ESPN tried its hardest this week to convince us that the Celtics/Knicks rivalry was back. (Of course, the Celtics biggest rival in their division has historically been Philadelphia.) The Knicks, or should I say Amare’ Stoudemire, tried to make it seem like a rivalry last night, but in the end, the veteran Celtics pulled out the win, thanks to a Paul Pierce step away jumper with .04 seconds remaining, giving the Celtics a 118-116 win over New York. Get all the coverage at Celticslinks.com.
Celtics embrace the challenge in thrilling win over the Knicks - Paul Flannery has the Celtics showing True Grit in beating the Knicks.
Paul Pierce plays villain in New York- Chris Forsberg has Pierce giving the Knicks a familiar ending.
Celtics shocked Pierce got off his go-to shot - A Sherrod Blakely has the Knicks allowing Pierce to get off his patented step-back jumper going to his right.
Loss aside, New York passes test- Bob Ryan looks at a moral victory for the improving Knicks.
Scary situation for banged-up Rajon Rondo - Mark Murphy’s notebook has the Celtics point guard rolling his ankle pretty badly last night. Julian Benbow’s notebook also leads off with the ankle.
The Bruins didn’t have the same success last night in the state of New York, losing to the Sabres 3-2.
Bruins lose their cool, game- Kevin Paul Dupont reports on the Bruins losing two leads in the loss.
Bruins don’t answer call - Stephen Harris calls this one a weak loss.
This Bruins loss hurts - Joe Haggerty says that this loss could haunt the Bruins.
Milan Lucic loses it over referee’s non-call - Harris’ notebook quotes a steaming Lucic after the game. The Globe notebook from Kevin Paul Dupont and the CSNNE notes from Joe Haggerty have a flu-ridden Tyler Seguin sitting out in favor of Daniel Paille. If you’re worried about the Seguin scratch, DJ Bean says to Calm down.
Lie Gate - Dan Snapp on Patriots Daily says that commissioner Roger Goodell’s mismanagement of SpyGate is giving the Jets a pass. While you’re there, check out this week’s edition of the Worry Wart.
Jets, NFL Teams Need to Own Up to Mistakes Instead of Blaming Patriots - Jeff Howe says that this NFL trick of dragging the Patriots into every scandal needs to stop.
Sorry attempt by Jets coach - I like angry Mike Reiss.
Pats have beaten many of league’s top defenses - Robert Lee looks at some of the Patriots accomplishments this season.
Offensive line passes tough tests - While they’ve shut down many of the league’s top pass rushers thus far, Karen Guregian says that the Patriots O-line gets another big test in Clay Matthews. Mark Farinella says that the unit will not take the Packers lightly.
Without Rodgers, Pack would be lacking- Greg A Bedard says that with the Packers QB looking doubtful, it looks like the Patriots will miss another chance to face a top offense.
Coverage is a tall order- Monique Walker looks at the difficulty that Wes Welker and Deion Branch have put on opposing defenses.
Arrington turns the corner for Patriots - Mary Paoletti has a look at the second year cornerback’s improvement.
Very good now, maybe even better later - Glen Farley says that this team will continue to get better.
New guy on ‘D’ may have to cut in line - Rapoport’s notebook says that the new additions on the defense line are needed right away. The Patriots Journal from Robert Lee and the Globe notebook from Michael Vega each report on Jonathan Wilhite being placed on IR.
Feller: Hard and fast – Bob Ryan remembers Bob Feller, who passed way yesterday at the age of 92.
