Why are we talking about humpty dumpty?

What a fine Saturday we have here. It’s the beginning of playoff season, so let’s not take too much time today because we’re all going to be extra stimulated from Noon until Midnight!

It’s a simple one today, we’re looking at some normal stories around the transfer portal, some NBA play-in results, playoff schedule, moving day in golf and we might mix in a few other small things.

Let’s go.

Headlines

New Orleans Makes It To The Playoffs

🏀 The New Orleans Pelicans surprised us all last night and beat the Sacramento Kings for the 6th time this season. I really thought Sacramento could pull this one out, but the Kings couldn’t get any buckets to drop.

👉️ The Kings shot a measly 26% from 3 after shooting 46% against the Warriors a few days ago. The Pelicans did a great job slowing the transition game down and forcing Sacramento to play half-court ball.

👉️ Brandon Ingram was the high scorer for New Orleans with 24 points and there’s an underlying story here. The Pelicans won 105-98, but they only took 19 threes. Sacramento doubled that. New Orleans lived in the mid-range game, and it has me wondering if this could be a recipe to get out of the first round. Most teams can live by the 3 and die by the 3, but could the Pelicans style be enough to get past OKC?

Miami Thrives In Elimination

❓️ No Jimmy Butler? NO PROBLEM! The Miami Heat love the elimination games and everyone stepped up last night. Tyler Herro had 24, Jaime Jaquez had 21, Bam had a weird night with only four rebounds and the Heat still won 112-91.

👎️ Look, the Bulls aren’t that good and it’s just another year that they don’t escape the play-in and lose to Miami. They aren’t going to make any changes in the offseason, and they’ll likely end up in the same mediocre spot next year.

👉️ The Heat will now face the Boston Celtics in the playoffs for the 4th time in five years.

Is Duke Putting Humpty Dumpty Back Together Again?

👋 Duke is only returning two players from this year’s roster. Jared McCain and Kyle Filipowski are leaving for the NBA draft. Jeremy Roach, Mark Mitchell, TJ Power, Sean Stewart, Jaylen Blakes, Christian Reeves, and Jaden Schutt have all entered the transfer portal.

👀The Blue Devils are bringing in the nation's No. 1-ranked recruiting class in college basketball, led by top-ranked prospect Cooper Flagg, projected lottery pick Khaman Maluach and top-10 recruit Isaiah Evans. The are also targeting some talented players in the transfer portal. But while that may be the positive story in Durham, should they be worried that there is zero continuity from this season to the next?

Rough Week For The Porter Family

Just days after Michael Porter Jr’s brother, Jontay Porter, was banned for life by the NBA for gambling violations, another brother, Coban Porter was sentenced to 6 years of prison in Colorado for a drunk driving crash that killed a woman. Read more about it here.

Moving Day On The PGA Tour

Have you ever heard of moving day in golf but are unsure what it means? We’ll explain it real quick.

It's the day when golfers tend to make the biggest jumps up or down the leaderboard in their position. Players doing well can solidify their lead or move into contention for the win. Players who are struggling can struggle worse as they try to score lower or improve their position. Moving day is considered to be the third day of a four-day golf tournament, and that’s important because it means that the golfers made the cut and now can play “stress-free,” which can be good or bad.

This week on the PGA Tour is a little different because there’s no cut at this signature event, but moving day will still be a reality.

We’ve got a packed leaderboard with Tom Hoge, Sepp Straka, Collin Morikawa, and J.T. Poston all at the top at -11. There are 18 other golfers who are within 5 strokes of the lead, and making up 5 strokes in 1 is not unheard of. We’ve had 8 under pars and 7 under pars this week so anything can happen at the RBC Heritage.

Check out the action the next two days, it’s sure to be a fun chase with $4 million going to the winner and we’ve got guys like Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Matt Fitzpatrick, Jason Day, Justin Thomas, and Jordan Spieth all in the hunt.

📺️ Over the final two days, you can stream on ESPN+ in the morning, tune into the Golf Channel at 1 pm and then switch over to CBS at 3 pm for all the action.

NBA Playoffs Are Set

The last thing we need to do is overcomplicate things.

The playoff bracket is set. Have a look below.

Thanks to one of the best twitter pages out there, here is the playoff schedule for today and tomorrow.

Don’t Forget

There are also NHL playoffs this weekend. Here’s another look at all the games for today and tomorrow on the ice.

Eastern Conference

Western Conference

This graphic is actually way cooler if you’re both an NHL and NBA junkie.. just make sure you don’t show this to your significant other if they’re not ready for it!

Okay, that’s a lot for the eyes on a Saturday morning when they’ll be getting their exercise all day in front of the TV. Take a walk, make sure you’ve got beers in the fridge, and enjoy all the action this weekend!

See ya Monday!

-The DB