postseason as one of MLBs hottest teams. Their 27-13 record is the best in the majors since Aug. 20. -- Adam RubinI wont even resort to the even-year argument. Lets stick with the more tangible facts,

INDIANAPOLIS -- Isaiah Thomas fought through an off-shooting night, then came through for the Boston Celtics when it matter most.Thomas scored 23 points, including Bostons final eight, to lead the visiting Celtics past the Indiana Pacers 105-99 on Saturday night.Isaiah did a lot for our team tonight even though he wasnt shooting well, Avery Bradley said of his teammates 12-point fourth quarter. Thats what the game is all about, the fourth quarter.Thomas had just four points through 34 minutes before scoring 19 over the final 14 minutes. He hit several clutch shots to keep Indiana at bay and sealed the win at the foul line in the final 30 seconds.With all-star Paul George sitting out the game with a sprained left ankle, the Pacers needed the help Thomas was affording them. After starting hot, the Pacers looked as if they wouldnt miss their leading scorer.In the first half, Indiana was crisp on offense, moving the ball, spacing the floor and getting the shots they wanted. But after halftime, they cooled off from the field and looked scattered at times on both ends of the floor.Boston lingered, and all they needed was Thomas to get involved.With his team struggling to seize control of a tight contest, Thomas surged in the fourth quarter. Nursing a 91-89 lead with 4:04 left, Thomas calmly hit a floater in the lane. After Monta Ellis hit a free throw to pull Indiana within 97-94 with 1:31 left, Thomas hit a pair of free throws, scored on a fastbreak layup with a minute left, and then added four free throws to seal Bostons second road win of the year.Pacers coach Nate McMillan said his team didnt challenge Boston in the final minutes to play to Indianas strengths.We want to make teams defend, get to our second, third, fourth option, McMillen said. You dont win games when you dont make plays down the stretch.Kelly Olynyk scored 16 for the Celtics, who were playing the first of two straight road games. Amir Johnson scored 14 and grabbed nine rebounds, while Bradley had 13 points and five assists.Jeff Teague led Indiana with 20 points and 4 assists. Myles Turner scored 17 and had 8 rebounds. Ellis notched 15 points in the Pacers first home loss of the season.TIP-INSBoston: Al Horford sat out for the fifth straight game due to NBA concussion protocol but did travel with the team on its two-game road trip ... Saturdays win was Bostons second in a row after losing three straight. ... Terry Rozier had a career-high 11 points. ... Isaiah Thomas went 14-for-15 from the foul line.Indiana: Rodney Stuckey sat out for the ninth time in 10 games with a strained right hamstring. ... The Pacers honored their teams of the 1960s during halftime. This season marks the 50th anniversary of the Pacers franchise. ... After hitting 13 of their first 23 shots in the first quarter, the Pacers shot just 36.5 percent over the final three quarters. ... Indiana was held to less than 100 points for just the second time this season.PG SITS BUT SPEAKSGeorge offered his assessment of the teams disappointing loss at home. It was really frustrating, especially at home against a good team, he said of sitting out the game Saturday. I thought our problems were much of the same thing. We were real stagnant on offense once again.YOUNG SPARKJames Young got hot at different junctures of Saturdays game and proved to be a key in Bostons win. He scored 12 points in 16 minutes off the bench on 5-of-6 shooting. In his five appearances before Saturday, Young hadnt scored in the 18 minutes of action hed seen. His dunk and 3-pointer in the final 30 seconds of the third quarter helped Boston take a 79-76 lead into the final period.UP NEXT:Boston: visits New Orleans on Monday to complete a 2-game road trip.Indiana: is home against Orlando on Monday in the second of four straight home games.Ehire Adrianza Twins Jersey .Y. -- Paul Byron and Matt Stajan scored as the Calgary Flames started a five-game road trip with a 2-1 overtime win over the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday afternoon. Jake Cave Twins Jersey . Anthony Calvillo, through 20 CFL seasons, was frequently invincible and largely stoic in the heat of competition. But underneath the professional exterior he was, and is, compellingly human. https://www.cheaptwins.com/2092t-devin-smeltzer-jersey-twins.html . Brazilian national coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has confirmed that the veteran goalkeeper is set to join Toronto on loan, saying it will help him be ready for the World Cup. Kirby Puckett Jersey . The defence is doing its part, too. Drew Brees threw a pair of touchdown passes in the first half and the guys on the other side made sure that was enough, sending the Saints to a 17-13 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night. Stephen Gonsalves Jersey .C. -- Al Jefferson joked that he feels he can score from anywhere on the court.Nobody does postseasons better than Madison Bumgarner, but Mets ace Noah Syndergaard is certainly no slouch. With two of the premier pitchers in baseball dueling, Wednesdays NL wild-card showdown (8 p.m. ET on ESPN/Watch ESPN) could be one for the ages.Go inside the numbers and matchups that will decide Wednesday nights game, then vote on which team will win at the bottom of the page.Inside the pitching matchupWhen Bumgarner?is on the mound:?One thing we know about Bumgarner is that hell be unflappable on the mound at Citi Field. He owns a 0.60 ERA on the road in his postseason career while appearing in seven games. Remarkably, the Giants won all seven of those games.Bumgarner is essentially the same pitcher he was back when he dominated the 2014 postseason. He throws his four-seamer up in the zone, usually middle-in to right-handed batters, though it wasnt quite as effective this year as in the past. Back in 2014, batters had a .275 wOBA against it; this year, it was .323, with a swing-and-miss rate that dropped from 27.6 percent in 2014 to 22.4 percent in 2016. Bumgarners average velocity on the pitch dropped from 92.0 mph to 90.8.His cutter/slider -- Bumgarner calls it a cutter -- remains a deadly weapon, as batters hit .221 against it and have trouble elevating it. What makes it so effective in part is that Bumgarner manipulates the speed on it, throwing it from 85 to 89 mph. Bumgarners third pitch is a curveball that he throws about 15 percent of the time, about equally to lefties and righties, often with two strikes, and hell bury it at the knees or below. Batters hit just .130 against it, with a strikeout rate of 51.6 percent.If theres one worry, its that Bumgarner struggled a bit down the stretch, unlike in 2014, when he was red hot. In his final nine starts this season, he posted a 4.66 ERA and allowed eight home runs. -- David SchoenfieldWhen Syndergaard?is on the mound: Syndergaard stormed out of the gate in April, allowing two runs in his first three starts, and his ERA remained under 1.00 as late as mid-June. Terry Collins was pretty conservative in his usage of Syndergaard, who pitched more than seven innings just three times and 43 fewer innings than Bumgarner.Syndergaards game revolves around his high-octane fastball, which averaged 97.9 mph, the highest velocity by any starter in the majors (1.9 mph faster than Yordano Venturas). He throws it about 60 percent of the time with command, on the outer half of the plate to left-handers and the outer half of the plate to righties. The fastball itself isnt all that unhittable -- batters hit .283/.327/.411 against it, and Bumgarner had a higher swing-and-miss rate with his fastball -- but it helps set up Syndergaards slider. That pitch had the third-highest swing-and-miss rate of any starters slider (behind only those of Jose Fernandez and Max Scherzer), and batters hit .167 against it with one home run in 180 at-bats ending with the pitch (Corey Seager was the hitter).Syndergaard throws the slider about 21 percent of the time ((he threw it only 2 percent of the time last year) while also mixing in a curveball and a changeup, which he throws primarily to lefties.dddddddddddd. Syndergaard had a small platoon split, with lefties hitting .262/.324/.389 against him versus .228/.258/.322, and the Giants can roll out a lineup with six left-handed batters. -- SchoenfieldPlayer in the spotlightAsdrubal Cabrera has been one of the hottest hitters in the majors since his return from the DL on Aug. 21, hitting .343/.410/.650 with 10 home runs and 28 RBIs. Almost all of that damage came against right-handed pitchers, however, as the switch-hitter had just 18 PAs against southpaws in that stretch. With much of the Mets power coming from the left side (Curtis Granderson, Jay Bruce, Lucas Duda), Cabrera and Yoenis Cespedes might be relied upon to do the damage.?-- SchoenfieldWhat will decide the game?How the Mets handle MadBums best stuff:?Bumgarner is well known for his nasty fastball/slider combo. He throws those two pitches 81 percent of the time to right-handed hitters. That plays into the hands of two of the Mets most prominent hitters, who had great numbers against those two pitches from lefties -- Asdrubal Cabrera (.375 BA, five doubles, two HR in 80 at-bats ending with those pitches) and Yoenis Cespedes (.370 BA, five doubles, five HR in 54 at-bats). Cespedes had the fourth-highest OPS (1.081) of anyone with at least 100 plate appearances against lefties this season. -- Mark Simon,?ESPN Stats & InfoChoosing sides: Who will win?Sure, the Mets have a challenge facing Bumgarner. But they have a tested answer in Syndergaard, who finished the regular season with a better ERA than Bumgarners (2.60 vs. 2.74) and earned the Mets lone win in last years World Series. And lets not forget the decided advantage the Mets have in their bullpen if they can get Bumgarners pitch count up. Mets closer Jeurys Familia set a franchise record with 51 regular-season saves, while the Giants nearly had that number of blown saves. Whats more, the Mets enter the postseason as one of MLBs hottest teams. Their 27-13 record is the best in the majors since Aug. 20. -- Adam RubinI wont even resort to the even-year argument. Lets stick with the more tangible facts, such as Bumgarners 2.14 ERA in almost 90 postseason innings. The Giants offense is built for contact, which should help against Syndergaard. The Giants bullpen isnt as bad as it appeared. It was left exposed because of a September batting slump. That ends now.?-- Mark SaxonWhere the series standsUnlike last year, the Mets have one ace to ride this postseason, and theyre rolling him out here. You know what Bruce Bochy is hoping for: a complete game, similar to the one Bumgarner delivered in the 2014 wild-card game against the Pirates. After a rough finish for the Giants bullpen, you get the feeling Bochy will live or die with Bumgarner in this one. --?Schoenfield ' ' '