After Friday’s turn of events, do you believe the Bruins or Celtics advance out of the first round?
Debate the answer with Chad Finn and Boston sports fans at The Sports Q.
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A day of hope, finally! The Celtics beat the Bulls on the road without much drama in Game 3, which is exactly what they needed. The Bruins got two goals from a player a lot of fans probably haven’t heard of to win Game 5. So the question going into Sunday’s game is this: Was Friday actually a turning point for either the Bruins or Celtics (or both)? More specifically, will either one (or both) advance out of the first round now? – Brenda C.
I wonder how many Bruins muttered, “Yeah, Sean Kuraly had three goals, but only two counted,” as they were reading this. Guess you can only have one OT game-winner per game count anyway, right?
Yeah, fun night Friday, and an overdue one. (And Chris Sale was a pretty decent warmup act.) To answer the question, I think it’s probably the Celtics who have the better chance of getting out of the first round, for a couple of reasons:
Math: The Celtics win the series if they can win three of the next four games. The Bruins win the series if they can win two in a row. I like the odds better of the team that still has the wiggle room of being able to take one more loss.
Injuries: The Bruins lost the already injured David Krejci during Game 4 after a knee-on-knee hit. He hasn’t been right as it is, but the possibility of getting a boost from Playoff Krejci – remember, he was the postseason’s leading scorer in the ’11 Cup run – has always been a wild-card the Bruins were hoping to be able to play in this series. Meanwhile, the Bulls have already lost Rajon Rondo, who was in full and familiar Playoff Rondo mode, taking about the Celtics in particular in Game 2.
I don’t think the Bruins will ultimately beat the Senators. I do think the Celtics will beat the Bulls, but on one condition: Rondo doesn’t make some miraculous comeback and put up a 10-15-20 line in Game 7 while playing lefthanded. I wouldn’t put it past him. Playoff Rondo has a very high pain threshold.
What do you guys think? Will the Celtics or Bruins (or both, or neither) win their first-round series? I’ll hear ya in the comments.
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