Yet, just because the Celtics are at home does not automatically equate playing better or the Mavericks succumbing to make this a neat and convenient story line. Boston will have to earn this win with perhaps its best performance of the season.
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The Mavericks have little to lose because they are expected to lose.
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No prognosticator picked Dallas to win the championship when the season began. The Mavericks are the underdogs. They are loose, knowing every victory they steal puts more pressure on the favored Celtics. This indeed has turned into a mind game.
Boston wants a title, it needs a title. The city can taste it.
“I don’t look at it as pressure,” Tatum said Sunday before practice. “I do notice, especially this time of the season, playoff time and obviously being in the Finals for the second time, when you drive around and go to the gas station, or I wanted to go get some ice cream yesterday, it’s Celtics gear everywhere and everybody is super excited about this team and what we have accomplished and what we have the chance to accomplish. You really just feel the love and support from everybody in the city of Boston, and how bad they want us to win, how much they have been cheering for us.
“So I don’t look at it as pressure. Just unconditional support, and that we have an amazing fan base here.”
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Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla checked in Sunday at TD Garden with injured big man Kristaps Porzingis.Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff
The hunger is there, the players say, although it didn’t appear that way Friday. After saying they had to play like the more desperate team in Game 4 even though they weren’t, the Celtics played about six good minutes before they relented to the team that was really desperate.
There’s something to playing with zero expectations and the Mavericks have embraced that role. They are highly unlikely to come back from a 3-0 deficit. No team has done that in 156 tries, but that doesn’t mean they can’t cause angst and discomfort for their opponent in the process.
“Sometimes when you do play an opponent over and over, you get used to the tendencies and you start to capitalize on that on both ends, defensively and offensively,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd said. “Hopefully our group has seen enough of Boston to understand what they are good at, and hopefully we can take that away (Monday) night.”
Monday will be the most difficult game of the Celtics’ careers because it’s the most significant. But it’s also important to remember they still hold the advantage. A team that hasn’t lost more than two games in a row all season would have to lose four consecutive games to lose this series. But there has to be a better sense of urgency than in Game 4. The Celtics have to feed into the crowd’s enthusiasm, play a more disciplined and passionate game, and let their talents and coaching take over.
“We have a great group, resilient group, and we don’t like to lose,” Brown said. “We do our best to prepare each and every night, each and every game, and we look forward to the next game on the schedule. I think we are ready for Game 5. I think that’s the best answer that I got. I think that we’re ready. We’re at home, and we’re looking forward to it.
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“This is what we all work for. We are at the precipice of completing what we set out to do at the beginning of the season. So I think it’s not difficult to get everybody in that locker room on the same page right now. It just needs to remind everybody that it’s just one possession at a time. We do it together and we fight like our lives depends on it, and I think we’ll be all right.”
The Celtics lacked that fight in Game 4 and they can no longer take these games for granted. These chances to clinch are rare and they have to play their hardest, if not their best. That’s all this fan base can request. The Celtics owe their fans their best effort and an increased sense of urgency because they have a chance to achieve a career-defining accomplishment.
“[Coach] Joe [Mazzulla] did a great job today of reminding us that it’s okay to smile during wars,” Tatum said. “It’s OK to have fun during high-pressure moments. That’s what makes our team unique and special. We would love to win (Monday), more than anything. But if it doesn’t happen, it’s not the end of the world. We have more opportunities. So just setting that table of don’t surrender to that idea that we have to win tomorrow. We would love to, absolutely. But Game 5 is the biggest game of the season because it’s the next game on the schedule.
“So going with that mind-set, and just have fun. That’s really what we talked about today. Get back to having fun and being a team and how special we are and the team that got us here.”
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Gary Washburn is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at gary.washburn@globe.com. Follow him @GwashburnGlobe.
The club, in a statement posted on Instagram on Tuesday, said it was “deeply saddened” by Colon’s death and that employees at the nightclub rushed to her aid.
“Our staff responded immediately and called emergency services while an off-duty EMT rendered first aid,” it said. “We are cooperating fully with all inquiries from law enforcement and city officials who are reviewing this medical episode.”
When police arrived at theWarrenton Street venue, they found a personlying on the dance floor, unresponsive and without a pulse, according to an incident report. They began performing chest compressions with the help of a cashier at the club who said she worked as an EMT.
Police said in the report that the large crowd inside the club did not comply with orders to give space to emergency medical personnel. Eventually, officers ordered the club to shut down and told patrons to leave immediately.
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The woman, whose age was not disclosed, was then taken to Tufts Medical Center, police said.
Colon’s sister, Angelica Colon, wrote on social media Sunday that the club failed to immediately call 911 after being told about the medical emergency. She said only a few people at the club showed any “real concern,” while other patrons and staff “acted like nothing was happening.”
“My sister collapsed in the middle of the club,“ she wrote. ”I tried to lift her myself and couldn’t. I was screaming at the top of my lungs and was ignored. The music was only stopped for two minutes, then turned right back on — as if her life didn’t matter.”
Angelica Colon also couldn’t be reached for comment on Tuesday.
Anastaiya Colon, who was at the club to celebrate her sister Angelica’s birthday, had smoked before arriving and had “a few drinks” at the bar, according to the police report. Drug use was not suspected as a factor in the medical episode, according to the report.
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Angelica Colon said that, while her sister had a medical condition, “that does not excuse what happened.” She said in the post that she was considering legal action against the club’s owners.
“A business that refuses to act during a medical emergency does not deserve to operate,” she wrote. “If this could happen to my sister, it could happen to anyone.”
“She was the greatest mother to our son and her daughter,” Stackhouse wrote. “Wherever I fell, she compensated and gave me so much more grace than I deserve.”
Icon is operated by Pasha Entertainment, which also runs the nightclubs Venu and Hava, as well as prominent restaurants such as Ghost Light Tavern and Kava Neo-Taverna, according to the company’s website.
“Our thoughts and condolences are with the individual’s family and loved ones,” the club wrote.
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Last year, the city’ licensing board reviewed a 2023 incident at the club in which a woman was punched and thrown to the ground by another patron. Icon staff did not call police during the altercation, which the club’s director of security admitted was a “lapse in judgment.”
The woman who was punched later sued the club for overserving her attacker; Icon was ordered to pay $30,000 in damages, according to court records.
Camilo Fonseca can be reached at camilo.fonseca@globe.com. Follow him on X @fonseca_esq and on Instagram @camilo_fonseca.reports.
BOSTON (WHDH) – Getting around the city was made easier Tuesday after the Green Line reopened after a two-week shutdown affecting all branches.
The MBTA needed the closure to replace underground beams dating back to the 19th century.
Service returned Tuesday on the B branch between North Station and Babcock, on the C and D lines from North Station to Kenmore, and North Station to Heath Street on the E branch.
(Copyright (c) 2025 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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After four seasons in which he emerged as a veteran leader and key bench player for the Red Sox, Rob Refsnyder’s time in Boston is over.
Refsnyder has signed a one-year contract with the Mariners, the club announced. According to a major league source, the deal will pay Refsnyder a base salary of $6.25 million in 2026. It also includes $250,000 in incentives.
Refsnyder, who turns 35 in May, was a journeyman utility player when he signed with the Red Sox as a minor league free agent in December 2021. Over the last four seasons, he found a home in Boston, where he mashed left-handed pitching and became an important clubhouse voice. Along with Trevor Story and Alex Bregman, Refsnyder helped form a core of older position players who helped the Sox navigate treacherous waters in the fallout of the Rafael Devers drama (and subsequent trade) over the summer. On the field, he was plenty productive, too, as he hit .269 with nine homers, 12 doubles and an .838 OPS in 70 games in his limited role in 2025.
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In 309 games over the past four seasons, Refsnyder hit .276 with 27 homers, 119 RBIs, 48 doubles and an .804 OPS while serving as one of the best hitters in baseball against left-handed pitching. In 2025, he posted a .302 average, .560 slugging percentage and .959 OPS against southpaws, pairing with Romy Gonzalez to form a potent pair of right-handed platoon options for Alex Cora. Refsnyder’s .596 slugging percentage against left-handed starters was the fourth-best mark in baseball. Since the start of 2021, Refsnyder ranks third in the majors in on-base percentage against lefties (.405) among players with 300 plate appearances.
Refsnyder expressed strong interest in returning to the Red Sox in 2026 but in recent weeks, the writing has been on the wall for his departure. There aren’t many at-bats to go around in Boston’s crowded outfield/designated hitter picture and recent comments from manager Alex Cora made it harder to see Refsnyder returning in his role. Specifically, the club wants Wilyer Abreu — a platoon player to this point in his career — to get regular starts against lefties in right field, a position where Refsnyder logged 21 starts in 2025. Cora also praised the athleticism of Nate Eaton, who may take over Refsnyder’s role as a versatile, younger and cheaper version in 2026. Eaton had a .673 OPS against lefties in 49 big league plate appearances last year but the Red Sox think there’s more in his right-handed bat. Kristian Campbell is expected to focus on outfield work in spring training, too, further crowding a group that includes Abreu, Roman Anthony, Ceddanne Rafaela, Jarren Duran and potentially Eaton and others.
The Mariners will be Refsnyder’s seventh major league team, joining the Yankees, Blue Jays, Rays and Twins. He had previously signed two deals to remain in Boston, agreeing to avoid arbitration at $1.2 million for 2023, then signing a $1.85 million extension for the 2024 season that included a $2 million option for 2025.
