So everyone watched at least one NBA or NHL playoff game this past weekend, right? If somehow you did not, you missed out on something. It would probably take a couple weeks’ worth of blog posts to explain the various reasons why but the NBA and NHL playoffs have been even more thrilling and exciting to watch this year.
Surprisingly though, it’s the NHL playoffs that are getting the best buzz. And it’s not hard to see why. With an average of three to four NHL playoff games every night, almost every single one has gone down to the wire. That’s why I’m comparing the NBA and NHL playoffs by seed. Hope you enjoy
East
1.Washington vs New York, Chicago vs Indiana-advantage: NBA. Indiana nearly won each of the first three games, though Derrick Rose stepped in to save the day each time before Indiana won a close one in Game 4. Washington beat the Rangers in five games so they don’t get the nod. They do get style points though for Washington’s rally from a 3-0 deficit to win Game 4.
2.Philadelphia vs Buffalo, Miami vs Philadelphia-advantage: NHL. Sure, the 76ers’ close win in Game 4 was nice but you just can’t beat a seven game series.
3.Boston vs Montreal, Boston vs New York-advantage: NHL. As close as the first two games of the Celtics’ sweep of the Knicks were, they’re no match for Bruins-Canadiens, where the road team won each of the first four games of the series.
4.Pittsburgh vs Tampa Bay, Atlanta vs Orlando-upsets are cool and the fact that the Hawks have a 3-1 lead on the Magic certainly qualifies there. But Pens-Lightning’s had some great goaltending, some great scoring and at 3-2 going into tonight, it’s a lot closer.
West
1.Vancouver vs Chicago, San Antonio vs Memphis-advantage: NHL-yeah, not many people saw the Grizzlies winning two of the first three games against the Spurs but even less saw the Blackhawks rallying from a 3-0 deficit to force a Game 7. Or that Ben Smith would be one of the reasons why.
2.San Jose vs Los Angeles, Dallas vs Portland-tie-Brandon Roy shook off the critics who said his career is all but over to help rally the Blazers from 23 points down to win Game 4 and tie the series 2-2. San Jose rallied from a 3-0 deficit in Game 3 to win 6-5 in OT. That’s just good entertainment all around.
3.Detroit vs Phoenix, Los Angeles vs New Orleans-Advantage: NBA-Detroit swept the possibly Winnipeg-bound Coyotes. New Orleans has an improbable 2-1 series lead thanks to some of the best play of Chris Paul’s career.
4.Anaheim vs Nashville, Oklahoma City vs Denver-Advantage: NHL-Kevin Durant and the Thunder are close to a sweep of the Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups-less Nuggets. The Predators, meanwhile, just beat the higher-seeded Ducks to win a playoff series for the very first time, despite an amazing goal in Game 5 by Bobby Ryan. The Predators still won that game in overtime.
