Trust me, I have nothing against the city of Cleveland and its sports teams.
However, this LeBron James and J.R. Smith led Cleveland Cavaliers run through the weak NBA East truly diminishes the Cavs’ and James’ accomplishment to this point.
The series victory vs the Hawks is a virtual, foregone conclusion, though when the so called “experts” call it such, watch Atlanta rally a bit.
However, this is the NBA and television dollars “demand” James, not Atlanta vs the West winner in the NBA finals.
This is not to imply wrongdoing or that Cleveland is not the better team. It is that I “knew”/sensed James and the Cavaliers would be in the NBA Finals this season.
The “odds people” agree as the Cavaliers about a 2 to 1 favorite when the series began and are now 5 to 1 favorites to make the NBA Finals for the second time in the 45 season history of the franchise.
The NBA Eastern Conference Final series matches the East top seed Atlanta Hawks and the East two seed Cleveland Cavaliers.
Despite the lower seed and not having home advantage, Cleveland is roughly a 2 to 1 favorite to win the series, which begins tonight in Atlanta.
The Hawks moved to Atlanta beginning play there in the 1968-1969 NBA season. The team advanced to the semi-final round in each of their first two seasons, losing each series, going (1-8) in the games.
This will be their first semi-final round appearance since those first two seasons as the Atlanta Hawks.
Though the Hawks will exceed that one game win total in this series, I predict the Cavaliers to win the series in six games.
The “construction crew” will continue to “pave the road” for LeBron James in the so much weaker NBA Eastern Conference.
In coaching the Houston Rockets to a quarterfinal series victory vs the Los Angeles Clippers, in which his team overcame a (3-1) series deficit, Rockets’ coach Kevin McHale became the first person in NBA history to both coach and play on a team to accomplish such a come-from-behind feat.
McHale was a great player, playing on three NBA championship teams with the Boston Celtics, including the 1981 team that overcame a (3-1) series deficit in the semi-finals, to beat the Philadelphia 76ers.
In 1981, in a game six I recall staying up to about 2 am to watch (as it was a “delayed tape” broadcast beginning 3 plus hours later than the 8 pm start). McHale’s Celtics overcame a 17 point deficit, I believe in the second quarter.
This year McHale’s Rockets incredibly overcame a 19 point late third quarter deficit for a road victory in game six on the road.
By the way McHale and the Celtics went on to win the 1981 NBA title and as was the case in 1986, the team they beat in the NBA finals was the Houston Rockets.
Kevin McHale as a Celtic
Kevin McHale as a Coach
In 1994 both the NHL New York Rangers and NBA Houston Rockets won the seventh game of their league’s final series at home, to win the championship.
This year each team overcame a (3-1) quarterfinal series deficit and a dire situation in a game in which they faced elimination to advance to the league semi-finals.
The Rangers not only trailed 3 games to 1 in the series but trailed the Washington Capitals (1-0) with less than two minutes to play in game 5.
However the Rangers rallied to win that game, and the next two to sink Washington (and currently lead their semi-final series vs the Tampa Bay Lightning one game to none).
The Houston Rockets faced overwhelming adversity in game 6 at Los Angeles vs the Clippers when they trailed by 19 points with less than 3 minutes remaining in the third quarter.
However, the Rockets rallied, outscoring the Clippers (51-20) the rest of the way to win game six and then won game seven at home yesterday rather easily.
NBC got what it wanted as American Pharoah eased to victory on a wet track in The Preakness Stakes. Now NBC ratings and advertising revenue goes up, as the horse bids for the “Triple Crown” 3 weeks hence in New York.
Speaking of New York: which market do you think NBC wants for its NHL Final series? New York or Tampa Bay?!!
The one they want, New York (Rangers) won their semi-final series opener (2-1) vs Tampa Bay (Lightning).
If the schedule for the finals is the same as last year and if the Rangers win the series vs Tampa Bay (they are pretty big favorites and NBC supported), three weeks hence on a Saturday, New York will have a triple crown bid at its Belmont Park (give yourself three hours to get out of the parking lot after the race) and then game two at the Rangers home, Madison Square Garden.
On top of that, NBC is assured a big market as the Western Conference winner will be either Chicago (Blackhawks) or the L.A. area Anaheim Ducks. Trust me, there is not much Don Quixote or others like him can do about it.
Both of this season’s surprising conference top seeds, the Golden State Warriors of the West and the Atlanta Hawks of the East, advanced to the conference finals with wins on the road in “game six” victories last night.
The Hawks ended a streak of 15 straight quarterfinal series losses by overcoming a (2-1) series deficit, and eliminating the Washington Wizards.
The last time the Hawks made it this far was 1970 when they lost to the L.A. Lakers in the Western finals. Yes, Atlanta, a city far to the east of this country, was in the West Conference/Division at that time.
The Warriors also overcame a (2-1) series deficit and advanced to their first Western Conference Final since 1976, eliminating the Memphis Grizzlies.
In glancing at the cover of today’s Wall Street Journal, I noticed there was a tribute to talk show host David Letterman in its pages.
Letterman is retiring and as someone whose late night talk show days ended around this time 23 years ago when Johnny Carson retired, this news moves me, not at all.
Other than the fact Mr. Letterman impressed me with limited if any extra takes or mistakes the two times I attended a taping of his show, I have little good to say about him.
Not only that, but I witnessed first hand a bit of Letterman rage on the road. The episode occurred as I sat in the passenger seat of my cousin’s car.
Letterman, thinking my cousin had denied his chances of “making a red light without extra waiting time,” (it was not my cousin’s driving but that of another car/driver that forced Letterman to wait) drove to the right of the cousin’s car yelling. Next, albeit safely and without any danger, he pulled to the driver’s side, again yelling before driving off in his car.
So help me and this “sign” tipped the scales to write this, as I thought of this, the television voice transmitted information about car crashes at the Indianapolis 500 practice sessions this week.
One can mull over that those crashes took place in Letterman’s state (Indiana) and his state of mind, while driving.
No matter what the outcome is of Sunday’s game seven of the quarterfinal series between the L.A. Clippers and Houston Rockets, surely the criticism of Dwight Howard and the Rockets has been far too severe.
Almost as if they were a team again, both Mike Francesa of Fox Sports One TV and WFAN radio and Chris Russo of Sirius Radio have really impugned Howard’s play.
My take is while Howard is nowhere near as great as Kareem Abdul Jabbar, an obvious point made in a rant by Russo, he is not a “losing player” as Francesa has stated.
Additionally, while Howard’s epic salary offends me greatly, it is nowhere near as offensive as the market dictated fortunes both Russo and Francesa bring home.
I know I can’t play basketball but to paraphrase the great comedian Pat Cooper–pay me a twentieth of what either Russo or Francesa make, and I will be just as bad (save the fact I will make less, if even a handful of factual errors).
Dwight Howard
An overtime goal by Derek Stepan lifted the New York Rangers to a (2-1) victory vs the Washington Capitals in game seven and into their third Eastern Conference Final series in four seasons.
In this their 40th completed season (1975-2015, with no season in 2005) the Capitals suffered another heartbreaking loss, a fifth time they have dissipated a three games to one series lead.
The Rangers now face the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference final, beginning Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. at the Rangers home arena, Madison Square Garden.
The last time the Lightning made the Eastern Conference Final they lost to the Boston Bruins, a team their colorful radio game analyst Phil Esposito helped win two Stanley Cups and make three Stanley Cup Final series.
“Espo” also played on the 1979 New York Rangers, who made the Stanley Cup finals.
Also in the upcoming Lightning vs Rangers series, Martin St. Louis, now with the Rangers, will be playing against a Lightning franchise he helped win the Stanley Cup in 2004.
I enjoyed watching two very diverse TV shows yesterday: an over 50 year old “Bonanza” episode and the fine David Steinberg Showtime series ” Inside Comedy.” I must point out a double coincidence.
On “Inside Comedy,” comedian and actor Mike Myers was one of the guests interviewed.
He talked of how his “Austin Powers” movies were a spoof of the James Bond spoofs, such as “In Like Flint.”
Later on the old “Bonanza” episode, James Coburn, early in his fine acting career was the guest star. He later starred in “In Like Flint.”
However, the real coincidence was Pernell Roberts’ “Adam” character on Bonanza greeting Coburn’s character as “You Old Skin FLINT, you.”
Some say coincidences are God’s way of being anonymous and/or telling me to get out of the house, even on a very hot day.
