It took the Boston Celtics 22 years, but with last night’s 111-82 victory over the Seattle Supersonics, Boston captured their first 10 game winning streak since the 1985-1986 season. Back then, the big three in town were a few guys by the names of Bird, McHale and Parrish. The trio would lead the Celtics to their 16th NBA title, the last the organization has seen. The new big three want that to change. With another dominating performance by Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, the Celtics continue to control play vs. the Western Conference whom they are now 12-0 against at home, with a 20-3 overall record. Garnett and Allen each dropped 18 points in the win while Pierce chipped in with 14 points and a game high 11 assists. “We are talking more than ever and we feel connected,” Garnett said on yahoo.com. “Any team can beat you in this league, but confidence-wise we are strong 1 to 12 and that is a rarity.” The Celtics are getting the job done on both sides of the court holding opponents to only 88 points a game during the winning streak while averaging 105 points. Their defensive effort really showed in the Supersonics win by holding the team to a dismal .380 shooting percentage from the floor and an even uglier .071 percent from 3-point range. “We are playing well on both ends,” Pierce said on yahoo.com. “We like to share the ball and it’s contagious and [we] are riding the wave at just the right time.” The score doesn’t reflect the struggle early on in the first quarter for the Celtics who trailed until late in the period. Once they gained the lead by going on a 23-6 run that spanned from the first quarter into the second, they would not lose it again throughout the entire contest. Supersonics rookie sensation Kevin Durant played a solid game scoring 16 points, but his play couldn’t lift his team who has now lost 10 of 11 and six in a row. “They went on a run and it was quick,” Durant said. “It got us off our guard.” Every single Celtics player that logged minutes contributed in the winning effort. Veterans PJ Brown and Sam Cassell played solid minutes, each contributing with 3 and 6 points respectively. The Celtic’s next home game is tomorrow night vs. the Utah Jazz who are also playing great basketball, winning six of their last seven. The two teams met in Utah early on in the season with Boston coming away with the 104-98 victory on Dec. 29th. After the Jazz, the C’s will hit the road for a five game trip out West where there will be no cupcakes. Boston faces Milwaukee, San Antonia, Houston, Dallas and New Orleans in the swing. It will not be an easy trip, but with the big three on the floor and the luck of the Irish in their uniforms, the Celtics will hopefully continue to dominate the rest of the NBA en route to Green 17. The Celtics have already clinched a playoff berth and 2008 Celtics Playoff tickets are now available.

The Boston Bruins are hoping to change their fortunes when they host the Tampa Bay Lightning tonight at the TD Banknorth Garden. The Bruins have lost five out of their last 6 and are barely hanging on to the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference playoff scheme. They lead the eighth place Flyers 80 points to 79. The main problem for the Bruins continues to be their lack of scoring. Not helping matters is the absence of Defenseman Zdeno Chara. Chara has missed the last two games with an undisclosed upper body injury. He is listed as day-to-day. Boston Bruins tickets are available for tonight’s game and all remaining home games. If the Bruins stay in the playoff picture, Bruins playoff tickets will be available soon.

Alicia Keys is one of the most successful R&B recording artists in the world, and is currently strutting her stuff on the “As I Am” UK tour. Don’t be worried though, you will have a chance to see her very soon because her US tour kicks off in about a month in Hampton, VA on April 19th, 2008. Keys has enjoyed a lot of recent success especially with her smash hit single “No One” which has gone double platinum, selling over 2 million copies worldwide. This track helped her earn two 2008 Grammy awards for Best R&B Song and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance. Make sure to check out Alicia Keys in a city near you. Tour dates listed below! Alicia Keys Tickets are availalble now. 2008 Alicia Keys Tour Sat-Apr-19 Hampton, VA Hampton Coliseum Sun-Apr-20 Philadelphia Liacouras Center Tue-Apr-22 Pittsburgh Peterson Events Center Thu-Apr-24 Chicago, IL Allstate Arena Sat-Apr-26 Columbus, OH Value City Arena at Schottenstein Ctr Sun-Apr-27 St Louis, MO Scottrade Center Wed-Apr-30 Minneapolis, MN Target Center Thu-May-01 Kansas City, MO Sprint Center Mon-May-05 Los Angeles, CA TBA Wed-May-07 San Diego, CA San Diego Sports Arena Fri-May-09 Las Vegas, NV MGM Garden Arena Sat-May-10 San Jose, CA HP Pavilion at San Jose Mon-May-12 Phoenix, AZ Jobing.com Arena Wed-May-14 Dallas, TX Nokia Theatre at Grand Prairie Sun-May-18 Houston, TX Toyota Center Thu-May-22 New Orleans New Orleans Arena Sat-May-24 Tampa, FL St. Pete Times Forum Sun-May-25 Miami, FL American Airlines Arena Wed-May-28 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena Fri-May-30 Greensboro, NC Greensboro Coliseum Sat-May-31 Cincinnati, OH US Bank Arena Tue-Jun-03 Detroit, MI Joe Louis Arena Thu-Jun-05 Cleveland, OH Wolstein Center at Cleveland State Fri-Jun-06 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre Sun-Jun-08 Montreal, QC Bell Centre Wed-Jun-11 Boston, MA TD Bank North Garden Fri-Jun-13 Washington D.C. Verizon Center Sun-Jun-15 Baltimore, MD 1st Mariner Arena Tue-Jun-17 Newark, NJ Prudential Center Wed-Jun-18 New York, NY Madison Square Garden

For the first time in 16 years the Boston Celtics have reached 50 wins. The Celtics’ Big Three mostly downplayed this feat with much bigger goals in mind. “It doesn’t really mean anything”, said the Celtics’ Ray Allen. Allen enjoyed a great shooting night with 21 points. Kevin Garnett added 26 points and 12 rebounds in leading the team to its ninth straight win. Paul Pierce rounded out the scoring for the Big Three with 17 points. The Celtics were winners over the 76ers 100-86. Sam Cassell also made his debut for the Celtics but looked rusty in limited time on the court. Cassell quickly picked up three fouls within four minutes of play. The Celtics host the Seattle Supersonics on Wednesday 3/12 at the TD Banknorth Garden. Celtics tickets are available for this and all Celtics games including Celtics playoff tickets.

The Boston Celtics had a great weekend, beating the Bulls on Friday night 116-93, and dismissing the Grizzlies 119-89 a day later. Winners of eight in a row now, the Celtics have found their offensive groove once again. The Celtics have already clinched a spot in the playoffs and are looking to keep home court advantage with the best record in the East. On Friday night the Celtics won in large part behind the strong efforts of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. Pierce scored 22 points while Garnett added 16 points and 8 boards. Both sat out the 4th quarter to rest for Saturday’s game. Kendrick Perkins continued his great play of late with 14 points and 11 rebounds. The matchup with the Bulls could be a preview of the 1st round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, as the Bulls are competing for the 8th and final playoff spot. For the 2nd night in a row the Celtics were able to rest their starters in the 4th quarter. Saturday night’s game with the Memphis Grizzlies featured more of the same from the Celtics. They jumped out to an early first quarter lead with strong performances from their starters. Ray Allen had a game high 23 points and Perkins had another impressive night with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Pierce and Garnett added 19 and 17 points respectively. The Celtics will play the 76ers in Philadelphia on Monday night. They return home on Wednesday, March 12 to host the Seattle Supersonics. Celtics tickets including Celtics playoff tickets are now available.

The New York Rangers bested the Boston Bruins in a shootout in an intense matchup at Madison Square Garden today. The two teams have been tied for the 6th seed in the playoffs for over a week now. Today’s win put the Rangers 1 point ahead of the Bruins for the 6th seed. Despite some nice scoring chances on both sides, goaltending was the story today. Alex Auld stopped 34 shots from the Rangers, only giving up a goal in the shootout. Henrik Lundqvist got his 8th shutout of the year with 27 saves. Nigel Dawes was the difference in the game for the Rangers, scoring on New York’s 2nd attempt in the shootout. The Bruins will return home on March 13 to host the Tampa Bay Lightning. Bruins tickets are available for this and all remaining Bruins games. New York will play its next three on the road. Stay tuned for info on New York Rangers playoff tickets.

The Boston Bruins had been getting comfortable in the 6th spot in the Eastern Conference playoff standings but after last nights 8-2 stomping from the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Bruins dropped to the 7th spot in the East, and are now only one point away from the 8th and final playoff spot. This was the team’s third loss in four nights, and over that span they have allowed 19 goals compared to scoring only 5. “I don’t think it’s time to panic,” Boston coach Claude Julien said after the game. “It’s certainly time to make the adjustments and address. I don’t know if it’s we’re totally out of sync or the pressure. We’ve just got to take a step back.” It does not get any easier for the struggling B’s who have to face the Washington Capitals on Saturday at the TD Banknorth Garden. The Capitals beat the Bruins 10-2 on Monday night in Washington and hope to come into town with a ‘kick them while they are already down’ mentality. Bruins Goaltender Tim Thomas who had been very solid all year has struggled the past week in net. He admits that the team isn’t playing at the highest level. “We’re just a little fragile right now,” Thomas said on yahoo.com. “We haven’t really been that all year.” This team needs to regroup and they need to do it quickly because there are a few teams right behind them in the standings that are hungry and want to extend their season. Right now the Bruins don’t look like a playoff team, but rather a punching bag for the rest of the NHL. Everyone is getting in some good shots, and no one in Boston seems to know how to stop the hurt.

In the third and decisive game of the season series between the Celtics and Pistons, it was the Celtics outplaying Detroit in a 90-78 win for Boston at the TD Banknorth Garden. It was a heated and physical game with 43 fouls overall and five technicals called on the Celtics. Kevin Garnett was huge for the Celtics scoring a season high 31 points. Kendrick Perkins dominated the backboards with a career high 20 rebounds. It was the sixth win a row for the Celtics and with it Boston became the first team to clinch a spot in the playoffs. The highly anticipated game featured the two likely contenders for the Eastern Conference title and provided a preview of what would be a great playoff matchup. Boston Celtics playoff tickets will be available soon.

After passing his physical examination on Tuesday, the Boston Celtics signed Sam Cassell for the remainder of the season to help an already deep bench become that much deeper. Cassell will back up Rajon Rondo at the PG position, most likely taking minutes from Eddie House and Tony Allen. The Celtics hope that this move is the last piece of the puzzle for their run at the NBA Championship. Cassell, in his 15th NBA season, is excited to join a contender after spending the past two and a half seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers. His veteran presence will be an important factor down the playoff stretch, leading the younger players who have plenty of talent, but little experience. Over his career, Cassell has averaged 15.9 points and 6.1 assists per game. He has played along side some of his new teammates including Kevin Garnet in Minnesota from 2003-2005 and Ray Allen in Milwaukee from 1998-2003. Allen likes the new addition and believes it will help elevate the game of many on the players on the current roster. He thinks the move will also take some pressure off of Rondo at the point. “Since I got traded here last summer, Sam was excited about this team’s potential,” said Allen, “Sam will give Rondo another gear.” It’s been said that Cassell can run an offense on confidence alone; his addition to the Celtics will certainly help them during the crunch time in close games. With him on the floor you not only add another offensive threat from behind the 3-point arc, you also get a hard nosed defensive workhorse that will control the flow of a game based on what suites his teams style of play best at that point in the contest. Once a hot head on the court, Cassell has toned down his antics and assumed a veteran role much like Gary Payton did late in his career with the Celtics. Don’t get me wrong, Cassell can still talk a mean game on the floor, and can certainly back it up, but he also can motivate his teammates and get them to believe in the show that he runs. Cassell will not be available in tonight’s game vs. Detroit because he will be attending a family funeral, but will join the team tomorrow and be dressed for Friday night’s game vs. Chicago.

Over the past two nights, the Bruins have not looked like a playoff caliber team and it showed again in a 1-0 overtime loss to the Florida Panthers last night at the TD Banknorth Garden. After an embarrassing 10-2 loss on Monday night to the Capitals in which the Bruins had trouble stopping goals, last night their major issue was scoring them. That was thanks to Panthers goaltender Craig Anderson who had another stellar performance in net stopping all 40 shots he saw for his second consecutive shutout victory. On Sunday, Anderson set an NHL record for saves in a shutout victory with 53 saves against the Islanders in another 1-0 win. The back-to-back shutout efforts combined for a total of 93 saves which is the most in two games since the 1989 season. “These last two games have just been terrific,” Anderson said on yahoo.com. “As much as you want to say it’s just one guy, it’s been everybody. The little things you might not notice, I recognize, the coaches recognize, and the other guys recognize what guys are doing. We’re making sure were getting the pucks out, we’re making big blocks, we’re making sure the puck doesn’t get to the net, and a lot of the time I am seeing the shots, which is a credit to the guys in front of me.” As of now the Bruins are still in the 6th playoff spot in the Eastern Conference but are tied with the Rangers and have the Flyers nipping at their heels only 3 pts back. With only 16 regular season games left on the schedule, every game becomes an important one, especially those against in division opponents. The B’s have two more home games this week and can hopefully win both to salvage a decent home stand. They skate tomorrow night against the Toronto Maple Leafs and then take the ice again on Saturday for a rematch against the Washington Capitals. Bruins Tickets are still available for all home games.