The Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers took advantage of their home court advantages last night, in closing out their first round matchups.

The Celtics used a vintage performance from Kevin Garnett to beat the Hawks 83-80. Garnett, who, prior to the game, was called the “dirtiest player in the league” by Hawks owner  Michael Gearon, scored 28 points and pulled down 14 rebounds. Following the game, Garnett said his performance was a direct response to Gearon.

The Hawks came up short thanks in part to a missed free throw from Al Horford with 2 seconds to play. With a chance to tie the game, Horford missed his first of two free throws, following a Marquis Daniels foul. Up by 1, the Celtics got the ball to Paul Pierce (playing with a sprained MCL) who coolly hit both of his free throws.

The Celtics will now advance to the second round to play the Philadelphia 76ers, who closed out the Chicago Bulls 79-78.  I’d write more about this series, but I got to bed late last night and I don’t really want to fall asleep.

Meanwhile, with a sick Kobe Bryant, the Lakers were unable to close out the Denver Nuggets and will now head back to LA for a Game 7 on Saturday night.

No, I’m just kidding. There were no games last night. None tonight either. Because, you know, it’s good to have people forget about your sport during the playoffs.

Did you know that Major League pitcher Josh Beckett only gets 18 off days per season? 18!

Following a bit of a rough start last night (2 1/3 innings, 7 Earned Runs), Josh Beckett laid into The Man. In his postgame press conference, Beckett said he didn’t see what the big deal was with his golf playing (see yesterday’s Bulletin). After all, he only gets 18 days off per season.

Now, Beckett knowing that number means that he spent some amount of time yesterday, before his start, counting the number of days during the MLB regular season in which the Boston Red Sox did not have a game. So there’s that.

Beckett also seems to be forgetting that period of time between the World Series (not that Boston will have to worry about that this year) and the start of Spring Training (in mid-February). He doesn’t have to pitch much then.

In addition, he may be misremembering the 4 days between his individual starts. Granted,  a Major League pitcher has to get work in on those days, but it’s important to remember that “getting work in” includes a bullpen session, some strength and conditioning, and shagging fly balls during batting practice.

Josh Beckett may also be forgetting that he earns just south of $16 million annually.

Red Sox Nation will not be forgetting Josh Beckett’s comments.

Taking one game in a three-game series from the Pittsburgh Pirates is not necessarily something to be proud of.

That said, the Nationals managed to avoid a sweep last night, getting home runs from Roger Bernadina, Adam LaRoche, and Rick Ankiel. Stephen Strasburg did his job, striking out 13 Pirates hitters, earning his 3^rdwin of the season.

The Nationals, now sitting at 19-12 for the season, travel to the Queen City this weekend, for a  three-game set with the Cincinnati Reds. Gio Gonzalez takes the hill for the Nats tonight. He’ll be opposed by Mike Leake, whose last name is funny.  Game time is 7:05 p.m.

MLB: LA Angels @ Texas Rangers (8:00 p.m. Tonight/MLB Network). CJ Wilson returns to Texas to face the Rangers and Yu Darvish. This may be the most interesting pitching matchup we see all season in baseball.

NHL: Washington Capitals @ New York Rangers (7:30 p.m. Saturday/NBC Sports Network). Game 7.

NBA: Denver Nuggets @ Los Angeles Lakers (10:30 p.m. Saturday/TNT). Game 7. I fully expect a 40 point performance from Kobe Bryant.

Have a great weekend, all!