This weekend was an eventful one in sports. We had game threes for the Eastern and Western Conference Finals, as well as the second major golf tournament of the year, which was riddled with storylines, highlights, and hilarious clips. As much as I don’t want to talk about it, let’s start with the Celtics game last night.
CELTICS EMBARRASS THEMSELVES, LOSE 128-102 TO GO DOWN 3-0
This was the most embarrassing loss for a Boston sports fan since the Patriots got blown out by the Bills in the Wild Card playoff game two seasons ago. That was the only game I can remember feeling the same way as I did last night. It just seemed like our players didn’t want to compete. By the end of the third quarter, we had rolled over and waved the white flag of surrender…that white flag being Pritchard, Kornett and Hauser subbing in for Tatum, Horford, and Brown.
Carrying the Heat in last night’s matchup was their undrafted rising star Gabe Vincent, who dropped a career high 29 points on 11-14 shooting with six made threes. Miami as a team shot a ridiculous 54.3% from beyond the arc and 56.8% from the field. Those numbers seem unstoppable in and of themselves, but when you add the fact that Miami turned the ball over six less times than the Celts, it becomes clear that Boston was outmatched.
Where the Celtics were outmatched is also clear. Kevin Spoelstra is exposing the fraud of a coach the Joe Mazzulla is, and Jimmy Butler continues to demonstrate what “having that dawg in you” really means. The Heat are also playing as a team so much more than the Celtics are. I had talked about this in previous blogs, and I was unable to put my finger on what exactly I was trying to say, but JJ Redick encapsulated it perfectly in his podcast this afternoon:
Connectivity. That’s the word, and that’s exactly what the Celtics do not have. There is a clear disconnect between the minds of our players, especially Tatum and Brown, and I’m not sure what can be done to fix it. As of now, I have zero confidence in the C’s making a comeback to win this series. I’m not one to ever quit, but as a betting man I am steering far away from any Boston action in game four.
WCF UPDATE – LAKERS DOWN 3-0 TO NUGGETS
Game four of the Western Conference Finals takes place tonight, as the Nuggets look to complete their first sweep in franchise history over LeBron and the Lakers.
This series is a lot different than the ECF. Unlike the Celtics who underperform at every turn, the Lakers are simply a worse team than the Nuggets and there is nothing that they can do about it. Probably the easiest bet of the playoffs was Denver +5.5 in game three, and for some wild reason, the Nuggets are given +3.5 points again tonight. Two words: Hammer it.
Even with Jokic in foul trouble for most of the last game, Denver was able to fend off another second half Lakers comeback to take game three with ease. Jamal Murray is fully back to the star he was before his ACL injury, as he dropped 17 in the first quarter and had 30 by halftime. This win snapped the Lakers’ nine game home winning streak that they’d held since late march, and I expect another loss tonight.
For the Lakers to win, LeBron will need a legacy defining game good enough to spark a 4 game comeback. I don’t think LeBron has that in him anymore, and I don’t think that LA has the surrounding pieces to beat the opposition on Denver. This is especially true when role players like Bruce Brown and KCP are playing as well as they have.
If you are a bettor, my “professional” advice is to hammer LeBron’s over in points, and take the moneyline for the Nuggets.
PGA CHAMPIONSHIP – BROOKS WINS FIFTH MAJOR
Brooks Koepka became just the 20th person to ever win five major championships in their career after a win at Oak Hill yesterday afternoon. This tournament was awesomely entertaining for the whole weekend. The fairytale success of PGA pro Michael Block was the storyline of the weekend, and it will continue next week after he received an invitation to the Charles Schwab Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas. We will also see Block at the PGA Championship next year since he finished top 15, and I’m sure his hole in one will be played over and over again:
Another highlight of the tournament came on Thursday when Tom Kim put his body and wardrobe on the line while searching for his ball in the mud:
But back to a more serious note – Koepka winning this event makes it the first time that a LIV golfer has won a major tournament since the split. While many old heads hate this, I just hope that this will help get LIV players in the Ryder Cup. Everybody wants to watch the best golfers in the world compete for their country, and denying players like Koepka the opportunity to represent their homeland is morally wrong.
Let’s just hope the rules loosen up for the good of the sport.