After a nightmare weekend for all the Boston teams (except the Bruins, who barely managed an over-time win)...It was good to see the Red Sox remember that Fenway is a hitters ball park on Monday night. It was good to see the Celtics infuriate the Cleveland fans, instead of infuriating me by blowing a ten point fourth quarter lead.
Ok, so they almost blew a 25 point lead instead, but the very fact that they had double digit leads in the fourth quarter of both home games against the Cavs should suggest who is the better team. However, as the Cavs haven't had a chance in the Garden yet, I'll just say that the Celtics Should beat the Cavs.
Rondo is playing out of his mind, with 19 assists that led to 45 points in game 2. His energy is the engine of this Celtics team. Rasheed Wallace also remembered how to be a factor in a play-off game. If we continue to see that consistency of effort (and a 7-8 night) then the Celtics bench again becomes a factor, and it will be difficult for any team (with perhaps the exception of an extremely deep Magic team) to beat the Celtics.
Beltre, congratulations on your first Red Sox home run. People are all over Ortiz because he's not hitting home runs, and Beltre waits until the month of May to hit his, and no one thinks twice about it. Go figure. Then again, Ortiz went 0-4. Ya. Apparently my Big Sloppy speech wasn't motivating after all. I still say he just needs more mango-salsa.
So with the Angel's floundering, and the Cav's hanging on Lebron's elbow, I feel pretty good about Boston sports for the next few days. We'll see if that tone doesn't change once the Yankees come to town...but I really believe this is just the test the Sox needed to prove to themselves that they're back on track, and ready to become the team we've all come to expect.
It'll certainly be better than playing worse than the Orioles. . .
Joe Franciosa, Jr.
Copyright 2010
Keywords: Beltre, Boston Celtics, Bruins, Cleveland Cavaliers, Lebron, Ortiz, Rondo, Sox
