For an unprecedented (in any major North American sports league) fourth consecutive season, the same two teams, the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers will meet in that sport’s final series.
Golden State covered and “all teased” the Chris Paul-less Houston Rockets, winning by 9 points, as 6 point favorites.
They will open the final series at home, also for the fourth straight season, all and again on a Thursday night, vs the Cavaliers.
Not one of the 14 NBA semis games played yielded a win/no cover by the winning team.
The ballyhooed past Warriors/Cavaliers final games have yielded at most one such result in the 18 games over the past three seasons.
Let me “Jack Webb” it until one opinion coupled with facts at the end.
LeBron James hit for 35 points (the prop was 37 plus) leading the Cleveland Cavaliers, to their fourth straight NBA final (of course all four with Mr. James, since he jumped back to Cleveland for the ’15 season).
James will be in his eighth straight final, all coming after choosing his team four with Miami (’11-’14) and the aforementioned four with Cleveland. Of course all 8 final appearances, were won in the Eastern Conference.
This was the second time (the other was in the ’92 quarters), that the Cavs 7’d the Celtics on a Sunday. It also was the third time a James team (’12 Miami, James first title team) 7’d the Celtics, the one in ’12 also a “semi,” but won in Miami on a Saturday night. Boston did “7” the Cavs and James en route to the ’08 title, winning that NBA “quarter” on a Sunday.
The Cavs handed the Celtics their first home loss in these playoffs, preventing Boston from becoming the first team in any major North American sports league to win their first 11 home playoff games within a playoffs season.
There is so much more and much will be here after the ‘offs, facts you will not get any other place.
However, time for the facts/opinion. The great player LeBron James, who did not even have Kevin Love for #7 last night, but will have him and a much better chance than perceived, in the upcoming final series vs either Golden State or Houston, has now made 8 straight NBA final rounds.
Once, the glorious Boston Celtics won 8 straight NBA titles and had 40 percent (16) of the NBA’s 40 titles, when they won it all in 1986.
The great Al Lewis best known as an actor, was also a political activist and basketball maven.
Reflecting on my show, not long after Celts’ draft pick, Len Bias, a potential great, had died without ever playing an NBA game, Lewis called it, respectfully, in basketball terms, a “death blow” to the Celtics.
In 32 seasons since their last crown, Boston’s glorious Celtics have just one title. They were nearly 3 to 1 underdogs in the just completed loss, which should be, but will not be cited, as the hype for James’ accomplishment in winning said series will progress.
However, they had a nice lead in #7 at home, but I could not watch it, hence could not “live” (the word spelled the same, is the opposite of say taped, not the opposite of die) it!
Perspective: Yesterday morning, as I drove back on I-95, thinking about and hoping to beat James and why I cared so much, a “Boston” song played, regarding “competition and peace of mind.”
It relaxed me, as I actually thought who cares about this “mass entertainment,” that I do not watch.
I was fine until the next exit sign read “James Street.” It was a literal and figurative sign and with all due respect to the ’69 college title winning Texas quarterback, James Street, not about him.
No, it was a sign about a magnificent basketball player named James, LeBron James!
The great, great player, LeBron James pictured above.
Why fight it? Both NBA semis are going to seventh games, Bettman and NBC are happy with Las Vegas vs Washington in the NHL final and certainly that network is ecstatic that the horse Justify will bid for the racing Triple Crown on its airwaves in the Belmont Stakes on June 9th.
Only the Celtics among the 12 possible slots for the 3 years of both NBA semis going 7 games (’63, ’79 and now sadly, 2018) have been there twice.
Ten other teams have appeared once; among them the Cincinnati Royals, now the Sacramento Kings.
That franchise lost on the road in #7/semis to the eventual champion Celtics in ’63 and within the 40 season/39 year period at home, to the Lakers, (the other victor that “2 seventh game NBA semis year of 1963,”) in 2002 at Sacramento.
If, in tonight’s game 6/NBA West finals, the defending champion and 12 point favorite (10 to 1, money line), Golden State Warriors prevail at home, vs the Houston Rockets, there will be decisive game sevens in both NBA semi-final series for the first time since 1979.
It would be just the third time in 61 possibilities (1958-2018), that both NBA semis would have gone to a game 7.
In ’79 the eventual champion Seattle SuperSonics, now the Oklahoma City Thunder, won #7 at home vs the Phoenix Suns. In the East, on a Friday night, a game type years away from national television coverage, the great Bob Dandridge led the Washington Bullets to a #7 win vs the even greater, George Gervin and the San Antonio Spurs.
The only other time both best of 7 NBA semi-final series went to a seventh game, the Celtics en route to 5th straight title and 6th in 7 seasons in another great, Bob Cousy’s last season, won #7 at home vs Oscar Robertson and the Cincinnati Royals.
In the West, the Lakers prevailed vs the then St. Louis Hawks now in Atlanta, in what was St. Louis’ Bob Pettit’s seventh and penultimate appearance, in the NBA semis/conference final.
Seven and eleven are Las Vegas numbers and with first year Las Vegas in the NHL Final vs Washington and Justify to bid for the horse racing Triple Crown, surely NBC is happy.
Ah but the 7-11 does not stop there. If 7 point favorite Cleveland wins game 6 at home, in what has been an all home Boston/Cleveland NBA “semi” through 5 games, then there will be a game 7, Sunday night in Boston.
Add to that, if 11 point favorite Golden State (I guess the line people feel Chris Paul will not play for Houston), wins #6 at home Saturday night, there will be a game 7 Monday night, opposite the NHL final opener as was the case involving “G.S.” two years ago, in Houston on Monday night.
If both semis go to a seventh game, it will be the first time that has happened since 1979, which has the same calendar as this year.
Only twice in 60 previous possibilities (1958-2017, the other time 1963), have both NBA semis gone to a decisive seventh game.
The Washington Capitals shut out the Tampa Bay Lightning for the second straight game, (goaltender,Braden Holtby did not allow a goal for just 33 seconds shy of 8 periods, including the loss in game 5) and advanced to their first NHL final in 20 years, with a (4-0), game 7 win in Tampa, vs the Lightning.
Alex Ovechkin opened the scoring just one minute and two seconds into the contest, while Andre Borakovsky added two second period goals.
“Wash” improved to (8-2) on the road in these playoffs and have won 6 of their last 7 road “semis” games.
The Lightning have lost 7 of their last 9 home “semis” games and lost in a home game 7, for the first time.
They were (3-0) in home #7’s, including semis (vs the Flyers) and final triumphs (vs the Flames) to win it all in 2004. However, despite fine seasons, (three “semis” appearances in 4 seasons and four in the past 8), “T.B.” is denied the big prize again.
However, their frustration pales to that of the Caps, who now are roughly 7 to 5 series underdogs, vs the first year Las Vegas Golden Knights in the NHL final, which begins in “Sin City,” on Monday night.
The series winner will “reign” as its league’s champion, making 3 of the four current major pro sports champions first time winners, if you say Super Bowl crown and not NFL crown for the Philadelphia Eagles.(Philly won NFL crowns in ’48, ’49 and 1960, but the 2017 title win was their first Super Bowl win. “Supe” play began with the 1966 season).
The baseball champion Houston Astros won their first “all the way” crown and either first year Las Vegas or 43rd completed year Washington will join them.
Additionally, for just the second time in what will be the 79th best of seven NHL final, two teams, sans even a final series game victory, will clash. The other was 1996 when Colorado (Avalanche) swept the Florida Panthers.
The repeat champion Detroit Red Wings swept the Capitals in their only previous NHL final appearance in 1998. Again, incredibly, Las Vegas in its first season, is the final series “fave” and obviously is sans a final series win.
In 1996, the Colorado Avalanche swept the Florida Panthers, who are one of 5 other current NHL teams (there are 31 teams, the Blue Jackets, who won the first two of their first round series at “Wash,” Wild and both incarnations of the Winnipeg Jets, the current Jets, semis losers to Las Vegas and the original Jets now the Phoenix Coyotes, are the others) without a final series win.
Both NBA semi-final series are tied at two games apiece after the Houston Rockets won the first competitive game of the eight, at Golden State last night.
Meanwhile, for the third time in their playoff history, the Celtics and Cavaliers have played an all home team victories series, through four games.
In the eighth and as stated first competitive semi tilt, 8 point underdog Houston ended Golden State’s record 16 game playoffs home win skein.
16 is twice 8 and 32 is twice 16. The other two Celts/Cavs all home through 4 games series, were 32 years apart, in 1976 and 2008.
Boston won at home in #5 in the ’76 semis, before winning at Cleveland in game 6. In the ’08 “quarters,” it was an all home series, that Boston won in 7 games.
In both of those seasons, the Celtics went on to win the NBA title.
Last night, the Washington Capitals beat the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-0, making NBC happy by getting a fourth straight game 7 in the Eastern Conference finals (2015-2018).
The physical Capitals played with passion and gave an all-around effort in game 6, forcing the decisive game 7 Eastern Conference Final, to be held Wednesday night at Tampa.
Game 7 will determine who will meet the Vegas Golden Knights in the Stanley Cup Final, which will begin Monday, May 28th.
Incredibly and with extraordinary play, (12-3) thus far in the 2018 NHL playoffs, the first year Las Vegas Golden Knights have advanced to the Stanley Cup Final.
Ryan Reaves, a Winnipeg Manitoba native scored the tie breaking, winning goal in the second period lifting “Vegas” (2-1) at Winnipeg in #5, which gave the Golden Knights a 4 games to 1 semi triumph vs the Jets.
Mark Andre Fleury the exclusive ‘offs goaltender on Pittsburgh Penguins’ teams that split Final series vs the Detroit Red Wings losing in ’08 and winning ’09 and a small contributor in ’16, a bigger one in ’17 for Pens’ title teams, was again victorious and excellent in goal, making 31 saves.
The great player, Mickey Mantle was not all that far into his great career when he appeared on the iconic show, “What’s My Line,” in 1953.
Great feats such as 18 World Series home runs (still a record) and the 1956 batting triple crown (batting average, home runs and runs batted in) and other great feats were in the future.
Click below to enjoy #7 on “What’s My Line.”
What’s My Line? – Mickey Mantle (May 17, 1953)
Andy B Sports 