Kings Look to Take Stranglehold Back to Staples Center
We all knew that Game 1 between the Kings and the Ducks would be tight and it certainly didn’t disappoint. Marian Gaborik’s goal with seven seconds left in Regulation and then his goal at 12:07 of the first OT period gave the Kings their fifth straight postseason win.
The New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins will head over to Madison Square Garden as their series shifts to New York for Game 3 on Monday. The Rangers laid an egg in Game 2 on Sunday, and while the schedule played a major factor in their performance, they’ll need to get up for this one on the second night of this back-to-back.
The Mariners will head south to Oakland on Monday to open a four-game series, which includes a doubleheader on Wednesday against the A’s, who have the second-best record in the American League.
On the season the Yankees have an Over/Under record of 14-16 and a run-line W/L record of 14-16 and the Angels have an Over/Under record of 19-10 and a run-line W/L record of 18-12.
The White Sox have been a bit of a pleasant surprise thanks to a high octane slugging offense. The leader of that group has been cuban import rookie Jose Abreu who leads the Majors in homers and is second in RBIs.
Los Angeles won’t get any time to relax when they travel to Oklahoma City to open the Western Conference semifinals against the Thunder on Monday night.
The Wizards have been cooling their heels waiting to see who they are going to play. The fact that it is Indiana is hardly a surprise and even though they lost the season series to the Pacers, 2-1, I am sure they are going into this game with a high level of confidence.
In a strange twist it was Washington that made quick work of their opponent in their round 1 series. Meanwhile even though Indiana ultimately put away Atlanta, they certainly did not look like a top team in the process.
The San Antonio Spurs and Portland Trail Blazers have survived Round 1, and now the two will face off in the Western Conference Semifinals. The two franchises have faced off in the postseason three times (San Antonio leads the series 2-1) with the 1999 Western Conference Finals being the most recent.
The 2014 NBA playoffs have been anything but a breeze for the Los Angeles Clippers and Oklahoma City Thunder. Now the two will face off in what could very well be the most entertaining series of the entire second round.
The Mavs are 50-38 ATS with an O/U record of 49-39 and the Spurs are 45-43 ATS with an O/U record of 48-39-1. This season the Spurs are 34-10 at home and the Mavs are 24-20 on the road.
The Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers continue their Eastern Conference semifinal series at the Consol Energy Center on Sunday. The Rangers took Game 1 in the series in overtime on Friday, leaving the Penguins up against the ropes in this one, needing to win on Sunday to avoid going to New York with elimination on the table.
The Toronto Raptors and Brooklyn Nets head back to the Air Canada Centre for a deciding Game 7 on Sunday. In what has been a very exciting playoffs, this series has been the poster child, with these two evenly matched teams providing entertainment from start to finish when they hit the court. Their last game was the most lopsided contest yet, with the Nets cruising to a 97-83.
The Broncos had a great season until they ran into a buzzsaw in the form of the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl.
The Detroit Lions experienced another terrible second half and missed the playoffs in an NFC North that was ripe for the taking.
Without a doubt this franchise needs a quarterback. Drafting in the 8 spot they should have a chance to get one of the top prospects at the position but so far it has not been clear in which way they might be leaning.
