Boston, MA
Boston is too scary for Terry, Celtics beat Heat 143-110

The Boston Celtics flew down to South Beach to take on the Miami Heat Thursday night in the latest installment of one of the NBA’s fiercest rivalries. However, this one was a mismatch from start to finish, as the Cs cruised to their 35th win of the season with relative ease.
The threes weren’t going down early for Boston, so Jayson Tatum took matters into his own hands by attacking Haywood Highsmith, getting to the line twice in the first three minutes. He then went at Tyler Herro off a switch and got to the basket for a strong layup.
All the hustle plays were going Boston’s way in the opening minutes, including this tough offensive rebound and layup for Derrick White:
Everyone got a turn offensively in the first. Jaylen Brown hit a pair of 25-footers within the span of three minutes. Transition dunks, open triples and hunting mismatches created a 42-29 lead for the Celtics after 12 minutes.
Kristaps Porzingis was the biggest beneficiary of this mini-explosion, as he led all scorers with 14. The Unicorn continued to feast against smaller defenders in the midrange. He, Brown, Tatum and White all racked up at least 7 points. Boston’s 42 were the most points allowed by Miami in an opening quarter so far in the 2023-24 campaign.
Boston’s size advantage was glaring right from the tip, but especially so to open the second quarter. The lineup of Pritchard, Holiday, Tatum, Horford and Kornet gave Miami significant struggles at the rim on both ends of the floor. Holiday found his touch from long-range, hitting back-to-back open triples as a result of great ball movement.
Former friend Josh Richardson gave the Heat a spark, scoring six points off the bench. Miami’s subs kept them within striking distance, but the Heat were clearly working much harder than Boston to create good looks. For every hard-earned bucket on their end, the Celtics were getting easy shots on virtually every possession.
The Heat fought to gain some momentum back down the stretch in the second, but Boston still led 77-64 at the break. Every starter except Holiday was already in double figures at this point, with the team shooting 64.3% from the field and an even 50% from beyond the arc.
Tyler Herro was the only Heat player with double-digit points at halftime, but four guys off Miami’s bench had racked up at least five to keep them afloat.
The third-quarter woes that have plagued Boston consistently were nowhere to be found Thursday. It didn’t matter what type of defense Erik Spoelstra threw at the Celtics, they continued to generate open look after open look, converting them at a high rate.
Unfortunately, amidst a third-quarter blowout, the story of this game suddenly became the health of Kristaps Porzingis. The star big man rolled his ankle landing on Bam Adebayo’s foot after contesting his shot and had to be helped to the locker room. He was on his way to a big night, but was cut off at 19 points as a result of the injury.
Boston’s offense stalled a bit following Porzingis’ ankle sprain, and a few careless turnovers allowed the Heat to cut the lead to 16. The Celtics quickly regained their composure following a timeout and Brown showcased his playmaking on a pair of dimes to Luke Kornet, who went on his own personal 6-0 run in the waning minutes of the third. Boston led 113-90 with one quarter remaining.
Celtics fans breathed a collective sigh of relief to open the fourth, as Porzingis rejoined his teammates on the bench to watch the final 12 minutes.
The three-point barrage continued, as Horford and Pritchard hit back-to-back long-range shots. For Horford, his streak of consecutive games with at least one three extended to 17, as the 37-year-old continues to defy the odds.
In his second game with the Heat, old friend Terry Rozier still seemed to be searching for his role. The guard’s shooting slump appears to have carried over from his final stretch in Charlotte, as he finished with seven points on 3-10 shooting.
The Celtics’ lead grew to 30 with 6:30 left, which ended the night for Boston’s top six. Tatum led the way with 26 points in 32 minutes, with all of the starters racking up at least 15. Kornet was very impressive filling in for Porzingis following his injury, finishing the game with 12 points and five rebounds. When the final buzzer rang, Boston had won by a monstrous margin of 143-113.
Next up, the Celtics travel back to Boston to face the red-hot Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday, January 27 at 7:00 p.m. ET.

Boston, MA
How to Watch: No. 14 Boston College Baseball vs No. 11 Notre Dame in ACC Tournament

The No. 14-seeded Boston College Eagles (26-28, 11-19 ACC) baseball team starts its run in the 2025 ACC Baseball Tournament against the No. 11-seeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish (32-20, 14-16 ACC) on Tuesday night.
The Eagles are looking to bounce back and keep their season alive after a series loss to the Cal Golden Bears this weekend. Boston College dropped the opener 8-6 and finale 4-3, however took the middle game 10-9.
The Fighting Irish are looking to continue the momentum from the weekend as it earned a series win over the Miami Hurricanes. Notre Dame won the first game 3-2 and the finale 12-2. The team dropped the middle game 15–1.
This will be the fourth game played between the two teams this season. Earlier in the year, the pair played a three-game series from April 11-13 that Boston College won, dropping the first game 2-0 and winning the next two 6-5 and 4-3.
Below is all the information for the upcoming matchup.
How to Watch: Boston College Baseball vs. Notre Dame in ACC Tournament:
Who: Boston College Eagles and Notre Dame Fighting Irish
When: Tuesday, May 20 at 9 p.m. ET
Where: Durham Bulls Athletic Park, Durham, N.C.
TV: ACC Network
Last Outing, Notre Dame: The Fighting Irish earned a series win over the Miami Hurricanes this weekend. Notre Dame took the opening game 3-2 and finale 12-2. The team dropped the middle game 15-1.
Last Outing, Boston College: The Eagles suffered a series loss to the Cal Golden Bears this weekend, dropping the first game 8-6 and finale 4-3. Boston College took the middle game 10-9.
Last Meeting: The last time these two teams met was for a series earlier in the season from April 11-13. Boston College won the set, dropping the first game 2-0 and winning the next two 6-5 and 4-3.
Boston, MA
Alex Cora explains why Boston Red Sox’ Trevor Story has struggled

BOSTON — Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story is on pace to play 151 games.
But will he hit enough to justify playing nearly every day for the rest of the season?
It hasn’t gone well for Story so far this year. Meanwhile, 22-year-old shortstop Marcelo Mayer, Baseball America‘s No. 8 overall prospect, is making a case at Triple-A Worcester with his OPS up to .819 after a slow start to the season.
Story entered Saturday with the 22nd worst OPS (.627) in the major leagues. He was batting .234 with a .276 on-base percentage and .351 slugging percentage in 44 games (181 plate appearances). He has only eight extra-base hits (six homers, two doubles).
“Physically he feels great,” manager Alex Cora said before Boston’s game against the Braves on Saturday. “And he worked his (expletive) off in the offseason to get to this point. He wanted to play a lot of games, more than 150. And I think he’s on pace to do that. But obviously I gotta be smart, too. Not only with the production, but also the body.”
Saturday marked Story’s 45th game, the most games he has played in a season since 2022. He missed most of 2023 following elbow surgery, then was limited to 26 games last year after fracturing the glenoid bone in his left shoulder during the opening road trip.
“All the metrics, all the information that we have — the bat speed is there, his hands are where they’re supposed to be. Everything looks OK,” Cora said. “The only thing we’re not doing right now is hitting the ball forward.”
Story is the bottom 10th percentile among major league hitters in chase percentage (36.7%), strikeout percentage (30.9%), walk percentage (3.9%) and squared-up percentage (17.9%).
Cora said the Red Sox felt better about Story’s at-bats Friday when he went 1-for-4 with an RBI single in the ninth. Story also has a walk and single in Saturday’s game so far.
“Just missing his pitches,” Cora said. “That’s the bottom line. I know he’s swinging a lot but he’s getting pitches in the zone and he’s fouling them off. And after that, they (pitchers) get to work.”
Cora said Story also hasn’t taken advantage even after he gets ahead in the count.
“2-0, 3-1, misses his pitches and then they bury him,” Cora said. “Early on, he wasn’t doing that. He was actually connecting and hitting the ball hard. And lately it hasn’t happened.”
Story’s 47.8% hard hit percentage is in the 73rd percentile among major league hitters. He’s also been an above-average baserunner. But all his other advanced offensive stats on Baseball Savant are between the poor and average scale (mostly poor).
Cora said it’s important for Story to make in-game adjustments.
“When he’s really good, he’s hitting the fastball. We know that,” Cora said. “And one thing that he did his first year (with the Red Sox in 2022), he was driving the ball to right-center. And I always talk about hitting the ball hard the other way. And then whatever soft is in the zone, he was able to pull.”
Story has struggled mightily on fastballs this season, going 18-for-87 (.207) with a .218 slugging percentage and just one extra-base hit (double).
Story’s best years offensively were 2018-21 — and he was able to feast on fastballs each of those seasons.
vs. fastballs:
- 2018: .306 batting average, .572 slugging percentage.
- 2019: .298 batting average, .570 slugging percentage.
- 2020: .304 batting average, .507 slugging percentage.
- 2021: .273 batting average, .498 slugging percentage.
“Right now he’s fouled them (fastballs) off,” Cora said. “Yesterday was a good sign. He stayed on a good pitch by Chris (Sale). Fouled it off but he stayed with it. And then the base hit up the middle, that was good.”
As Cora mentioned, the Red Sox feel OK with Story’s bat speed — but he ranks in the 28th percentile in that category (70.6).
Cora was asked how long the Red Sox can continue on this path with Story if he’s not producing.
“Right now, he’s not the only one struggling,” Cora said. “KC (Kristian Campbell) has struggled for 50 at-bats and we’re not talking about that. It’s a lot. Like right now, I think offensively we got some holes and it’s not because they’re bad players or bad hitters. They’re just going through a stretch right here. And we just have to get ‘em going. Start doing the little things, hit the ball the other way, get your walks. And if we start doing that as a group, we’re gonna be better.”
Boston, MA
Boston Celtics core should be remembered fondly after shakeup|Souichi Terada

NEW YORK — The sting of this Celtics season is going to last a while, and not just because they were embarrassed by the Knicks in Game 6 to end their season. Jayson Tatum’s ruptured right Achilles tendon casts question marks on the organization going forward. Considering the C’s were already set for a transformational offseason, there’s a lot of uncertainty going forward.
But, for now, Celtics fans should reflect back on this two-year group. They were special. They accomplished their goal by winning the 2024 NBA title. They’re already immortalized for that. And, when looking back at this core, they should be remembered fondly and in a positive light.
Yes, there were frustrating moments. This probably isn’t even a conversation — at least for now — if the Celtics didn’t blow Games 1 and 2 to the Knicks. Old bad habits kicked in and the C’s didn’t look like reigning champions. That slimmed their margin for error, then once Tatum went down, this series was going to be difficult to win. Ultimately, the Celtics couldn’t accomplish their lofty goal of going back-to-back.
Most importantly, appreciate what this group did: They maximized their talent. That doesn’t always happen. There was no bickering or moaning about touches, playing time or whatever. Plenty of NBA teams are fractured because of individualistic motives. That’s part of being in the league. C’s fans are familiar with that when a promising 2018-19 season ended in a dud, also during the second round.
There was none of that drama over the past two seasons — that should be appreciated, too. This group realized the opportunity in front of them with a loaded roster, so all they did was work toward getting better. All you can do in this league is to put yourself in a position to win, and the Celtics did that for two seasons.
“I just love playing with the guys that we have in that locker room,” Derrick White said. “Just a great group of guys that compete at a high level. Off the court, we just had a lot of fun. And I think that’s just what I’ll probably the most proud of: is just being able to say that I put on a Boston Celtics uniform with some amazing group of people.”
The Celtics weren’t perfect. They lost in the second round to a Knicks team that executed when it mattered, and for that, the C’s only have themselves to blame. Then their injury luck turned for the worst as Tatum going down like he did also took an emotional toll. But the Knicks deserved to win since that’s what they did, taking four out of six games against the heavily-favored Celtics.
So, the Celtics will process how this season went over the next few days ahead of the offseason. Then the front office will inevitably get to work, whether that’s the draft, free agency, trades or whatever tool they can muster to upgrade the roster. There will likely be departures to key guys since that’s how the salary cap works. But this group was special — Banner No. 18 is proof of that.
“I told the guys in the locker room, one of the honors of my life was to be able to coach this group of guys,” C’s coach Joe Mazzulla said. “So you go down the list, every one of these guys is a champion, a warrior and they’ve done a lot of great things in this league. And it’s an honor to be able to share the locker room with them and be next to them on the court and be in the arena with them. So, I’m grateful for that.”
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