NBA

The plan for the Suns worked tonight, that plan was force the ball to Luka, limit his playmaking ability and force the other Dallas shooters to make the plays to beat Phoenix.

That strategy worked, unfortunately, you can’t play the Utah Jazz every series if you’re the Mavericks. Defenders are going to close out on Jalen Brunson in this series. Maxi Kleber is going to get a hand in the face instead of a wide open look from downtown.

The Suns are just a better team than the Mavericks and even though a few special Luka nights have kept this thing close, the Mavs just never really stood a chance in this spot.

Dallas is a team that’s probably two pieces away from being a team that can compete with what the Suns currently are.

What the Suns currently are truly is a sight to behold. A truly dominant defensive NBA team, with four shooters, and lead by arguably a top three point guard of all time in Chris Paul.

Anyone watching the NBA closely could have told you that by December, but this is a national arrival for the Suns, as a team that should be the favorite to win an NBA title. The only impediment in the way could be Giannis and he and the Bucks are currently in a dog fight with the Celtics.

Meanwhile, in the East the real heat have showed up. James Harden has once again disappeared, only 14 points in game five. Philly seems to be a team on the ropes and even a home game six may not be enough to save them. Miami has just grinded this team down, the score line tells you all you need to know. The Sixers are a Heat hot start from just throwing in the towel in this series.

NHL

The Toronto Maple Leafs overcame a two-goal deficit early and a dominant performance from Andrei Vasilevskiy to get a 4-3 game five win.

This is where the Leaf’s have struggled though, closing out series has been an issue for Toronto, and especially in this back and forth series both teams have really struggled with putting together consecutive games.

It almost can’t go seven for Toronto, the checkered past they have with game sevens over the past few years might be almost too huge of a mental hurdle to overcome. Game six in Tampa is everything for this series, the winner feels like they are most likely taking the whole thing. The fact Toronto was able to get a pivotal game five though is encouraging.

A brief note on Saint Louis Minnesota; it’s shocking to me that despite the early physical dominance of the Wild early in the game, they completely caved and were largely dominated in the third period.

This all due to one man, Vladamir Tarasenko a hat trick that gave Saint Louis the win. Perhaps it’s the market but Tarasenko is one of the most overlooked players in the NHL. He certainly shouldn’t be though, the skills he brings to the ice elevate the Blues to what they are, a perennial playoff contender.

Finally a note on the Oilers, a team I was high on a few days ago has completely crumbled. It makes you wonder how is one of the slowest teams in hockey beating arguably the fastest?

The answer is turnovers, the Oilers gave the puck away 21 times last night and the Kings only coughed up the puck 12 times.

You can’t post those kinds of numbers and expect to win many hockey games. It just would not shock me if this series ends tomorrow night in Los Angeles.

Back on the road tomorrow and Friday, hopefully, a return to the blog on Tuesday of next week! Enjoy the week!