In the midst of a small crisis over what’s next, I go back to the thing I understand, blogging. Here are some takes from the night before.
NBA
It’s starting to become clear that the Suns might just win the whole damn thing. Devin Booker dropped 30 points and despite Luka Doncic’s 25 points the Mavericks fell short as they lose to the Suns 129-109.
It’s hard to get a win when the team you are playing shoots an astonishing 52 percent from the three-point line. Numbers like those just don’t lie, shots fell for everyone including a 15 point night for Jae Crowder. Mikal Bridges the normally defensive Stallworth also got in on the action and posted 11 points.
The moniker “Small game James” is mean, but can something at the same time be simultaneously mean and true. Since those runs with the Rockets James Harden has not been the same player that he was. The player that captivated audience and quite frankly changed the way offense is played in the NBA.
That player does not seem to exist in the playoffs though. Doing loose math, always a hazard for a blogger, Harden has averaged just around 20 points throughout this playoff run. That’s down considerably from his marks in even last year’s playoffs with the Nets.
The question begins to beg, is James Harden starting to get old? And has he missed his window, luckily the Sixers have burgeoning star Tyrese Maxey so they stay competitive but Maxey is not to the point in his career yet where he can carry his team single handily against a brilliant Heat team. If Joel Embiid does not return this series is over.
NHL
Despite a goaltending scare that saw Pyotr Kochetkov jump in between the pipes, the netminder ultimately stood tall and stopped 30 of 32 shots that came his way from the Bruins. This series is hard hitting, and to be honest, brutal. The old cliche of these two teams do not like each other is out in full force.
Look at Sebastian Aho though, who has overcome the brutality and entered the fray as once again a hockey player my dad should know as a casual fan of the sport. Aho has been great all year but he has truly arrived now in these playoffs.
The Bruin’s goaltending cannot withstand the furious assault of the Cane’s goal-scoring, this is a fact. It seems this series is over before it really even started. The Bruins just don’t have the competing firepower to keep up with Carolina’s outstanding goalie depth with Frederik Anderson expected to return for game three, according to the ESPN broadcast.
The story of Wednesday night was the fact other than Boston teams bounced back. Tampa with a resounding 5-3 win that will have nervous Leafs fans even more on edge.
Minnesota on home ice puts up six goals on Ville Husso.
However the most impressive performance came from the Oilers, who put together a special night of scoring and showed just how dangerous they can be when the first line’s depth is spread. Evander Kane, a controversial miracle pick up, has changed the way the Oilers are able to play and contributed two goals last night.
Mike Smith will always be a question mark but for at least game two he played brilliantly racking up a 30 save shutout.