Down at one time by 20 points the Boston Celtics came roaring back into the game against the Orlando Magic and actually had the chance to win but Paul Pierce missed a game winning three point attempt as the Green dropped their first game of the year, 104-102, after starting 8-0.

The Celtics had started to chip away at the 20 point bulge in the the thid quarter and actually took the lead 88-87 midway through the 4th on back-to-back 3’s by James Posey and Eddie House.

Pierce led the Celtics with 28 points, Ray Allen had 19 points, Rajon Rondo chipped in 18 and Kevin Garnett registered yet another double-double with 14 points and 11 boards prior to fouling out. Posey also fouled out for Boston.

Dwight Howard led Orlando with 24 points, Rashard Lewis had 22 points and Jameer Nelson had 18.

Boston had 20 turnovers against Orlando and outrebounded the Magic, 41-28.

Lewis and Allen played together for nearly 5 years with Seattle before each player was traded this off season.

The Result

Wow. Where do you even start? The New England Patriots squashed their AFC East foe Buffalo Bills like a bug on the windshield on their way to a 56-10 rout in Orchard Park NY Sunday night.

Tom Brady was 31 of 39 for 373 yards and had 5 TD passes four of them to Randy Moss and one to Ben Watson. Laurence Maroney and Kyle Eckel ran for scores and Ellis Hobbs returned a fumble for a touchdown. The game was never really in any doubt as in a blink of an eye it was 14-0 New England and even after the Bills scored on a 47 yard bomb by JP Losman to Roscoe Parish to cut the lead in half, you never felt like it may be a game.

Well now the Patriots are 10-0 and cruising not only to the AFC East title but the #1 seed in the conference as they have a two game lead on Indianapolis.

I hope everyone has a happy and healthy Thanksgiving on Thursday I’ll still have your weekly “In The Red Zone” on Tuesday and the game preview on Friday plus any other news of note.

Scoring Plays

1^st Quarter

• NE Maroney 6 yard run – kick good – 7-0 Patriots
• NE Brady 43 yard pass to Moss – kick good – 14-0 Patriots
• BUF Losman 47 yard pass to Parish – kick good – 14-7 Patriots

2^nd Quarter

• NE Brady 16 yard pass to Moss – kick good – Patriots 21-7
• NE Brady 6 yard pass to Moss – kick good – Patriots 28-7
• NE Brady 17 yard pass to Moss – kick good – Patriots 35-7

3^rd Quarter

• NE Brady 3 yard pass to Watson – kick good – Patriots 42-7
• BUF Lindell 52 yard FG – Patriots 42-10

4^th Quarter

• NE Eckel 1 yard run – kick good – Patriots 49-10
• NE Hobbs 35 yard fumble recovery – kick good – Patriots 56-10

Offensive Players of the Game

The offensive line. The 5-man front of Nick Kaczur, Matt Light, Russ Hochstein, Logan Mankins and Dan Koppen provided quality protection for Tom Brady and Matt Cassel as neither was sacked, the penalites were a minimum and they had good run blocking allowing the running game to gain 127 yards on 29 carries and produced 29 first downs.

Defensive Player of the Game

Cornerback Ellis Hobbs had 3 tackles, defensed two passes and returned a fumble 35-yards for a touchdown.

Turning Point(s) of the Game

Randall Gay interception on the Bills first drive plus the personal foul tacked on at the end.

Tom Brady goes 43 yards to Randy Moss on 3rd and 12 for a TD.

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While you’re watching the Patriots kick the Bills’ ass and awaiting Steve’s recap of the game, I bring you this Mike Lowell update courtesy of Rob Bradford over at the Boston Herald.

The Red Sox and Lowell’s agents, the Levinsons, talked without making any sort of breakthroughs in the negotiations. It appears as though Lowell might wait it out to see what suitors emerge while the Sox hold strong on their offer.

Wish there was more to report, but the theme of the negotiations continues on.

I really have to wonder how much longer the Red Sox will wait before moving on. The longer they go, the harder it is going to be to find a suitable replacement if needed. Of course I want him back as does the entire team and organization. But this is a business and as time goes, both sides need to make the ultimate decision and move forward or continue their relationship.

Let’s hope the Sox and Lowell decide to keep their relationship.

For the fourth time in six years, the New England Revolution found themselves in the MLS Cup. And for the fourth time in six years, the Revolution have found themselves on the losing end as the Houston Dynamo beat the Revs for the second straight year to win the MLS Cup 2-1 at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC on Sunday afternoon.

The Dynamo have only been in Houston for two years, relocating from San Jose back in late 2005, when AEG could not get funding for a soccer specific stadium. The team moved it’s operations, players and coaches to Houston and eventually became known as the Houston Dynamo. So in it’s two years in Houston, the team has given the city two MLS Championships.

Just like last season, the Dynamo fell behind to the Revolution. Taylor Twellman put the Revs ahead 1-0 when he put home a ball served to him from Brian Ralston and Shalrie Joseph. The Revs would take the 1-0 lead into the locker room at the half.

The Dynamo finally got on the board in the 61st minute when the Revs had trouble clearing the ball. The Dynamo’s Dwayne De Rosario sent a ball back across the penalty area that the Revs failed to clear and on the second try Joseph Ngwenya put under Revs goalie Matt Reis to tie the score at 1.

Just 13 minutes later, the Dynamo found themselves ahead on a brilliant goal from De Rosario as he took the cross from Brad Davis and snapped home a header to make it 2-1 Houston.

The Revs had some chances to score at the end as their best chance was saved by Dynamo goalie Pat Onstad off a diving header by Jeff Larentowicz from the Andy Dorman corner.

De Rosario was named MVP of the MLS Cup after the game.

The Dynamo are the first team in MLS history to repeat as champions since the 1996-97 D.C. United squads.

I’d also like to congratulate my old boss, Chris Canetti, who is the COO of the Dynamo on the championship.

Elena Delle Donne faxed in her letter-of-intent to attend the University of Connecticut finishing off one of the better recruiting efforts in women’s basketball. And now that the class is complete, UConn head coach Geno Auriemma can finally make comments about his prized recruits.

When he was asked about his incoming class, this is what Geno offered up:

“What I do know is the players we’ve signed are going to be able to come in next year and have a tremendous impact for a couple of reasons. We’re losing four players [the seniors] who have played a lot of minutes and been very productive and we’re bringing in four who, when we look back at it in for years, I feel will have been very productive and made a huge impact.”

About Delle Donne:

“I think Elena is the best basketball player in America– skill wise. I don’t think there is anyone in the country that can do what she does at her size. I don’t neccessarily think she’s the quickest, fastest, meanest kid on the block. So now, you wait to see how she’ll handle the challenge when she confronts opponents who are.”

About Caroline Doty:

“Caroline can shoot and pass and is a true leader on the floor. We’ve been recruiting her since she was in eighth grade. She’s similar to Jen Rizzotti in the sense that no one really anticipated Jen could be a national player of the year. If they did, more programs would have recruited her. Caroline has the same mindset Jen did. Mentally, she is fearless, which is what separated Jen from everyone else. They also grew up in the same environment with older brothers who beat up on them every day in the backyard. She’s one tough kid who expects to win at everything she does.”

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There’s not a whole heck of a lot going on with the Boston area newspapers this morning but there is still some news. This one is from Steve in a comment last night.

Add the Dodgers to the list of teams pursuing Mike Lowell, whose market is not moving as rapidly as Castillo’s. The Dodgers’ reluctance to trade top prospects for the Marlins’ Miguel Cabrera increases their preference for a free agent such as Lowell. However, Lowell might not hit as well in Dodger Stadium as he did at Fenway Park, and he also might not want to leave the East Coast. …

This one comes from Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe.

An interesting pitcher on Boston’s radar is Cubs free agent righthander Kerry Wood, who made the transition from oft-injured starter to reliever. Wood is trying to work out something with the Cubs, but if it doesn’t happen, he could be precisely the type of power arm the Sox like to have late in the game – the role they envisioned for Eric Gagné.

I guess that would mean the Red Sox are trying to lighten the workload of Hideki Okajima and aren’t ready to trust Manny Delcarmen in that role just yet. My assumption would have been Delcarmen in the 7th, Okajima in the 8th and Jonathan Papelbon in the 9th.

Hopefully something happens with Lowell in the coming days so the Red Sox can move forward in putting the pieces together for defending their World Series championship in 2008

Welcome to the big time Jacoby Ellsbury. Ellsbury returned home to Madras, Oregon today to a welcome fit for a king or in this case, a World Champion.

For some reason the video is not working in Internet Explorer, so please click here to view the video.

I now interrupt your Saturday night debauchery or college football watching to bring you this update from Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe regarding the contract negotiations with Mike Lowell.

The clock seems to be ticking on the Mike Lowell negotiations with a possible resolution getting closer. Theo Epstein and the Levinson Brothers, Lowell’s agents, continued their negotiations Saturday, but as of early evening there had been no conclusion.

One side characterized the talks as “status quo.” It appears that the ball is squarely in Lowell’s court. The third baseman must decide whether to take the Sox’ offer – which is still believed to be three years – or continue to test the waters. The Red Sox likely need an answer soon so they can proceed with their Plan B if they haven’t already done so.

There were still no obvious escape hatches for Lowell. The Yankees’ first-base option has dried up according to ESPN, which still leaves both the Angels and Dodgers and the possibility that the Phillies could reserve the right to change their mind and go after Lowell, who is perfectly suited for their ballpark and lineup.

I am glad the Red Sox want their answer soon and the reasoning is correct. If he chooses to pursue other options, which don’t seem to be there right now, the Red Sox need to find a suitable replacement for him or decide whether or not to move their Gold Glove first baseman, Kevin Youkilis, to third.

Capped by senior linebacker Danny Lansanah’s 49-yard interception return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter the 24^th ranked UConn Huskies routed the Syracuse Orange 30-7 to improve to 5-1 in the Big East and 9-2 overall.

UConn controls their own destiny and will have a winner take all match for the Big East title next weekend in Morgantown between the underdog, upstart Huskies and the Big Bad Mountaineers.

The Huskies were lead by the throwing of junior quarterback Tyler Lorenzen who was 16 of 24 for 213 yards and a TD and the rushing of Donald Brown II who chewed up the Rentschler Field turf for 99 yards on 22 carries.

UConn was very good defensively as well sacking the Syracuse quarterback Andrew Robinson 4 times before he was replaced by Cameron Dantley, son of former NBA player Adrian Dantley. They also registered a pair of interceptions one by each QB and recovered one fumble.

The Huskies got touchdown runs from Andre Dixon of 2 yards and Brown of 21 yards and Terrence Jeffers hauled in a 63-yard pass for a TD in the first quarter. Tony Ciaravino had a 33-yard field goal.

Syracuse spoiled the UConn shut out with 8 minutes left in the game when Mike Williams caught a two-yard pass from Dantley.

The biggest game in the history of the UConn football program now looms on the horizon. Next Saturday at 3:30 PM on ABC, the Huskies will play for the Big East championship. The Huskies have never beaten the Mountaineers in three tries losing at The Rent in 2004 (31-19) and 2006 (37-11) and in Morgantown in 2005 (45-13).

UConn finished the season unbeaten at home going 7-0.

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