CELTICS BEAT L.A.

I hate being cynical. That's a lie. I love being cynical. And while normally an 87-86 road win against the Lakers would be monumental, I'm not going to throw a parade for beating a Kobe-less Laker team.

Granted, LA was 4-0 without Kobe. The Patriots once went 11-5 without Tom Brady.

The Lakers aren't the real Lakers without Kobe. The Celtics played a solid defensive game, which is made easier without Kobe.

But wins are wins are wins. And those wins are at a premium right now. The Celtics, Hawks, and Magic are separated by 1.5 games. And the Celtics have lost many more games because of their injuries than they've won because of their opponents'.

Ray Allen led the C's in scoring with 24 (10/15 from the field, 4/6 for 3). KG had 14 with 8 boards. Kendrick Perkins had a great night, with 13 points and 14 rebounds. Rondo also had a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

The bench only scored 12 points, which will hopefully change once Robinson arrives.

Celtics @ Portland tonight at 10:30.

Source:
ESPN

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Lori Shepler

OLYMPIC HOCKEY ROUNDUP: DAY 3

We're finally getting some exciting games...

USA 6, NORWAY 1

Don't let the final score fool you. The US didn't dominate this game. At least not as much as they should. You might think Norway is great at hockey, but they're not. One of their players is a carpenter. Yet this was a 3-1 game going into the 3rd.

Phil Kessel had a goal and an assist, as did Ryan Malone. Brian Raflaski had a pair of junktime goals in the last 3 minutes of the 3rd. Ryan Miller only had to stop 10 of the 11 shots he faced, but he did have an assist.

CANADA 3, SWITZERLAND 2 (SO)

Canada should not need a shootout to beat Switzerland. The Swiss have 2 NHL players. Goalie Jonas Hiller and defenseman Mark Streit. That's it. Nevertheless, they stymied an All-Star team from Canada, and stole a point from the tournament favorites.

The Swiss have been the surprise of the tournament, thus far. They only lost 3-1 to the US, and they forced Canada into a shootout in their second game. They should beat Norway to round out their group play. And their sound defensive play could pose a problem to future contenders.

In the round-robin stage, teams are given 3 points for regulation wins, 2 points for OT wins, and 1 point for OT losses. So Canada only having 5 points is a major surprise. And Switzerland could finish the stage with 4 points, which is a significant achievement for a country that didn't even qualify for The Games 12 years ago.

SLOVAKIA 2, RUSSIA 1 (SO)

What a great game. Once again, the best matchup of the night started at 12:30 AM Eastern Time, so many people missed this contest. Zdeno Chara and Alex Ovechkin battled all night long, and it was more physical than when the Caps play the Bruins. Alexei Morozov scored for the Russians in the 2nd, Marian Hossa scored for the Slovakians with about 10 minutes to go in the 3rd. The shootout went 7 rounds before Pavol Demitra beat Bryzgalov.

This was a huge win for the Slovakians, who had lost 3-1 to the Czech Republic the night before. Group B is now totally up for grabs.

Today's games:
3pm on MSNBC: Sweden vs. Belarus
8pm on CNBC: Czech Republic vs. Latvia
12am on MSNBC: Finland vs. Germany