The night before is back! A tremendous night of NBA and NHL playoffs in the book. Drama in the NBA, dominance in the NHL, the playoffs are here and they are what we live for as sports fans. Let’s check out last night’s playoff action.
NBA
We knew this game would come. We knew at some point Trae Young would take over. Did I think it would happen in Boston against the Celtics in a close-out game five? Absolutely not.
The Eastern conference playoffs in the NBA have been just an absolute tire fire over the past week for the top seeds.
The Celtics had the Sixers right where they wanted them, on short rest and likely without Joel Embiid, and then they lost game five. Now game one of the second round is guaranteed to start on Monday. The Sixers will likely be rested and ready to go at full strength. This was a very concerning loss for the Celtics.
The ceiling is still there for the team but the floor is much lower than we thought. In game six they should show up and close things out, however, Trae Young going off at home is certainly in the realm of possibility.
Meanwhile, in the West the Nuggets close things out against the T-Wolves and the Suns move past the Clippers.
The Clippers Playoff Debacle Continues
Starting with the Clippers, Kawhi Leonard has a torn meniscus, you would imagine he probably won’t be ready to go until the middle of next season. It’s disheartening, the Clipper’s experiment has failed. We can say that now. It’s been nearly five years of this exact same story, Kawhi plays no regular season games, the Clippers come in underseeded, and the Clippers lose in the first two rounds.
Usually, the reason they lose is that Kawhi and or Paul George get hurt. It’s time for something new, I don’t even know what you could get for Kawhi Leonard at this point, maybe a late first-round pick or a young unproven role-playing piece. His injury concerns just are very real, and very difficult to look past at this point.
Paul George has a similar conversation around him as well. Shockingly enough, Russell Westbrook is the true winner here. He may have improved his stock enough to make a move this off-season.
Suns Nuggets: Styles Make Fights
Suns Nuggets is a very interesting series. Despite the Nuggets being the overall better team, my pick right now is the Suns.
We simply have not seen the Nuggets get much farther than the second round the last couple of years.
As a Jazz fan, they suffer from the small market Mountain West pro basketball team rep. You can be as good as you want to in the regular season, but no one will respect you until you are in the NBA finals.
I trust Devin Booker, Chris Paul and Kevin Durant more than I do Jamaal Murray and Nikola Jokic. KD, Booker and Paul have all been there and done that, the Nugget’s core has not. Experience matters.
It will also be fascinating to see this series because of the wildly contrasting styles. The Nugget’s offense works because of sharing and ball movement. The Suns run an isolation offense predicated on beating you 1 on 1.
I am excited to see how the series shakes out, call it disrespecting Jokic all you want, I call it believing the Suns have two of the top five scorers on the planet, it will be hard to stop them.
NHL: The Oilers, Are We Doing This Thing? For Real?
I am pretty sure I typed this last year as well. Yet, the Oilers Oilered. Last night though, in the pivotal game 5 the Oilers waxed the Kings.
It’s not that the Oilers totally dominated the Kings, it is how they did so, with depth. Brett Kulak, Nick Bjugstad, and Zach Hyman all had monster nights and goals for Edmonton.
Connor McDavid aside from a stunning game 3 performance has largely been held in check and yet the Oilers are still flying. This is why they were my Stanley Cup pick and why they continue to be that.
Goaltending, the only issue left. A bold prediction, the Oilers waltz into LA and close out the Kings in game six on Saturday.
The Dallas Stars also took care of business in game five but that series is far from over. I have no doubts in my mind the Wild win a home game six to force a game seven.
What makes Dallas scary to me, is that Jason Robertson hasn’t really even gotten his playoff legs under him yet. He can do so much more as a scorer and truly change this series for the Stars. The defense for Dallas was also studly in its performance last night.
27 shots allowed is an easy shutout for one of the NHL’s next elite goaltenders in Jake Oettinger. The Stars are playing well in playoff action.
For Tonight, Some Predictions In Playoff Action
- Bruins close out the Panthers
- Avs get a huge game five win without Cale Makar, huge Nathan Mackinnon game incoming
- Donovan Mitchell delivers a big win at home and forces the Knicks back to the Garden
- Memphis survives and forces game 6 against the Lakers
- I am not picking against Jimmy Butler anymore, just not doing it, HEAT CULTURE
- Warriors win game five on the road
- Enjoy the playoff action