Boston

Fighting for Their Playoff Lives: Bruins, Celtics Face Huge Games Friday Night

The Boston Bruins and the Boston Celtics both face huge games on Friday night.

The Bruins - down 3-1 to the Ottawa Senators in their first round playoff series - face elimination should they lose on Friday. Their game is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

The Celtics, meanwhile, are in an 0-2 hole after losing the first two games of their round one playoff series to the Chicago Bulls, who nearly missed the playoffs altogether. Their game starts at 7 p.m.

The Bruins are still banged up, and interim coach Bruce Cassidy said injured defensemen Torey Krug, Brandon Carlo and Adam McQuaid are progressing, but he doesn't expect them to play in Game 5.

The Senators aren't missing three of their top four defensemen but could again be without Mark Borowiecki because of a lower-body injury and miss forward Tom Pyatt after he left Game 4 with an upper-body injury. Mentally, though, Ottawa is healthy and at peace with its situation in the series.

"It's important (to close it out) but you're not thinking, 'Oh, we have to do this,'" center Kyle Turris said. "If it doesn't happen next game, we're going to do the same thing the game after. We won't get frustrated, but we do realize there's urgency involved." 

Win or lose, Friday won't be the end of the Celtics' season.

But it may be the last chance they have to save themselves from a stunning freefall that a No. 1 seed has never experienced in NBA history.

"Coming in, I didn't say, 'Hey, we're gonna be up 2-0 on Boston.' No, no one thought that,'' Chicago's Dwyane Wade said. "But we are in this position. We've earned it."

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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