The Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins were both in action at the TD Garden on Sunday afternoon and night.
Sunday afternoon the Celtics blew a 13 point fourth quarter lead, and fell to the visiting Atlanta Hawks 112-106.
Boston rested most of the regulars in the fourth quarter, and Atlanta (24-57) took advantage getting 33 points, eight rebounds, and five assists from Taurean Prince (including 7-8 from three point range).
Jayson Tatum led Boston (54-26) with 19 points, four rebounds, two assists, and four steals. Greg Monroe had 17 points. Al Horford had 16 points, seven rebounds, and four assists. Three other Celtics got into double figures as well led by Semi Ojeleye (13), Jaylen Brown (12), and Terry Rozier (10). Rozier also broke the Celtics record for most three pointers by a reserve in team history with 152. Boston will be at Washington Tuesday at 8 p.m.
Later in evening the Boston Bruins tried to win the NHL Atlantic Division and the top spot in the Eastern Conference in the season finale. The Bruins fell behind 3-1, before cutting it to one in the third but couldn’t tie it, and fell 4-2 to the Florida Panthers.
Henrik Borgstrom, Frank Vatrano, and Maxim Mamin all scored for Florida giving the Panthers a 3-1 lead after two periods. David Backes had scored his 14th goal of the season in the first for Boston.
David Pastrnak notched his 35th goal on the powerplay almost halfway through the third period to cut it to 3-2. Boston dominated the final period, outshooting Florida 26-6, but was unable to come up with the tying goal. Evgenii Dadonov iced the game with a rebound goal with just 1:49 left. The Bruins outshot the Panthers in the game 43-26.
Tuuka Rask made 22 saves in the loss for Boston (50-20-12). James Reimer made 33 saves for Florida before leaving in the third with an injury. Robert Luongo stopped all eight shots he faced in relief. Bostons first round matchup will be against the Toronto Maple Leafs, with game one to take place Thursday at 7 p.m. at TD Garden.
