetta threw seven shutout innings and Rafael Devers hit two home runs as the Red Sox defeated the visiting Atlanta Braves 9-0 on Wednesday and earn a split in the two-game series.

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Pivetta (3-4) struck out nine and walked two. Austin Riley collected the only hit against Pivetta, a single in the fourth inning. It was Atlanta’s only hit in the game.

The Braves, who struck out 11 times in the loss, were shut out for the first time this season.

Devers hit a solo home run in the second inning and a two-run homer in the seventh. He has 13 home runs this season.

Boston also got a solo home run from Jarren Duran, his fourth of the season.

Boston’s Zack Kelly pitched the eighth, and Brad Keller worked the ninth.

The Red Sox, who dropped an 8-3 decision to Atlanta on Tuesday, scored three runs in the second, three in the fifth, two in the seventh and one in the eighth.

Boston’s Tyler O’Neill (2-for-4, one RBI) was reinstated from the 10-day injury list Wednesday and started in right field. Dominic Smith and Rob Refsnyder each added two hits for the Red Sox, who had 13 hits in the game.

Boston’s Jamie Westbrook, in his third major league game, collected his first career hit when he singled in the eighth.

The Red Sox opened the scoring when Devers homered off Atlanta starting pitcher Spencer Schwellenbach (0-2) in the second. The Red Sox made it 2-0 when David Hamilton doubled home O’Neill, and they stretched the lead to 3-0 when Reese McGuire’s sacrifice fly drove in Smith.

Boston’s three-run fifth featured an RBI double from Enmanuel Valdez, an RBI single from O’Neill and an RBI double by Smith.

Devers homered in the seventh, and Duran homered in the eighth.

Schwellenbach, who was making his second major league start, allowed six runs on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings. The right-hander walked two (one intentional) and struck out four.

The Red Sox improved to 1-3 against the Braves this season.

–Field Level Media

Schwellenbach vs Red Sox at 1:35pm

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Atlanta right-hander Spencer Schwellenbach will make his second major league start this afternoon when the Braves face the Boston Red Sox for the back half of a two-game series.

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Schwellenbach (0-1, 5.40 ERA) was promoted from Double-A Mississippi to make his major league debut on May 29 against the Washington Nationals. He allowed three runs on five hits in five innings, struck out five and walked one in a 7-2 loss. Sixty of his 88 pitches were strikes.

“I thought his stuff was real good,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said postgame. “He handled himself really well. The composure, slowing the game down. I thought he was very impressive.”

Travis d’Arnaud might catch Schwellenbach for the second outing in a row as Sean Murphy left Atlanta’s 8-3 victory on Tuesday with a right elbow injury after being hit by a pitch in the ninth inning. X-rays were negative, and Murphy believes he will avoid going on the injury list.

“Just a big, gross lump,” Murphy said. “It looks worse than it is. (The swelling) will go down quick, so I’m not worried about it.”

The Braves received home runs from Ozzie Albies and Orlando Arcia during the victory at Boston. Albies hit a three-run shot against Boston starter Kutter Crawford that gave Atlanta a 6-3 lead in the sixth inning.

“Just got to make better pitches,” Crawford said. “Just kind of going through a rut right now, but we’re just going to keep fighting.”

Atlanta starter Max Fried struck out a career-high 13 batters in seven innings on Tuesday. The Red Sox fanned 14 times in the defeat.

“He’s one of the best,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of Fried. “He does that every five days.”

In his past three starts, Fried has 28 strikeouts in 24 innings. He walked two and allowed three earned runs in that span.

“I feel like I had a really good feel of the slider, and my curveball was probably the best it has been all year,” Fried said.

Now the Red Sox will face Schwellenbach, whom the Braves selected in the second round of the 2021 draft out of the University of Nebraska. Schwellenbach, 24, won the John Olerud Award as the best two-way player in college baseball. The Braves drafted him as a pitcher, but he had Tommy John surgery before his first professional appearance.

Nick Pivetta (2-4, 4.08) is scheduled to start for Boston. The right-hander took a 5-0 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Thursday. He gave up two runs on three hits and two walks in 5 1/3 innings while striking out nine, including eight in a row at one point to tie the franchise record.

Pivetta also took the loss when the Braves beat the Red Sox 5-0 on May 8. It was his first appearance since April 3, after which he went on the injured list with a right elbow strain. He gave up five runs on seven hits in four innings at Atlanta.

Pivetta is 7-5 with a 5.30 ERA in 20 career appearances (16 starts) vs. the Braves.

The Red Sox are 0-3 against the Braves this season.

–Field Level Media

12-Team CFP to Begin Dec.20th

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ATLANTA – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The first 12-team edition of the College Football Playoff will begin on Dec. 20 and end exactly one month later, with the national championship game set to be played in Atlanta, it was announced Wednesday.

The expanded playoff format will start with four first-round games played at campus sites on Dec. 20 and Dec. 21. Two of those games will be broadcast on TNT, which has a sublicense with ESPN.

The quarterfinals begin on New Year’s Eve with the Fiesta Bowl at 7:30 p.m. ET, followed by a trio of games on New Year’s Day. The Peach Bowl will begin at 1 p.m., the Rose Bowl at 5 p.m. and the Sugar Bowl at 8:45 p.m.

Both semifinals will start at 7:30 p.m. The first, the Orange Bowl, will be played on Jan. 9, and the second, the Cotton Bowl, will take place on Jan. 10.

The championship game is set for 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Celtics’ Porzingis to Play in Finals

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis, who has not played since April 29 because of a calf injury, plans to be available for Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday against the Dallas Mavericks.

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“That is the plan right now,” Porzingis said on Tuesday in his first public comments since May 4. “Again, it’s a couple more days, and I think that could make a difference. Every day gives me a bit more time to get even better.”

PGA Tour: The Memorial

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THE MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT
Location: Dublin, Ohio, June 6-9
Course: Muirfield Village Golf Club (Par 72, 7,571 Yards)
Purse: $20M (Winner: $4M)
Defending Champion: Viktor Hovland
FedEx Cup Leader: Scottie Scheffler

HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: Thursday-Friday: 2-6 p.m. ET (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday: 12:30-2:30 p.m. (GC), 2:30-6 p.m. (CBS)
Streaming (ESPN+): Thursday-Friday, 7:30 a.m.-6 p.m. ET; Saturday-Sunday, 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m.
X: @MemorialGolf

PROPS
–Collin Morikawa to beat Xander Schauffele (+105 at DraftKings): Schauffele claimed his first major title in his most recent start and has been a top-10 machine with nine through 11 2024 events. But Morikawa has also rediscovered elite form, posting consecutive fourths and five top-10s over his past five starts. It has been a whirlwind few weeks for Schauffele since his breakthrough major victory, while Morikawa hunts for his first win since October.

–Viktor Hovland as top Scandanavian (+140 at BetMGM): After a rough start to 2024, Hovland reconnected with his previous swing coach and immediately contended until the 72nd hole at the PGA Championship. He also won at Muirfield in a playoff last year, but does have to fend off stiff competition in this prop. Ludvig Aberg (+150) has skyrocketed to sixth in the world with five top-10s already this year, while Alex Noren (+275) has displayed strong recent form that includes six top-20s in his past nine starts.

Red Sox Face Tough Series vs ATL

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Atlanta Braves will attempt to jump-start their slumping offense when they visit the Boston Red Sox for the opener of a two-game series tonight. The Braves averaged 3.4 runs per game in May, which was fewer than every major league team except the White Sox and Reds. Atlanta scored nine runs in a 11-9 loss to Oakland on Saturday, but was held to seven hits in a 3-1 victory over the A’s on Sunday.

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“I look through individually and see a lot of positives, quite honestly, with some guys offensively, which is what we’ve been trying to do,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “We haven’t been playing bad baseball — we’ve been playing good baseball — we just haven’t hit. I see light at the end of the tunnel with a bunch of those guys.

“I see a lot of really good things out of the offense, and the good thing is these guys have been struggling offensively and they’ve just been playing the heck out of defense. … From my seat the hitting thing is going to come. I can’t go in there and blow anything up because we’re not playing bad baseball. We’re playing good baseball, we’re just not hitting.”

Atlanta will be facing a Boston team trying to create some positive energy. The Red Sox lost two out of three games against Milwaukee and two out of three against Baltimore before splitting four games against Detroit in a series that ended Sunday. Boston had a 3-0 lead in Sunday’s game, but ended up losing 8-4 in 10 innings.

Boston manager Alex Cora said although his team was in position to win the series against Detroit, he was not frustrated with Sunday’s loss.

“Not really,” he said. “We know where we’re at. We were playing five rookies today. We got to be realistic. We’re playing good baseball, that’s the thing. We had a chance to win three out of four. It didn’t happen, but for some reason with this group we don’t get frustrated. Just keep teaching them the game and help them to be better.

“We got a tough one coming up with the Braves. Hopefully we win it and then go to Chicago (White Sox) and have a good weekend over there. It’ll be good for us this week to gain some momentum.”

Boston’s Rafael Devers went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, a triple and a game-tying home run in the eighth inning during Sunday’s loss. Devers enters Tuesday’s game batting .283 with 11 home runs, 29 RBIs and a .924 OPS.

“He keeps getting better and he understands who he is, not only on this team but in the industry,” Cora said. “He’s one of the best players in the league.”

Left-hander Max Fried (5-2, 2.97 ERA) is Atlanta’s probable starter for Tuesday’s game. Fried pitched eight innings in a 2-0 victory over Washington last Tuesday. He allowed seven hits, struck out six and walked one.

Fried is 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA in his only career start against Boston. He gave up two runs on five hits in five innings, struck out five and walked two.

Right-hander Kutter Crawford (2-4, 3.29) is scheduled to start for Boston. Crawford did not factor in the decision in his only career appearance against Atlanta. On May 7, he surrendered two runs on five hits in six innings, struck out six and walked two in a 4-2 loss at Atlanta.

–Field Level Media

NBA Finals: Coach Joe Preaches

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – With a long wait for the NBA Finals begin, Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla made it known that there is one storyline he will not delve into any further in the days before Game 1, scheduled for this Thursday.

The relationship between Celtics stars Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum has been analyzed for years. Brown is Boston’s former No. 3 overall pick in 2016 out of Cal, and Tatum was selected No. 3 overall from Duke a year later.

The draft pick slots were acquired through a pair of savvy trades by the Celtics’ front office and have restored a winning culture to a legendary franchise, but drama has followed the duo since they were paired together in the NBA.

While talk of the fractured dynamic has slowed somewhat in recent years, Mazzulla was asked about it potentially being a talking point before Game 1 when the Dallas Mavericks visit Boston.

“I’m kind of (considering) how deep I want to get into that because the whole thing about that really (angers me),” Mazzulla said at a news conference Friday. “I think it’s unfair to both of them and I think it’s stupid that people have to use those two guys’ names and use information they don’t know to create click bait so that they can stay relevant.”

The Brown-Tatum duo has never missed the playoffs. In fact, they have led Boston to the Eastern Conference finals in five of the past seven seasons and into the NBA Finals this season and in 2022, when they fell to the Golden State Warriors.

A bruising forward with long-distance shooting range, Tatum has finished at least sixth in NBA MVP voting in each of the past three seasons. Brown, an All-Star in three of the past four seasons, is a scoring guard who has averaged at least 20 points in each of the past five seasons.

“It’s very unfair that those two get compared,” Mazzulla said. “They’re two completely different people, two completely different players. They’re great teammates, they love each other and they go about winning and they go about their process in a different way. So why they have to be lumped together I think is unfair and people just use it for their own (relevance).”

[Read more…] about NBA Finals: Coach Joe Preaches

Tigers Get Four in 10th to Win

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BOSTON – Detroit’s Wenceel Perez had three hits and scored twice while Javier Baez drove in two key insurance runs for the Tigers, who rattled off a four-run 10th inning to finish off a come-from-behind, 8-4 win over the Boston Red Sox on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon at Fenway Park.

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Baez hit a two-run single that highlighted the go-ahead inning against Boston reliever Cam Booser (0-2), helping Detroit salvage a four-game series split.

Riley Greene, Matt Vierling and Carson Kelly all had two hits apiece as part of Detroit’s 14-hit effort. Andrew Chafin (1-1) recorded the last four outs to earn the win.

After Detroit climbed out of a 3-0 deficit with four straight runs between the fifth and seventh innings, Boston’s Rafael Devers hit a game-tying solo shot off Alex Faedo in the eighth, clearing the Green Monster in left-center field.

In the ninth, after a Rob Refsnyder two-out single through the right side and back-to-back walks issued by two Detroit relievers, Connor Wong’s deep fly ball was caught in right to force extras.

Mark Canha’s infield single started the Tigers’ go-ahead rally in the 10th. Ibanez’s pinch-hit double inside the third base line made it 5-4 before Baez stroked a two-run, two-out single to left and Kelly doubled off the Monster to add insurance.

Devers and Jarren Duran were both 2-for-4 for Boston.

Boston struck first as Enmanuel Valdez knocked a two-out RBI single into center. Wilyer Abreu’s one-out double sparked the rally.

The Red Sox built a 3-0 lead with single runs in each of the early innings.

In the second, back-to-back singles by David Hamilton and Jarren Duran allowed Boston to double its lead. Duran ripped a liner back past Tigers starter Casey Mize (four innings, five hits, two earned runs) on the mound to make it 2-0.

A leadoff walk to Dominic Smith and a Devers triple deep into the right field corner added the third Red Sox run in the third.

Boston starter Brayan Bello allowed just two hits across the first four innings and finished 6 1/3, but Detroit got on the board in a three-hit fifth which began with an Urshela double to center and Akil Baddoo single through the right-side hole. Urshela scored the first run on a wild pitch.

Urshela hit a sacrifice fly that helped get the Tigers within 3-2 in the sixth.

After back-to-back singles with one out in the seventh ended Bello’s day, Detroit flipped the score for the first time at 4-3 on Perez’s double and a Canha groundout. Bello was charged with four runs on eight hits, with three walks and five strikeouts.

One of Boston’s ninth-inning walks was drawn by Springfield, Mass., native Jamie Westbrook, who was making his MLB debut after spending more than a decade in the minor leagues.

–Field Level Media