Starting Off Your Week With A Weekend Sports Recap

The Boston Celtics were under the microscope throughout the NBA season as a team with bad chemistry and the potential to flame out in the playoffs.

Consider the playoffs a different season.

The Celtics swept the Indiana Pacers in their opening series, winning 110-106 on the road on Sunday. The Celtics had seven players score in double figures, led by Gordon Hayward’s 20. The Celtics hadn’t swept a series since 2011.

And now the bad news. They will likely play the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Bucks, the overall No. 1 seed, can sweep the Detroit Pistons on Monday night. The Houston Rockets can do the same to the Utah Jazz.

San Antonio’s DeMar DeRozan was ejected from Saturday night’s loss by the Spurs to the Denver Nuggets for throwing the ball at an official. That series stands at two games apiece.

NHL:
Two first-round playoff series are headed for seventh games. The Boston Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 on Sunday to tie their series and the San Jose Sharks beat the Vegas Golden Knights 2-1 in double overtime. Those series will be decided on Tuesday night.

The St. Louis Blues eliminated the Winnipeg Jets in six games on Saturday night, winning 3-2 at home. Friday night’s 5-1 loss by the Calgary Flames to the Colorado Avalanche took the Western Conference’s No. 1 seed out of the playoffs. The Tampa Bay Lightning, No. 1 in the Eastern Conference, had already been eliminated. That’s a first for the NHL – neither of the top seeds making it out of the first round.

MLB:
The Washington Nationals got eight scoreless innings from Stephen Strasburg on Sunday to beat the Miami Marlins 5-0 and even their record at 10-10. Ryan Zimmerman hit a pair of solo home runs.

The New York Yankees, despite losing outfielder Aaron Judge (oblique) to the Injured List (with five other opening-day starters) won a seesaw battle with Kansas City, beating the Royals 7-6 in 10 innings.

The Boston Red Sox, with a 4-3 win in 11 innings, swept three games from the Tampa Bay Rays. Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Matt Shoemaker (knee) will miss the rest of the season.

Elsewhere:
C.T. Pan picked up his first PGA Tour victory, winning the RBC Heritage Classic in Hilton Head, South Carolina. A birdie at the 16th hole and two pars to close out the final round gave him a 1-stroke edge over Matt Kuchar.

Terrence Crawford defended his WBO welterweight title on Saturday night against Amir Khan on Saturday and won on a sixth-round TKO when Khan could not continue after an accidental low blow.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman