There was definitely no hangover for the Spurs as they had one of the best first halfs in NBA playoff history in game three. They have a little back in the third but a strong 4th quarter essentially maintained that lead.
The Miami Heat host the San Antonio Spurs on Thursday night in Game 4 of the NBA Finals. The Spurs are coming off a big win in Game 3 of the series in which they enjoyed a historic shooting night en route to a 111-92 victory.
The Cup Is In The Building – Kings Look to Sweep Rangers Wednesday Night
The New York Rangers were put on the brink of a disheartening Stanley Cup Final series loss Monday night in a game that they should have won. Now the Broadway Blueshirts have to regroup and do something that only four teams in NHL history have done – come back to win four straight games after losing the first three of a series.
The Spurs were in complete control of the series after dominating in G2 but they were not ready for the surge they would face with the return of Serge Ibaka to the Thunder lineup.
Kings Look For Commanding Lead – Host Blackhawks in Game 5 Monday
Full marks to the Los Angeles Kings so far in the Western Conference – they lead 2-1 and have outscored the Blackhawks 10-4 in the past five periods. The Blackhawks have some work to do – the Kings have been the better team in all three games of the series so far and LA’s second line has been absolutely lights out!
The Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers will continue the Eastern Conference Finals in South Beach on Monday. The Heat found themselves behind early in Game 3, but came away with a comfortable 99-87 victory.
The New York Rangers and Montreal Canadiens will continue the Eastern Conference Final at legendary Madison Square Garden on Sunday.
The Brooklyn Nets and Miami Heat continue their Eastern Conference semifinal series at the Barclays Center on Monday night. The Nets finally got on the board with a win on their home court on Saturday, and look for that momentum to carry over into this one.
The Pacers have a lead in the series for the first time in these playoffs. They really put a whooping on the Wizards as the series moved to D.C., reminiscent of a regular season beatdown they laid on Washington well before things went south.
Ducks Look To Even It Up – Kings Host Anaheim in Game 4
Home ice advantage in the series between the Anaheim Ducks and the Los Angeles Kings has turned out to be a curse so far – the road team has won all three games! The Los Angeles Kings will look to reverse that trend on Saturday night and in turn take a 3-1 stranglehold on the second round Western Conference series.
Boston Looks to Reclaim Home Ice Advantage – Game 4 vs. Habs Thursday Night
The Montreal Canadiens have become used to fast starts in their second round series with the Boston Bruins – unfortunately they have become used to coughing up leads in the third period and letting their Original Six rivals back in each game.
The New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins will continue their Eastern Conference semifinal playoff series with Game 4 at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. The Penguins wrestled back home ice advantage with back-to-back wins, but they can now put their foot on the throats of the Rangers with a win in Game 4.
Eastern Conference semifinals Game 4
Pittsburgh Penguins (6-3) at New York Rangers (5-5)
Date: Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Time: 7:30 PM ET
Venue: Madison Square Garden
City: New York, New York
O/U Odds: 5
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Money Line: Pittsburgh -106, New York -102
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The Penguins don’t get shutout wins often, particularly in the postseason, but that’s been the case in each of their last two outings. The team usually relies on its high-powered offense, but the team didn’t even do much in the way of generating chances in Game 3.
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In that contest, the Rangers actually outshot the Penguins by a wide margin, 35-15, and the Rangers even had a 5-to-1 edge in power plays, but like we saw in some of their games against the Flyers, the Rangers just couldn’t catch any breaks.
Now, having been shut out in back-to-back contests, the Rangers are desperate to find goal-scoring anywhere they can. The team wasn’t shut out in back-to-back contests in the entire regular season, so it seems safe to say they won’t be shut out for a third consecutive game on Wednesday night.
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The last time the team was shut out in back-to-back games, they responded by scoring four goals against Winnipeg, then six against this very Pittsburgh team in back-to-back wins. Derek Stepan scored twice against Winnipeg, while Rick Nash had a goal and a helper. Derick Brassard had a goal and three assists in the win against Pittsburgh, and Brad Richards had a goal and two assists in that game.
Rangers head coach Alain Vigneault would love for any one of those players to step up right about now. Vigneault blasted the schedule-makers after Game 3, and his team will now have to put up, or shut up.
The Rangers need this win in a bad way. The schedule-makers deserve a lot of the blame for the speed bump the team just hit, but now that they’ve had a day off, there won’t be any excuses after this one. Expect an A-effort from the Rangers in this one after back-to-back duds.
Additionally, with goals being hard to come by for the Rangers in their last two games, goaltender Henrik Lundqvist knows he’s going to have to stand on his head in this one if the team has a chance. With competent play from Marc-Andre Fleury at the other end, this game should stay under the number.
The Rangers are 11-2 in their last 13 games played on a Wednesday, and 5-2 in their last seven home games.
The under is 16-6-3 in the Rangers’ last 25 home games, and it is 9-2-6 in their last 17 conference semifinal games.
The play: New York -102, Under 5
The Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors will head back to the Barclays Center for Game 6 on Saturday night. The Raptors have won back-to-back games in the series to take a 3-2 series lead. The team saw a 26-point lead fade away, but the Raptors were able to grind out the win on their home court.
The Miami Heat have taken a three-game lead in Round 1 over the Charlotte Bobcats, and they’ll look to close out their opponents Monday night on TNT. The two will face off at 7:00 p.m. ET in what could be the final game of the series.
The Bulls were in desperation mode heading into G3 and they came away with a close victory on the road.
The Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors continue their opening round playoff series with Game 4 at Barclays Center on Sunday night. The Nets won Game 3 in the series on Friday night to take a 2-1 edge in the series, and look to take a stranglehold on the series with a win on Sunday.
