Path to Playoffs

Good Morning!

There’s a bunch of randomness out in the sports world today. Let’s take a quick look at what’s going on and let’s get a better look at playoff season.

Headlines

Lead off with the WNBA again? Why not!

🏀 Caitlin Clark just broke the record for jersey sales on draft day. Her jersey sales surpassed that of Trevor Lawrence when he was drafted by the Jags in 2022. Her #22 Indiana Fever Jersey sold out of just about every size in an hour!

🏀 Giannis is expected to miss a part of the Bucks playoff series against the Indiana Pacers. He strained his calf on a non-contact play the other night, and many thought he may have had an Achilles injury. The Pacers beat the Bucks 4 out of 5 times this season.. will the Bucks get bounced in the first round again?

🏀 Kawhi Leonard has been the final player named to the Team USA Olympic team. This will be his first time playing for Team USA, and I think a lot of people are shocked that Jalen Brunson wasn’t selected in the 12th spot (it might just be Knicks fans who are shocked, though)

⛳️It was reported that Rory McIlroy received an $850 million offer and 2% equity in LIV if he joined. Sounds pretty nice, right? Well, apparently, it’s not a real offer, according to McIlroy. He said it’s just rumors, and he’s planning to play on the PGA Tour for the rest of his career. That settles that… I think.

Path to Playoffs

🏀 The Lakers defeated the Pelicans 110-106 in the 7/8 play-in game last night for the West. LeBron scored 23 and was 1 assist and 1 rebound away from a triple-double. LA had double-digit points from all five starters. The Pelicans got a massive 40 burger from Zion but had to leave the game early with an injury after making a basket on a drive to the hoop. The Lakers now have the seven seed and will play Denver in the first round of playoffs.

🏀 LIGHT THE BEAM! A year after getting bounced by the Warriors, the Kings got redemption and knocked Golden State out of playoff contention. The Kings bulldozed the Warriors 118-94, but the job ain’t done yet. Sacramento, as the winner of the 9/10 play-in game, has to play the loser of the 7/8 game, aka the Pelicans. That game will be on Friday night, and the Pelicans need all the days to hope that Zion can return to the lineup.

“Stick” with us

🏒 The Washington Capitals secured a playoff spot last night, but some crazy stuff went down.

The Caps were playing the Flyers, and if the Caps won, they got in the playoffs. For the Flyers to have a chance, they need to beat the Caps in regulation and have the Red Wings lose and the Penguins lose tonight.

If the Caps win, they’re in.

At the same time, this is happening, the Red Wings are trying to keep their season alive, hoping Philly could do something against Washington.

Well during the Caps/Flyers game, the Red Wings tied the game up with Montreal with 3.3 seconds to go and secured at least 1 point which technically put Philadelphia out of the playoff race.

Philadelphia doesn’t know that this is happening, and they are still in do-or-die mode and need to beat Washington in regulation. So, with the game tied 1-1 in Philly in the 3rd period, Philly pulled their goalie in desperation.

Washington then had an easy goal when T.J. Oshie scored with 3 minutes to go, and the Capitals would win.

If you think about it, the Flyers could have ruined Washington’s season if they had just not pulled the goalie and maybe beat them in the OT because the Red Wings ended up beating Montreal in a shootout!

I’m just saying… it could’ve been an epic Tuesday night.

Can guys stop announcing their retirements?

Hear me out. Announce your retirement if you’re Tom Brady, Mariano Rivera, etc.. you get it.

But if you’re Rajon Rondo and haven’t played in the league in about three years, you don’t have to tell us you're retiring. Quite frankly, I think the league retired you already.

We thought it was funny, so we wrote about it two weeks ago. But now, Blake Griffin is retiring? No one was thinking about Blake for an entire year! But thanks for letting us know. We’ll make sure to send a retirement cake.

In all seriousness, Blake gave the NBA 14 years of his life, and while he didn’t get a championship ring, he did give us all a ton of dunk highlights. So take 8 minutes away from your desk at work and give these a look.

Surely there are more sports on tonight, right?

OF COURSE!

NBA

🏀 Miami Heat @ Philadelphia 76ers, 7 pm ET on ESPN (East 7/8 play-in game)

🏀 Atlanta Hawks @ Chicago Bulls, 9:30 pm ET on ESPN (East 9/10 play-in game)

NHL

🏒 Toronto Maple Leafs @ Tampa Bay Lightning, 7 pm ET on TNT

🏒St. Louis Blues @ Dallas Stars, 9:30 pm ET on TNT

That’s all for today. We’ll be back with more scores tomorrow, and maybe we’ll talk a bit of Big 10 football!

Have a day!

-The DB