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DIGITAL SPORTS DESK The LEDE NBA PLAYOFFS: Can Cavs Move On?

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BOSTON – (Special to Digital Sports Desk by The Sports Xchange) – Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue, whose Cleveland Cavaliers are one win away from an NBA Final rematch with the Golden State Warriors, said Wednesday coaching against the Boston Celtics without Isaiah Thomas has presented a whole different set of obstacles.

LeBron James vs Steph Curry from ’16 NBA Finals

Obstacles different even than the Warriors, who await the winner of the Eastern Conference Final.

“The stuff they’re running, it’s harder to defend than Golden State’s (offense) for me, as far as the actions and all the running around and all the guys who are making all the plays, so it’s a totally different thing,” Lue said. “Like, they hit the post, Golden State runs splits and all that stuff but these guys are running all kinds of (stuff). And Brad (Stevens has) got them moving and cutting and playing with pace and everybody is a threat.”

That’s why, when asked whether he is thinking about a possible third straight title meeting with the Warriors, Lue, whose team is up 3-1 on Boston, said, “You can’t. As much as you want to, it’s not over.

“(The Celtics are), like I told you guys before, it’s like we’re preparing for a whole new team. Like, we didn’t know what they were going to run. Isaiah (Thomas) goes down and they’re running a totally different offense than we prepared for so it’s been tough on us. And defensively, they’re a lot better. They don’t have a lot of weak links to go to, to go at.

The Celtics left TD Garden after their Game 2 beat-down anything but sure they could give their fans at least one more home game. Then they found out for sure their star, Thomas, was done for the year.

Thursday night, the Boston fans do in fact get another home game as the injury-riddled Celtics try to send the series back to Cleveland for Game 6.

A win and LeBron James goes to his seventh straight finals and the Cavs will see a team that is 12-0 in these playoffs.

The Celtics pulled off the improbable comeback upset in Game 3 before Kyrie Irving and James combined to bring the defending champions back from 16 points down to win Game 4 Tuesday night.

Irving, who scored a career-playoff-high 42 points, rolled his left ankle with 1:49 left in his 21-point third quarter but is expected to play Thursday.

“I’ve twisted my ankle so many times that plays like that, you have two choices, either you can sit there and kind of wallow in the sorrow of you twisting your ankle or capture the moment,” Irving said.

With Thomas already gone, the Celtics played without Amir Johnson in Game 4 because a shoulder injury suffered in the third game. He and Jae Crowder (groin) are listed as probable for Game 5 while rookie Jaylen Brown (hip pointer) is questionable.

Asked about suffering his injury, Irving said, “My adrenaline is still going at this point, so I’m pretty sure when I get home my body will probably hate me, but it’s the magnitude of the moment and what’s at stake, and I wasn’t coming out for any margin. I wasn’t coming out.

“I knew how much we needed this game and how much my teammates needed me and the importance of me leading these guys as well as ‘Bron.

“I’m saying to myself, ‘They cannot tie up this series. They cannot. We cannot go to Boston 2-2 and then it becomes almost an even series.”

The Celtics have to know they let one get away Tuesday night, but may well have just fallen victim to the fatigue that resulted from the dramatic — and totally unexpected — win in Game 3.

“The first half we played some of the best basketball we played all season,” Brown said of Game 4, “against one of the best teams in basketball.”

They did. And they built a 16-point lead, before the Cleveland stars, more notable Irving, stole the game right back.

“We had really good athletes, quick guys that make things tough on people, guarding him, and he was able to raise up and make a lot of tough shots,” said Stevens. “He was able to get by us and make tough shots in the paint. Again, sometimes I think that — I’ll go look at it and see all the things that we did wrong, but I think it’s more of a tip-your-hat kind of thing with those two guys tonight.”

Sports Biz: NBA Awards ’19 All-Star Game to Charlotte, North Carolina

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CHARLOTTE – (Staff and Wire Service Report from Official News Release) – The NBA announced Wednesday that Charlotte will host the 2019 All-Star Game after this year’s midseason event was moved to New Orleans because of a North Carolina state law restricting the rights of LGBT people. The All-Star weekend festivities are set for Feb. 15-17, 2019, with the 68th NBA All-Star Game taking place at Spectrum Center, home of the Hornets.

Charlotte will Host NBA

“For three decades, the NBA has had a home in Charlotte,” said NBA commissioner Adam Silver. “(A) Generation(s) of families have attended games there, and fans from many different walks of life have come together to share a passion for a team that is an anchor in the community.

“We have decided to award NBA All-Star 2019 to Charlotte based on this deep connection and the belief that we can honor our shared values of equality and inclusion, and we are excited to bring the All-Star Game back to Charlotte for the first time in 28 years.”

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper in March signed a compromise bill that repealed House Bill 2, but banned local governments from passing anti-discrimination ordinances for three years.

“While we understand the concerns of those who say the repeal of HB2 did not go far enough, we believe the recent legislation eliminates the most egregious aspects of the prior law,” Silver said. “Additionally, it allows us to work with the leadership of the Hornets organization to apply a set of equality principles to ensure that every All-Star event will proceed with open access and anti-discrimination policies. All venues, hotels and businesses we work with during All-Star will adhere to these policies as well.

“Sports have a long history of helping to change attitudes around important social issues. We believe holding our All-Star activities in Charlotte will be a powerful way for the NBA to continue this tradition.”

The league pulled the 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte in response at the time to North Carolina’s law that mandated transgender people use public restrooms corresponding to the sex listed on their birth certificates.

Hornets owner and chairman Michael Jordan thanked Silver in a statement for the league’s decision to bring back the All-Star Game to Charlotte.

“We are thrilled the league has awarded NBA All-Star 2019 to the city of Charlotte,” Jordan said Wednesday. “We want to thank Commissioner Silver for his leadership throughout this process and for the decision to bring NBA All-Star back to Buzz City.

“All-Star Weekend is an international event that will provide a tremendous economic impact to our community while showcasing our city, our franchise and our passionate Hornets fan base to people around the world. We look forward to serving as hosts for NBA All-Star 2019 and welcoming all visitors and guests to Spectrum Center.”

Sports Biz: Topps Now Jumps on Conforto Band Wagon

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NEW YORK – (Staff report from Official News Release) – New York Mets outfielder Michael Conforto‘s blistering start maybe compared to another rookie across town, but that comparison didn’t stop the Topps Baseball Card company from issuing its latest Topps NOW card, depicting Conforto who was coming off Tuesday’s two-homer, four-RBI day against the San Diego Padres.

Conforto Card by Topps NOW

Topps recognized Mets INF Jose Reyes with his own card in celebration of Reyes’ 2000th MLB base hit last weekend and also honored NYM starter Noah Syndergaard on April 20.

DIGITAL SPORTS DESK The LEDE Celtics Return to Earth

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Cleveland 112, Boston 99
When: 8:30 PM ET, Tuesday, May 23, 2017
Where: Quicken Loans Arena, Cleveland
Attendance: 20,562
Special to Digital Sports Desk by The Sports Xchange
CLEVELAND — Imagine being down by 13 points and losing the best player in the world to his fourth foul before the second quarter of Game 4 in the Eastern Conference finals is even over.And then handing the ball to Kyrie Irving, getting out of the way, and watching him bring the team to the doorstep of the NBA Finals.

Kyrie Irving

That was reality for the Cavaliers on Tuesday night, as Irving set a playoff-career high with 42 points in Cleveland’s 112-99 win over the Boston Celtics.

The Cavs, ahead 3-1 in the series, can reach their third straight NBA Finals, and LeBron James his seventh in a row, with a win in Game 5 on Thursday night in Boston.

James scored 34 points to go with six assists in Game 4, even though he left the game with 6:46 remaining in the second quarter after picking up his fourth foul. He never previously had that many fouls in the first half in his 14-year career, and Cleveland trailed 46-33.

Irving scored 36 points after that, including 21 during a game-turning third quarter in which Cleveland outscored the Celtics 40-23.

“In the back of my mind, I was like, I’m saying to myself, ‘We cannot — they cannot tie up this series,'” Irving said. “They cannot. We cannot go to Boston 2-2 and then it becomes almost an even series.”

Kevin Love added 17 points and a career playoff-high 17 rebounds for Cleveland. The 93 points produced together by Irving, James and Love are the most they have amassed as a group and the second highest for a trio in team playoff history.

Avery Bradley led the Celtics with 19 points, and Jae Crowder added 18 points and eight rebounds. Al Horford contributed 16 points and seven assists.

The Celtics, who are missing their best player, injured guard Isaiah Thomas, led by as many as 16 points in the first half and appeared primed to stun Cleveland again while James flirted with trouble.

Irving kept the game close until halftime with 12 points. Then he tied a team playoff record with his 21 points in the third, set a Cavs postseason record with nine field goals and scored the final 14 points of the period.

When his 3-pointer splashed with a half-second left in the third quarter, the Cavs led 87-80. The circumstances were different and the primary author of the comeback was Irving instead of James, but Cleveland fighting back from 16 down was in some ways reminiscent of the 26-point halftime deficit the Cavs erased in Game 3 of their first-round series against the Indiana Pacers.

“I’m telling my guys on the court the whole entire game, we’ve seen this before, we’ve been through this, we’ve experienced this, and we’re going to get through this, and from that point on, it clicked,” Irving said.

Irving also rolled an ankle on a drive and bucket with 1:47 left in the third but was able to stay in the game.

James recovered from an 11-point, 4-of-13 shooting night he endured in Cleveland’s stunning Game 3 loss. He shot 15 of 27 from the field Tuesday and closed the game with 15 points in the fourth, including a 3-pointer with 3:52 remaining for a 106-97 lead.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had four fouls in a game before in the first half, so my rhythm is kind of broken and you’ve got to figure out ways you can still help the team, and my teammates said be aggressive, be you,” James said. “You got us to this point and continue to do that, so I just tried to find ways to get into the lane, get into transition, when they backed off, shoot the jumper, and felt very comfortable.”

The Celtics proved to be a tough cover without Thomas again in the first half, bringing to mind their second-half success in their 111-108 win in Game 3. However, they committed nine turnovers that led to 13 Cleveland points in the second half.

Bradley shot just 7 of 19 from the field. Crowder started the game 4 of 5 but finished 6 of 12. He also sustained a strained left thigh in the third quarter but returned to the game.

The Cavs had nine turnovers for 13 points in the first half. In the second half, they shot 27 of 38 (71.1 percent) from the field.

“Kyrie Irving and LeBron James would be the two answers,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said when asked about the difference from the first half to the second. “They were unbelievable. Irving was incredible at the end of the third, and then obviously LeBron had all those baskets in the fourth.

“I thought that we played, you know, as well as we’ve played maybe the entire playoffs in the first half. We were really good defensively. Offensively, I thought we moved and cut and played together, and then for whatever reason, all those things became a little bit more difficult. But that’s what great teams do. They make it really hard on you.

“As we all know, a 10-point lead at halftime is nothing, especially against those guys. But they deserve a lot of credit. Those two guys were incredible.”

NOTES: Celtics G Isaiah Thomas (right hip) visited with an undisclosed specialist to determine the course of action for his surgery. Coach Brad Stevens said no decision had been made yet on whether Thomas would undergo an operation but reiterated that the guard is out for the remainder of the playoffs. Stevens said Thomas may consult with two additional specialists. … Boston F Kelly Olynyk made his first start of the postseason in place of Amir Johnson (sprained shoulder), and he scored 15 points. The Celtics used their third different starting lineup in four games against Cleveland. … Cavs G J.R. Smith and his wife brought home from the hospital their baby daughter Dakota, who had been in a Cleveland-area NICU since her birth in January. She was born nearly five months early. … Cavs F LeBron James trails Michael Jordan (5,987 points) by just 28 points for first place in NBA playoff history in scoring.

MLB: Offensive Game Propels Sox

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Boston 11, Texas 6
When: 7:10 PM ET, Tuesday, May 23, 2017
Where: Fenway Park, Boston, Mass
Attendance: 34,769
Special to Digital Sports Desk by The Sports Xchange
BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox brass held a meeting Monday after the team returned from the West Coast, covering anything connected with a club still looking for some positive direction a quarter into the season.

Rick Porcello

They talked about things that have gone wrong, but as manager John Farrell said after the Tuesday night game, “Also to re-emphasize the things that are going well here and not just to pick out all that is wrong here. There are a number of things going right, and a number of those things were on display here tonight.”

The good things on display Tuesday were a strong defense, solid-enough starting pitching from Rick Porcello and an offensive explosion, all adding up to an 11-6 win over the Texas Rangers.

The win came after the Red Sox scored 12 runs Sunday to avoid a four-game sweep in Oakland that would have sent Boston a game under .500 after 43 games.

“We’ve got Chris Sale going tomorrow and that’s another boost for momentum, to sustain it in our favor,” Farrell said Tuesday. “He’s been outstanding.

“Whether we do (it) against (Texas starter Martin) Perez tomorrow we’ll find out, but I think that we were able to take the lead and maintain it and it allowed some guys to just go up and relax and take their quality at-bats — and there were a number of them here tonight.”

Xander Bogaerts drove in a season-high three runs, had three hits and scored four times to lead Boston. Mitch Moreland had two hits and two RBIs in his first game against his old team, Dustin Pedroia had two hits, two RBIs and a walk, and Andrew Benintendi added two hits and two walks for the Red Sox (23-21).

“We had a good game all around,” said Bogaerts, who also cut a run down at the plate on a relay throw. “We played with solid pitching, hitting and defense. It was one of the good games all around.”

Bogaerts, who came in hitting .320 but with no homers and just 12 RBIs, reached on an infield hit and scored in the third inning, singled home two runs and then scored in the fifth and singled home a run and scored in the sixth. He hit into a fielder’s choice and scored in the eighth and also threw Nomar Mazara out at the plate in the seventh, cutting off a run that would have made it 9-6.

“It looms large as they potentially put up three runs in the inning,” Farrell said. “A big out, a momentum-shifter in that case.”

Porcello (3-5) worked 6 2/3 innings and yielded five runs (four earned) in only his second win since Opening Day.

The Rangers lost for the second time in three games but only the second time in their past 13.

Andrew Cashner, who hasn’t won on the road since Sept. 16, 2015, worked the first five innings, allowing five runs while falling to 1-4 in his first career start against Boston.

The Rangers, who gave up a season high in runs, were not charged with an error but were guilty of several shaky plays and also wild-pitched two runs home and balked in another. They also walked eight.

“It was the walks,” Rangers manager Jeff Banister said. “Really that’s been a nemesis from time to time this year. Eight walks, one intentional, but really it’s the freebies that showed up again tonight that got us in trouble, caused us some trouble.

“I think we gave up three runs tonight — two on wild pitches and one balk. It was the freebies that really showed up.”

Shin-Soo Choo drove in two runs, Joey Gallo hit his 14th homer of the season, Mazara stroked two hits to extend his hitting streak to 11 games and Delino DeShields had a sacrifice fly for Texas (24-22).

Cashner fell to 0-9 in 18 starts since his last victory, his road losing streak coming with three different teams.

“We’ve got a good hitting team right now. When you put up six runs, as a starter, you expect to win,” Cashner said. “(I’ve) got to do a better job.”

NOTES: The Red Sox selected 1B Sam Travis from Triple-A Pawtucket, and he will start against Texas LHP Martin Perez in Game 2 of the series Wednesday. Travis will be in a platoon with Mitch Moreland for the Red Sox, who have just four homers against lefties this season. RHP Hector Velazquez was optioned to Pawtucket. … Texas 3B Adrian Beltre, who hasn’t played this season because of a calf injury, could he be ready for extended spring training at-bats this weekend. … Boston LHP Chris Sale, 3-0 in his last four starts, can break the record he shares with Pedro Martinez if he strikes out at least 10 — for the ninth straight time — when he pitches Wednesday night. … The teams observed a pregame moment of silence for the victims of the bombing in Manchester, England. … Boston INF/OF Brock Holt, out with vertigo, ended his 20-day rehab assignment but will see a concussion specialist in Pittsburgh. … Boston INF Marco Hernandez will have season-ending shoulder surgery Friday.

NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs: Ottawa Forces Seven

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Ottawa 2, Pittsburgh 1
When: 8:00 PM ET, Tuesday, May 23, 2017
Where: Canadian Tire Centre, Ottawa
Attendance: 18,111
Special to Digital Sports Desk by The Sports Xchange
OTTAWA — Mike Hoffman of the Ottawa Senators says there was never a doubt.Anybody and everybody who watched Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Final — or two periods of Game 6 — might have disagreed. Yet just as they have done all year, the Ottawa Senators showed how resilient they are with a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night at Canadian Tire Centre that tied the best-of-seven series 3-3.

Mike Hoffman

The deciding game is Thursday in Pittsburgh, with the winner moving on to face the Nashville Predators in the Stanley Cup Final.

While Senators goalie Craig Anderson was the hero of night with 44 saves, sharing the lead role was Hoffman. His booming shot at 1:34 of the third period went off both posts before settling into the net as the winner.

“Any time you lose by a converted touchdown, it’s not good,” Hoffman said of Sunday’s 7-0 loss in Pittsburgh. “Especially in hockey.”

But the Senators “flushed” the tapes and moved on confidently.

“Yesterday, we had a meeting and that was the talk down here,” Hoffman said. “We’re winning this hockey game no matter how or what. We were coming out here and we were going to win and we did that.

“This is a great group of guys in here. You have to have something special to make it this far in the playoffs. Everyone stepped up tonight.”

Hoffman stepped up and into a slap shot after taking a drop pass from Fredrik Claesson to score his sixth goal of the playoffs.

“I had a decent amount of time to corral it and pick my spot,” Hoffman said. “I guess I was just waiting for the guys to create some room so I was able to shoot through a screen and beat him on the far side.”

Penguins goalie Matt Murray, who made 28 saves, admitted he was partly screened on the play by Claesson.

“He’s one of the best shooters in the league,” Murray said of Hoffman. “I just tried to be aggressive. I knew there wasn’t a pass option.

“He did a really good job of holding it and waiting for that screen to get to the net. The guy in front skated by right at the release point. I was late picking it up and he puts it right off the post. That was a pretty good shot.”

The Senators were outplayed for much of the night but stayed afloat with the play of Anderson.

Two nights after giving up four goals on 14 shots and being pulled in Game 5, Anderson bounced back by stopping 22 of the 23 shots he faced in the second period.

Senators center Zack Smith called it a “monstrous” performance.

Ottawa defenseman Marc Methot agreed.

“To see him have a bounce-back game, I’m not even remotely surprised,” Methot said. “It’s what I expected of him and he didn’t disappoint. He was a monster out there for us and that’s what we need.”

Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin and Ottawa’s Bobby Ryan exchanged second-period goals after the Penguins appeared to break the ice earlier, only to have a Trevor Daley goal waived off because of goalie interference.

Penguins coach Mike Sullivan didn’t get an explanation for the decision, nor did he ask for one.

“It doesn’t matter, they’re not going to change their minds,” Sullivan said. “They’re going to make the call that they think is right. It doesn’t matter what the rest of us think.”

To a man, the Penguins were happy with the way they played.

“We played a good game,” captain Sidney Crosby said. “It happens sometimes in the playoffs. We’ve got to regroup, but we did a lot of good things. We probably deserved better tonight.”

Malkin’s goal was a great solo effort. After beating Zack Smith in a battle near the end boards, he stepped out front to take a shot that Anderson stopped, but Malkin grabbed the rebound, deked to his backhand and slid the puck in for his seventh goal of the playoffs.

“One goal, it’s not enough for us,” Malkin said. “We need to score more. If we want to win, we need to score more.”

Ryan’s second-period goal was scored with the Senators enjoying a five-on-three man-advantage that stopped their power play drought at 0 of 29.

“Really a lucky goal,” Ryan said of his short-side shot. “To see it go in, I think we in the sense, community, took a collective breath there because it was overdue.”

Going forward, the Penguins will stick to the same script in an effort to get back to the finals for a second straight year.

“I think we played the way we need to,” Murray said. “Credit to them they played a solid defensive game, but we were controlling the play.

“Anderson had a big night. If not for him, I think it’s a different result. We just keep our same focus and just worry about what we’re doing.”

NOTES: Senators C Colin White played his first NHL playoff game. … Senators LW Tommy Wingels was scratched and replaced by LW Ryan Dzingel. … Injured Penguins RW Patric Hornqvist, RW Tom Kuhnhackl and D Chad Ruhwedel did not accompany the team to Ottawa, but coach Mike Sullivan said all were progressing in their recovery.

DIGITAL SPORTS DESK The LEDE SOX: Texas Rangers Visit Fenway

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Texas at Boston
When: 7:10 PM ET, Tuesday, May 23, 2017
Where: Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts
Preview for Digital Sports Desk by Gracenote

BOSTON – The Texas Rangers had a 10-game winning streak come to an end on Saturday but got right back to the winning formula again on Sunday – solid starting pitching and a barrage of home runs. The Rangers will bring their power east and try to make it 12 wins in 13 games when they visit the Boston Red Sox for the opener of a three-game series on Tuesday.

Texas pitchers allowed three or fewer runs in eight of the last 11 wins and are being backed by an offense that is even getting power from the likes of Pete Kozma, who belted his first home run since 2013 in a 5-2 win at Detroit on Sunday. “A lot of feel-good going into Boston,” Rangers manager Jeff Banister told reporters. “(Mike Napoli) going deep and a big home run by Kozma, none bigger. Look, we needed that run. Got good barrel.” The Red Sox got good barrel on Sunday as well, pounding out 15 hits in a 12-3 win at Oakland that helped them avoid a four-game sweep and kept the team from drifting below .500 for the first time this season. Boston will try to keep the hits coming against Texas right-hander Andrew Cashner while reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello tries to keep Texas’ batters in the yard for the Red Sox.

TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (Texas), NESN (Boston)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Rangers RH Andrew Cashner (1-3, 2.45 ERA) vs. Red Sox RH Rick Porcello (2-5, 4.23)

Cashner is dominating of late and allowed two or fewer earned runs in each of his last six turns. The TCU product struggles to work deep into games and did not earn his first win until Wednesday, when he limited the Philadelphia Phillies to two runs in a season-high seven innings. Cashner, who spent the first seven seasons of his career in the NL, is seeing Boston for the first time but held Hanley Ramirez to 3-for-20 with no home runs when the two were in the NL.

Porcello already owns more losses than he suffered last season (four) and is coming off a six-inning outing at St. Louis on Wednesday in which he surrendered four runs on nine hits and three walks in six innings. The New Jersey native yielded 10 home runs in 55 1/3 innings so far after giving up 23 in 223 frames last season. Porcello is 5-4 with a 5.69 ERA in nine career starts against Texas.

WALK-OFFS

1. Red Sox 1B and former Ranger Mitch Moreland homered in each of the last three games.

2. Texas C Jonathan Lucroy hit safely in each of his last nine games and drove in at least one run in the last five.

3. Boston LHP David Price (elbow) is expected to make a final rehab start on Wednesday at Triple-A Pawtucket.

NFL: OT Shortened to 10 Minutes

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CHICAGO – (Special to Digital Sports Desk by The Sports Xchange) – NFL owners voted to approve several rule changes at the spring league meeting in Chicago on Tuesday, including shortening overtime periods to 10 minutes after the idea was proposed at the annual league meeting in March.

The owners also voted to allow two players to return off the injured reserve list during the season instead of one and to eliminate the waves of preseason roster cuts and create one deadline to set a 53-man roster.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is also expected to inform owners that celebrations after touchdowns — including group celebrations, using the ball as a prop, going to the ground and creating snow angels — are now allowed, according to USA Today’s Tom Pelissero.

The league’s decision to shorten overtime by five minutes is intended to improve player safety, NFL Network reports. According to NFL Research, 22 of the league’s 83 overtime periods over the past five years have lasted at least 10 minutes.

At the league’s annual meeting in March, owners banned leaping over the offensive line to block kicks, approved instant ejections for egregious head-to-head hits and OK’d centralized replay review from the NFL officiating command center in New York.

Sports Biz: NESN Announces Streaming Sox on NESNgo

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BOSTON – (Staff Report From Official News Release) – NESN announces the launch of NESNgo to provide fans live in-market streaming of all NESN-televised regular season Boston Red Sox games and other NESN programming. NESN live streaming is available throughout much of the network’s home territory (New England except Fairfield County, CT) on the heels of NESN reaching a licensing agreement with Major League Baseball Advanced Media (MLBAM) earlier this year.

This new streaming offering is available without any additional costs to “authenticated subscribers” who already have NESN in their channel lineup from participating television providers. Fans just need to sign in using their existing TV service provider username and password.

Streaming can be accessed via NESNgo.com and the NESNgo app for mobile phones and tablets, which is available in both the iTunes (Apple) and Google Play (Android) App Stores. Over the next few months, some cable distributors are expected to enable NESN live streaming on their own “TV Everywhere” app and/or on their company website.

“Live in-market streaming will provide Red Sox fans who are on the go a means to watch games anytime, anywhere they go, on virtually any device,” said Sean McGrail, NESN President and CEO. “For years, NESN has wanted to extend live streaming access to our viewers, so we couldn’t be more excited to launch NESNgo this season. This is a significant milestone in NESN history.”

With NESNgo fans can watch NESN 24 hours a day including Red Sox pre- and post-game coverage, Red Sox games, NESN’s sports news programs, and the network’s entire programming lineup with the exception of Bruins telecasts at this time.

TV service providers that have currently activated authentication for NESN’s live streaming include: Xfinity (Comcast), Cox Communications, MetroCast,

Sports Biz: Self Heads NABC Board

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INDIANAPOLIS – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – University of Kansas head coach Bill Self was named president of the National Association of Basketball Coaches Board of Directors. Self, whose two-year term will span the 2017-18 and 2018-19 academic years, was officially installed as NABC president at the 2017 NABC Convention and oversaw over his first Board of Directors’ meeting in Indianapolis.
“I have been heavily involved with the NABC over the years, and it is now my opportunity to serve as president of our organization,” said Self. “I’m proud of that.”
 Bill Self
“I look forward to working with NABC Executive Director Jim Haney, his staff and the board to be a voice for all coaches that the NABC represents.”
Self has served on the NABC Board of Directors since 2007, and is also a current member of the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Oversight Committee.
A 2017 inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, Self has a career record of 623-192 as head coach at Kansas, Illinois, Tulsa and Oral Roberts. He led Kansas to the 2008 national title, reached the Final Four again in 2012, and currently has the Jayhawks on a streak of 13-straight Big 12 regular-season championships.
“Bill Self has long been one of the most influential voices in college basketball, and is greatly respected among his coaching and administrative peers,” said Haney. “He will bring excellent leadership to the NABC Board of Directors as we continue our work to serve coaches and grow the game.”
“Bill has been successful at every stop in his career,” added Old Dominion coach and outgoing NABC President Jeff Jones. “He fully understands the issues that are important to the NABC membership. He’s a perfect fit for this role.”
About the National Association of Basketball Coaches
Located in Kansas City, Missouri, the NABC was founded in 1927 by Forrest “Phog” Allen, the legendary basketball coach at the University of Kansas.  Allen, a student of James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, organized coaches into this collective group to serve as Guardians of the Game.  The NABC currently has nearly 5,000 members consisting primarily of university and college men’s basketball coaches.  All members of the NABC are expected to uphold the core values of being a Guardian of the Game by bringing attention to the positive aspects of the sport of basketball and the role coaches play in the academic and athletic lives of today’s student-athletes.  The four core values of being a Guardian of the Game are advocacy, leadership, service and education.  Additional information about the NABC, its programs and membership, can be found at www.nabc.org.

Copyright 2017

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