So far, these NBA and NHL playoffs have been fairly milquetoast. The Eastern Conference NBA playoffs were garbage in the first round. The most drama we had probably was a 31-point comeback by a team that is basically doomed anyway. On the hockey side, we saw the two pre-tournament favorites were unceremoniously gutted.
But then, but then, you get a day like yesterday, when we had that amazing climax of an already feisty Thunder/Blazers series, and then the Sharks ridiculous game-7 win against the Knights. That's what makes sports great - and more than that, what makes the NBA/NHL Playoff Combination the best for its Nth straight year.
Sometimes, the fact that the basketball and hockey playoffs being played in parallel seems almost overwhelming, but then we get yesterday, where the madness in Portland only amplified the madness in San Jose.
The Thunder/Blazers series may have been the best 4-1 series I have ever seen from a snark, drama standpoint. Only a few games were actually close, but man was this one amazing. Watching Damian Lillard, a player who will get forgotten historically because of the spate of great point guards that played during his time (Curry and Harden, mainly, but then Paul and Westbrook added) ball out for five straight games was a joy. We all knew he was going to do something fucking nuts with that last shot, but a pull-up, fade-away, 37-footer? That was outrageous.
What was maybe more outrageous? What the Sharks and Knights did. To be honest, that series was great for six games, but sucked for 50 minutes in Game 6, with the Knights scoring three goals and the Sharks playing a bit slow. Then the check happened, a five minute power-play was given, and nothing will ever be the same.
Putting aside the call itself, that four minutes where the Sharks scored four goals was mystifying. Seeing the Knights just crumple. Seeing Marc-Andre Fleury, who had been awesome to that point, give up bad goal after bad goal. Seeing that crowd go from slightly pumped, to totally crazy, to out-of-their-minds insane. That is what playoff hockey is about. Of course, so is the other team then scoring with under a minute left forcing OT in Game 7, maybe the rarest event in American team sports.
It's fitting both of these ended with a walk-off moment, but by two diametrically opposite players. Damian Lillard was this series. We may remember the Thunder side because of the 'Next Question'-ing by Westbrook, and his overall poor shooting, but the series will be defined by Damian Lillard becoming Steph Curry for fie games. He was everywhere, hitting crazy deep three after crazy deep three. For years, many in the NBA world have talked about how secretly Lillard is one of the NBA's great leaders - and he showed it with his play for five straight games.
The Sharks won their series because one of their fourth line guys took advantage of a tired Knights defender and sashayed right around him and swept a puck past Fleury. But until that moment that comeback was all about the Sharks stars, with their leader, their Lillard, getting cross-checked onto the ice and knocked out. Then Couture took over, and Karlsson, and Tomas Hertl - one of the guys who was never around when the Sharks were the chokiest chokers. This was the new Sharks.
Sports is great because of how nights like this make it seem like we're all watching something wholly collective. My twitter timeline was filled with people, sometimes not even ones that cover basketball or hockey, giggly exclaiming by Tweet how ridiculous this all was. And it was. And it has happened every spring forever. It was just nice to get reminded in such stark, awesome, detail.
But then, but then, you get a day like yesterday, when we had that amazing climax of an already feisty Thunder/Blazers series, and then the Sharks ridiculous game-7 win against the Knights. That's what makes sports great - and more than that, what makes the NBA/NHL Playoff Combination the best for its Nth straight year.
Sometimes, the fact that the basketball and hockey playoffs being played in parallel seems almost overwhelming, but then we get yesterday, where the madness in Portland only amplified the madness in San Jose.
The Thunder/Blazers series may have been the best 4-1 series I have ever seen from a snark, drama standpoint. Only a few games were actually close, but man was this one amazing. Watching Damian Lillard, a player who will get forgotten historically because of the spate of great point guards that played during his time (Curry and Harden, mainly, but then Paul and Westbrook added) ball out for five straight games was a joy. We all knew he was going to do something fucking nuts with that last shot, but a pull-up, fade-away, 37-footer? That was outrageous.
What was maybe more outrageous? What the Sharks and Knights did. To be honest, that series was great for six games, but sucked for 50 minutes in Game 6, with the Knights scoring three goals and the Sharks playing a bit slow. Then the check happened, a five minute power-play was given, and nothing will ever be the same.
Putting aside the call itself, that four minutes where the Sharks scored four goals was mystifying. Seeing the Knights just crumple. Seeing Marc-Andre Fleury, who had been awesome to that point, give up bad goal after bad goal. Seeing that crowd go from slightly pumped, to totally crazy, to out-of-their-minds insane. That is what playoff hockey is about. Of course, so is the other team then scoring with under a minute left forcing OT in Game 7, maybe the rarest event in American team sports.
It's fitting both of these ended with a walk-off moment, but by two diametrically opposite players. Damian Lillard was this series. We may remember the Thunder side because of the 'Next Question'-ing by Westbrook, and his overall poor shooting, but the series will be defined by Damian Lillard becoming Steph Curry for fie games. He was everywhere, hitting crazy deep three after crazy deep three. For years, many in the NBA world have talked about how secretly Lillard is one of the NBA's great leaders - and he showed it with his play for five straight games.
The Sharks won their series because one of their fourth line guys took advantage of a tired Knights defender and sashayed right around him and swept a puck past Fleury. But until that moment that comeback was all about the Sharks stars, with their leader, their Lillard, getting cross-checked onto the ice and knocked out. Then Couture took over, and Karlsson, and Tomas Hertl - one of the guys who was never around when the Sharks were the chokiest chokers. This was the new Sharks.
Sports is great because of how nights like this make it seem like we're all watching something wholly collective. My twitter timeline was filled with people, sometimes not even ones that cover basketball or hockey, giggly exclaiming by Tweet how ridiculous this all was. And it was. And it has happened every spring forever. It was just nice to get reminded in such stark, awesome, detail.
