Going Seven

 The two most interesting NBA playoff series--Denver/MN in the West, NYC/Indiana in the East--started with each team winning two games in a row, before settling down to the usual back and forth, to both be tied at 3-3, and game seven ahead.  The West series was even crazier--MN won the first two in a row in Denver, the Nuggets won their two in a row at MN.  

Unless one team is superior enough to win in 4 or 5, the playoff pattern is based on adjustments.  Teams have at least one off day to plot adjustments for the next game.  Denver had several days after the first two to make assignment and other adjustments to blunt the smothering defense of MN.  Their offense came alive, and Jokic finally had an MVP performance in the fifth game.  But MN came roaring back at home in game 6--downright extinguishing the Denver offense and shooting the lights out at their end, helped by plenty of steals and other turnovers as well as missed shots to get out and run.  

Denver lost the sixth game by 45 points, the biggest margin in playoff history, while scoring the fewest number of points.  But in terms of wins and losses, that loss is the same as it would have been had they lost by 1 point at the final buzzer of double overtime (except that their starters will be much better rested--they sat out much of the second half.)

  Now Denver has several days to adjust to the MN adjustments, and they'll be at home for game 7.  After the first four contrarian games, each team reverted to the usual pattern of winning their next home game.  So Denver looks to have the edge.

 But no matter what adjustments are devised, in a game seven everything hinges on how players play, who is hitting shots, who has the defensive energy and intensity, who keeps composed and handles the pressure.  Denver is the champ, the veteran of these moments, but with these two teams anything can happen.  Game 7 is Sunday afternoon.

The Knicks and Pacers series has more closely followed the traditional script of evenly matched teams: they each won their three games at home.  So game 7, also on Sunday afternoon, is in New York.  Even after being blown out in Indiana, the Knicks have the home court edge, maybe. For the thing about playing in New York is, everybody gets juiced to win there.  So this also will be sui generis, depending on performances, the timing of runs, etc. 

The chief difference between these two series is that the winner of the West series is likely to emerge as the favorite for Conference champ, but the winner of the East series is likely to be the underdog in the next round, against the Boston Celtics who have already won their series.

Meanwhile, Steph Curry of the Golden State Warriors won the Magic Johnson Award, voted on by the Professional Basketball Writers Association, for the combination of on-court performance and off-court performance with the media.  It was his second.  A few days earlier, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr won the coaches version awarded by the same group.  Curry previously won the Clutch Player of the Year for the NBA just concluded season.      

It's A Series--and the New WNBA

 Four games into the second round of the NBA playoffs, and both Western Conference matchups are tied at 2-2.  The Denver-Minneapolis series is remarkable.  MN surprised the Nuggets by beating them on their own court in the first game, but Denver was expected to reassert itself in the second.  Instead, MN played an excellent defensive game--even without their recent defensive player of the year Gobert, and shut down the Nuggets again.  So sports bloviators (specifically Charles Barkley and Stephen A,) declared the series over, MN would sweep, especially as the series moved to their court.

But then Denver outshot them in two straight games in MN and tied the series.  Suddenly they were (of course) the favorites again.  The ever-popular pivotal game 5 is in Denver.

Meanwhile, the lumbering Dallas Mavs were manhandled by the young Oklahoma Thunder, but then seemed to find their game to take a 2-1 lead and were ahead in game 4 going into the fourth quarter.  But the Thunder stormed back and took a close one in Dallas, to tie the series, heading back to OC.

In the East the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers have a more traditional split, each winning 2 games at home.  Indiana's blowout victory in game 4 suggested to some observers that they had figured out the Knicks and were on their way to an upset in the series.  However, game 5 is in New York. 

The only series that seems to be moving decisively in one direction is Boston up 3 games to one over the Cavs, and going back to Boston for game 5.  But the battered Cavs gave the Celtics a run for their money in game 4, so at least an extended series isn't out of the question.

Off the court, the blah blah blah is hitting a new level.  It's not enough to speculate on Steph and LeBron playing together, or Steph and Kevin Durant reuniting--now it's Steph AND LeBron AND Durant.  Of course it is going to happen, and soon--at the Olympics.

Meanwhile the WNBA season starts tonight with four games.  Caitlin Clark's debut with the visiting Indiana Fever has sold out the Connecticut Sun arena for the first time in a decade.  There seems little doubt that the WNBA is suddenly at a new level, with national stars from the recently completed college season among their own rising and established stars.  Caitlinmania shows no signs of ending soon, and it's hoped that her rising tide will lift all boats.  Maybe I'll even start getting the admittedly generic team names matched up with their cities at last.