Happy Monday! Whether you are commuting to work on the Subway, reading this with your morning cup of coffee, or catching up on emails during your lunch break, welcome to the best newsletter in sports media. Here you’ll find a recap of everything that happened in sports yesterday. Every Day. Every Morning. Direct from the best part of the stadium.
Shipping off to Boston (and other places)
Sunday brought sports fans another full slate of NBA postseason action, and once again, things were a bit of “snoozapalooza”. We started our day up in Boston, where the 8-seeded Miami Heat looked like they could use a cup of injured star Jimmy Butler’s “bubble coffee” in a blowout loss to the Celtics. Boston played a near perfect game in the playoff opener. Boston coach Joe Mazzulla has about as many scoring options at his disposal as a variety box from Dunkin’ Donuts. Four different Celtics eclipsed the 15-point mark, while the Jimmy Butler-less Heat have more issues than prime Pat Riley could fix.
The next game of the day brought even less excitement. The Los Angeles Clippers bested the Dallas Mavericks in a grim, dully-lit, ABC-camera’d Crypto.com Arena. As much as I’d love to tell you about the game, the real story was how gross the viewing experience truly was, and it wasn’t because Mavericks other than Kyrie Iriving and Luka Doncic combined for just 32 points. ESPN (specifically ABC) Sports cameras have been miles behind CBS and FOX for years now. We’ll see if it gets fixed as the playoffs move on.
In the Eastern Conference nightcap, Damian Lillard scored 35 to lead a short-handed Bucks squad past the Pacers. Indiana came into the contest 4-1 against Milwaukee this season. If anything, this one showed yet again that the NBA regular season is about as important as putting on sunscreen while in quarantine. Pacers superstar Tyrese Haliburton- who took the league by storm with his In-Season Tournament Performance – did his best Ben Simmons impression on Sunday evening, accumulating 9 points, 7 rebounds, and 8 assists.
The Thunder and Pelicans ended the night with some sweaty palms and horrendous basketball, but the No. 1 seed Thunder did prevail. New Orleans fought hard, although it’s difficult to see a path for it to win this series without Zion Williamson.
Icing on the cake
On the ice, Jack’s Florida Panthers opened up the day with a 3-2 victory over perennial-playoff contender Tampa Bay. While Florida got the first win, it simply defended home ice in what should be a long, hard-faught series. In another Eastern Conference Series that may be the opposite of “hard-faught”, the President’s Trophy winning New York Rangers dismantled the Washington Capitals, who happen to be the worst team EVER to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs with a goal differential of -40.
Matt’s pick to win the Cup, the Colorado Avalanche, seemed to partake in a little too much Colorado spunk as the squad gave up 7 goals to the Winnipeg Jets in a 7-6 thriller. A pair of 3-3 periods were sandwiched by a 1-0 Jets second period victory that proved to be the difference.
Misplays & Milkshakes
MLB writer Jayson Stark took to the Athletic over the weekend to discuss how bad the Chicago White Sox could potentially be this season. In his article, Stark compared the lousy play of Chicago’s South Side squad to that of the 1962 New York Mets, who won just 40 games in the teams’ inaugural season. While the “lovable, miserable, Mets” were atrocious, the expectations were considerably low with 1962 marking the return of National League baseball to Queens. The White Sox on the other hand have been around for 124 years. Owner Jerry Reinsdorf seemingly cares more about selling beauteously-boujee milkshakes than investing in a winning baseball team. It’s a real shame for the White Sox-who enter Monday with a 3-17 record- and the fans that invest so much time into loving a team that spends over half a calendar year playing games.
Speaking of horrible ownership, Oakland Athletic’s manager Mark Kotsay has went another series without starting young star Esteury Ruiz. The 25-year-old, who was demoted to AAA earlier this season after wearing a “pro-sell-the-team” bracelet, has 6 hits and 5 runs scored in just 16 at bats this season. Four of those hits have gone for extra bases. It is clear A’s brass wants no part of winning during the teams’ final season in the bay, but tanking this obvious should be stopped by any competent commissioner. Unfortunately, MLB doesn’t have one.
What else is happening in the nosebleeds?
- After winning the Masters last week, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler dominated the RBC Heritage Open before play suspended on Sunday afternoon. If he can hold onto a five stroke lead, it will be his fourth tournament win in his last five tries.
- Trevor Bauer is dominating in the Mexican League after not receiving interests from MLB clubs this spring.
- Former Duke point guard Jeremy Roach is transferring down South to a certain school in Texas.
Trivia
Yesterday’s Answer: The 2011 Rays. Tampa Bay started 0-5, but managed to qualify for the postseason as a Wild Card team. Tampa, along with the 1995 Reds and 1974 Pirates, are the only MLB teams ever to make the playoffs after beginning the season winless in five tries.
Today’s Question: When is the last time a 6-seed or lower has made it to the NBA Finals?
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