Celtics 119, Hornets 80

 

Utter domination in Charlotte. Jayson Tatum, back after resting up during the last game, dropped 34 on the Hornets, including 15 points on 5-8 shooting from outside. White and Pritchard were hot from outside, too, both going 4-6, and Hauser was 3-5 on threes, scoring all of his buckets from downtown.

The Celtics outscored the Hornets 40-20 in the first quarter, 30-19 in the second, and 26-18 in the third, It wasn't until the fourth quarter when the bench was playing and Mike Conley and Ron Harper were getting minutes that the Hornets managed a 23-23 period.

Naz Reid, Charlotte's top scorer last night, had only 14 points on the evening.

The Celtics (7-2) are still in second place in the Atlantic Division to the 76ers, but after last night's 119-95 Philly loss to the Cavs, Boston is only a half-game back. 

Sunday night, the Celtics go to Milwaukee to play the Bucks, who they beat, 109-102, on Wednesday night in the Garden after blowing a 21-point lead at the half. Tip-off is at 8:00 pm Eastern. After that, the Celtics and the Sixers will finally have their much-anticipated first meeting of the season on Tuesday night (8:00 pm) in Philadelphia.

BU 2, Maine 1 (SO)

The BU women's team bounced back from a sweep last weekend by No. 4 Northeastern to what's technically a 1-1 tie with Maine before winning the shootout last night.

While nearly every Division I college conference now uses shootouts to break ties after overtime is played, the chowderheads at the NCAA still don't recognize shootout wins as victories. The NCAA still considers a shootout win as a tie for both teams after overtime ends without a goal scored. However, the enlightened folks running Hockey East assign two points for shootout wins, just like for an OT win, in determining conference standings. 

The Black Bears took a 1-0 lead early in the first period before BU's Neely Nicholson scored a power-play goal midway through the third period to force overtime. After OT failed to produce another goal, Greta Henderson and Mylie Ellis scored in the shootout to give the Terriers the SO win. 

Goalie Sydney Fogu made 37 saves through regulation and OT, and didn't allow a shootout score.

The Terriers improve to 2-7-2 overall and 1-2-2 in conference play. Their seven points tied them with New Hampshire for fourth in the Hockey East standings, behind Northeastern and BC (13 points each) and UConn (11 points). 

Game two of the weekend home series is this afternoon at 4:30 pm.

BU 6, Michigan State 2 (men)

 

In a result sure to improve their ranking, the No. 13 Boston University Terriers beat the No. 3 Michigan State Spartans last night in East Lansing.  

Tynan Lawrence scored the game's first goal 5:49 into the first period. As the opening period ended, Kamil Bednarik hit a second goal for the Terriers with 1:56 remaining. Carter Amico extended the lead to 3-0 in the second with the first of two goals on the night, and Caleb Malhotra made it 4-0 a few minutes later. 

The Spartans were not amused and scored twice in the third period to make it 4-2. Charlie Trethewey gave the Terriers some more breathing room with another BU goal, and then Amico got made his second goal of the night on an open net. 

Game over. BU beat the No. 3 Spartans on their own ice. 

Goaltender Mikhail Yegorov made 33 saves for the Terriers in the net.

The Terriers improve to 7-2-0 on the season. They remain 4-2-0 and in second place in the Hockey East standings.   

The Terriers go for the sweep in game two of this series this afternoon at 4:30 pm Eastern.

Bruins 6, Penguins 2

 

Another hockey weekend. The BU terrier women host the University of Maine for a pair of games tonight and tomorrow, while the men's team plays a pair of games at No. 3 Michigan State. The mighty Boston Bruins play the Florida Panthers, their kryptonite team in seasons past, and last night played in Pittsburgh against the Penguins.

We start the weekend with a road win for the B's. Pavel Zacha scored twice, his fourth and fifth goals of the season. Mark Kastelic scored, Elias Lindholm scored, Morgan Geekie scored, and Fraser Minten scored. Pastrnak and Peterka had two assists each, and Michael DiPietro, in the net last night, needed to make only sixteen saves for the win, what with the Bruins' 22 blocked shots. Boston made three goals in the first, two in the second, and one in the third, all even-strength. 

The Bruins (12-4-1) remain in first place in the Atlantic with 25 points, followed by Montreal with 23. Tampa Bay, Ottawa, and Florida have 22, 21, and 20 points each. Overall, Boston is still three points behind Carolina in the Eastern Conference. 

The Florida game will be at 1:00 pm on Sunday afternoon (I love day-drinking!). The Panthers are led by the Tkachuk brothers, Matthew (22 points) and Brady (BU, 2018; 17 points). Even though Florida is currently in fifth place and trails Boston by five points, due to the aforementioned kryptonite, this game will be the second major test for the Bruins. They've lost their first test, a 2-1 loss to Carolina, and this game against a rival who've had their number in the past will indicate whether or not they truly are a championship-caliber team or just a fluke who got lucky early in the season. 

Celtics 109, Bucks 102

 

Not to sound defensive, but friendly reminder that the Celtics didn't play Jayson Tatum (resting day) last night, but still ran up a 21-point lead at the half, leading 62-41. The Celtics allowed the Bucks a 38-25 third quarter, and Milwaukee tied the game up at 7:51 in the fourth, and even took a one-point lead a minute later. But Boston didn't quit and Derrick White took over, ably assisted by Paul George, erasing the Bucks' lead, and went on to win the game by seven. Without Tatum.

George finished the night with 25 points and White with 24. George had the hot hand outside the line last night, going 5-9 on threes, while Scheierman and Garza both went 3-4 from outside. Defensively, Queta snagged 12 rebounds, Scheierman, 11, and Robinson, 10, including six offensive boards.

At 6-2, the Celtics are still a game and a half behind the Sixers (8-1). 

The Celtics go to Charlotte next  to play the Hornets (3-6) on Friday night, in what I understand to be an NBA Cup game, which I'm supposed to be excited about (I'm not).  Our old friend, the freaky German, Dennis Schröder, who played 49 games for the Celtics in the 2021-22 season, is with the Hornets now, his 10th team since leaving the Celtics and his 13th team overall, so we have that to look forward to if, like me, you're immune to Cup Fever and it's silly uniforms and court paint.

We're No. 2 (for real)

 

Last night, the voters spoke, challenging the authority figures and the powers that be and articulating a bold new direction. The voters message was clear and I think all of America agrees: fuck Notre Dame!

Yes, while the American people ushered in a blue wave of change in the Senate and House and state governance, the CFP Steering Committee also had their own vote, their first of the 2026 college football season. The reigning SEC champion University of Georgia Bulldogs (7-1) were ranked No. 2, just like the latest AP poll. In fact, the top three in the CFP rankings were the same as the top three in the AP Poll (Miami, Georgia, and Utah), but the No. 4 team in the AP Poll, Notre Dame, came in at No. 11 in the CFP rankings.     

Even more satisfyingly, the only team that America hates almost as much as Notre Dame, Ohio State, came in at No. 12, and wouldn't even make the 12-team playoffs, because No. 25 Boise State, apparent winner of what remains of the Big-12 conference, would get an automatic bid and bump them out.

No, the CFP voters weren't buying into the AP hype around Notre Dame and UCLA, numbers 4 and 5 in the AP poll. In addition to dropping the Irish down to No. 11, the steering committee demoted the Bruins to No. 8, and moved Indiana up to No. 4 and three SEC teams, Alabama, Kentucky, and Texas, up to numbers 5, 6, and 7.

Rounding out the playoff-eligible top 12 are No. 9 BYU and No. 10 Ole Miss, Georgia's opponent this Saturday.

The Steering Committee are professionals. They're not mere sportswriters and journalists and don't cast goofy first-place votes for teams like the Utah Utes, as one AP pollster had last week. While the Steering Committee nonetheless fell for the Texas hype, they were immune to the PR surrounding Notre Fucking Dame, The Ohio State Fuckeyes, and the Indiana Who?-siers. 

If the playoffs were to start this week, the bracket would give the Georgia Bulldogs a first-round bye and then have them play the winner of a Texas-Ole Miss game. No escape from the SEC for the Dawgs, even after ten conference games in the regular season and an SEC championship game. It would also potentially set up a Georgia-Ole Miss rematch, which was the Dawgs' undoing last season. 

Of course, there's still some four more weeks of games to be played and the rankings will most likely change before the actual playoffs begin. 

Bruins 3, Golden Knights 2 (SO)

 

An overtime, shootout win over Vegas for the B's! The mighty Boston Bruins win the game on a David Pastrnak goal on the third shootout attempt after the game ended in a tie and no one scored in the OT. 

Regulation saw goals by Hagens and Geekie in the first and second periods, followed by two goals by the Golden Knights to tie the game and force OT. Vegas' Jack Eichel (BU. 2015) managed only one shot on goal all game, and didn't score a goal or an assist.    

Jeremy Swayman made 21 saves on 23 shots in goal for the Bruins.

The Bruins improve to 11-4-1 and remain in first place in the Atlantic Division with 23 points, three ahead of Montreal. The Lightning and the Panthers, those pesky teams from Florida that have given the Bruins so much trouble the past few seasons, are in fourth and fifth place at 18 points each.

The Bruins are off until Thursday, when they visit the Pittsburgh Penguins (5-7-2).  

Rockets 109, Celtics 93

 

Oof. The revenge of Marcus Smart and Ime Udoka. Playing on no rest after the hard-earned Nets win the night before and with Scheierman filling in for Peul George, the Celtics came into Houston flat-footed and listless. Without George feeding him the ball, Tatum scored only 19 points, well below his average 27, and the team as a whole shot only 28.6% from the field, well below their average 45.7%. 

The Rocket's defense was a big part of it, forcing 15 Boston turnovers and blocking five shots. Marcus Smart had two steals and four rebounds, which didn't help the Celtics any.

But no use crying over spilled beer. The road trip continues, and after a day's rest they play in Milwaukee tomorrow against the Bucks (1-6). Take last night's frustration out on the hapless Bucks and move on. 

The Celtics are 5-2 after last night's loss and remain in second place in the Atlantic Division behind Jaylen Brown and the 76ers (7-1).

Patriots 24, Dolphins 19

 

Synchronicity. While the Celtics were in Florida playing the Orlando Magic, the New England Patriots were also in the Sunshine State playing the Miami Dolphins at the same time. I was switching back and forth between the two games as both the C's and the Pats struggled with opponents over whom, at least on paper, they should have romped. Both teams played poorly in the first half, and both returned to form in the second half to win their games.      

The Patriots fell behind the Dolphins 13-3 at the half. In that first half, the Patriots had fumbled the ball away on their own 14, leading to a Miami field goal, and on their next possession missed a FG from 22 yards out. And then they went three-and-out on their first possession of the second half.

Fortunately, their fortunes turned around after that. They scored three touchdowns on their next three possessions - a 43-yard passing play from Drake Maye to Kyle Williams, a two-yard rushing TD by Maye, and a 48-yard fourth-quarter passing play to DeMario Douglas that followed a Kevin Byard  interception of Miami QB Malik Willis. Twenty-one unanswered points by New England before the Dolphins scored six on a late TD and missed the 1-point conversion to end the game.

When it was all said and done, Maye finished the game with 199 passing yards on 16 of 20 attempts, and made two passing TDs and one rushing TD. Rhamondre Stevenson had 82 yards rushing and DeMario Douglas had 76 yards receiving. 

The Patriots improve to 5-3 on the season, still second to Buffalo (6-1) in the AFC East. 

Next weekend, the Patriots will host Jordan Love and the Green Bay Packers (5-3). Love leads the NFL in passing yards (2,246) and is second in passing yards per game at  280.8. Drake Maye is sixth and 13th in those two categories, although he is tied for third in the league with 8 interceptions (Love has six). 

While the Pats will have their hands full with the Packers, they are currently favored by three points.     

 

Celtics 108, Magic 97

 

Just like last week's win over the Nets, last night's win over the 2-4 Orlando Magic seemed a lot harder - and a lot less certain - than it should have been. "Just roll over and die, already,!" I was shouting at both opposing teams. But do they listen? Do they take my advise? No, both teams kept coming back, againa nd again and again.

But just like last week, on Sunday night the Celtics found a way to win, led by Tatum's 32 points, despite a bloody head-banging injury that caused him to miss the first half of the second quarter. Paul George, who's turning out to be the ideal match for Tatum's style of play, had 17 points and eight assists. In an unusual move, Joe Mazzulla rested center Mitchell Robinson for the night, moved Neemias Queta (8 points and 8 rebounds) to fill in at center, and let Hugo Gonzalez start at guard. Of course, being in the starting lineup doesn't guarantee playing time, and Hugo was only given 13:55 on court, the least of any starters or bench players except for Jordan Walsh. However, he was still able to make three baskets, including one three, two steals, and one offensive rebound in his limited playing time.

The Celtics led by five at the half, but Orlando tied it up with 15 seconds left in the third. Tatum hit a trio of free throws to close the quarter with the Celtics up by three, but the Magic tied it up again at 79-all 3:49 in to the final quarter. The Celtics didn't trail in the final quarter, and a Paul George three-pointer gave the Celtics an 11-point lead with 1:32 left to go. 

The Celtics improve to 5-1 on the season, but are still in second place in theri division to Jaylon Brown and the Philadelphia 76ers (6-1). 

No rest: the Celtics left the humid wastelands of Central Florida after the game and flew to equally vile Texas to play Kevin Durant, Marcus Smart and the Houston Rockets (6-1) tonight. Tip off is at 8:30 Eastern time.

We're No. 2 (Again)!

 

The last AP Poll before the CFP Selection Committee starts releasing its weekly rankings every Tuesday came out today. AP Polls were always meaningless beauty contests, but it's still nice for a fan to see their team recognized, just as it's equally appalling to see then dissed with low rankings. In any event, this is the last post that will pay any attention to the AP.

Besides, these weekends are exhausting! Six hockey games (two Bruins, two BU men's, and two BU women's), two Celtics games, and football games with the Georgia Bulldogs and New England Patriots this weekend. And now the AP rankings. Sheesh! 

In the latest, Week 9 AP Poll, the reigning SEC-champion University of Georgia Bulldogs (7-1) moved up from Number 3 to the Number 2 spot. Ranked No. 3 in the preseason poll, the Dawgs were the previous No. 2 in the AP from Weeks 1 to 5, and now here they are, back at No. 2 again. 

No. 1 Miami (8-0) held off unranked North Carolina to win by three, 38-35, and remain No. 1 with 62 first-place votes. The old No.2, Ohio State (6-2), lost for the second time this season, this time to unranked USC, 30-18, and fell nine places all the way down to No. 11. The loss allowed Georgia, who beat No. 17 Florida, 27-8, to move up to No. 2 with seven first-place votes. Utah (8-0) moved up into Georgia's old No. 3 spot with a win over unranked Cincinnati and one first-place vote.  

Indiana (8-1) needed OT to beat unranked Minnesota, 23-16, and their struggle cost them two places in the AP Poll, falling from No. 4 to No. 6. Notre Dame (7-1) took over the No. 4 spot in this week's poll, and UCLA (8-0) moved up to No. 5. After No. 7 BYU (7-1), the SEC's Kentucky (7-1), Alabama (6-2), and Texas (6-2) are Numbers 8, 9, and 10. As mentioned above, Ohio State (6-2) fell nine spots down to No. 11. 

The fearsome Trinidad Chambliss (2,189 yards and 18 TDs) and Ole Miss (6-2), Georgia's opponents next weekend, are the new No. 12. Other SEC teams in the Top 25 include LSU (No. 15) and Tennessee (No. 16), both at 6-2.  Missouri, also 6-2, is Georgia's next opponent after the Ole Miss game, and is now ranked No. 19. South Carolina (5-3) debuted in the Poll this week at No. 23, and Florida (5-3), after its loss to Georgia, fell all the way down to No. 25. 

For those of you who care, that's ten SEC teams in the Top 25. It just means more. 

Dumb-ass, unranked Central Florida, who inexplicitly got their hands on college football's lineal championship title and Georgia's 2021 and 2022 championship belts, were blown out on Friday by unranked Baylor, 41-9. Baylor, who held the title and the belts from the 2021 Sugar Bowl over Ole Miss to their September 10, 2022 game against BYU, now have their hands on the prizes again. And guess who Baylor plays next week? You got it - No. 7 BYU, who will almost definitely take the title and belts away (the Cougars are 3½-point favorites over the Bears).

And that's it and good riddance to the AP Poll. Time to hear from the Selection Committee for some opinions that actually matter.         

BU 3, Maine 2 (OT) (men)

 

The No. 14- ranked Boston University men's ice hockey team needed overtime to do it, but swept the No. 19 Maine Black Bears with a 3-2 overtime thriller last night. 

Maine jumped out to an early, 2-0, lead and held the advantage through most of the game. The Terrier's Tynan Lawrence scored twice in the third period, first on a power play and then even strength, to force the OT. Freshman Caleb Malhotra found the back of the net 1:35 minutes into the overtime period to give BU the win and the weekend sweep. Goaltender Mikhail Yegorov made 34 saves in the net.

For those of you keeping score at home, that's three straight wins for the Terriers and fourth of their last five games.

BU improves to 6-2-0 overall and 4-2-0 in Hockey East. The Terriers lead the conference with 11 points, two ahead of second-place Vermont and eight ahead of sixth-place Boston College. To be fair (to Vermont, not BC because fuck those guys), BU's 11 points are largely due to the fact that they've played more conference games, six, than Vermont (four) or BC (two).

The real test comes next weekend when the Terriers skate over to East Lansing, Michigan for two games against the No. 4-ranked Michigan State Spartans (4-1-0). As if that wasn't enough of a challenge, three nights later they play Harvard (1-1) back on home ice. To those of you unfamiliar with the quirks of college hockey and are dismissive of Ivy League sports teams, Harvard has won the Beanpot championship ten times, were the ECAC (BU's former conference) champions nine times, and were national champions in 1989. Granted, 1989 was a long-ass time ago, but the point is the Crimson team is not to be taken lightly, especially three nights after getting manhandled in Michigan.