NBA
The NBA Playoffs kicked off this weekend, and typically people expect the first round to be a mere formality with very few upsets. But, this year seems different in the Eastern Conference Playoffs Chicago needed late game heroics by Derrick Rose to defeat the Indiana Pacers in game one, and the Philadelphia 76ers dominated the Miami Heat early in the game, and came back late to lose by a few buckets. The Orlando Magic lost to the Atlanta Hawks, and the Boston Celtics needed a Ray Allen three point basket with about 12 seconds left to edge the Knicks by two points. What this says about the East is that there really is not a clear cut team that is a lock to make it to the finals, every team has vulnerabilities that could have them go home early.
NBA
In the Western Conference the San Antonio Spurs were upset by the Memphis Grizzlies as Manu Ginobli watched on with an elbow injury, and the Dallas Mavericks managed to beat the Portland Trailblazers after trailing because of Dirk Nowitzki getting hot in the second half. The New Orleans Hornets handled the Los Angeles Lakers in a game where it almost seemed like New Orleans was the #2 seed instead of the #7 seed as Chris Paul had a big game against the veteran Derrick Fisher. In the nightcap on Sunday night the Oklahoma City Thunder came back from a double digit deficit to defeat the Denver Nuggets, in what was probably the best game of the weekend. Kevin Durant showed why he is one of the best players in the league scoring 41 points on the night, and Russell Westbrook contributed 31 points on the evening.
NHL
The NHL Playoffs started this past week as well, and Vancouver Canucks lead the series 3 – 0 over the Chicago Blackhawks. The Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks have their series currently tied 1 – 1, while the Washington Capitols lead the series 2 – 1 over the New York Rangers. The Philadelphia Flyers and Buffalo Sabres are tied 1 – , and the Detroit Red Wings are winning their series over the Phoenix Coyotes 2 – 0. The series between the Nashville Predators and the Anaheim Ducks has the Predators leading 2 – 1, while the Montreal Canadiens lead the Boston Bruins 2 – 0 in their series. The series between the Tampa Bay Lighting and Pittsburgh Penguins is tied at one game a piece. The NHL playoffs seem to be very competitive this year as well, it’s too bad hockey is still lagging behind in viewership because some of these games have been very good.
MLB
Matt Capps is taking over as the Twins’ closer so Joe Nathan can work on regaining his form in non-save situations as he comes back from elbow surgery. The change was announced before Sunday’s game against Tampa Bay. Nathan had blown save opportunities Thursday and Saturday in games eventually won by the Rays. The right-hander missed all of last season after having right elbow ligament replacement surgery, and has been inconsistent this year. Nathan is 0-1 with an 8.44 ERA in six games. He had converted all three save chances before his last two outings against Tampa Bay. Capps had a combined 42 saves last year for the Twins and Washington.
NFL
The NFL wants to cut almost 60 percent of guaranteed pay for first-round draft picks, lock them in for five years and divert the savings to veterans’ salaries and benefits. More than $525 million went to first-rounders in guaranteed payments in 2010. The league wants to decrease that figure by $300 million, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. The league’s offer would free a total of more than $1.2 billion over four years through 2015 – $37.5 million per team overall – and slow the growth rate of guaranteed payments to first-rounders, which the documents show increased by 233 percent from 2000-10. Guaranteed money paid to top 10 selections since 2000 reached nearly $2 billion. Guaranteed payments for all first-rounders were at $3.5 billion. The average career length of a first-round pick since 1993 is 9.3 years.
