Don't Blow It!

The Boston Celtics won Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals in fairly impressive fashion. Leave it to Mr. Glass Half Empty to accentuate the negative:

If the Celtics don’t win the series, it will be one of the biggest blown opportunities in Boston sports history

We are four games into this bizarro Eastern Conference final and the only takeaway is that No One Knows Anything and it’s now a best-of-three with Miami holding home-court advantage the rest of the way.

Folks in these parts certainly think the Celtics are the better team and there was nothing on display at TD Garden Monday that would dispute that notion. In a wildly unpredictable series that’s seen sparse late-game drama and multiple beatdowns by both squads, it was the Celtics turn to freeze the Heat in a 102-82 Game 4 rout.

“We didn’t want to go down 3-1,’’ said Celtics coach Ime Udoka. “It wasn’t our best offensive night [39.7 percent shooting from the floor], but we can always rely on our defense. We can do that even if our shots are not falling.’’

If the Celtics don’t win this series and advance to the NBA Finals, this will go down as one of the biggest blown opportunities in Boston sports history.

But Never Downplaying A Loss

That's just how he rolls:

After Celtics took a stunning loss in Game 3, there’s no telling what to expect in Game 4

Hold off on those round-trip plane tickets to San Francisco for the NBA Finals.

And forget about Celtics-In-Five.

Two days after dominating Miami in Game 2, the Celtics stumbled to a 26-point, first-half deficit in Game 3 and suffered a well-deserved 109-103 loss to the still-proud, Heat Saturday night at the Garden.

On a night when both Marcus Smart and Jayson Tatum suffered injuries, went to the locker room, then made Drama King returns, Boston cut a 26 point lead all the way down to one point, 93-92, with 2:40 left, only to fall short. Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 40 points, but committed seven turnovers. Tatum shot 3 for 14 and had six turnovers in 40 uninspiring minutes. An energized Bam Adebayo scored 31 with 10 rebounds and 6 assists for the winners.

Downplaying A Win

I know, it's really out of character for Shank to do such a thing:

It’s only one game, but the Celtics responded emphatically in Game 2 against the Heat

MIAMI — Let’s not go overboard. It’s only one game. I remember mocking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the mighty Lakers when the Larry Bird Celtics beat LA, 148-114, in Game 1 of the 1985 Finals. Those proud Lakers wound up winning that series in six, dancing on the fabled parquet while New England wept.

But here in the Hub of Hoop, there’ll be a temptation to get carried away after what we watched at FTX Arena Thursday night. Some of you no doubt are already dreaming of that Boston-Golden State matchup in the NBA Finals.

The 2021-22 Celtics vaporized the Miami Heat, 127-102, in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals. Two days after a disheartening, shorthanded, 11-point loss, the Celtics (almost) got their whole team back and demolished a tough, worthy Miami team.

More realistic folks would say 'we won one in their building; so far, so good.' I suppose Shank's citing the 1985 series to tamper expectations, which is fine. I also suppose, as far as team personnel and matchups are concerned, the two sides in the aforementioned 1985 series were a lot closer than the current edition of the Celtics and Miami Heat. You could make the argument (successfully) that the 1985 Lakers team was amongst the top teams of all time - Kareem, Magic, Worthy, Michael Cooper Byron Scott, Bob McAdoo - that's a solid group. After Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, I don't know who belongs in that echelon of great players; I'll say Jayson Tatum, Jalen Brown and Marcus Smart (the Michael Cooper lockdown defender counterpart) give them the edge in this series.

I think, as always, Shank's column is some sort of setup in the case the Celtics barf up this series.

Not Enough Game

For those who watched the game, Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals was not a good one for the Boston Celtics:

Celtics were game, but without Marcus Smart and Al Horford, they didn’t have enough against Heat in opener

MIAMI — Opening night of the Eastern Conference finals got off to a rotten start for the Celtics.

No Marcus Smart (bruised foot). Then, without warning, no Al Horford (health and safety protocol).

Losing Smart and Horford against the rested, top-seeded Heat made Tuesday’s Game 1 feel like climbing Kilimanjaro for a Celtic team that just survived seven smashmouth playoff games against the defending world champs. The shorthanded Celts were forced to go back to work only two days after gutting the Bucks on Causeway Street.

Boston got it done early, taking a 13-point first half lead, but Miami wore down the exhausted Celts at the start of the third with a Jimmy Butler-led, 22-2 run en route to a 118-107 win. Game 2 is Thursday at FTX Arena.

More game recap and some quotes from there.

Doing It Wit Defense

Shank will now have to take a week or two to take that annual dump on the Celtics:

The Celtics wore out the great Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks, and they did it with defense

The Bruins’ season ended Saturday. The Red Sox season feels like it ended in April. The Patriots offseason has been wildly underwhelming.

It was left to the Men in Green to keep things interesting around here and the Celtics did not disappoint Sunday, with a 109-81 Game 7 victory over the reigning NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks. Veterans Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart will take their talents to South Beach for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals Tuesday night at FTX Arena.

A raucous Causeway Street crowd chanted “Beat the Heat!” in the closing seconds of the first rout of the series.

One Tough Loss

We're now one loss away from Shank taking his annual post-season dump on any Boston team which doesn't win it all, and we get a preview here:

Game 5 loss for Celtics will go down as one of the toughest in Boston sports lore

It is almost beyond comprehension.

It appeared certain the Celtics had this one. We saw 48 minutes of blood and thunder basketball between two worthy teams and there were electric moments in our fabled gym joint. There seemed to be no doubt the Celtics would take a 3-2 series lead back to Milwaukee with a chance to close things out and advance to the conference Finals.

The Celtics led by 14 in the fourth quarter. They led by 6 with 2:12 to go when Ageless Al Horford threw down a dunk after a Jaylen Brown miss.

And then the defending world champions showed you what they are made of and took back the night, beating the Celtics, 110-107, in what is surely one of the toughest losses in Boston sports lore.

One Quarter For The Ages

Shank's talking about the fourth quarter of the Celtics' Game 4 win on Monday night over the Milwaukee Bucks, but my observation's a bit different:

A fourth quarter for the ages, a legendary dunk from Al Horford, and the Celtics-Bucks series is all even

MILWAUKEE — If the Celtics go on to win Flag 18 ('Flag' - seriously? - ed), years from now when tall tales are told, this might be the night folks talk about the most. This might be like Dave Roberts stealing second base, or Adam Vinatieri drilling the ice ball through the uprights in the last game played at Foxboro Stadium

Or ending your sentences with periods.

The Celtics beat the World Champion Milwaukee Bucks, 116-108, at Fiserv Forum Monday night to square their conference semifinal series, 2-2. Game 5 is Wednesday at the Garden, Game 6 is Friday back in Brewtown (Brewtown - must be firsthand knowledge! - ed), and Game 7 (probably necessary) Sunday on Causeway Street. Bring your popcorn.

And a copy editor - there's more poorly written hackery to follow that'd make a high school English teacher shake his head.

Remain Calm - All Is Well?

That seems to be the message Shank's trying to deliver after watching yesterday's Game 3 between the Celtics and the Bucks:

It was a tough finish, but all is not lost for Celtics

MILWAUKEE — The ball bounded back and forth, in and out, pinball-like, almost in slow motion.

Marcus Smart, rebounding his own intentionally missed free throw, had first crack with four seconds left. No good. Then Robert Williams tipped it back onto the rim. Not quite. Then Jrue Holiday got a hand on it and almost put it in the wrong basket. No. Finally, Al Horford tapped it through the hole just after the horn sounded.

It was initially ruled a bucket and the score was fixed at 103-103. For a second, it looked like we were going into overtime.

But Horford’s tap came after the red lights around the backboard lit. It was too late to save the Celtics for OT. A quick review revealed what we pretty much already knew.

Shank The Scold, A Continuing Series

A cheap and easy way to criticize athletes and pro sports teams in 2022 - keep bringing up everyone's Covid vaccination status:

Red Sox deny allowing Chris Sale more time to rehab injury because he won’t get vaccinated

MILWAUKEE — Are the Red Sox accommodating Chris Sale — allowing their $145 million pitcher extra time for his rehab from a rib cage fracture — because Sale won’t get vaccinated and they know he won’t be available to pitch in Toronto when the Sox return there June 27?

I ran this theory past Chaim Bloom Saturday afternoon, and the Red Sox chief baseball officer answered, “No. That has nothing to do with it.”

Bloom opened the box to cynicism in a rare media availability on Saturday before the Sox took on the White Sox in the second game of their weekend series.

Among items Bloom discussed in the dugout was an announcement that Sale’s rehab progress has been delayed because of a personal medical issue, not rib- or arm-related (Bloom also said Sale does not have COVID-19).

This means Sale’s return will be pushed back a few more weeks. It also means he won’t be available until late June at the earliest.

Shank has no problem criticizing Chris Sale but now gets to add his vaccination status as another stick to beat him with. I think it's stupid because Shank will never, ever consider the logic of continuing with Covid vaccine mandates now that the pandemic phase is well and small in our rear view mirror.

When Is A Bargain Not A Bargain?

When it's the flailing 2022 Boston Red Sox:

These cost-conscious Red Sox are no bargain, and other thoughts

MILWAUKEE — Picked-up pieces while waiting for someone to call traveling or charging on Giannis …

The 2022 Red Sox. Wow. Just wow.

The bumbling Bostons went into Saturday with a record of 10-17, last place in the AL East, nine games behind the first-place Yankees. The Franchy Cordero All-Stars have lost five consecutive series. Some Red Sox fans have taken to calling the 99-day lockout “The Good Old Days.”

It’s never a good thing when the local baseball season is already over in the first week of May. The Sox are not out of contention yet, and having six American League teams in the playoffs gives them hope …

But seriously?

Are Sox ownership and the front office appropriately embarrassed by this product in the first four weeks of the season? Also, why is Chaim Bloom asking us to be “patient”?

Like it or not, the surprising success of the 2021 Red Sox (they actually came within two wins of the World Series) might have been the worst thing that could have happened to this year’s edition. October’s success deluded the cost-cutting ownership and free-cycling Bloom into thinking that they had figured things out.

Making A Statement

Shank does a column on the Celtics' Game 2 win over the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference semifinals:

Celtics got the message, then went out and made a statement in Game 2 win over Bucks

The Celtics were in need of a statement game. All the feel-good momentum from their sweep of the No No (Nan) Nets went away with Sunday’s Game 1 Garden smackdown at the hands of the defending world champion Milwaukee Bucks.

The national narrative seemed to be turning away from Boston as a dangerous team, bound for the NBA Finals. Marcus Smart was hurt, and pundits were calling out Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, both of whom underperformed in the series opener.

With this negativity in their heads and Smart (bruised thigh) on the shelf, the Celtics responded with one of their better games of the season, bolting to a 65-40 halftime lead, and playing smash-mouth defense in a 109-86, wire-to-wire Game 2 victory over the Bucks at the Garden. Brown (seven turnovers and 4-for-13 shooting in Game 1) scored 30, hit 6 of 10 from international waters.

Back On The Bandwagon, A Continuing Series

This is the very definition of a fair-weather fan:

Celtics could end our championship ‘drought,’ and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while thinking how much Xander Bogaerts reminds me of Patrice Bergeron …

▪ We are spoiled, for sure, but we are also officially in a championship drought. After 12 duck boat parades in this century, we haven’t seen confetti in three long years. The last New England major sports team to win a title was the 2018-19 Patriots. Remember them? They had a quarterback named Tom Brady and they beat the Rams, 13-3, in Atlanta in the first week of February 2019.

We thought the parades would last forever. And we almost got another one in 2019 when the Bruins played a Stanley Cup Final Game 7 on a perfect June night at the Garden after smoking the St. Louis Blues, 5-1, in Game 6. Alas, Brad Marchand skated off the ice too soon at the end of the first period, the Bruins fell behind, 2-0, and never recovered.

Sweep Revenge

That's Shank half-clever cliched headline after the Boston Celtics bounced the Brooklyn Nets out of the 2022 NBA playoffs:

The Celtics got their sweep revenge, and now it feels like this could be a long, magical spring

NEW YORK — Did anybody really think Kyrie Irving and the Nets actually wanted to come back to Boston?

The Celtics finished off Brooklyn’s latter day Bums Monday, beating the Nets, 116-112, to complete a four-game sweep of a team that was favored to win the NBA championship at the start of this season. It was sweet revenge for last spring’s series loss to Brooklyn when annoying Kyrie stomped on the Celtic logo at the Garden.

All of Boston and NBA America expected Dem Bums to roll over one last time against the surging Celts. It would be not fair to say Brooklyn quit in this one, but the dysfunctional Nets fell behind by as many as 15 and never led. They go down as the Greatest Dynasty That Never Was.

DHL Dan CXXVI - Mr. Mandate

That would be Shank, of course, insisting it's a professional obligation to get vaccinated against the Wuhan Flu virus, side effects be damned:

Say hello to Tanner “Kyrie” Houck, a 25-year-old righthanded pitcher who told us last weekend that he is not vaccinated and therefore will miss his scheduled start against the Jays Tuesday.

“I think it’s a personal choice for everyone whether they get it or not,” Houck said. “I’m definitely bummed that I won’t be able to make that start.”

Wow. Bummer, man.

Kyrie Houck went on to say, “But the starts I am able to make, I plan on giving 100 percent for this team. Anything I can do for this team to help them win, I’ll do it.”

If you really feel that way, just get the shot, big fella. You are a professional athlete. You are part of a team. Maybe this would be a time to forgo your “personal freedom” and do what’s good for the team and everyone around you.

Now, that's a Boston Globe attitude for ya!

Clunker

Shank's first Celtics playoff column focuses on how bad Kevin Durant sucked in Game 2:

Kevin Durant has another clunker against Celtics, and that’s a big problem for the Nets

He has played 14 NBA seasons, which is longer than Larry Bird played. He was in the NBA when Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen were preaching Ubuntu and winning a championship. Kevin Durant has been around so long, he actually played for the Seattle SuperSonics.

But in Wednesday’s 114-107 loss to the Celtics, Durant — for the first time in his career — looked old.

“KD is in the Boston Celtics Correctional Facility,’’ tweeted Durant’s former Thunder teammate Kendrick Perkins. “The Celtics did the same damn thing they did in Game 1 and that’s get physical with KD and Punk’d him.’’

Great Celtics defense, or is it the beginning of the end here for Durant?

Careful What You Wish For

Shank's thinking about the Celtics' possible 1st round playoff opponent:

It’s easy to root for a Celtics playoff match with Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and the Nets

Celtics-Nets?

Kyrie Irving coming back to Boston for the first round of the NBA playoffs?

It’s too good to be true. And it’s not certain yet. But if the Nets win their play-in game Tuesday at home against Cleveland, get ready for sage-burning Kyrie to come back to the Garden to stomp on Lucky the Leprechaun this coming weekend.

The Celtics beat the declawed Memphis Grizzlies, 139-110, in their regular-season finale in Memphis on Sunday to secure the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed for the upcoming playoffs. Memphis, which had already secured the No. 2 seed in the West, had nothing to gain by winning the game and rested four starters to give the Celtics an easy win.

It will indeed be the Brooklyn Nets in the 1st round.

DHL Dan CXXV - Goners?

Shank takes a look at the contract situations of key members of the Red Sox:

It already seems impossible to get away from Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts contract talk, and other thoughts

NEW YORK — Picked-up pieces while back in New York for the first time in 2½ years …

▪ Two days into a new baseball season and it seems impossible to get away from contract talk. Is Xander Bogaerts going to opt out at the end of this season? Is Rafael Devers gone after 2023? Why won’t the Red Sox just pony up and sign their homegrown stars to whopping contract extensions?

Fair or unfair, this is a reality as the Red Sox start their season in Yankee Stadium. It’s been hard to focus on competitive baseball issues — such as the questionable quality of Alex Cora’s starting rotation and bullpen.

Money was on everyone’s minds at Yankee Stadium for Friday’s opener. Bogaerts and Devers had acknowledged that spring negotiations with the Sox went nowhere. Both said they didn’t want to negotiate during the season. And once the game started, everything they did felt like a referendum on their worth to the franchise.

I get the feeling neither one of them will re-sign with the Sox, the way it's going now.

Thud

Shank predictably wrote about the 2022 Red Sox' 1st game of the season - because they lost:

Our daily soap opera of Boston and baseball began with a back-end thud

NEW YORK — They play almost every day. There is always a chance for quick redemption. It’s one of the reasons we love baseball and one of the reasons we are glad it is back.

The Red Sox opened their 122nd big-league season Friday with an 11-inning, 6-5 loss to the Yankees in the House That Jeter Built. On a postcard-perfect Bronx afternoon, the Sox got good work from a raft of no-name relievers before the immortal Kutter Crawford (a man with two innings of big-league experience) surrendered a game-winning single to Josh Donaldson.

That's practically mid-season form right there for Shank!

DHL Dan CXXIV - Off The Brady Bandwagon Again

Shank's a bit put off with Tom Brady's offseason antics:

Tom Brady is making it impossible to root for him anymore, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while packing for Opening Day at Yankee Stadium …

▪ Nothing is ever enough for Tom Brady. It’s not sufficient to be the GOAT, the seven-time Super Bowl champ, the most handsome, most pliable, greatest 44-year-old starting quarterback anyone has ever seen.

He also has to be CEO, general manager, and head coach of his team.

Brady erased Bruce Arians from the Tampa landscape Wednesday, orchestrating the retirement of a coach who occasionally pushed back. Arians will be replaced by Todd Bowles, an estimable football mind who no doubt will let Tom run the Buccaneers for the foreseeable future. I expect Alex Guerrero to be named Tampa’s team doctor any minute.

DHL Dan CXXIII - Show Him The Money!

Shank's latest 'effort' takes a look at Xander Bogaerts and whether he'll get a nice new contract:

Xander Bogaerts deserves a lucrative extension from the Red Sox, and other thoughts

Picked-up pieces while watching the NCAA basketball tournament …

▪ “We Take Care of Our Own.”

Rock bard Bruce Springsteen wrote this in 2012, and there are varying interpretations, but in the baseball spring of 2022, it’s clear that the Boston Red Sox — finally again spending like the big-market team they are — need to take care of their own as they prepare to launch the new season.

Sign Xander Bogaerts to a contract extension. As soon as possible. Lock him down from now until the end of the decade. Keep him in the fold.

Bogaerts is the Red Sox’ Patrice Bergeron. He is their Steve Grogan. He is their John Havlicek (OK, not quite that talented or impactful, but you get the idea).

Nice backhanded compliment!

A reader noted Shank's 'efforts' since the baseball work stoppage was resolved. We now have four columns in just under two weeks, for those keeping score at home.