Basketball, hockey playoffs

[SteveP]

Ok, Here they are.

Celtics and Bruins both in to follow up on Super Bowl and World Series wins for Boston fans...
Quite the sports town these days.

Best hockey team on the way out? The Lightning down 0-3 to The Blue JAckets... would be good to see them go I thk.
Will be interesting to see which Celtics team shows up.

I hate to see Embiid injured .... kills the 76rs I thk. Rather see them back in the game... Brooklyn? Look pretty good and hungry helps a lot.

[ChristianWong]

Ok, Here they are.

Celtics and Bruins both in to follow up on Super Bowl and World Series wins for Boston fans...
Quite the sports town these days.

Best hockey team on the way out? The Lightning down 0-3 to The Blue JAckets... would be good to see them go I thk.
Will be interesting to see which Celtics team shows up.

I hate to see Embiid injured .... kills the 76rs I thk. Rather see them back in the game... Brooklyn? Look pretty good and hungry helps a lot.

Lightning getting swept would be the biggest upset in recent memory, they won the President's Cup by 21 points!

Sorry, but I'm hoping the Leafs make it past the Bruins this year.

[j44ke]

If the Nets can get past the 76ers, then they'll reach the conference finals, which will be astoundingly good for them. I don't think Orlando should beat Toronto, but I have given up on Toronto ever living up to their potential no matter who plays for them.

I wouldn't be surprised if the finals are Golden State vs. Boston. But it is probably going to be Golden State vs. Milwaukee.

[SteveP]

It is funny how much better the playoff games are than the regular season games.

teams don't care about the regular season, home ct or anything.
they just want to be at the show.

The Celtics have been Jekyll/ Hyde all season after a long run last year.
we will see what comes next I guess.
Talent is there, not sure about the effort.

[Saab2000]

Playoff basketball is the whole reason to watch. The regular season is usually a yawn.

Kyrie Irving is one of the top five most talented players in the NBA but never seems happy. I hope he goes to LA, teams up with Lebron again and wins more championships. His demeanor isn't really one of leadership it would seem. He and Lebron played well off each other.

[SteveP]

Kyrie is a headcase. The team was better last year without him...
too many stupid shots near the end of the game ... teammates standing around cause the ball doesnt go around.
highlight reel player like Kobe...
1 spectacular shot... 4 misses...

I thk Lebron is finally losing a step... his ability to completely dominate a game is slowly dwindling.
Incredible player... had to slow down at some point.

[Saab2000]

I thk Lebron is finally losing a step... his ability to completely dominate a game is slowly dwindling.
Incredible player... had to slow down at some point.

It's possible. But there was way more involved in his bad season. Irvin Johnson was the wrong man. Bad team. Horrible attempted trade before the deadline. Injury.... The list goes on.

He's a generational player, one of the all-time greats. Basketball is a way better sport when the Lakers are very good so I hope they are better soon.

[j44ke]

Kyrie is a mess. He's really good, but he doesn't understand you have to get everyone their shots so when the defenses start collapsing on you, you have someone else who is ready, awake and warmed up with an open shot.

I think the Lakers show that no matter how great Lebron is, he needs at least a few quality players around him. Owners can't just put Lebron in the middle of a bunch of D-League grads and expect him to drag them up & down the court to the championships. And now that he has a few less minutes of energy per game, he really needs a solid point guard and a strong supporting player at forward like Al Horford (but maybe not Al Horford - just similar to him.) Lebron could even work with a rookie point guard if that point guard was as mature as Cassius Winston. What if the Lakers had Trae Young this year? But at this point, they'd have to be low maintenance. I don't think Lebron has any patience with raising another point guard.

[thomas]

OMG, I'm not paying attention. Beantown did win both the World Series and the Super Bowl. Wow. Guess we just take it in stride these days...

Playoff hockey, I'll take a total pass. Playoff basketball, man, that is a long long post-season. Kind of ridiculous that it takes til mid-June to get a winner. Two f-ing months of playoffs? Really?

[bironi]

I can't play the game.
In P.E. sessions in H.S. I sucked so bad.
I could not dribble, shoot, or defend.
And that's why I love playoff bball.

I'm watching the Warriors in game two.
Same as game one.
And same throughout the championship.
Way too much talent.

Dream on.

[bironi]

uh,
never mind.
Go Clippers!

[BShow]

Much like the Celtics, you never know which Sixers team will show up on a given day. Its been troubling all season but fortunately the good squad shows up more often. Last nights game was pretty impressive, whereas game 1 was atrocious. Inconsistency doesn't fare well in the post season of any sport; for that reason I think Celtics and Sixers both will be hard pressed to make it through to the championship series.

[j44ke]

uh,
never mind.
Go Clippers!

I know right? Durant must be dreaming about Pat Beverley all night, seeing him in his breakfast cereal, catching glimpses of him running through the backyard......

[bironi]

Jorn,
Thanks for the laugh.
Byron

[72gmc]

I attended game 2 of the infamous (from a Seattle perspective) Sonics-Nuggets series way back when I was reporting. I wouldn’t mind seeing the Warriors reprise that historic collapse. I don’t believe sure things are good for sports and besides, that team already has three trophies and zero betrayals by David Stern.

[SteveP]

I thk the raw desire wanes after a team has a lot of success...
Will hit the Warriers at some point.. if not this year.
younger teams are hungrier...
Has apparently hit the Red Sox already.

Only teams that has avoided this are The Patriots....and original Celtics..
first championship...2001 season. remarkable run... thanks Tom Brady.
The Old Celtics had a similar run ...8-9 straight championships...Thanks Bill Russell.

I can't think of any other teams dominant for a long run.
49ers?

[Saab2000]

I can't think of any other teams dominant for a long run.
49ers?

Packers under Lombardi. After he left it was like they fell off a cliff. I suspect the same could happen with the Patriots when Brady and Belichick call it a day.

[SteveP]

Bye bye Lightning. They get to relive this season now at home watching the playoffs on tv.

Opens it up I guess...
Bruins got whipped in game 3 by Leafs.

Red Sox on way to losing 108 games after last season...

[j44ke]

Bye bye Lightning. They get to relive this season now at home watching the playoffs on tv.

Opens it up I guess...
Bruins got whipped in game 3 by Leafs.

Red Sox on way to losing 108 games after last season...

If that happens, I hope they don't fire Alex Cora. Or rather, I hope they don't fire Alex Cora and then the Mets hire Alex Cora. No one should be subject to that.

[SteveP]

Celtics win ... up 2-0
Bruins up 5-2... 2 minutes later 5-4
ouch
5 minutes to go.
Toronto fans wild.

Bruins win...empty net goal.. ends 6-4

these games are great.