BOSTON -- The World Series trophy was in the building. Bill Russell was courtside. And the next Boston Celtics championship seems so very far away. The Celtics opened the season at home on Friday night without Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce or Doc Rivers -- or Rajon Rondo, for that matter -- and gave away a 22-point second half lead as the Milwaukee Bucks won 105-98 for their first victory of the season. The loss spoiled the home debut of new Celtics coach Brad Stevens and dampened the cheer in the city following the Red Sox victory in the World Series on Wednesday. Zaza Pachulia had 20 points and nine rebounds, making two free throws with 44 seconds left to give the Bucks their first lead since the opening basket. It was the second straight night Milwaukee fell behind early, having spotted the New York Knicks to a 25-point lead before coming back to tie it -- and then lose -- on Wednesday. "We have to figure this out, getting off to such a bad start," said Bucks coach Larry Drew, who earned his first victory after taking over for Jim Boylan. "Ive got to get my finger on it. Two straight games where we just got off to bad starts. It hasnt been great execution. Were just putting too pressure on ourselves defensively." Red Sox owners John Henry and Tom Werner took the court before the game with the World Series trophy, and Russell was also courtside a few hours after a statue of him was unveiled near City Hall. The 11-time NBA champion was honoured during a first-half timeout, and Stevens made sure his team watched. "There are things that are bigger than the game, although right now I dont feel good about life," the former Butler coach said. "To honour Bill Russell and to have us be in a huddle while theyre honouring Bill Russell wouldnt be right." John Henson had 14 points and nine rebounds for the Bucks, who scored the last 10 points of the game. In its opener on Wednesday, Milwaukee rallied to take a lead with 3:13 left before giving up 10 of the last 12 points. "The second time, same (bad start)" Pachulia said. "In New York, we just couldnt finish out the game. We have to fix the mistakes we make." Vitor Faverani scored 12 points with 18 rebounds for Boston. Brandon Bass and Jeff Green each had nine rebounds for the Celtics, who scored 20 of the first 26 points in the game and led 72-50 with 19 minutes to play. But Milwaukee scored 11 of the last 14 points in the third quarter and then tied it 93-all with a 20-10 run to start the fourth. After Gerald Wallace hit a 3-pointer to give Boston back the lead, the teams traded free throws and then the Bucks scored the next 10 points. Milwaukee made 10 straight free throws to end the game, including two by Pachulia that made it 99-98. "We cant play like that. It all starts with me," Green said. "Weve got to get it going in the right direction and I take responsibility for that. We cant lose -- not the way we played in the first half." It was the first regular-season home game for the Celtics, who traded Pierce and Garnett to the Brooklyn Nets over the summer and sent Rivers to the Los Angeles Clippers. Stevens replaced Rivers, making his NBA debut about a week after his 37th birthday. Injured point guard Rajon Rondo took over Pierces usual role of speaking to the fans before the opener. Wearing a suit and tie and a fake beard -- a tribute to the Red Sox -- Rondo welcomed the fans before taking a seat on the bench for the rest of the game. Rondo, who is recovering from a torn ACL in his right knee, is not expected to play for at least a month. The Celtics arent expected to be competitive until he returns, which is OK with the fans who want them to earn a high pick in what is said to be the deepest NBA draft in years. Boston came out and scored 16 of the first 20 points in the game and never led by less than seven points until the fourth-quarter collapse, when they were outscored 34-15. Faverani had 11 rebounds at halftime and Green had 11 points. NOTES: Celtics PG Avery Bradley was evaluated for a concussion on Friday but was cleared to play. ... Bucks PG Brandon Knight, who strained his right hamstring 2 minutes into Milwaukees opener, did not play. ... Russell sat courtside. ... Bostons Jared Sullinger returned from a one-game suspension after he was charged with domestic violence. The charges were dismissed by a judge. Cincinnati Reds Gear . After deputy commissioner Bill Daly said the league would consider pulling out of Sochi if something "significant" happens before players arrive, those set to participate are trying not to worry about that scenario. Pedro Borbon Jersey . An unconventional night for Texas-El Paso nearly led to the Miners getting a huge upset. Down by 14 with 2:21 left, the Miners went on a frantic closing spurt that fell just short, and UTEP was beaten by No. https://www.cheapredsjerseys.us/1715s-jo...ersey-reds.html. - Doug Kalitta led Top Fuel qualifying Friday in the NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway with a 3. Tyler Mahle Jersey . The right-hander pitched into the seventh inning and boosted Cincinnatis struggling offence by hitting a double and scoring as the Reds ended a seven-game losing streak by beating the Atlanta Braves 1-0 Saturday night. Josh VanMeter Jersey .35 million. The right-hander had agreed last February to a deal that pays him $3.775 million this year and allows him to earn an additional $225,000 in bonuses based on games finished.WILKES-BARRE, Pa. -- At the risk of jinxing his red-hot teammate between the pipes, St. Johns IceCaps forward Patrice Cormier kept his comments about the play of goaltender Michael Hutchinson understated Wednesday night. "Hutchinson was again pretty good," Cormier said. "Knock on wood." Only superstition stopped Cormier from handing out more effusive praise. Hutchinson made 30 saves to record his second shutout of the playoffs as the IceCaps routed the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins 5-0 on Wednesday in Game 3 of the American Hockey Leagues Eastern Conference final. The IceCaps lead the series 2-1. Game 4 will be played Thursday night in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. "We had a couple early power plays that sort of got us going," said winger Andrew Gordon, who had three assists. "Maybe they didnt execute quite to the level that theyre used to in this building, but we had a real good effort. Sometimes you get rewarded." Eric ODell had a goal and an assist. Jason Jaffray, Kael Mouillierat, Zach Redmond and Cormier all scored as well. Hutchinson raised his post-season record to 9-4 with a .945 save percentage. The IceCaps scored on consecutive shots less than two minutes apart in the first period to take a 2-0 lead. Josh Morrissey, on his 19th birthday, took a cross-ice pass from Gordon in the right face-off dot and put a puck on the stick of Cormier in the slot for a re-direction goal on the power play at 11:24. Gordon intercepted a pass by Penguins winger Spencer MMachacek behind the net and fed Jaffray in front for a goal at 13:15.dddddddddddd "They outplayed us all over the ice," Penguins winger Tom Kostopoulos said. "They capitalized on their chances. They were clearly the better team." After killing a 65-second five-on-three Penguins power play late in the first period, the IceCaps forced another turnover on the forecheck early in the second, and ODell buried at loose puck at the left post to make the score 3-0. "If they score (on the five-on-three power play), youre like, Uh oh, its a game," Cormier said. "Kill that and I dont want to say weve got momentum, but we go into the second feeling good." Mouillerat scored from the goal-line on a five-on-three advantage at 6:24 and Redmond sent a slapshot on net from the blue-line that hit the glove of goalie Peter Mannino and trickled over the goal-line with a second left in the period to give the IceCaps a 5-0 edge going into the third. "I think there were a couple goals today that were backbreakers," Gordon said. "That one with a second left, that hurts. Ive been on the other end of those a few times and that hurts. Timely goals today were probably a momentum killer for them." Mannino, who played every minute of the Penguins first 13 playoff games, was pulled after stopping 19-of-24 shots in the first two periods. The Penguins are 0 for 13 on the power play in the series. Matt Murray stopped all eight shots he faced in relief. ' ' '