Boston, MA
Dave Hyde: Long odds? Heat face the longest of all against Boston
MIAMI — The Miami Heat have created some epic playoff upsets in recent years to define their organization and further “Heat Culture.”
This coming chance would dwarf them all.
The Heat were a fifth seed that beat the fourth (Indiana), first (Milwaukee) and third (Boston) seeds en route to the Bubble NBA Finals in 2020 during the pandemic.
None of those compare to the dizzying odds starting Sunday against top seed Boston.
They were the lowly play-in team last year that beat top seed Milwaukee in five games. That was followed by the Game 7 stunner in Boston on the heels of Derrick White’s game-winning tip in Game 6 that threatened to bring the Celtics back from a 3-0 series deficit and steal the Heat’s soul.
Remember? The Heat rallied so furiously right from the start of Game 7 that Boston fans began booing and TNT’s Charles Barkley said at halftime, “Watching these dumbass Celtics play is making my head hurt.”
Yes, the Heat have had some epic upsets.
And you can combine them all, throw in David’s slingshot, Buster Douglas’ right hook on Mike Tyson and Al Michaels shouting, “Do you believe in miracles?” — and only then are you nearing the neighborhood of long odds starting with Game 1 Sunday in Boston.
They don’t even have to win the series without star Jimmy Butler.
They just have to somehow make it a series.
Win a game. Threaten to take two. Can you expect any more? And isn’t it unfortunate to have to frame it like this?
“We want Boston!” the Heat fans chanted in a cute and celebratory way while drubbing Chicago 112-91 in what showed some organizational bona fides.
They got Boston.
“It’s going to be a dogfight,’’ Bam Adebayo said.
Bless him.
“It’s going to be fun,’’ Jaime Jaquez Jr. said.
He’s a rookie.
The Heat have no chance in a best-of-seven series without Butler and probably injured guard Terry Rozier. None. Stating such ill-fated realism would mean banishment from the Heat, considering that’s exactly what Adebayo told any player who didn’t think they could beat Chicago on Friday for the final -play-in spot.
“It only infects those who think we can win,’’ Adebayo said after the Heat’s win.
He sees this series as an opportunity, just as he should. It’s the biggest opportunity of all. Boston was a dominant 64-18 this season and has all players healthy and rested. The Heat were the last-play-in team in the East to the playoffs are down not just Butler but guard Terry Rozier.
Boston isn’t going to be taking the Heat lightly, either, after stewing since last spring over their loss to the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals.
“We failed,’’ Boston’s Jaylen Brown after that Game 7. “I failed. We let the whole city down.”
The Heat created such pain the Celtics re-did their blueprint. They traded veteran leader Marcus Smart for Porzingis. They brought in tough guard Jrue Holiday. Their two All-Star wings in Tatum and Brown now have the cast to help them.
Can the Heat dent them over a series? Sure. Coach Erik Spoelstra will come up with some strategic wrinkle. He threw a shifting zone at Philadelphia that stumped them for a quarter in the first play-in game.
On Friday, he had Adebayo defend Chicago star DeMar DeRozan. That meant 205-pound Nikola Jovic, a kid at 20, was matched against 260-pound Nikola Vucevic. It all worked, too. Chicago was lost in the opening quarter.
Spoelstra also prepped his team for Friday’s game in the way a good coach does.
“What we talked about (Friday morning) was to forget how we got here,’’ he said. “We could be frustrated. We could say it sucks. OK, when you pass all that, you say we have a came of this competition and these consequences. We have a bunch of Type-A competitors. I wanted them to embrace it, to feel it and enjoy it.”
Didn’t he create a good, new narrative for that game?
“I have an appreciation for the things you can’t buy, the things that you have to earn,” Spoelstra said. “We had to earn this. You can’t influence it. You can’t pay money for it. You actually have to collectively come together to earn it — and we had to do it the hard way, just to get this first ticket punched for the invitation to this dance.”
Their ticket is punched. Boston awaits. This franchise has had some defining upsets in recent years. This one would re-define all of them.
Boston, MA
Texas A&M SS Boston Kellner suffers orbital bone fracture
(KBTX) – Texas A&M shortstop Boston Kellner suffered a fractured orbital bone after he was hit in the face with a fastball in Friday night’s series opener at Ole Miss, according to a team spokesperson.
He did not sustain a concussion, and there was no damage to his eye, a team spokesperson said.
The extent of the injury was first reported on the SEC Network+ broadcast.
The true freshman has been a starter for the Aggies since the beginning of the season, slashing .248/.432/.418. He has five home runs and 27 RBIs, typically batting at the bottom of the order. Defensively, he has a .928 fielding percentage.
Ben Royo entered in his place and was a key contributor early Saturday. The senior blasted a pair of home runs against Ole Miss on his first two hits of the season. He entered Saturday’s first game with four at-bats this season.
A&M has struggled with injuries as of late. Chris Hacopian, who also could have been an option to fill in at shortstop, has been relegated to the designated-hitter role as he recovers from a leg injury suffered during the Florida series. Third baseman Nico Partida remains out with a pulled hamstring he sustained against Auburn.
Copyright 2026 KBTX. All rights reserved.
Boston, MA
What we know about wrong-way driver killed in head-on collision with state trooper in Lynnfield – The Boston Globe
Court records show that Marrero was the father of three children, the oldest of whom is 17. The youngest two children, twins, are 13 years old; Marrero’s death came days before their 14th birthday.
Records in Middlesex Probate and Family Court also suggest that Marrero faced financial difficulties and personal troubles, stemming in part from a work injury that family members said caused a bout of depression and deteriorating behavior in his personal life.
For nearly a decade, Marrero worked at Dewberry, a Boston engineering consulting firm, court records show, obtaining a job as an architectural design apprentice in 2005. He left the company in 2014, according to a company spokesperson.
Throughout that time, he doubled as a bartender on the side, working at Mexican restaurants in Boston and Waltham, court records show.
A knee injury ended Marrero’s career at Dewberry, court records show, and he left the company shortly thereafter.
That injury, according to court documents, was the catalyst for what his wife described as a “major depressive episode,” which she said contributed to the strain in their marriage. The couple, who had been married for more than 20 years, separated in 2022.
Records also show that Marrero struggled with debts to family members and credit card companies. During his divorce proceedings, it was unclear how much money he was taking home in income.
Marrero briefly owned and operated a contracting business, 109 Construction, but the corporation was administratively dissolved in 2024, according to state filings.
Marrero had lived in US since at least 2001, holding legal status. He became a naturalized citizen in March 2021, court records show.
Social media posts suggest he was active in the tight-knit Venezuelan community in Massachusetts. Photos show him cheering on Venezuela at a World Baseball Classic watch party in Brighton earlier this year.
Court records appear to show Marrero’s interest in art and music, owning a Venezuelan guitar, conga drums, and several Venezuelan paintings, as well as homemade winemaking setup.
Marrero’s family could not be reached for comment. A close friend reached by the Globe declined to comment.
Trainor had just completed his shift at about 2 a.m. on Wednesday and was driving home when he responded to a report for a Jeep traveling south in the northbound lanes of Route 1, near the Lynnfield overpass.
Raised in Salem, Trainor began his public safety career as an Essex County correction officer before graduating from the State Police academy in 2023, State Police Colonel Geoffrey Noble said.
Trainor’s fiancée, Jessica D. Ostrowski, of Georgetown, posted an emotional message to social media Thursday, describing the late trooper as “my absolute best friend.”
“I am beyond proud for the amount of love you have been given by those who loved and cared about you,” she wrote.
Travis Andersen and Jeremiah Manion of the Globe staff contributed to this report. Material from previous Globe coverage was used.
Camilo Fonseca can be reached at camilo.fonseca@globe.com. Follow him on X @fonseca_esq and on Instagram @camilo_fonseca.reports.
Boston, MA
Funding scandal-hit Croft schools in Boston to close this summer after all
Administrators at the Croft School, struggling after allegations of financial fraud, haven’t been able to find a buyer for its Boston locations, which will now close at the end of the school year, parents were told Friday.
Millions of dollars were raised by families and community members to keep the private school open for a few more months while Croft School administrators scrambled to find a buyer. But in Friday’s email, the chief restructuring officer and independent sale advisor said that two parties expressed interest but they ultimately had to pivot toward winding operations down.
“To be clear, the 2025-2026 school year will be completed based on the availability of parent funding. However, without a viable timetable for a transaction, we are faced with this difficult decision,” the email said.
About 350 students had attended the Croft School’s three campuses, two in Boston and one in Providence. Regular tuition starts at $31,000, according to the website.
Millions were raised to keep the private school open for a few more months but the Croft School is looking for a buyer as a long-term fix to its financial problems.
More than 60 families unenrolled from the South End campus over the weekend, the email said.
News of the debt crisis surprised parents in March, when the school’s board revealed in a letter that founding Executive Director Scott Given admitted to fabricating a letter of credit regarding a possible expansion and keeping two sets of books, overstating the school’s revenue while understating its expenses.
The discovery that the school was more than $13 million in debt came after police were alerted to possible fraud. The school has said it’s cooperating with multiple investigations involving Given, who has been suspended.
The private school, with two locations in Boston and one in Providence, requires $5 million to stay open for the rest of the schoolyear.
Given has been sued by at least one Boston parent, accusing him of running a Ponzi scheme. His legal team has said he has no comment.
Parents rallied to save the school, raising enough funds to keep classes going.
The officials in charge of the sale noted “how hard many of you worked to maintain The Croft School as you know it,” but added that the “difficult circumstances, uncertain financials and condensed timeframe made this a trying environment for purchasers to timely make a binding offer for the schools.”
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