The Warriors head home to play Los Angeles on Thursday, trying to force a pivotal game seven if they can find a way beat the Clippers who now hold a 3-2 advantage in the Western Conference series after they downed Golden State at home on Tuesday.
This year top seeds are getting challenged more than any time in recent memory. Indiana has been pushed to the edge needing to win the final two games of their series to move to the next round…and avoid embarrassment.
Flyers Back at Home Looking to Stay Alive
Game 6 between the New York Rangers and the Philadelphia Flyers goes down Tuesday night in the City of Brotherly Love with the Flyers looking for some much needed momentum in order to push this series to a seventh and deciding game.
The Pittsburgh Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets will head back to Nationwide Arena following Pittsburgh’s 3-1 win on its home ice in Game 5 to take a 3-2 series lead. The teams have alternated wins and losses through the first five games of the series, which would put Columbus on track for a win in this one.
Kings Look to Draw Even Monday Night
To say that the momentum has completely in the series between the San Jose Sharks and the Los Angeles Kings is a colossal understatement. The series moves back to the Staples Center Monday night with the Sharks holding a tenuous 3-2 lead with the Kings coming on.
Suspicions at the beginning of this series turned out to be true – Minnesota acquisition Ilya Bryzgalov has made a goat of himself in net. Backup goalie Darcy Kuemper has given admirable effort in relief, but he isn’t a front-line starter.
However, Colorado’s advantage in this rather up-and-down series can be boiled down to one young phenom: Nathan MacKinnon.
The Stanley Cup Final moves back to Boston on Monday night with the Bruins facing elimination after the Chicago Blackhawks dictated the pace and walked away with Game 5 on Saturday night. While attention should be directed to the players suiting up in the elimination game, most of the ink has been absorbed by the players who may be forced to sit out Game 6 because of injury.
You can be pretty certain that at no time this season did the Miami Heat players, coaches or front office think that come June they would be facing two consecutive elimination games at home.
LeBron James is back to his default setting, returning to what worked in high school and AAU basketball, and how it was done when the Cleveland Cavaliers consisted of just him and a bunch of cadavers.
The Chicago Blackhawks already passed a huge test in their second round series with the Detroit Red Wings – they survived their first elimination game Saturday night. Another huge test looms Monday night – another elimination game – this time in what is sure to be an amped up Joe Louis Arena.
Will this series be the first NBA post-season battle to be decided not on the court but by the league’s new concussion policy?
The Grizzlies can close out this series tonight with a win at home. They beat the Clippers in Game 5 and that was the first road win of the series for either team. Blake Griffin injured his ankle before game 5 and was ineffective, but he should go for this elimination game tonight.
Something happens to the Indiana Pacers when they head to Atlanta. Maybe a few of the players sneak off to the Gold Club for some entertainment. Who knows?
Some people get life in the NBA – the ebbs and the flows, the way many players in true Michael Jordan tradition use any perceived slight to their advantage once the playoffs come around. Then there are the New York Knicks.
The Nuggets avoided being eliminated in the last game in this series, but they are still down 3-2 and need a win tonight to force a Game 7 at home.
Tonight the Brooklyn Nets pay the price for not winning Game 2 on their home court.
Road wins in the playoffs are plated with gold, and the Bulls may have nailed down the series a little more than a week ago when they sucked it up in Brooklyn and came away with a 90-82 victory after being blown off the hardwood by 17 points in the opener.
