NBA power play
Cavs and Warriors each are now unbeaten through eight postseason games.
They wait for their next date in the playoffs.
The slumber party that has been this postseason is not great for the league. But it's not as terrible in the moment as some are letting on. Primarily, the NBA offers fewer upsets than any postseason in any sport. So in a lot of ways, the outcomes are predictable.
This one is different because the games are snoozers even if two of the semifinals appear to be headed toward Game 7s, which would increase the intrigue. Plus, the collision course of LeBron-Warriors epic rematch is worth waiting through some slop to get there. (Not sure if it's worth the 500 yards Andy Dufrense crawled through that we're currently experiencing, but still.)
The long-term ramifications, though, offer some interesting ripples.
Consider this list of some of the top free agents and what they are facing this offseason.
To a person, they speak of finding the best chance to win. Take Toronto point guard Kyle Lowry, who says he's going to opt out and look for a better chance to win. Lowry even said he's looking to the Western Conference because there in no team in the East ready to topple LeBron.
Lowry, under the new Durant rule, will be leaving as much as $50 million on the table to go some place else. That's a sizable decision and large sacrifice to find a better spot to reach the NBA Finals.
But the question is, other than Cleveland, Golden State and San Antonio, what team out there is one piece - even a piece as talented as Lowry or Utah's Gordon Heyward or L.A.'s Blake Griffin - away from cracking the elite trio that currently rules the NBA?
Not many, especially in Lowry's case, since the teams in the discussion of closing the gap already feel pretty good at point guard. Could he be the replacement for Tony Parker with the Spurs? Maybe. But that would run the Spurs way over the cap into the Cavs' type of luxury tax.
New York Yankees' Aaron Hicks reacts after scoring on a fielder's choice by Chicago Cubs shortstop Addison Russell during the 18th inning of an interleague baseball game Monday, May 8, 2017 in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh) Rebuilt Bombers
Baseball is better when the New York Yankees are good.
It's really that simple. Same with the Dallas Cowboys and the L.A. Lakers. And while the Cowboys are trying to get back to a Super Bowl and the Lakers are staring at a lottery pick, the Yankees have flipped the script and look ready to contend now.
Most baseball experts - including ESPN baseball guru Tim Kurkijan when he joined Press Row last month - have said the Yankees would be better in 2017 and be reedy to contend for it all in '18. That time table is escalating. Consider the following:
The Yankees have won six in a row and have the best record in baseball at 22-9.
The Yankees lead the AL in runs (177), homers (50), total bases (495), and on-base percentage (.357).
The Yankees have five starters - Starlin Castro, Aaron Judge, Ronald Torreyes, Jacoby Ellsbury and Matt Holiday - hitting .287 or better. Castro leads the AL at .358.
The Yankees, in their glorious history, they have started a season 20-10 or better 21 times.
In those 21 seasons, the Yankees reached the World Series 18 times and won 15 of them.
The future looks to be now.
State Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, wearing a football helmet, shakes hands with former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, who was honored in the House Chamber at the Capitol in Austin, Texas, on Wednesday May 3, 2017. (Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman via AP) Sports vacuum
This is a slower time for sports.
(Side note: If you are interested in the spring high school sports scene, no one does it better than the hardworking sports staff of the TFP. Here's the preps home.)
Sure, the NBA playoffs are not helping. And we have forever tried not to put a lot of stock in baseball surges - other than the Yankees - until the 'er' months are here. Heck, some of us are looking forward to next week's draft lottery as a side note of interest.
In a slow time, it raised this question for us: Why do the Knicks and Tony Romo get so much attention? Why? The last time the Knicks were relevant, Pat Riley was in NYC and OJ was riding around in a Bronco.
Romo manned the most glamours position in sports, and put up a lot of gaudy stats, but name the single most memorable highlight of his. Exactly.
Yet, the Knicks make nightly news and we're getting shot-by-shot updates of Romo's regional qualifying attempt to make the U.S. Open.
Egad.
Or better yet, "Yawn."
This and that
- Preds fever is sweeping far more than just the state of Tennessee. Nashville is now, according to OddsShark via Bovada.com, the Stanley Cup favorites. Nashville is +275 (meaning you win $275 if you bet a $100).
- Interesting list from ESPN.com NFL reporters on which rookie the beat folks think will be the most impactful in 2017.
- A slew of defections from Auburn's football program in the last day or three. Woody Barrett, a redshirt freshman quarterback, is on the market. David Gunn, called an "assistant athletic director" for football who was head coach Gus Malzahn's connection to the AD office and kind of the administrator of the entire program. Also, Jamie Croley, Malzahn's brother-in-law, left his job as director of football operations. Croley is going to run a charity foundation Malzahn and his wife Kristi are starting.
- The Ryan Howard experiment with the Braves is done. Howard, a former NL MVP, had his minor league deal terminated Monday. The 37-year-old Howard played 11 games in Gwinnett and was hitting .184 with one homer and five RBIs. It's hard to believe how much he faded and how quickly. From 2006 to 2011, Howard played in no fewer than 143 games, hit .250 or better, hit 31-or-more homers and drove in 108-or-more runs in each of those seasons. That's six years of crushing it - he averaged 43-plus homers and 132-plus RBIs per year over that stretch - people.
- Speaking of the NBA, Golden State forward Draymond Green called Boston's Kelly Olynyk a "dirty" player. OK. Considering Green was suspended from the Finals last year in large part for kicking and punching people in the ding-ding, he would be an expert on dirty players.
Today's question
It's a True or False Tuesday. We like this game.
True or false, the Warriors will not lose a game before the Finals.
True or false, the Cavs will not lose a game before the Finals.
True of false, Tony Gwynn, who was both on this day in 1960, is the greatest hitter of the last 40 years.
Keith Whitley died on this day in 1989. He's one of the 5-at-10's all-time favorites, and if "Tell Lorrie I Love Her" does not make it dusty wherever you are then you are a hard-hearted person.
On this day 68 years ago, Billy Joel was born. Rushmore of Billy Joel songs.