Another busy Boston professional sports evening on Wednesday, as the Boston Bruins were in Toronto for their second round robin game at the NHL bubble, while the Celtics played the Nets at the NBA bubble in Orlando and the Red Sox tried to break a four game losing streak visiting Tampa Bay for a second straight night.
Tyler Johnson scored with 1:27 left in regulation as the Tampa Bay Lightning topped the Boston Bruins 3-2 in Toronto at Scotiabank Arena. Boston is now 0-2 in round robin games and can now finish no higher than third in the Eastern Conference playoff seedings.
Brayden Point and Alex Killorn paced Tampa Bay with two first period goals for a 2-0 Lightning lead. Charlie McAvoy scored late in the second and Chris Wagner early in the third for Boston to tie it. Tuuka Rask made 32 saves in the loss. The Bruins play their last round robin game on Sunday against the Washington Capitals.
At Tropicana Field in Tampa Bay, Alex Verdugo and Michael Chavis hit homeruns and Red Sox pitching did the rest only allowing four hits in the 5-0 Boston win over the Rays to end a four game losing streak.
Verdugo hit a two run homer in the fourth, his first as a member of the Red Sox. Christian Vazquez added an RBI single in the sixth, and then Chavis unloaded a two run homer to center field for all the scoring. Chavis had three hits and Xander Bogaerts had two for 4-8 Boston. Martin Perez (2-1) got the win on the hill allowing all four Tampa hits on the night in the 5.0 inning outing. Colten Brewer, Austin Brice, Matt Barnes, and Brandon Workman worked a scoreless and hitless inning each striking out a combined seven batters. Boston will host the Toronto Blue Jays at Fenway Park for a three game series beginning Friday night at 7:30.
At the Walt Disney Resort in Orlando, Florida the Boston Celtics put seven players in double figures and scored the most points in a game since 1992 by rocking the Brooklyn Nets 149-115.
Brooklyn (32-36) was coming off a win over the top seed in the Eastern Conference the Milwaukee Bucks in their last game, but couldn’t stay with Boston (45-23) in this one as the Celtics rolled from about the end of the first quarter on. The Celtics had a 19 point halftime lead and built it to as many as 34 late in the fourth quarter which was the final margin. Every player on the roster scored at least three points in the game, as the bench poured in a total of 69 points.
Jaylen Brown led the way with 21 points. Also in double figures was Jayson Tatum (19), Gordon Hayward and Robert Williams III (18 each), Brad Wanamaker (13), Marcus Smart (12), and Daniel Theis (10). The Celtics hit 20-39 from three-point range. Jeremiah Martin led Brooklyn in the loss with 20 points. Next up for Boston is a matchup with the Toronto Raptors at 9 p.m. Friday night.
