boston Page 8 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
Is Sam Cassell the heir apparent in Boston?
Sam Cassell’s been the heir apparent for multiple head coaching jobs over 15 years. It’s an inescapable cycle for one of the NBA’s most recognizable names. Next season, Cassell will join the Celtics bench as an assistant to 34-year-old Boston head coach Joe Mazzulla. That feels backwards. If these t...
MLB’s shift ban hasn’t solved baseball's real problem, but it also probably can’t
A little more than two months into the MLB season, the first with a shift-ban that keeps two infielders on each side of second base, and the league will probably declare victory. There are more hits, and left-handed batters are seeing more grounders and line-drives are resulting in base hits, which ...
Thanks for the memories, Bartolo Colon
Bartolo Colon hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2018 but is finally retiring — at age 50. His former club, the New York Mets, will hold an official retirement ceremony for “Big Sexy” on Aug. 26 before a game against another one of Colon’s ex-teams, the Los Angeles Angels. ...
Miami Heat can’t survive NBA Finals with a punchdrunk Jimmy Butler
Jimmy Buckets was in standby mode for Game 1. Maybe it was the altitude that Ball Center resides at, or the altitude of expectations, but regular season Jimmy Butler pulled up for Game 1. Butler seemed more intent on picking his spots and taking the Denver Nuggets’ temperature. Likewise, the Miami H...
The Denver Nuggets did something no team has done in a long time — beat the Miami Heat in Game 1
The last time the Miami Heat lost the first game of a series they got swept. Game 1 is always important, but Thursday night was essential for the Denver Nuggets — a franchise that is making its first appearance in the NBA Finals. It’s why Mike Malone knew his team was a must-win scenario....
Heat can't get past Nuggets on guts alone
For once a Miami Heat 2023 playoff game played out the way that was expected. The Denver Nuggets are bigger, more talented, and won Game 1 of the NBA Finals by a double-digit margin — 104-93....
The definitive NBA Finals player rankings
The NBA Finals are upon us, and it’s time to rank the players involved. You’ll notice Tyler Herro is just an honorable mention, and that’s due to his injury status and not fully knowing when he’ll play in the series. These rankings are based on the level of importance and influence each player will ...
Barfstool rips off Sidetalk and spreads extra mayonnaise on it
I have no stake in the Boston vs New York rivalry. I think both lobster and chopped cheese sandwiches are delicious. I listen to both the Notorious B.I.G. and New Edition. I also find both places to be unnecessarily loud and obnoxious but I get it, neither one has enough space. All of that being sai...
Will Nikola Jokić lead Denver to its first title or will Jimmy Butler fulfill his playoff prophecy?
One of the least anticipated matchups in recent memory is upon us. The Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat. Let’s be real here. No LeBron, no Jayson Tatum, and no Boston Celtics legends in the stands. Media members have been openly grousing all week about having to cover the Nuggets. That’s a cornball pos...
The San Diego Padres are the first to get out of their Bally Sports TV deal
In a few years, baseball TV will look very different. We’re getting a glimpse now, thanks to Bally Sports missing a payment to the San Diego Padres, essentially ending their rights deal. MLB is stepping in already, and starting later today MLB is taking over the broadcasts for the Padres. And of cou...
Mark Cuban tries to get NBA fans to narc on themselves
Being the businessman that Mark Cuban is, sometimes he would like information directly from the public. The people in the big office chairs may not give credence to what the masses think. If they want to remove the most highly-regarded name in the history of television from an app they will, despite...
Boston’s ‘intimidating’ postseason home-court advantage is dead
Boston Celtics fans woke up Tuesday morning still stunned that their team lost by 19 points to the Miami Heat in TD Garden on Monday night in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Any hopes of back-to-back trips to the NBA Finals were ended by Caleb Martin. And the dream of being the first team t...
Boston Celtics blew it and didn’t even give fans their money’s worth
After a dramatic finish to Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Game 7 didn’t nearly live up to the hype. But that only matters to the city of Boston. The Miami Heat stormed into Beantown, took care of business early, and completely silenced the crowd inside TD Garden by halftime. The Celtics mi...
The Celtics find an even better way to lose than just getting swept
Remember the “Minneapolis Miracle?” You might, but if you don’t it’s when the Minnesota Vikings pulled out a last-second win in the divisional round over the Saints when the entire New Orleans secondary decided to reenact a Three Stooges routine. However, it doesn’t really get the play that, say, th...
The NBA holds officials like Eric Lewis to higher standards than we do Supreme Court justices
Updated Aug. 30: Eric Lewis has retired amid the league investigation into whether or not he had a burner Twitter/X account. ...
![These are your NBA Conference Finals All-Stars [Updated]](https://images.deadspin.com/tr:w-900/f76d81f8c8a7ff5311833c932baa6622.jpg)
These are your NBA Conference Finals All-Stars [Updated]
Unfortunately, as hard as the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics played in the conference finals, a 2010 rematch did not emerge from the conference finals. Both legendary franchises fell to a 3-0 deficit. The Celtics held on for dear life, but should never have been down that bad. In the end both...
Boston Celtics got a lucky bounce — along with Game 7 and all the momentum
After falling behind 3-0 in the Eastern Conference Finals, Boston Celtics’ guards Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart told the media, “Don’t let us get one.” Not only did the Celtics get one, but they got a second and a third in a row to tie the series and become only the fourth team in NBA history to adv...
The Miami Heat have the Boston Celtics right where they want them
Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals is going to decide nature vs. nurture, talent vs. culture, once and for all. Jimmy Butler has been giving the cameras a wry smile and an occasional wink since the Miami Heat lost Game 4, and even went as far as to say “We can and we will win this series.” Desp...
Ronald Acuña Jr. might be starting his own historic club the way he's playing
Atlanta Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr. is running away in the National League MVP race. He’s tied for first in MLB in runs, third in hits, sixth in batting average, fifth in OPS, and second in stolen bases. He has 11 home runs and 22 stolen bases through 51 games, helping the Braves to run away with t...
Does Boston actually have a chance to get back in this thing?
A 16-seed beating a 1-seed in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament was considered impossible until 2018. It happened again in the 2023 tourney. The Boston Red Sox were a franchise for 103 years before they became the first MLB team to come back from a 3-0 deficit. Currently, NBA teams are 0-150 in p...