Morning sports update: Brad Marchand thinks the round-robin competition was ‘preseason’
"I mean, let's call it what it is."
The Red Sox lost to the Rays 8-7 on Monday night. J.D. Martinez hit his first home run of the season.
Tuesday provides back-to-back games for Boston fans to enjoy. At 5 p.m., the Celtics face the Grizzlies. Then at 8 p.m., the Bruins and Hurricanes get underway in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.
Brad Marchand’s thoughts on the round-robin: The Bruins played their first meaningful games since the NHL resumed its season. In a round-robin to determine playoff seeding, Boston went 0-3, dropping from the top seed in the Eastern Conference down to fourth.
Yet Brad Marchand, echoing other Bruins players as well as head coach Bruce Cassidy, doesn’t place much value on the round-robin games and their importance, especially compared with the imminent start of the playoffs.
Asked if the Bruins were concerned about where they are going into the postseason, Marchand gave a candid response.
“I think that we’re in a position where really what we’ve gone through the last four games, it really doesn’t mean anything,” Marchand told reporters. “We’re not going to look at it and base the next series off what’s happened.
“Those were preseason games,” Marchand added. “I mean, let’s call it what it is. They’re exhibition games for the playoffs. And we were in the same position as other teams, and it’s hard to have the same mentality as a playoff series. So we’re not going to base our performance or what it’s going to be against Carolina on that.”
🎥 Zdeno Chara and @Bmarch63 on the #NHLBruins Round 1 matchup against Carolina: “We know that they’re a good team, they’re playing very well right now. Some of their young stars are really feeling it right now.” pic.twitter.com/k4M3hNnDuW
— x – Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) August 10, 2020
Trivia: In Larry Bird’s rookie season (1979-1980), he led the Celtics in scoring with 21.3 points per game. Which player was second?
(Answer at the bottom.)
Hint: He was later traded to the Clippers.
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Tacko Fall made some progress with his swing
:
Tacko Fall hit the golf course with Mo Bamba today: pic.twitter.com/QxUc6XCTGR
— Boston.com Celtics News (@BDCCeltics) August 11, 2020
Paul Pierce and Kendrick Perkins weighed in on Zion Williamson:
On this day: In 2008, Jason Lezak’s miraculous performance anchoring the U.S. 4×100 freestyle relay gave Michael Phelps another gold in the American’s pursuit of a record eight in one Olympics.
Despite trailing for nearly his entire lap, Lezak pulled off a dramatic comeback in what proved to be a world record-setting win.
Daily highlight: Devin Booker dared to dream and hit a three from the logo:
DEVIN BOOKER FROM THE LOGO 🔥 pic.twitter.com/i6KBHwY7xD
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 10, 2020
Trivia answer: Cedric Maxwell
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