All three NBA first round deciding 7th games were won by the home team yesterday.
The Eastern Conference top seed Indiana Pacers won vs the Atlanta Hawks. The Western Conference two seed Oklahoma City Thunder won vs the Memphis Grizzlies. And the Los Angeles Clippers eliminated the Golden State Warriors.
Two NBA quarterfinal series matchups have been determined.
The Indiana Pacers will face the Washington Wizards starting tomorrow night. I predict the Pacers to win in six games.
Also starting tomorrow night the Thunder will meet the Clippers. In a tough series, I predict the Thunder to prevail in 7 games.
Two more of the quarterfinal matchups will fall into place today.
The Portland Trail Blazers won at home by one point to win their series vs the Houston Rockets in six games. Two other match-ups from the first round series will are headed to a seventh game.
The Brooklyn Nets and the Dallas Mavericks won game six at home last night to force seventh games tomorrow.
The first game will be the Brooklyn Nets going to Toronto to face the Raptors. It begins at 1 p.m. Eastern Time.
The second game will be the top ranked San Antonio Spurs taking on the Dallas Mavericks in San Antonio. That game will begin at 3:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
For the first time in the history of the NBA, there will be three 7th games on a single day.
That will be the case tomorrow after victories by the Indiana Pacers, Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State Warriors last night.
The schedule and comments follow: The first game will be the upstart Atlanta Hawks at Indiana, vs the Pacers. The game begins at 5:30p.m. Eastern Time.
Next, the Thunder host the Memphis Grizzlies beginning at 8 p.m Eastern Time.
The third game pits the Los Angeles Clippers, hosting their first game 7 ever, against the Warriors. That game begins at 10:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
With the Pacers favored by 6 (points), the Clippers by 7 and the Thunder by 8, the average is 7 as in 3 (game) 7’s.
“Jackie and Marilyn,” now playing at the Lion Theater on West 42nd Street, is a well done play that provides an interesting perspective on three historical figures that still fascinate audiences all these years later.
Lella Satie as Marilyn performed some fine musical numbers while also displaying the vulnerability that was so powerful in Ms. Monroe’s life.
Lorraine Farris displayed some of the great resolve that was a big part of why so many people admired Jackie Kennedy.
Aaron Mathias as President Kennedy showed us the complexity of the late charismatic leader. He was torn by micro issues such as his own desires and family, while clearly wanting to create positive change on the macro level that would benefit the country.
These people came alive in “Jackie and Marilyn” in an enjoyable performance leaving me awaiting the next work of playwright Sheri Graubert, director Sanja Bestic, and all those involved in the production.
Some inclement weather has produced a baseball rarity: three doubleheaders to be played today.
The teams involved make me think about past postseason battles between the clubs.
The Los Angeles Dodgers/Minnesota Twins “double dip” evokes memories of L.A. winning the 1965 World Series in seven games vs the Twins.
The Pittsburgh Pirates/Baltimore Orioles two games today, has me recall the Pirates two, 7 game World Series wins vs the Orioles (in 1971 and 1979).
The Tampa Bay Rays are playing 2 games in Boston vs the Red Sox today. In 2008, the Rays prevailed in 7 games vs the Red Sox in the ALCS.
So three doubleheaders involving teams that have met a total of four times in the postseason. All four times, the series went to the maximum 7 games.
Sandy Koufax 1965 World Series
Three teams, the Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota Wild, and New York Rangers advanced to the NHL quarterfinal round with seventh game victories last night.
The Kings became the fourth NHL team to overcome a (3-0) series deficit as they won (5-1) at San Jose vs the underachieving Sharks.
The Minnesota Wild rode Nino Niederreiter’s overtime goal to a (5-4) win over the Colorado Avalanche giving them their first series win since 2003.
Coincidentally that 2003 series win was also clinched with an overtime goal in game 7 at Colorado, vs the Avalanche.
The New York Rangers raised their game 7 record at their home arena, Madison Square Garden, to (6-0) with a (2-1) victory vs the Philadelphia Flyers last night.
Scores Overtime Goal
For the third straight year the New York Rangers will be involved in a decisive 7th game in the opening round of the NHL playoffs. This is the case after the Philadelphia Flyers eased to a game six win last night.
Guess when game 7 will be played? Hint: Johnny Carson hosted the “blank” show. If you said “Tonight” you are correct. And that means no rest until the decisive 7th game of the playoffs.
This is the second straight year that no rest between games and six and seven has happened to the New York Rangers. Last year it was a Sunday afternoon game six until a Monday night game seven, meaning more than 24 hours between games–this year the schedule entails two night games meaning even fewer hours between games.
Last year after winning game six at home, the Rangers went to Washington and won game seven.
There will be a pair of seventh and deciding games in the NHL West tomorrow night.
One will match the Colorado Avalanche hosting the Minnesota Wild. The home team has won every game played thus far in that series.
Also tomorrow night, there is great pressure to win on the San Jose Sharks as they host the Los Angeles Kings in a decisive game.
The Sharks once led that series three games to none but L.A. has won three straight to force a seventh game.
The Kings hope to become just the fourth NHL team (only the Boston Red Sox vs the New York Yankees in the 2004 ALCS accomplished the feat in baseball and no NBA team has ever done it) to overcome a (3-0) series deficit to win.
The 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs (vs the detroit Red Wings), the 1975 New York Islanders (vs the Pittsburgh Penguins) and the 2010 Philadelphia Flyers (vs the Boston Bruins) are the only teams to overcome a (3-0) series deficit and win the last four games.
Two members of the 2010 Flyers are current Kings, forwards Mike Richards and Jeff Carter.
It is only 25 games into a 162 game season but it has been a good early start for the two New York baseball teams, the Yankees and the Mets.
The Yankees, with good intangibles (I truly feel it is not Boston nor Tampa’s year) are (15-10), leading their division by two and a half games.
The Mets are (14-11) in second place in their division, and have been competitive in all but two games. Their starting pitching has been excellent.
The Mets trail the Atlanta Braves, whose pitching has been phenomenal. The (17-7) Braves lead by 3 and a half games in this, the very early going.
Both the defending Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks and Western Conference top seed Anaheim Ducks, closed out their first round series scoring 5 goals in game 6 victories.
In the afternoon, Chicago playing at home, entered the third period in a (1-1) tie against the St. Louis Blues and exploded for 4 goals and a (5-1) victory.
Jonathan Toews had the game winning goal for the third time in the series.
The Blackhawks now await the winner of the Colorado Avalanche/Minnesota Wild series. Colorado leads that series 3 games to 2, with game 6 tonight in Minnesota.
Meanwhile the Ducks forged an incredible comeback, scoring 2 goals in the last minute and a half of regulation time to tie the game and went on to eliminate the Dallas Stars with a (5-4) overtime victory on the road.
Nick Bonino, who scored one of the late goals, had the overtime, series winning goal, for Anaheim.
Now the Ducks await the winner of the San Jose Sharks/Los Angeles Kings series. The Sharks still lead the series 3 games to 2 but once held a (3-0) series lead. Game 6 is tonight in Los Angeles.
Jonathan Toews
Andy B Sports 