Last week, Hanley Ramirez became a Bruins fan. The Red Sox slugger attended his first hockey game, Game 6 between Boston and Toronto at Air Canada Centre last Monday.
On Saturday, before the Sox faced the Rays at Fenway, I asked Ramirez how he thought the Bruins would fare in Game 1 of a second-round series against Tampa Bay.
“No!” he exclaimed. “Tonight is Celtics!”
It’s easy to get confused. Indeed, the Celtics were playing Game 7 against the Bucks at TD Garden on Saturday night. They soundly defeated Milwaukee 112-96 and earned a second-round matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers. Just not before the Bruins made a statement in Tampa with a 6-2 win.
These are heady times in the Golden Age of Boston sports. Over the weekend all four major sports teams were busy, with two playoff games, early season baseball and the NFL draft.
Boston is the only city with teams still in the second rounds of both the NBA and Stanley Cup playoffs. Philadelphia and Toronto came close, but both hockey teams lost in the first round. In Minnesota, both the Wild and Timberwolves lost in the first round.
The Bruins survived an early-round scare from the Maple Leafs, losing two straight and trailing after two periods in Game 7. Then they exploded for one of the best periods of playoff hockey we’ve seen around here in a long time. The Bruins are young, exciting and gaining valuable experience. They took 3 of 4 from the Lightning in the regular season and seem to match up well with Tampa.
David Pastrnak, Jake DeBrusk and Charlie McAvoy are all key players in Boston’s hopes for a Cup this year and beyond. And all are 21 years old or younger. Don Sweeney’s plan of accumulating young talent is paying off – and that payoff may come sooner than expected.
The Celtics also let things last a little longer than they wanted in the first round, losing three games on the road to the Bucks. Yet they held court at home, and neutralized Giannis Antetokounmpo in Game 7. A lot of people think the Celtics have overachieved without Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward.
Yet without those two superstars the Celtics played great defense and survived the loss of Jaylen Brown in Game 7. They are a plucky team with one of the top coaches in the game.
The good news is Marcus Smart is back after making a tremendous impact in the final games of the first round. They also began the Philadelphia series with home-court advantage. The 76ers are much improved but a Boston win isn’t out of the question.
While the Bruins and Celtics were winning crucial games, it was business as usual for the New England Patriots over the weekend. Bill Belichick traded down, traded up and made picks no one expected. It has worked well for him over the years, and we will continue to trust in The Hoodie until proven otherwise.
Meantime, the Red Sox were finishing off the month of April with the best record in the American League. The Sox avoided being swept for the first time this season with a come-from-behind 4-3 win over the Rays on Sunday. Alex Cora showed faith in light-hitting catcher Sandy Leon by not pinch hitting for him with two on and two outs in the eighth. That faith was rewarded with a winning RBI single.
Craig Kimbrel entered in the eighth for the first time this season, striking out two straight batters in the ninth with men in scoring position to win the game. The Sox have fallen back to earth a bit since starting 17-2, but still began the week with the best record in the majors.
When things are going well, the Red Sox provide a background soundtrack to our summer. As we get our first taste of summer temperatures this week, that backdrop is part of a spring that has Boston sitting on top of the sports world. Two teams are in the second round, the Sox are in first place, and the Pats are making their plans for another AFC title run.
You know things are going well when you forget which playoff team is in action on a given night. And things are going very well in Boston.
Tom Caron is a studio host for the Red Sox broadcast on NESN. His column appears in the Portland Press Herald on Tuesdays.
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