BOSTON -- If Celtics fans had their way, and if their dreams had come true, Kevin Durant would be playing for Boston instead of the Golden State Warriors when the teams meet Friday night.Last summer, when Durant was deciding where to spend the next years of his career, the Celtics put on a big push, bringing their players and Tom Brady to a meeting with Durant on Long Island, N.Y.However, Durant spurned the Celtics and also spurned his former team, leaving the Oklahoma City Thunder for the Bay Area.It could make for an interesting reception by the TD Garden folks.What can they be mad about? Durant said Wednesday. I never played there, I never said I was going there. Theyre going to support their team.Its one of the best fan bases in the league. Top five, easily. So no matter who goes in there, theyre going to boo them. But I have no attachment to Boston at all.Buttering them up -- sort of -- may not keep the boos from raining down on Durant, but it will make for an interesting night.The Warriors lost just nine games in their record-setting regular season last year. One of those defeats was to the Celtics, in Oakland on April 1 -- and Boston was this close to being the only team in the NBA to beat Golden State twice.On Dec. 11, with TD Garden rocking, the Warriors rallied for a 124-119 double-overtime win against the Celtics, which gave Golden State a 24-0 record at the time. The Warriors record opening streak ended at Milwaukee in the next game, at the end of a seven-game road trip.The Warriors, who actually won their 28th straight regular-season game in Boston, trailed by five with 2:07 left in regulation, then played through a sloppy first overtime and then won the 58-minute game.We continue to fight. We believe in ourselves, Golden State forward Draymond Green said that night. We believe in each other and we trust each other. So, nothing new. The same old same old, which has made us who we are.They look a little different this season after failing to hold a 3-1 lead and losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers in last years NBA Finals. Durant arrived, and some key parts, such as Harrison Barnes and Andrew Bogut, left. However, coach Steve Kerrs team is 9-2 and hits Boston for the second game of a four-game road trip having already done something special.The Warriors have won five straight after a 127-121 victory at Toronto on Wednesday. They recorded at least 30 assists and shot 50 percent or better in all five games of their streak -- the first team since the 1990 Chicago Bulls to pull that off.And they meet a Celtics team that has been battling through the injuries suffered by Al Horford -- the big name brought in instead of Durant -- and Jae Crowder. The latter returned to practice Thursday, and both appear close. But having either of them for this game appears doubtful at best.After Durant went west, Crowder, in an interview with MassLive, said, That team is for sure the villain of the league. Every other NBA guy, friends of mine, are really disgusted from how the league is turning on that standpoint. Everybody is joining together. Everybody wants to go to Golden State or Cleveland.On Wednesday night, Isaiah Thomas and Avery Bradley, the guards who have to deal with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson on Friday, combined for 48 points, 17 rebounds and seven assists in Bostons win over the undermanned Dallas Mavericks -- Thomas putting on a one-man show down the stretch.The little big man, who has yet to score fewer than 23 points in a game this season, scored 22 in the fourth quarter, 20 in the final 6:01. Bradley had the other two Boston baskets in the run and also grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds in the win that lifted the Celtics to 6-5 on the season.The same night against the Raptors, Curry scored 35 points and dished out seven assists, while Durant went for 30 points, nine rebounds and six assists.Curry is averaging 33.6 points per game and Durant 25.4 during the five-game winning streak. Custom Soccer Jerseys Sale . - Goaltender Philippe Desrosiers of the Rimouski Oceanic has broken a shutout record that was only three months old in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Cheap Custom Soccer Jerseys . 31, the CFL club announced Monday. The team also has yet to decide on the future of Doug Berry, who began the season as a consultant to the head coach but took over the offensive co-ordinators duties in July. http://www.customjerseyssoccer.com/ . Hamelin, who triumphed in the 500 on Saturday, edged out Victor An of Russia by 0.021 seconds to maintain his lead in the World Cup standings. Russias Vladimir Grigorev was third. In the relay, Canada took control six laps from the finish line to beat Russia and the Netherlands. Custom AC Milan Jerseys . -- Matt Kuchar and Harris English ran away with the Franklin Templeton Shootout, shooting a 14-under 58 on Sunday in the final-round scramble to break the tournament course record. Clearance Custom Soccer Jerseys . The third-ranked Ivanovic, who won the event in 2008 and 10, served five aces and broke Wickmayer, also a former winner in 2009, five times. "The result looked easier than it really was," Ivanovic said. COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. -- As Ken Griffey Jr. prepares to enter the Hall of Fame as a first-ballot inductee, hes throwing his endorsement behind another left-handed slugger who played for the Seattle Mariners organization in the mid-1990s.Griffey said that Boston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz, who broke into professional ball in Seattles farm system under the name David Arias from 1994 to 1996, absolutely merits a place in Cooperstown when he appears on the ballot five years after his retirement this fall.I got a chance to see him young, Griffey said at a news conference Saturday. He wasnt Big Papi. He was Thin Papi at that time. To watch him do the things hes done over the years, hes become one of the most feared hitters in all of baseball. Hes the one guy where you say, If were up by two, lets just walk him and go for the next guy. Hes got a chance to put a team up by three real quick.Hes done an incredible job in that city. Do I think hes a Hall of Famer? Absolutely. Just look at the numbers hes put up: Three (World Series) titles, and the list of his accomplishments on the field goes on. You cant take that away from him.Ortiz, 40, has announced that he will retire at the end of this season. He has 10 All-Star appearances on his resume and ranks 19th in MLB history with 5527 home runs and 23rd in RBIs with 1,720.ddddddddddddHis Hall of Fame candidacy is likely to spark debate because hes made 1,952 career starts at DH and only 264 starts at first base.Ortiz also has been the subject of PED speculation since a 2009 New York Times report that said he tested positive for steroids in 2003, when MLB was conducting anonymous survey testing as a step toward random drug testing in the game.Mike Piazza, who will enter the Hall of Fame with Griffey on Sunday, offered a more muted endorsement of Ortiz.Piazza spent four years on the ballot while dealing with steroid speculation before making it to Cooperstown with 83 percent of the vote.I think David Ortiz is one of the most charismatic players to come along in a long time, Piazza said. Putting his numbers aside, I think hes a great guy. Hes great for the city. Hes obviously very colorful and fun to watch.I agree with Kenny, but I also believe theres a process that you have to respect. I know there are going to be debates out there on numbers and everything. Not one size fits all. Its really an individual choice. You just have to respect the process and let it play itself out. ' ' '