The Big Story – Celtics’ Dream Ends: After Derrick White’s miraculous putback with :01 left to force Game 7 on Monday night, it was all set up for history to be made by the Celtics. But the 0-3 hole they had dug for themselves was too deep, as after winning three straight, sadly they put up yet another stinker at home to finish 5-6 at home in the playoffs, as the Miami Heat made history instead by becoming the first play-in team to make the NBA Finals.
No one beyond Rob Williams and Devin White played well. And while I don’t like to be unkind, it’s hard to fathom a human being playing a worse game than Jaylen Brown did in his turnover-strewn mistake- and forced shots-filled Game 7.
Jayson Tatum gets major points for gutting out the whole game after spraining his ankle on the game’s first play.
As do the Heat, who showed their toughness by not following the Boston Globe’s Game 7 story line of “could they somehow recover from their devastating Game 6 loss?” Answer: they could.
Sports 101: Three players in NBA history have played 20 years for the same team. Name them.
News Item – Alumni News: In case you missed it, NateEovaldi had quite a run earlier this month when he went for 29.2 scoreless innings for Texas. And he actually was allowed to pitch a complete game shutout against the Yanks and an 8.2-inning job vs. Oakland as well. Overall he was 6-2 with a 2.60 ERA in his first 10 starts for the new team.In the words of local legend Bob Lobel, “Why can’t we get guys like that?”
News Item – Mets Fans Show True Colors: It didn’t take nitwit Mets fans long to go from loving Justin Verlander in December to booing Verlander in just his third start and first home appearance at New York’s Citi Field (8 hits and 6 runs), which followed his giving up just 1 run while striking out 10 vs. Cincy in his second start.
News Item – Shaq Feeling The Heat Too: In what has to be a first ever, after chasing him for months, a legal processor finally hit Shaquille O’Neal with a summons during Game 4 while working the EFC for TNT according to media reports. They were after him to let him know he is a defendant in a class-action lawsuit claiming he and other celebrity spokespeople (Tom Brady, his ex-wife and Steph Curry) misled investors in the gone-bust FTX bitcoin investment scheme.
The Numbers:
3.49 – ERA jump for Sox closer Kenley Jansen, from 0.77 to 4.26 after he blew consecutive ninth-inning leads on May 12 and May 13, giving up 5 hits, 4 walks and 6 runs while getting just 3 outs.
7 – unheard of number of guys on the Miami Heat roster who went undrafted coming out of college before taking winding professional roads prior to being signed as free agents by Pat Riley and company.
10 – wins vs. 41 losses for Oakland’s A’s to tie them with the 1932 Red Sox for the worst start after 50 games in MLB history. Their 31-131 full-season pace would surpass the 40-120 1962 Mets as the worst season ever.
26 – times sluggers Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani have gone yard in the same game since becoming teammates in 2018, after doing it vs. the Red Sox when the L.A. Angels of Anaheim finished off their three-game sweep of Boston with a 7-3 win on Wednesday.
Random Thoughts:
LeBron James playing all 48 minutes in L.A.’s elimination game to Denver when he had the juice to go for 40 points and fall just an assist short of a triple double at 38 was impressive.
Put a pair of big-wire framed glasses and a blue blazer on NBA star Jimmy Butler and he’s a dead ringer for Jackie Chiles, the Johnnie Cochran-like parody lawyer on Seinfeld.
And Miami back-up center Cody Zeller looks like one of those plumbers or firemen JJ Redick said Bob Cousy played against in the ’50s.
Betting the squib/low line drive kicks will become a bigger factor in 2023 in the wake of the NFL adopting a rule last week that gives teams the ball at their 25-yard line if a guy makes a fair catch on any kick-off inside their 25.
A Little History: A look back in time shows the Celtics could have had two Miami Heat starters on their 2023 roster. In the 2012 draft they let Butler slide by them to go 30th overall to Chicago, after Danny Ainge selected Ju’Juan Johnson, who lasted one year in the NBA, with the 23rd pick. Then in 2019 three-ball bomber Max Strus was their final pre-season cut when they keptJavonte Green.
Sports 101 Answer: Dirk Nowitzki, Kobe Bryant and Udonis Haslem are the three to play 20 years for one team.
Email Dave Long at [email protected].