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‘Celtics City' beyond the episode: The rise and fall of the ‘Big Three'

‘Celtics City' beyond the episode: The rise and fall of the ‘Big Three' originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The 1990s were a nightmare for the Boston Celtics, but a new century brought new hope for the franchise.

Paul Pierce, Boston’s 10th overall draft pick in 1998, survived his stabbing and emerged as the team’s franchise cornerstone. The Kansas product led the C’s back into the playoffs alongside co-star Antoine Walker, but it still wasn’t enough to get over the hump.

After another downturn, Doc Rivers was hired as head coach while former Celtic Danny Ainge took over as general manager and quickly made his presence felt. He traded Walker in a controversial move in 2004, but “Trader Danny’s” most noteworthy deals came three years later.

More Celtics City ‘Beyond the Episode’

Before the 2007-08 season, Ainge acquired Kevin Garnett from the Minnesota Timberwolves and Ray Allen from the Seattle SuperSonics to form a “Big Three” with Pierce. The trio led the Celtics to a league-best 66-16 regular-season record, a 42-win improvement over the previous campaign. Boston eventually defeated its archrival, the Los Angeles Lakers, in the ’08 NBA Finals for its first title since 1986.

That would be the “Big Three’s” only championship. Allen left to join LeBron James and the rival Miami Heat in 2012, much to the chagrin of his ex-teammates, especially Garnett. He helped Miami to a title in 2013.

Allen’s departure and Garnett’s knee injury in 2009 put a damper on what could have been a dynastic run for the C’s. Still, the “Big Three” era will be remembered for making the franchise relevant again and for embracing the “Ubuntu” philosophy. “Ubuntu,” meaning “I am because we are,” became the team motto during the 2007-2008 season under Rivers.

“Doc was the perfect coach for that team, in my opinion,” longtime NBA reporter Jackie MacMullan said on NBC Sports Boston’s “Keys to the City” show recapping Episode 8, as seen in the video player above. “That’s mostly because KG bought in immediately. Doc talks in the documentary about having a meeting, and we’re gonna have to talk about what we have to do to make this work. And KG’s slapping the table, ‘I’ll do whatever it takes!’ You know, he’s being KG, and other two are looking at him like, ‘What a lunatic.’

“But he set the tone, and that tone was set from the moment he arrived in Boston until the day he left. He was the undisputed leader. As great as Paul Pierce was, and he deserved the MVP in the Finals and all of that, but KG was the heartbeat of that team, he was the conscience of that team, and he was the energy coursing through that team’s veins.”

Check out NBC Sports Boston’s exclusive footage and interviews from the “Big Three” Celtics era below:

Highlights from Game 6 of the 2008 NBA Finals as the Celtics blow out the Lakers at TD Garden to win their 17th NBA title.

In Game 4 of the 2008 NBA Finals, the Celtics mount a historic comeback, overcoming a 24-point lead in Los Angeles to take a 3-1 series lead. Boston would win their 17th NBA championship in Game 6.

Check out some of the best moments from when Paul Pierce joined Brian Scalabrine to break down the game that secured the Celtics’ championship win over the Lakers. Pierce talks about what it meant for him to finally win a title, how he helped the Celtics add P.J. Brown to the team, and what it was like to play that final game at the Garden.

In 2018, NBC Sports Boston produced “Anything is Possible,” celebrating the memorable 2008 championship run by the Celtics. This documentary builds up to the culmination of the Celtics winning their 17th NBA title, after a prolonged 20+ year drought that had tragedy, heartbreak, and turmoil.

The film looks at the years of planning and transactions by Danny Ainge to center the franchise around the new “Big 3”, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen.

From NBC Sports Boston’s 2018 documentary “Anything is Possible”, the story behind the signature phrase the 2008 Boston Celtics lived by on their way to winning the franchise’s 17th NBA title, “Ubuntu”. Also, the team talks about other motivational tools head coach Doc Rivers used before the season began to bring his team together.

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Baron Davis slams Nuggets for stealing Warriors' ‘We Believe' mantra

Baron Davis slams Nuggets for stealing Warriors' ‘We Believe' mantra originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

The Warriors’ famous “We Believe” slogan was stolen by the Denver Nuggets during the 2025 NBA playoffs, and former Golden State star Baron Davisisn’t happy about it.

“I mean, that’s just so original. So original and unoriginal,” Davis sarcastically said on Monday’s edition of the “Draymond Green Show” podcast. “Man, come on, Denver. Call me, I’ll give you a slogan. This ain’t going to work. Somebody should be fired. 

“This don’t work in Denver, you got to come up with something for Denver. You got to come up with something for Denver.”

The Nuggets rolled out a rally towel donning the motto for Game 1 of their 2025 Western Conference first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Clippers at their home Ball Arena.

Davis and the 2006-07 “We Believe” Warriors made NBA history when they became the first No. 8 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed (Dallas Mavericks) in a first-round playoff series. And Davis and Green each agreed that just because the iconic Golden State team is decades old, it doesn’t give Denver an excuse to rip off the Warriors.

So, what exactly are the fourth-seeded Nuggets believing in their matchup with the fifth-seeded Clippers? The world may never know. After all, Dub Nation still uses the mantra.

“I say that too about the Warriors,” Davis told Green. “That’s like a Warriors mantra. We still believe. That’s what would replace the ‘We Believe.’”

Green agreed that “somebody should be fired.”

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Another rough night at Citi Field to begin Phillies' season series with Mets

Another rough night at Citi Field to begin Phillies' season series with Mets originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

NEW YORK — The fifth pitch of Aaron Nola’s night was a low-and-in curveball to one of Francisco Lindor’s nitro zones, it traveled 376 feet over the wall in right field and so began the Phillies’ 2025 season series with the Mets.

The Phils were sent home last October on this same field in Flushing, and the Mets again looked like the superior team on Monday night. The final score was a 5-4 loss but the Mets entered the ninth with a five-run lead and tried to get middle reliever Max Kranick through a third inning when the Phillies finally came through with a few knocks. It was too little, too late.

Nola served up leadoff home runs in each of the first two innings while Mets right-hander Tylor Megill stifled the Phils’ offense for the sixth consecutive time.

Megill retired eight of nine the first trip through the order, striking out five, before the Phillies put some solid plate appearances on him in the third inning. They loaded the bases on a Bryson Stott single and back-to-back two-out walks from Trea Turner and Bryce Harper. Kyle Schwarber expanded the zone, though, to strike out on a down-and-away changeup.

Not capitalizing on that opportunity hurt because the Phillies’ chances to touch Megill have always been sparse. He’s dominated them in six starts dating back to 2022 with a 1.36 ERA. The Phillies have hit .149 and homered once in 124 plate appearances against him.

The Phillies are 13-10, three games behind the Mets in the NL East. They’re 20-30 in their last 50 games against the Mets, who played them tough even before they started spending freely under owner Steve Cohen. This looks like a much better club than even the one that defeated the Phillies in the 2024 NLDS with the additions of Juan Soto and Clay Holmes, a healthy Kodai Senga and the most productive start of Pete Alonso’s career.

It was obviously just one early-season game and the teams will meet at least 12 more times, but Monday was a continuation of a couple of concerning trends. The Phils are going to need to hit Megill at some point. His career ERA entering the night was 4.39.

Nola was slightly better than he’d been previously and two of the runs he was charged with were inherited by Jose Ruiz, but he continues to struggle with the home run ball, pitch with diminished velocity and put more traffic on the basepaths than usual. Though he’s had trouble in the past keeping the ball in the park, Nola has always maintained low walk rates and low opposing batting averages, which has resulted in many of the home runs being solos.

Nola has been more hittable than ever before, though, with a .301 opponents’ batting average compared to .233 for his career. He’s also walked 10 batters over his last three starts. Nola said after his most recent outing against the Giants that he hasn’t felt like himself from the stretch this season, and he’s spent quite a bit of time in the stretch, putting the leadoff man on base in nine of his last 18 innings. He is 0-5 with a 6.43 ERA.

Once again, though, it wouldn’t have mattered much if Nola pitched a gem. The Phillies have scored a grand total of five runs for him in his five starts.

They’ll look to even the series Tuesday night behind Cristopher Sanchez, whose last outing was one of the most impressive by a Phillie in recent memory. He’ll need to keep it up.

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Lakers confident 'winning on small details' will power series comeback against Minnesota

Los Angeles, CA - April 19: Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) splits two defenders.
Lakers guard Austin Reaves scores after driving past Minnesota's Mike Conley, left, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker during the Lakers' 117-95 loss in Game 1 of the first round of the NBA playoffs on Saturday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Austin Reaves was tired Monday, the Lakers having just wrapped up a really hard practice.

In the first minutes of Game 1 Saturday evening, he was tired too.

As Reaves walked off the court for the first time, his chest heaved as he grabbed for air and he slumped to grab his shorts, telltale signs that he’d given a lot of effort in his first shift.

But giving effort and playing hard, at least internally in the Lakers’ dictionary, have two different definitions. And in what became a theme in the Lakers’ series-opening loss to the Timberwolves, the Lakers figured out ways to do the one and not enough of the other.

Read more:Hernández: After a Game 1 meltdown, the Lakers should still win their series but must adapt fast

It’s why it might sound simplistic when JJ Redick said the Lakers' biggest adjustments start with them “playing harder and being organized,” but one without the other won’t lead them to the kinds of results they need Tuesday.

Asked what it looks like when the Lakers are “playing hard,” Reaves said it’s about more than flying around the court with no greater purpose other than to sweat. It’s energy, sure, but it’s focused, intentional and tough.

“Just think it's the how connected we are when everybody's giving it everything they have on every possession. You're more locked into every detail on both ends of the floor. And that's what the playoffs is about, winning on small details. Unfortunately we didn't do it the first game.”

Asked about potential adjustments, Redick said he would share only one.

“Not giving away our adjustments — got to play harder,” Redick said.

Lakers guard Luka Doncic shoots over Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert in Game 1 on Saturday.
Lakers guard Luka Doncic shoots over Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert in Game 1 on Saturday. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

The Lakers didn’t spend a lot of time wondering why in Game 1 of a playoff game, at home even, they didn’t play hard enough, but a look at their season shows some of the ways it could’ve been predicted.

When the team was faced with a long break while games were postponed because of the Los Angeles area wildfires, they managed just 102 points in a loss to the Spurs. After the seven-day All-Star break, the Lakers scored 97 points against Charlotte. And after he missed two weeks, LeBron James’ return to the Lakers was spoiled by a complete defensive no-show where the team allowed 146 points.

And an optimist would point out the Lakers won 12 of 14 after the loss to the Spurs and then won eight-straight after losing to the Hornets. And while James’ ramp-up after his injury return included a clunker in Orlando and a buzzer-beater in Chicago, the team quickly found its footing in good wins against Houston and in Memphis and Oklahoma City.

The other part of the equation, organization, means more than the Lakers’ point guard calling plays, Redick said.

Read more:'We'll get better.' Lakers vow to improve after blowout Game 1 loss to Timberwolves

“No, it’s just all of the normal stuff that we try to do and when we do it, we’re really good,” he said. “Being organized is screening. Being organized is getting to the proper spacing. Being organized is getting the corners filled after makes and misses. That’s being organized.”

In Game 1, the Lakers played a lot more like the team that lost to the Spurs, the Hornets and the Bulls than the one that performed its best in big games. And they looked that way because the Lakers didn’t “play hard” in the right ways. Because when they are, you can tell.

"We're communicating, giving second and third efforts. Teams getting one shot at the rim, you know, not two,” Dorian Finney-Smith said. “I wouldn't say we wasn't playing hard because our first shot defense was good, you know, we just wasn't getting those loose balls. They were first to the ball. And that don't mean it wasn't playing hard. It just means they was just a little bit more into it. And we got to do the same."

Read more:Plaschke: JJ Redick for Dan Hurley was the Lakers' trade of the year

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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Wisden calls World Test Championship a ‘shambles’ and makes case for reform

  • WTC format ‘as if designed on the back of a fag packet’
  • New 2025 edition includes tributes to Graham Thorpe

Wisden hits the shelves this week and, as well as unveiling its latest batch of award winners, it has trained its sights on the International Cricket Council. The World Test Championship, the book argues, is a “shambles masquerading as a showpiece”.

The publication of the sport’s annual bible is timely, with the future of the WTC discussed recently at ICC meetings in ­Zimbabwe. In typically opaque fashion, the sport’s governing body is yet to announce the outcome of the debate.

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What we learned as Flores, Lee deliver in Giants' win vs. Brewers

What we learned as Flores, Lee deliver in Giants' win vs. Brewers originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

BOX SCORE

SAN FRANCISCO — The reward for playing 10 games in three cities over 10 days and traveling from the East Coast to Anaheim without a day off, or even a 1 p.m. game on getaway day in Philadelphia? For the Giants, it was another night of baseball.

They returned to San Francisco on Monday night and began a seven-game homestand against two teams — the Milwaukee Brewers and Texas Rangers — with postseason aspirations, and once again, they responded to the challenge. Wilmer Flores hit a go-ahead blast and Hayden Birdsong provided a huge boost to a tired bullpen as the Giants won 5-2 on their first night back at Oracle Park. They’re now 6-5 during this marathon stretch and 15-8 on the 2025 MLB season.

The Giants took the lead in the sixth when Flores crushed a middle-middle sinker from Grant Anderson. An inning later, their best player early on tacked on an insurance run. With Willy Adames on first, Jung Hoo Lee smoked a line drive into the gap in right-center and cruised into third for his second triple of the season.

The Giants trailed early but caught up in the fifth, with a little help from the Brewers. Tyler Fitzgerald reached on his second infield single and moved along to second on a walk of Mike Yastrzemski that ended Quinn Priester’s night. Right-hander Nick Mears entered to face Adames and got a potential double-play ball to third, but Adames beat out the throw to first, which clanked off Rhys Hoskins’ glove. That allowed Fitzgerald to walk home for the tying run.

With Ryan Walker unavailable after going back-to-back games in Anaheim, Giants manager Bob Melvin figured he would have to get creative if he had a lead late in the game. Birdsong ended up providing a relatively smooth path, throwing three dominant innings out of the bullpen to get the ball to Camilo Doval, who went 1-2-3 for his third save. 

Flo Show

It’s been an odd month for Flores. His photo is constantly on graphics representing the league leaders in home runs and RBI, but he entered Monday’s game with an fWAR of 0.0 and a wRC+ that put him 10 points below league-average as a hitter. Flores isn’t drawing walks, is one of the slowest players in baseball, and doesn’t play defense — but the Giants don’t care about the advanced metrics at all right now. 

From a more traditional standpoint, Flores is off to a huge start. The only player in the NL with more homers is Fernando Tatis Jr., and Aaron Judge and Spencer Torkelson are the only other big leaguers with at least seven homers and 20 RBI. With the go-ahead homer, Flores moved into a tie with Pete Alonso for the league lead in runs driven in. 

The Giants talked all spring of the importance of having more “RBI guys.” Nobody is doing it better than Flores right now, and that has made it pretty easy to push all the other numbers to the side. 

Establish It

Robbie Ray has had to grind through his starts this season, and this one was no exception. Ray was at 64 pitches through three innings and had only one clean inning on the night, but he allowed just two runs. They came on a pitch that was pretty predictable by that point of the second inning. 

Of Ray’s first 41 pitches, 37 were four-seamers, including an elevated fastball that No. 9 hitter Caleb Durbin smacked out to left for his first big league homer. Ray mixed in a lot more sliders and changeups the second and third times through the order, but he paid for being fastball-heavy in the first couple of innings. 

Ray ended up getting charged with two earned on five hits and three walks. After throwing four innings in each of his starts on the road trip, he went five on the first night back home. 

Old Friends

Nobody was busier before the game than Adames, who spent four seasons in Milwaukee before signing with the Giants in the offseason. Adames took about 30 minutes in the afternoon to catch up with Brewers reporters, and he made his rounds during BP to chat with old teammates, most notably right-hander Freddy Peralta, a close friend who will start Wednesday’s game. 

The Giants are still waiting for Adames to break out at the plate, and it didn’t come against his old friends. He struck out the first time up and then grounded out three straight times. The night dropped his average to .194. 

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Mets' David Stearns says 'difficult decisions are a good thing' with Francisco Alvarez, Jeff McNeil nearing return

The Mets, coming off a four-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals, now welcome the rival Philadelphia Phillies to Citi Field for an NL East showdown in Queens.

Speaking during his typical once-a-homestand media availability, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns discussed a number of topics, including what happens to the roster when Jeff McNeiland Francisco Alvarez come back, the current frenzied atmosphere at the ballpark, and Pete Alonso's red-hot start.

Here are the key takeaways...

"Difficult decisions are a good thing"

McNeil and Alvarez will continue their rehab assignments over the next few days, but there's a chance both players could be back on the major league roster by the end of the week.

So will Alvarez instantly take over as the starting catcher?

"I think we have two catchers who we feel really good about," Stearns said. "Mendy’s going to decide who plays every day and who gives us the best chance to win, and we certainly think Alvy’s going to be a huge part of that."

Meanwhile, Stearns noted that both Luisangel Acuña and Brett Baty have “done a nice job,” noting it’s not easy to bounce back and forth between second and third base -- which Baty has done -- and saying Acuña has been doing what they expected of him.

"I think difficult decisions are a good thing," Stearns said. "When we have players that we want to keep here as we get healthier, these types of decisions are going to become more and more a part of our thought process. We’re going to continue to talk about it, and when Jeff is ready we’ll certainly make a decision to get him back on the roster.

"And I imagine Jeff’s going to do what he always does: he’s going to bounce around, he’s going to play some second, he’ll fill in for the corner outfielders when needed. We’ll see how the center field thing goes. I think he’s excited about that, so there are plenty of at-bats to go around here, and Jeff will certainly get his share."

Hey Siri, who plays center?

"I don’t think we know," Stearns said candidly on what the center field mix will look like until Jose Siri returns. "I think Tyrone [Taylor] is going to get a lot of it, clearly. He’s a very gifted centerfielder, he can impact the game in a number of different ways, and I think he’s starting to take better at-bats as well.

"Beyond that, we’ll see. Jeff could be a part of it. Brandon [Nimmo] could be a part of it. Luis could be a part of it. I think it’s who’s playing well, what pitchers we're facing, how we want to structure the lineup on any particular day. But we feel confident we have enough people to play there, to cover that position and cover it well."

Controlled chaos in Queens

"I think the fans in general have been outstanding this year," said Stearns. "It’s been fun coming to the ballpark. I get a sneak peek at some of the attendance numbers ahead of a homestand, and some of them I did double takes where it’s like, ‘Wow, that’s really good for April.’

"Not only have the numbers been good on paper, but it has felt like that in the ballpark, and so it’s exciting. Our players have talked about it, I think we all feel it when we’re here… I think we had a fun run last year, our fans believe in this team, and we’ve played pretty well out of the chute here, which probably helps."

"I think we have [a homefield advantage]," Stearns added. "It feels like we have it right now. Good players help as well, but certainly I think we have the ability and our fan base, historically, has shown the ability to make this an uncomfortable place for opposing players. When I was on the fan side of this, it’s fun to come to a ballpark that’s an uncomfortable place for opposing players.

"It’s a whole heck of a lot of fun for our players to see that when it happens. So I think we are getting to that point where our players really enjoy this atmosphere and can take their level of intensity to another notch. And on the flipside, it can get pretty loud and hostile for the opposition, and that’s not a bad thing."   

What's a Polar Bear doing being so hot?

"What Pete’s doing is as good a start as you can imagine for, I think, any human," Stearns said on Alonso's torrid start at the dish. "This is pretty impressive. He’s locked in. His zone control  is incredible right now. He’s hitting everything hard. I’ve been enormously impressed."

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Mets Injury Notes: Francisco Alvarez, Jeff McNeil closer to return; Mark Vientos could be option off bench

The first-place Mets are inching closer to welcoming a pair of injured hitters back into their starting lineup.

Before their series opener against the rival Phillies on Monday, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said that catcher Francisco Alvarez (hamate fracture) and veteran Jeff McNeil (oblique strain) will continue their rehab assignments with Triple-A Syracuse this week.

The plan is for both players to complete a full nine innings on Tuesday and Wednesday, and McNeil will receive work at second base and in center field.

"[They're] feeling good," Mendoza said. "I think at this point, it's just more building up volume for them. Getting used to playing the full games, back-to-back, and things like that."

Alvarez, who broke his hand early in spring training, served as the designated hitter for Double-A Binghampton on Sunday, going 1-for-5. As for McNeil, he found much more succcess in the same lineup on Sunday, finishing 4-for-4 with a home run and double. Alvarez has played eight rehab games thus far, while McNeil has played six.

Vientos feeling better

Mark Vientos was unavailable for Sunday's win against the Cardinals due to a groin injury suffered on Saturday, but the third baseman has a chance to see some game action again on Monday. Mendoza isn't ruling him out as a pinch-hitter.

"I saw him take ground balls earlier, he was doing some sprints. He's scheduled to take BP," Mendoza said. "If he comes through batting practice and all that, he could be an option off the bench today."

It's been an uninspiring April for Vientos, who's hitting a measly .167 through 20 games (72 at-bats). But he showed some signs of a turnaround against the Cardinals this past weekend, smacking a pair of solo homers. Brett Baty took over for Vientos at the hot corner on Sunday, and he's once again slated to start there on Monday, this time batting eighth.

Manaea keeps playing catch

Sean Manaea suffered a setback in his recovery from an oblique injury a few weeks ago, but Mendoza said on Monday that the veteran left-hander is doing light toss from 60 feet and expected to move to 75 feet in the coming days.

His return to the Mets' rotation is expected sometime in May, barring another complication. Mendoza noted that they're still "a few weeks away from that."

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'A Little Nervous to Start:' Travis Green Reflects on Loss, Eyes Strong Game 2 Response

On Easter Monday, Ottawa Senators head coach Travis Green didn’t sugarcoat things: he thinks his team came out nervous in Game 1.

Apr 20, 2025; Senators head coach Travis Green on the bench during game one of the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images

“I thought we were a little nervous to start the game,” Green admitted to the media on Monday, a day after the Senators fell 6–2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs to open their first-round NHL Eastern Conference playoff series. “Our passing wasn’t quite where it needed to be, but I thought it got better as the game went on.”

For several Senators, Sunday night in Toronto marked their first taste of NHL playoff action, and it showed in several areas – primarily with their parade to the penalty box.

The game opened with high intensity, physicality and a boisterous crowd, but the Senators were still right there, down by just one goal. Early in the second period, they missed on some great scoring chances to tie it, but then the Senators started to take costly penalties.

"Yeah, it's a fine line, Green said. "Playoff hockey is emotional, competitive. I'd like to think we have a physical team, and yet there's a fine line between crossing the line and taking penalties."

Green was more terse with the media than usual on Monday and wouldn't reveal what his next-day message to the team was.

“I’m not going to talk about my main message to our group,” he said. “That’s between us and the team, but we’re going to have to play better than we did last night.”

One area where Green may find something to build on is the club's five-on-five play. In that area, the Senators were excellent, but too often, they found themselves in the penalty box, giving Toronto multiple opportunities to strike with the man advantage.

And did they ever. The Maple Leafs were 3 for 6 on Sunday night with their three goals being scored in the first 10 seconds of each power play.

When asked about the frustrating timing of Toronto's scoring, specifically, how Toronto seemed to score immediately after each Senator goal, Green didn't buy into that. “We only scored two,” he said. “We had our looks. We got it to 2–1 and had a couple of really good looks to tie the game.”

As for any potential changes ahead of Game 2, Green didn’t tip his hand.

“There’s potential for changes every game,” he noted.

Okay, so that leaves us to speculate. Veteran winger and shift disturber Nick Cousins would seem like a good candidate to play on Tuesday. Green opted to go with Matt Highmore over Cousins in Game 1.

Green abruptness continued when a reporter asked how captain Brady Tkachuk was feeling after his first playoff game, Green gave a quick reply: “Good. Fine. Yeah."

With Game 2 set for Tuesday night at 7:30 PM in Toronto, the Senators now turn their focus to finding their footing in a series that still has a long way to go. They may have started nervous — but if Game 1 was their wake-up call, their response now becomes the lead story.

If they hope to steal one in Toronto, improvements in poise, discipline, finish, defence, and goaltending will all need to be a part of that response.

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Former No. 1 picks Mize and Torkelson are giving the AL-Central-leading Tigers a boost, finally

This is a sight the Tigers probably expected a lot more often by now: Casey Mize pitching seven strong innings, and Spencer Torkelson hitting a three-run homer to lead Detroit to a 3-1 victory.

There’s still time for both of them to make big contributions to the team that drafted them No. 1 overall.

When the Tigers returned to the postseason last year for the first time in a decade, they did it without great production from Mize and Torkelson, who were supposed to be cornerstones of their rebuild. Torkelson hit 31 home runs in 2023 but managed only 10 (with a .219 average) last season. Mize made only two starts total in 2022 and 2023 before going 2-6 with a 4.49 ERA a year ago.

Now both of them are starting to show why they were taken at the top of the draft — Mize in 2018 and Torkelson two years later. The 27-year-old Mize is 3-1 with a 2.22 ERA this season. Torkelson, who is still just 25, already has seven home runs and a .288 average that is well above his career high of .233. On Saturday, Mize got the win and Torkelson accounted for all Detroit’s scoring in a victory over Kansas City.

After relying heavily on Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal in their run to a wild card last year, the Tigers are off to a more balanced start in 2025. Only two AL teams have scored more runs than Detroit, which leads the AL Central by a half-game over Cleveland. Only one AL team, the New York Yankees, has a better run differential than the Tigers.

Wild inning

The Chicago Cubs became the seventh team in the last 125 seasons to allow 10 runs in an inning and still win. Arizona scored 10 in the top of the eighth on Friday, only for Chicago to rally with six in the bottom half and win 13-11.

Remarkably, the Colorado Rockies nearly matched the Diamondbacks’ plight a day later. Colorado scored eight runs in the seventh Saturday but still lost 12-11 to Washington. Also Saturday, Miami scored six in the ninth but lost 11-10 to Philadelphia.

Other big innings from this past week included a nine-run third by Tampa Bay against Boston on Monday, a seven-run first by the Los Angeles Dodgers against Colorado on Wednesday, and a seven-run third by Cincinnati against Baltimore on Sunday. The Rays, Dodgers and Reds all won.

Trivia time

The Milwaukee Brewers broke a franchise record by stealing nine bases in their 14-1 win over the Athletics on Sunday. The Brewers stole eight bases against Toronto on Aug. 29, 1992.

Which Milwaukee player, who went on to win Rookie of the Year honors that year, stole three bases in that 1992 game?

Line of the week

Cincinnati’s Austin Wynns had six hits in the Reds’ 24-2 blowout of Baltimore on Sunday, although the last two of those came against position players pitching. Wynns also drove in six runs.

Wynns had seven hits and two RBIs all of last season for Cincinnati.

Comeback of the week

After entering the game with a four-run lead in the ninth Saturday, struggling Yankees closer Devin Williams managed to retire only one batter before Tampa Bay tied it. Williams allowed five straight hitters to reach, culminating in Brandon Lowe’s tying two-run single. Williams managed to induce a double play to end the inning, but Tampa Bay went on to win 10-8 on Jonathan Aranda’s 10th-inning two-run homer.

The Rays had a win probability of 0.6% in the ninth, according to Baseball Savant.

Williams hasn’t blown a save this season — Saturday’s game wasn’t a save situation — but he’s now allowed eight earned runs in eight innings.

Trivia answer

Pat Listach had three of Milwaukee’s eight steals in that game. He went on to finish the season with 54, second in the American League to Cleveland’s Kenny Lofton.

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Matthew Tkachuk continues trending toward Game 1 return as Panthers travel to Tampa

Matthew Tkachuk takes part in a Florida Panthers practice at the Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale. (Florida Panthers)

The Florida Panthers took the ice in Fort Lauderdale on Monday for a final pre-Stanley Cup Playoff practice.

Afterward, the team made the short trip up Florida's west coast to Tampa, where they face the Tampa Bay Lightning in Game 1 of their opening round playoff series on Tuesday night.

As the Panthers prepare to defend their Stanley Cup title, the big question surround the team is regarding the health status of Matthew Tkachuk.

The All-Star forward has not played in an NHL game since before February's 4 Nations Face-Off, where he suffered an apparent groin injury while representing Team USA.

Tkachuk has been skating for several weeks, and on Saturday on Monday he took part in his first full team practices with the Panthers since before his injury.

By all accounts, Tkachuk looked normal, showing no signs of an injury while skating on a line with Sam Bennett and Mackie Samoskevich.

He also took regular reps on Florida's top power play unit, along with Sasha Barkov, Sam Reinhart, Samoskevich and Seth Jones.

As long as Tkachuk continues on his path of progress and doesn't suffer any setbacks, it sounds like the plan is for him to suit up for Game 1 against the Lightning.

“He’s got to get through the morning skate tomorrow,” said Panthers Head Coach Paul Maurice after Monday's practice. “We’re still monitoring the recovery off the practice. He was out early, before we went, went through a whole practice, stayed until the end, so we’ll see how he feels coming back in tomorrow. If he feels good, and he gets through that morning skate, and everybody gives a thumbs up, then he’ll go."

It's a tough balance for the Panthers, who will want to make sure that Tkachuk is at a point where he isn't at any risk of re-injuring himself before inserting him back into the lineup, but know how much value he provides at a time where wins are at an absolute premium.

"We’re close enough now that you also put yourself in that situation where you'd consider two more days if you felt you were right there," Maurice said. "So we’ll just let the doctors and Matthew tell us where he’s at, and then we’ll go from there.”

That's where the NHL may have done the Cats a favor in giving them the latest series start time of any in the opening round.

Every other playoff series will have started, and some will have played twice, when the puck drops on Game 1 between Florida and Tampa Bay.

For Tkachuk and the Panthers, that extra time may have been just what the doctor ordered to get Florida their start back for the series opener.

But if for some reason they decide to hold him back another couple days, the team will be prepared for that, too.

“If you go back and look at the last five games, at a different time, I was running versions of all of these lines with the idea that if Matthew doesn’t play, I know exactly who is going into that hole," Maurice said. "We’ve already run that before, and the lines that it changes beneath will look exactly like a line we ran in a game that we liked. We've got a flow chart for how we'll handle this.”

Florida will hold their morning skate Tuesday at Amalie Arena, after which Maurice will again be asked about Tkachuk's status for Game 1.

One more sleep!

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Patriots' Day Traffic? No thank you. Red Sox' Walker Buehler spends night at hotel for early start

BOSTON — Walker Buehler wasn’t taking any chances with the early start.

Instead of getting up and figuring out what roads may have been closed along the Boston Marathon route, he took his family to a nearby hotel to get ready for his Monday morning start.

“I stayed at a hotel last night, just so that I kind of didn’t have to worry too much about it,” he said after Boston’s 4-2 victory over the White Sox in its annual Patriots’ Day game.

“My wife and kids stayed with me and everything was kind of normal for us,” he said. “We’re all kind of used to sleeping in hotels, so we’re all good.”

Wearing a white home jersey with red letters spelled out “Boston” across the front — a jersey inspired after the city rallied in the Red Sox’s first game following the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013 — Buehler threw his first pitch at 11:11 a.m. on a chilly morning at Fenway Park.

“I had all my stuff done,” he said of the move from his nearby Newton home. “I took an iPad home and read it last night, where I typically do. I scouted their whole lineup and every guy on the bench.”

Buehler gave up a run in the first inning before going the next six scoreless, holding Chicago to four hits while striking out nine and walking three in his 100-pitch outing.

He said he set his alarm for 6:45 a.m. and got to the park at 7:15. It was the earliest game he’d pitched in since Double-A in 2017, he recalled, when he was in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ farm system.

“Against Jack Flaherty, SpongeBob Squarepants Day, that we faced each other in,” he said, smiling. “I was thinking about that earlier.”