World Series Count since that trade is Red Sox 3, Ya

BOSTON -- The World Series trophy was in the building. Bill Russell was courtside. And the next Boston Celtics championship seems so very far away. The Celtics opened the season at home on Friday night without Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce or Doc Rivers -- or Rajon Rondo, for that matter -- and gave away a 22-point second half lead as the Milwaukee Bucks won 105-98 for their first victory of the season. The loss spoiled the home debut of new Celtics coach Brad Stevens and dampened the cheer in the city following the Red Sox victory in the World Series on Wednesday. Zaza Pachulia had 20 points and nine rebounds, making two free throws with 44 seconds left to give the Bucks their first lead since the opening basket. It was the second straight night Milwaukee fell behind early, having spotted the New York Knicks to a 25-point lead before coming back to tie it -- and then lose -- on Wednesday. "We have to figure this out, getting off to such a bad start," said Bucks coach Larry Drew, who earned his first victory after taking over for Jim Boylan. "Ive got to get my finger on it. Two straight games where we just got off to bad starts. It hasnt been great execution. Were just putting too pressure on ourselves defensively." Red Sox owners John Henry and Tom Werner took the court before the game with the World Series trophy, and Russell was also courtside a few hours after a statue of him was unveiled near City Hall. The 11-time NBA champion was honoured during a first-half timeout, and Stevens made sure his team watched. "There are things that are bigger than the game, although right now I dont feel good about life," the former Butler coach said. "To honour Bill Russell and to have us be in a huddle while theyre honouring Bill Russell wouldnt be right." John Henson had 14 points and nine rebounds for the Bucks, who scored the last 10 points of the game. In its opener on Wednesday, Milwaukee rallied to take a lead with 3:13 left before giving up 10 of the last 12 points. "The second time, same (bad start)" Pachulia said. "In New York, we just couldnt finish out the game. We have to fix the mistakes we make." Vitor Faverani scored 12 points with 18 rebounds for Boston. Brandon Bass and Jeff Green each had nine rebounds for the Celtics, who scored 20 of the first 26 points in the game and led 72-50 with 19 minutes to play. But Milwaukee scored 11 of the last 14 points in the third quarter and then tied it 93-all with a 20-10 run to start the fourth. After Gerald Wallace hit a 3-pointer to give Boston back the lead, the teams traded free throws and then the Bucks scored the next 10 points. Milwaukee made 10 straight free throws to end the game, including two by Pachulia that made it 99-98. "We cant play like that. It all starts with me," Green said. "Weve got to get it going in the right direction and I take responsibility for that. We cant lose -- not the way we played in the first half." It was the first regular-season home game for the Celtics, who traded Pierce and Garnett to the Brooklyn Nets over the summer and sent Rivers to the Los Angeles Clippers. Stevens replaced Rivers, making his NBA debut about a week after his 37th birthday. Injured point guard Rajon Rondo took over Pierces usual role of speaking to the fans before the opener. Wearing a suit and tie and a fake beard -- a tribute to the Red Sox -- Rondo welcomed the fans before taking a seat on the bench for the rest of the game. Rondo, who is recovering from a torn ACL in his right knee, is not expected to play for at least a month. The Celtics arent expected to be competitive until he returns, which is OK with the fans who want them to earn a high pick in what is said to be the deepest NBA draft in years. Boston came out and scored 16 of the first 20 points in the game and never led by less than seven points until the fourth-quarter collapse, when they were outscored 34-15. Faverani had 11 rebounds at halftime and Green had 11 points. NOTES: Celtics PG Avery Bradley was evaluated for a concussion on Friday but was cleared to play. ... Bucks PG Brandon Knight, who strained his right hamstring 2 minutes into Milwaukees opener, did not play. ... Russell sat courtside. ... Bostons Jared Sullinger returned from a one-game suspension after he was charged with domestic violence. The charges were dismissed by a judge. Kyle Higashioka Jersey . Mike Babcock has turned to the Montreal Canadiens goalie over Roberto Luongo, who backed Canada to a gold medal in Vancouver in 2010, for Canadas final preliminary round game against the ailing Finns. Don Mattingly Yankees Jersey . Week 2s biggest games include Florida facing Miami and Notre Dame travelling to the Big House to conclude their rivalry against Michigan in primetime on TSN2 and TSN 1050. https://www.cheapyankees.com/1891g-mike-ford-jersey-yankees.html . The Raptors general manager has his list of possible draft selections whittled down to a handful ahead of Thursday nights NBA draft in Brooklyn, New York. The Raptors, who have auditioned dozens of players over the past couple of weeks, have the 20th overall pick in the first round, as well as the 37th and 58th picks in the second. Yogi Berra Jersey . Lauzon rushed for 42 yards on 15 carries for the Vert et Or (2-3) while quarterback Jeremi Roch completed 19-of-32 passes for 251 yards and one interception. Alexandre Aube scored the other touchdown for Sherbrooke. Clint Frazier Yankees Jersey . Hoffman, the former star closer, will evaluate and help co-ordinate all pitchers at Double-A, Triple-A and the big league team. Byrnes says Hoffman "will be a key part of finishing the development of our younger pitchers.The Toronto Blue Jays have made it abundantly clear how much they are counting on Brandon Morrow for the coming season. Morrow made 30 starts in 2011 and appeared to have the "stuff" of which stars are made. He looked even better early in 2012, until a strained oblique muscle shut him down in early June. The injury woes continued in 2013 when an entrapped radial nerve in his pitching arm effectively shut him down from the end of May. So Morrow went from 30 starts in 2011 to 31 combined in 2012 and 2013. Morrow has really only been a starter for four seasons and last lost large chunks of the past two to injuries. So where does that leave us? Well, Morrow has a career record of 41-40 with a 4.22 ERA. He has never pitched more than 179.1 innings. In 102 career starts, he has four complete games, yet when he has been healthy, Morrow has had moments of sheer brilliance and could easily pass for a staff ace or at least a number two starter. He will make $8 million this season in the final year of a three-year pact, with the Jays holding an option year worth $10 million. There are those who will say that since Morrow is about to turn 30, if he doesnt make it it now, he never will. In some cases that is true, but you would be surprised at the number of pitchers whose careers didnt take off until they hit 30. Curt Schilling, who won a pair of World Series titles with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Boston Red Sox only won 52 games through the age of 29. From that point until he retired, he racked up 164 victories. Eventually, he could wind up in the Hall of Fame. Though not as extreme an example, lefty Mickey Lolich, who won three games for the Detroit Tigers in the 1968 World Series, won 101 of his 217 career victories after turning 30. Red Sox knuckleballer Tim Wakefield didnt come to pitching until his late 20s, having tried to make it first as an infielder in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization, but from 30 on, he put up 156 of his 200 career wins. The remarkable Jamie Moyer, the soft tosssing lefty control artist, pitched untill he was 49 and totalled 269 victories. Due to injury, Moyer didnt pitch in his 29th year, but from 30 on, he won the incredible total of 235. So, in other words, at age 29, Morrow has more victories than Moyer did. There are a couple of other lefties worth mentioning, as well. Jim Kaat, whos probably remembered as much now for his broadcasting work nationally as he is for his playing days, won 283 games over his career, He won 128 games through the age of 29 and 155 after that until he retired in his 40s. Tommy John, for whom the operation is named, won 288 games, the seventh-most all-time amongst southpaws.dddddddddddd He won 95 games through the age of 29 and he won another 29 more before having elbow transplant surgery at age 31. He missed the entire 1975 season in recovery. John then returned to win 164 more games until he retired in 1989 at age 46. These last two examples put up the most amazing totals of all after turning 30. Hall of Fame knuckleballer Phil Niekro only had 31 victories through the age of 29. He finished with 318. Do the math. He won 287 games from the age of 30 on. Another man enshrined in Cooperstown, lefty Warren Spahn, was almost impressive and, in some ways, even more so. At the age of 21 after just part of one season in the Majors, Spahn left for three years to serve in the United States Army during World War II. When he resumed his career, Spahn racked up 86 wins through the age of 29. From that point on, he won another 277 games for a grand total of 363. Im not saying Brandon Morrow is a lock to follow this same kind of path, not at all, but if he does, you shouldnt be all that surprised. Baseball, as you can see, has had plenty of late bloomers...even late blooming Hall of Famers. - If you can track it down, you must read Joel Shermans piece in the New York Post from February 16th. Its the incredibly fascinating story of how badly Alex Rodriguez wanted to play in Boston and how close it came to actually happening before the Texas Rangers ultimately shipped him to the Yankees. Incidently, the World Series Count since that trade is Red Sox 3, Yankees 1. - The Yankees final series of the coming season is in Boston. That has led fans in the "Hub" to do whatever they can and pay whatever it takes for the chance to see Derek Jeter play his final game of his career in the "Pinstripes." But I would caution the fans that there is no guarantee Jeter will make an appearance. If any or all three are meaningful games and Jeter is healthy, of course he will play. Remember, though , this past season Mariano Rivera made his final appearance at Yankee Stadium. Though he accompanied the team to Houston for its final series with the Astros, he announced in advance, that he wouldnt be pitching in that series. If you want to dial it even further back, Red Sox legend Ted Williams homered in his final at-bat at Fenway Park back in 1960. That was it for the "Splendid Splinter," as he opted not to go to New York at all for the final series of the season against the Yankees. So for the sake of those spending all the money, lets hope Derek Jeter is healthy and there is something on the line in that final series. ' ' '