It’s Over For The Nets!

Jayson Tatum scored 29 points, Jaylen Brown had 22 and the Celtics completed a four-game sweep of the Brooklyn Nets, becoming the first team to reach the second round of the playoffs with a 116-112 victory Monday night.

Marcus Smart added 20 points and 11 assists for the No. 2-seeded Celtics, who made easy work of what was thought could be a tough series. Boston will wait for the winner of the series between Milwaukee and Chicago, where the defending champion Bucks hold a 3-1 lead.

The Celtics showed no fear of the Nets, who with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving didn’t have the profile of the typical low seed. Boston won on the final day of the regular season instead of losing to fall down the standings and avoid the matchup.

Durant had 39 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, breaking free after the Celtics had defended him well in the first three games. But he  couldn’t get the Nets the win they needed to extend what instead goes  down as a massive failure of a season.

This was more like what the Yankees expected in 2022 — both from Gerrit Cole and their offense.

For the first time this season, Cole looked like the pitcher the Yankees are paying him to be and his offense provided plenty of support in return as the Yankees beat the Guardians 10-2 to secure the three-game sweep.

Cole received a standing ovation as he walked off the mound after throwing 6 scoreless innings and Anthony Rizzo, DJ LeMahieu and even Tim Locastro each belted two-run homers in a rare chance to breathe for the Yankees (10-6).

Before Sunday, 13 of their first 15 games had been decided by three runs or fewer — the most in the majors. Their biggest win of the season had been only 4-0 over the Blue Jays. But on Sunday, the Guardians (7-8) served as fodder for a team in need of a laugher.

The Yankees’ 10 runs and 13 hits both marked season highs, with LeMahieu’s three-hit day leading the way.

It wasn’t pretty, but the New Jersey Generals picked up their first win in the new USFL on Friday night.

The Generals (1-1) held off the Michigan Panthers 10-6 at Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Ala. in a game that was devoid of effective offense. Michigan fell to 0-2.

All 16 points were scored in the first half and both teams each missed a field goal.

Panthers quarterback Shea Patterson just missed engineering a game-winning drive in the final minutes.

Facing a fourth-and-20 from their 10-yard line, Patterson and the Panthers were able to keep the drive going and moved the ball all the way to the Generals’ 16-yard line with five seconds left. But Patterson, the No. 1 overall pick in the USFL draft, couldn’t finish the drive off as his final pass fell incomplete.

The former Wolverine signal caller struggled for most of the game, going 14-for-29 for 124 yards, in which 74 yards came in the final drive.