The city of Cleveland closed in on its first professional sports championship since the Browns won an NFL title in the pre-Super Bowl era of 1964. On Tuesday night, the Cavaliers concluded an Eastern Conference finals sweep of the Hawks with a 118-88 win. Conventional reporting of this series is saying it boiled down to […]
The Boston Celtics did a lot of what they needed to do on Saturday night in Miami for Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals. They shot the ball well, at 47 percent from the floor. They had balanced scoring from all five starters, and a triple-double from Rajon Rondo at 22 points/10 rebounds/14 assists. They had Miami in a jump-shooting contest for extended periods as the more athletic Heat inexplicably launched 26 treys (and they only made nine lest you think this was a team afire). And they had a one-point lead with eight minutes to go. When all that happens, and you still lose, there’s not much to do but acknowledge the best team in the Eastern Conference advanced, and that’s ultimately what happened as Miami pulled away with a 101-88 win.
You normally don’t get sports days like this until the fall, but Saturday June 9 has the potential to be a hallmark day for sports fans. You can start it up in the early evening with the Belmont Stakes, and then in prime-time witness a potential Stanley Cup clinching win and Game 7 of the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals. Here at TheSportsNotebook we’ve already previewed the Belmont Stakes and while the Cup clinch is exciting, let’s face it—there’s still not a lot of suspense over who’s going to win it. Therefore, while I might be a biased Celtics fan, completely consumed by this game (I finished listening the songs “Nothing Else Matters” and “It’s All About Tonight” while researching the material you’re about to read), I think the case could be made to an objective fan that Boston-Miami for a spot in the NBA Finals is the event of the night. And since TheSportsNotebook prides itself on historical perspective, let’s take a look at the last seventeen times a Game 7 in the conference finals has gone down, and see where tonight’s game might ultimately fit in the pantheon…
The Boston Celtics continue to follow in the path of the Oklahoma City Thunder, as each underdog in the conference finals has moved to take control of the series. Boston did its part last night with a 94-90 win in Miami to put them within one game of the NBA Finals, a development nothing short of stunning to anyone who followed the Celtics for the first half of the regular season or even the first two rounds of the playoffs.
The San Antonio Spurs have gone from pre-ordained champions to on-the-verge-of-elimination because the bugaboos that were lurking in the background throughout the playoffs—mediocre defense and a lack of star power—came back to bite them again in a devastating 108-103 Game 5 home loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder, who now hold a 3-2 series lead and close it out at home on Wednesday night.
The Boston Celtics followed the same path in the Eastern Conference Finals that the Oklahoma City Thunder blazed through in the West, and it’s to announce “Game On” to sports fans, as the Celtics won their second consecutive home game. The 93-91 overtime thriller evened up the series 2-2.
It was the game that would all but settle the Oklahoma City Thunder’s season, as they tried to avoid falling behind 3-1 to the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Finals. The Thunder needed their stars to come out—not just Kevin Durant, but surely, Russell Westbrook and James Harden had to have big games. The latter two combined to shoot 6-for-23 from the floor. And Oklahoma City…won? Yes, OkC overcame subpar nights from two of its three best players and beat the best team the NBA 109-103 and officially announced “Game On” in the West Finals.
The Boston Celtics aren’t going to go quietly in the NBA’s Eastern Conference Finals. Following in the mold of Oklahoma City out West, the Celtics responded to the home crowd by delivering a strong effort in a must-win spot over Miami and took Game 3 101-91 and cut the Heat’s series lead to 2-1.
As I watched the perfect playoff run of the San Antonio Spurs come to an unceremonious ending last night in Oklahoma City, I thought of a line by former Laker coach and current Heat president Pat Riley. In his book Showtime, the story of the 1987 Lakers, Riley recalled when his team won the first two games of the Finals over the Celtics in decisive fashion and then lost Game 3. “Great, Riley, recalled thinking. “No more talk about sweeps.” I wonder if Gregg Popovich, similarly hard-nosed, although less adept at covering it up as the Spurs head man, is thinking the same thing the morning after Oklahoma City opened up a can in Game 3, to the tune of 102-82.
If the San Antonio Spurs are going to play like they did last night, we might as well just call off the rest of the NBA playoffs right now. Even without a big offensive night from Tim Duncan, San Antonio shot 55 percent, buried 11 treys, built up a 16-point lead after three quarters and then turned back an Oklahoma City push to capture Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals by a 120-111 count.
The Miami Heat’s strength all year has been lockdown defense. The Boston Celtics’ bugaboo all year has been rebounding. A combination of the two delivered Miami a decisive 93-79 win Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals last night in South Beach.
If Sunday night is any indication, we’re in for an exciting Western Conference Finals in the NBA playoffs, because top-seeded San Antonio was pushed to the wire and then some, before finally beating Oklahoma City 101-98 to grab a 1-0 lead in the series.
Rebounding was key to the Spurs’ efforts, as they held a 50-43 edge on the glass, the one key statistical difference on a team-wise basis.