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Frozen Fenway Starting Early

January 11, 2017 by Terry Lyons Leave a Comment

BOSTON – (Report from Official News Release) – Recognizing the fact most New England sports fans prefer watching Saturday night’s AFC Divisional Round matchup between the New England Patriots and the Houston Texans rather than outdoor ice hockey, Fenway Sports Management and Hockey East announced that Saturday’s Capital One Frozen Fenway doubleheader will start 2 ½ hours earlier than its originally scheduled start time.

The University of Maine will take on the University of Connecticut at 1:30 p.m., moved up from the originally scheduled start time of 4 p.m., and the University of New Hampshire will face Northeastern University at 5 p.m., up from 7:30 p.m.

Based on the new start times, Fenway Park gates will open at noon on Saturday.

The 1:30 p.m. game between the University of Maine and the University of Connecticut will air on NESNplus. The 5 p.m. game between the University of New Hampshire and Northeastern University will be broadcast on NESN.

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Filed Under: Boston Sports Tagged With: Fenway Park, Frozen Fenway

NBA: Toronto Raptors Defeat Celtics With Strong 4th Quarter Run

January 11, 2017 by Terry Lyons Leave a Comment

Toronto 114, Boston 106
When: 7:30 PM ET, Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Where: Air Canada Centre, Toronto
Attendance: 19,800

TORONTO – (Special to Digital Sports Desk by The Sports Xchange) – DeMar DeRozan led the Raptors with 41 points in a 114-106 victory over the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night, but Toronto coach Dwane Casey was even more impressed with his guard’s play on the boards.

With Patrick Patterson still feeling the effects of a knee injury that sidelined him for four games, and with Jonas Valanciunas getting double-teamed, DeRozan stepped up and collected 13 rebounds, including 11 defensive boards.

“He’s a tough kid, he didn’t grow up in Compton for nothing,” Casey said. “He’s a tough kid. More than anything else, the 41 points is nice, but 13 rebounds, the 11 defensive rebounds when we needed it. …

“DeMar came in and got some big rebounds, tough rebounds, so that was impressive. That was more of a sign of grit and grind as much as the 41 points.”

The Raptors (25-13) closed out the fourth quarter on a 19-4 run to pick up their third consecutive home victory over Boston. The Celtics (23-15) saw their four-game winning streak end.

Valanciunas added a career-high 23 rebounds and 18 points. Kyle Lowry chipped in with 24 points, nine assists and four rebounds in the win.

“You have to give (Boston) a lot of credit,” said DeRozan, who shot 16 of 29 from the floor and 8 of 9 from the foul line. “That’s a hell of a team, a talented team, and they play extremely hard. They’re right behind us, so that was one of those games coming into tonight — the vision game — and so many elements came into play tonight and we had to definitely bring our ‘A’ game against (them) tonight, and we did.”

Isaiah Thomas led the Celtics with 27 points and seven assists. Guard Marcus Smart continued to fill in nicely for the injured Avery Bradley, contributing 16 points, five assists, four rebounds and four steals.

Gerald Green and Al Horford added 14 points apiece for Boston, and Canadian Kelly Olynyk chipped in with 13 points. Horford grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

“The fact that DeRozan was able to get into the teeth of our defense and make those tough shots, I think that’s what took something from us,” Horford said. “Guys started stepping up. Valanciunas was in there cleaning stuff up and despite all that, I thought we were in a good position where we could have made plays.

“We just didn’t make them down the stretch.”

The Raptors, who trailed by as many as 16 during the third quarter, used a late 7-0 run to pull to within five.

A Thomas layup pushed the Celtics’ lead to 84-80 to close out the third period.

“The last six minutes of the third crushed us, and the last six minutes of the fourth,” said Celtics coach Brad Stevens. “I think it was like 42-15 or something in those timeframes.

“I thought we got probably a little too careless with the ball, and that hurt us.”

Smart paced the Celtics with 14 points in the first half as Boston held a 55-46 lead at the break.

After shooting 8-for-22 in the opening quarter, the Celtics were hitting at a 70 percent clip with 2:31 to play in the half.

DeRozan had 10 first-half points, while Lowry added 10 points and five assists for the hosts.

Raptors led 23-18 after one period, paced by six points and nine rebounds from Valanciunas.

For the game, both teams shot 47.1 percent from the floor.

NOTES: Celtics G Avery Bradley missed his second consecutive game due to an strained right Achilles tendon. Coach Brad Stevens had no update on Bradley’s status for Wednesday when Boston visits Washington. … Boston C Tyler Zeller (sinus infection) missed his fourth game. According to Stevens, Zeller saw “a bunch of different doctors over the last couple days.”. … Raptors F Patrick Patterson, who returned to the lineup on Sunday after missing four games with a strained left knee, made his first start of the season Tuesday. He finished scoreless in 21 minutes. … Tuesday was the second of four meetings between the division rivals. Toronto won the first meeting 101-94 at the TD Garden on Dec. 9.

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Filed Under: Boston Celtics, Boston Sports, NBA Tagged With: Boston Celtics, Celtics, Toronto Raptors

NHL: Marchand, Bruins Top Blues

January 11, 2017 by Terry Lyons Leave a Comment

  1. Boston 5, St. Louis 3
    When: 8:00 PM ET, Tuesday, January 10, 2017
    Where: Scottrade Center, St. Louis
    Attendance: 19,342

ST. LOUIS – (Special to Digital Sports Desk by The Sports Xchange) – Former Blues captain David Backes returned to St. Louis on Tuesday night for the first time since signing as a free agent with the Boston Bruins.

While Backes, who played for the Blues for 10 years, spent the night reminiscing — and even getting in a fight for old times’ sake — the rest of this teammates found plenty of reasons to enjoy the evening as well.

Embed from Getty Images

Brad Marchand scored two goals, including an empty-netter, and Frank Vatrano and Torey Krug each recorded a goal and an assist to lead the Bruins to a 5-3 victory.

Marchand’s first of the night capped a three-goal first period that came on just 11 shots on goal, giving Boston a 3-0 lead at the first intermission. The period also included a video tribute to Backes, watched by all of his new teammates, that included his contributions to the Blues and the St. Louis community over his time with the team.

“You always want to step up for your teammate, and Backes, the way he plays for our team and the things he does every night, it’s great to be able to go to battle for him and come up with a win for him,” Marchand said. “I thought we had a really good game all the way through, especially with a few guys going down.”

The Bruins played much of the third period with only four defensemen after Adam McQuaid sustained an upper-body injury in the first period and Colin Miller went down in the third period. Coach Claude Julien said each was being evaluated after the game, and he did not yet know their status.

For Backes, getting the win with his new team made it a perfect night. He did not score, but he did earn 17 minutes in penalties after his bout with Blues’ defenseman Joel Edmundson late in the second period. He was assessed a minor penalty as an instigator, five minutes for fighting and a 10-minute misconduct.

“It was great to be back in the building and thankfully we jumped out to a decent lead because trying to bottle up everything on the ice was tough, no question about it,” Backes said. “The guys played amazing, and they were able to get two points out of the game. I had the best seat in the house for most of the third period, but that’s part of the game.

“I think I was able to keep it together. I thought about that moment for quite a while, and I certainly wanted to acknowledge all the great people and the great fans in the building but at the same time keep it together so I could play hockey at a high level and compete against a lot of friends and a lot of good people over there. The night went as scripted in my mind.”

A power-play goal by Vatrano started the night for the Bruins, the sixth consecutive game in which the Blues gave up the first goal of the night. Brandon Carlo made it 2-0 before Marchand capped the period. Krug’s goal, also on the power play, increased the lead to 4-0 early in the second period.

Defenseman Colton Parayko scored his first of the year for the Blues, on a power play, to make it a 4-1 game at 3:57 of the second period. Patrik Berglund pulled the Blues within 4-2 midway through the third period.

Marchand’s empty-net goal was followed by a goal by Kyle Brodziak with 25 seconds to play for the final 5-3 margin.

It was not a good night for Blues starting goalie Jake Allen, who allowed the three first-period goals on 11 shots and was replaced by Carter Hutton at the start of the second period.

The Blues have not won consecutive games since Dec. 1, and part of the reason has been inconsistent play from Allen, who has allowed three goals in three of his last four starts, twice getting pulled from the net.

“He’s not stopping the puck, he’s having a tough go of it,” Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said. “We can just jump all over him or rally around him, we have a choice. I don’t think anybody anticipated this, him or us, but it is what it is, and we’ve got to deal with it.

“He’s going to have to battle like the rest of us. I think we can help out. I think we can play better in front of him … There just is not enough respect for defending right now. We’re not getting in the lanes like we have to.”

Allen knows that he needs to play better.

“It’s frustrating for me,” Allen said. “I always have high expectations for myself, and I always set the bar really high. … This is really tough for me right now. The crazy thing is I don’t feel bad on the ice. I feel good out there, but pucks are getting behind me, and I’ve got to find a way to stop that sooner rather than later.”

NOTES: Blues RW Vladimir Tarasenko was selected to play in his third consecutive NHL All-Star Game. The last Blues player to appear in three All-Star Games in a row was D Chris Pronger from 2000-02. … Named as All-Stars from the Bruins were LW Brad Marchand and G Tuukka Rask. It is the first All-Star selection for both. … The Blues’ two injured defensemen, Robert Bortuzzo (lower body) and Carl Gunnarsson (lower body), are expected to go with the team on its three-game trip that begins Thursday night in Los Angeles. They could play at some point during the trip. … The Bruins will wrap up their four-game trip on Saturday night.

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NBA: NYK Guard Derrick Rose Returns

January 10, 2017 by Terry Lyons Leave a Comment

NEW YORK – (Wire Service Report) – New York Knicks point guard Derrick Rose has returned to the team’s facilities Tuesday after his unexplained absence during Monday night’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans, ESPN reports.

Rose returned to his hometown of Chicago without the team’s permission to attend to a family matter, per ESPN. He alerted team officials of his whereabouts following the game.

Rose was originally listed as a starter against the Pelicans but the team announced shortly before tipoff that he was not with the team. Brandon Jennings started in place of Rose and scored 20 points in the Knicks’ 110-96 loss.

“Right now we don’t have enough information to really give you anything,” Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek told reporters after the game. “So that’s just going to have to wait until we hear something from Derrick himself. Other than that, if you want to talk about the game, ask away.”

Joakim Noah, who played with Rose on the Bulls in Chicago, said after the game that he had been in contact with Rose and that the former MVP was “OK.”

The Knicks (17-21) visit the Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday and are in Chicago for a game on Thursday.

Rose has been frustrated with New York’s recent struggles and has a deteriorating relationship with Hornacek, according to reports. Rose took issue with Hornacek benching him in the fourth quarter of the Knicks’ games against the Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers.

The three-time All-Star is averaging 17.3 points, 4.5 assists and 3.9 rebounds this season.

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NBA: Celtics Visit Toronto Tonight

January 10, 2017 by Terry Lyons Leave a Comment

Boston at Toronto
When: 7:30 PM ET, Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Where: Air Canada Centre, Toronto

TORONTO – (Special Preview to Digital Sports Desk by The Sports Xchange) – The Boston Celtics won four straight and six of their last seven, and now have their sights set on moving further up the Eastern Conference standings. The streaking Celtics can take a big step in that pursuit when they visit the struggling Toronto Raptors on Tuesday.

The Raptors dropped five of seven to see their lead over the Celtics for the second spot in the conference reduced to one game as the two squads approach the halfway point to the season. Boston does have one physical issue to address, as guard Avery Bradley missed Saturday’s 117-108 win over New Orleans due to a strained Achilles and he is questionable for this one. The bulk of Toronto’s recent slide occurred on the road but it continued in the opener of a four-game homestand Sunday, when Houston knocked off the Raptors 129-122. Toronto allowed at least 110 points five times during its 2-5 swoon.

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, NBA TV, CSN New England (Boston), Sportsnet ONE (Toronto)

ABOUT THE CELTICS (23-14): Marcus Smart got the start in Bradley’s place in the win over the Pelicans and scored a season-high 22 points while making 5-of-7 3-pointers. “(My mentality was) just to bring it early,” Smart told reporters “Avery Bradley was out, it’s a tough game.” Smart is shooting 36.2 percent from long range in his 11 starts – including 3-of-7 against Toronto on Dec. 9 – and 28.7 percent in 23 games off the bench.

ABOUT THE RAPTORS (24-12): Celtics All-Star guard Isaiah Thomas might be licking his chops while thinking about matching up with Toronto, which allowed opponents’ stars to dominate of late. Chicago’s Jimmy Butler went off for 42 points in an overtime win against the Raptors on Saturday and Houston’s James Harden posted another triple-double with 40 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in Sunday’s triumph at Air Canada Centre. “We played against two superstars and they beat us,” guard Kyle Lowry – who tied a season low with two made baskets in the loss to the Rockets – told reporters. “Jimmy did it last night and James did it tonight. We’ve got to make sure to stop those guys and adjust to the game plan a little bit better.”

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Thomas scored 38 points versus New Orleans and is averaging 31.4 since returning from a groin injury in mid-December.

2. Raptors SG DeMar DeRozan posted consecutive 36-point efforts while making 26-of-27 free throws.

3. Boston averaged 17.8 made 3-pointers over its last four games while shooting 51.5 percent from the arc.

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Filed Under: Boston Celtics, Boston Sports, NBA Tagged With: Boston Celtics, Celtics, NBA, Raptors, Toronto

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