The Knicks Are Dawgs

Good morning.

It was the ultimate night of playoffs where we had multiple come from behind wins and another win that stings a little. Let’s get into it.

Knicks hobble to a 130-121 win

The Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks were tied after both teams scored 36 points in the first quarter. The Pacers took over in the second quarter after the Knicks lost their star point guard, Jalen Brunson.

Mind you, the Knicks are already down three players, with Mitchell Robinson being the latest to go out with a fracture in his foot and will miss the remainder of the playoffs.

The Pacers could go into the locker room at halftime up 10 points, Brunson returned in the 3rd quarter, and it was the Villanova crew that once again dominated. Brunson hobbled along on a sore right foot, and Donte DiVincenzo came up with some big shots down the stretch. Brunson had 29 points, and Donte had 28. OG Anunoby was playing great for the Knicks as he also had 28 points in 28 minutes, and now he might miss time with a hamstring injury. It’s the next-man-up mentality in New York, but the team is running out of players to put on the court.

Tyrese Haliburton showed up for the Pacers in game 2 as he scored 34 and Obi Toppin put up 20 from the bench against his former team. The Pacers had 46 points from the bench compared to the Knicks 8 but unfortunately, it wasn’t enough.

Was there a weird call at the end of the game where the refs called Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein for a double and then reversed it because it wasn’t? Yes, there was. Is that the reason the Pacers lost? No. The Knicks shot 57% from the field, and you can play all the defense you want, but if shots are falling for the other team, it’s hard to win.

I’m not sure when the Knicks became clutch in the 4th quarter, but it sure is awesome to watch. Check out some highlights below.

NHL

Florida Panthers get home ice redemption in game 2

The Florida Panthers lost to the Boston Bruins in game one of the second round. It’s exactly what you want if you’re Boston, as you just came off of a tough seven-game series against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Panthers are one of the best teams in the NHL. Steal a win on the road and then head home for games 3 and 4. No matter what happened last night, it was already a successful business trip for the Bs.

The Panthers weren’t going down 0-2, though, that was for sure. It was a Boston massacre in Florida last night as the Panthers bulldozed the Bruins 6-1. This was a reminder of how good the Panthers are. After Boston scored their only goal midway through the first period, the Panthers poured in the goals with three in the 2nd period and three in the 3rd. Aleksander Barkov scored 2 of them, and Brandon Montour added icing(no pun intended) to the cake when the Panthers were up 5-1 and Montour made it 6-1 when he scored a shorthanded goal late in the 3rd.

I love this type of series. It will likely be Boston gutting out a win or the Panthers just demolishing the Bruins. You’re just never sure which type of game it will be.

See you in Boston for game 3.

Can’t draw up a better game for Canada

It’s too bad the east coasters in the States likely weren’t seeing this awesome game last night.

The Vancouver Canucks hosted the Edmonton Oilers in a Western Canada second-round series. These are the only Canadian teams left in the playoffs, and this is for the ultimate bragging rights up north. Of course, both of these teams want to get to a Stanley Cup finals and win the damn thing, but someone needs to lose the series, one that will likely be epic.

The Edmonton Oilers came out hot after the Canucks got too many men on the ice penalty 50 seconds into the game, and the Oilers capitalized on the power play a minute later. The Oilers found the net again in the first to go up 2-0.

The Canucks found a bit of relief when they put the goal in the back 1 minute into the 2nd period, but the Oilers quickly extended the lead to 4-1 after scoring a goal less than a minute apart in the middle of the 2nd. Vancouver would score 1 more before the period ended, and it was 4-2 heading into the final 20 minutes.

The Canucks did the unthinkable and scored 3 goals within 5 minutes of each other during the 3rd period and got the come-from-behind 5-4 win.

The winner of game 1 wins the seven game series bout 67% of the time but I don’t think this Oilers team is paying attention to the stats. If the Oilers cared about stats, they wouldn’t have any business being here if you looked at their playoff probabilities when they were just a quarter of a way through their season and had an abysmal record.

Can’t wait for game 2.

NBA Awards

Circling back to the NBA Awards. Here’s the list of award winners, and you can find more info right here.

MVP: Nikola Jokic (Denver Nuggets)

Defensive Player of the Year: Rudy Gobert (Minnesota Timberwolves)

Rookie of the Year: Victor Wembanyama (San Antonio Spurs)

Sixth Man of the Year: Naz Reid Most (Minnesota Timberwolves)

Improved Player: Tyrese Maxey (Philadelphia 76ers)

Coach of the Year: Mark Daigneault (OKC Thunder)

PGA Tour

We’ve got the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, NC. This is a signature event with a $20 million purse, so we’re seeing top talent come out to play just a week before the PGA Championship, which takes place next week in Kentucky.

We’ve got some great groups to watch today.

Here’s what we got on hole 1.

12:06 p.m. – Jake Knapp, Will Zalatoris, Alex Noren

12:17 p.m. – Emiliano Grillo, Sam Burns, Harris English

12:28 p.m. – Hideki Matsuyama, Sahith Theegala, Viktor Hovland

12:39 p.m. – Rory McIlroy, Tom Kim, Max Homa

Hole 10 has some great groups, too.

11:11 a.m. – Brian Harman, Jason Day, Patrick Cantlay

11:22 a.m. – Shane Lowry, Wyndham Clark, Xander Schauffele

11:33 a.m. – Collin Morikawa, Rickie Fowler, Jordan Spieth

11:44 a.m. – Keegan Bradley, Kurt Kitayama, Cameron Young

📺️ You can stream all day on ESPN+ once the action starts. Here’s the full schedule for the rest of the week

Thursday-Friday: 2-6 pm on the Golf Channel

Saturday-Sunday: 1-3 pm on the Golf Channel, 3-6 pm on CBS

Tonight’s games

NBA

🏀 Cleveland Cavaliers at Boston Celtics, 7 PM on ESPN

Boston leads series 1-0

🏀 Dallas Mavericks at Oklahoma City Thunder, 9:30 PM on ESPN

OKC leads series 1-0

NHL

🏒New York Rangers at Carolina Hurricanes, 7 PM on TNT

Rangers lead series 2-0

🏒Colorado Avalanche at Dallas Stars, 9:30 PM on TNT

Colorado leads series 1-0

We’re getting close to Mother’s Day weekend, so don’t forget to get your mother a gift. If you need a little extra cash for that gift, refer some friends using your link below, and we will send you money.

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Let’s have another great day in sports!

-The DB