After dropping the first two games of their opening round playoff series to the 8th seeded Chicago Bulls, the the Boston Celtics have rebounded to win three straight and now have the Bulls on the brink of elimination after a 108-97 win in Boston last night.
On a night when start point guard Isaiah Thomas struggled to produce on offense, he was picked up by a teammate best known for his defense, Avery Bradley, who poured in a career playoff high 24 points while still playing tenacious defense, holding the Bulls leading offensive threat Jimmy Butler to just 14 points.
Thomas couldn't get his shot going in the first half, so changed the headband he wears for the second half, and of course that worked. Thomas ended the night with 24 points, a modest output for him, but he also got involved in other ways, jumping into a scrum at one point for a loose ball and coming away with the rock even though the 5'9" Thomas was battling much larger players in the process. The Celtics hope to put the Bulls away Friday night in game six back in Chicago and avoid a game 7 in Boston.
The Washington Wizards are now up three games to two over the Atlanta Hawks after a 103-99 win in D.C. last night. Bradley Beal led the way with 27 points and John Wall produced a double-double with 20 points and 14 assists.
The Stanley Cup playoffs are into round two and the Edmonton Oilers hardly look like a team that hasn't been in the post season in more than a decade. They took game one from the Anaheim Ducks 5-3, getting two goals in the third period from defenseman Adam Larsson, who scored just four in the regular season.
And everyone has been prey so far for the Nashville Predators this post season. The Preds have yet to lose a game after sweeping the Chicago Blackhawks, they took game one from the Blues in St. Louis last night in a 4-3 victory. Former Montreal Canadiens defenseman P.K. Subban had a goal and two assists as Nashville recovered from blowing a 3-1 lead to win the game on a late goal by Vernon Fiddler.
In Major League Baseball, NY Yankees rookie Aaron Judge turned 25 yesterday, and celebrated his birthday at Fenway Park in Boston by blasting an opposite field two-run homer off Rick Porcello that provided the winning margin in the Yankees' 3-1 win over the Red Sox. I don't know where the Yankees find guys like this. Judge is a 6'7" 280 pound one-man wrecking crew who can also play defense. He made a catch in right field, spilling over into the stands as he snagged and held onto a foul ball. He muscled out that home run on a good inside pitch from Porcello to one of the deepest parts of Fenway, and he's now got seven home runs in the month of April for the Yankees, which is a record. No Yankee rookie in history, not Mantle, Dimaggio, or any of the other you can think of, ever hit more than four in the cruelest month. Luis Severino got the win, keeping the Red Sox bats quiet for seven innings, save for three harmless hits. The Sox try to recover in game two tonight with their ace Chris Sale going against Masahiro Tanaka.
The Atlanta Braves got out of the gates quick against the NY Mets, scoring five runs in the first inning against Robert Gsellman, and made sure not to let up in an 8-2 win over the Mets at Citi Field last night. Atlanta snapped its six game losing skid with the victory.
The Toronto Blue Jays and St. Louis Cardinals were rained out in St. Louis last night.
The St. Michael's softball team has moved into fourth place in the northeast division after sweeping a double header against Franklin Pierce yesterday, taking game one 8-2 and the nightcap 4-1. The Purple Knights have four games left in the regular season and if they can keep that fourth spot or move higher they will qualify for the playoffs. Junior Danielle Brown of Vergennes got it done on the mound and at the plate in game one, throwing a complete game six-hitter while going 2-for-3 with three RBIs at the dish. In game two, Aleksandra Apkarian had a pinch-hit RBI single to snap a fifth-inning tie for St. Mike's.
Plattsburgh State swept a double header from Middlebury, winning 11-9 and 5-4.
In college baseball Lyndon State split a double header with Maine-Farmington, dropping game one 5-2 but edging out a 2-1 victory in the nightcap. Devon Rollins broke a 1-1 tie in the fifth inning with an RBI double to give the Hornets the victory in game two, as the Hornets improve to 17-15 on the season, and Plymouth State tok two from Middlebury, winning game one 8-1 and taking the second contest 6-3.
