Stars. Studs.

  What an intense week of sports! The NBA & NHL Playoffs have provided plenty of drama. Throw in MLB plus Bill Belichick’s 60 Minutes interview and the backlash over his ex-cheerleader girlfriend and her involvement in his affairs and the sloppy Kentucky Derby—and you’ve got one heck of a time in the sports world. 

New York Knicks fans—including me—can breathe again just bit after the Knicks pulled out a series winner in Game 6 on the Detroit Pistons’ home court. I am not going to say that the best team won the series—had the referees made the right call at the end of Game 4, the teams would have been tied heading back to New York. That no-call could have been the difference in who would advance to the next round. 

Detroit is a well-coached team. J.B. Bickerstaff is a fiery, non nonsense guy whose approach is to win—no matter how it is done. Bickerstaff relentlessly badgered the officials, seeking any edge he could get for his team. 

It was quite clear that the Pistons were well-prepared before going into battle. His players showed a level of arrogance and physicality that continually beat up the NYK players. Despite the blowout at MSG in Game 5—Detroit won 2 of 3 at the Garden in this series and had also won games there in the regular season—it came down to the final minutes to determine which team would win. 

There was one player who stood out among all others. His name is Jalen Brunson. 

Brunson has the nickname “Captain Crunch,” a reference to his late game heroics for the Knicks. His fellow players voted him the Clutch Player of the Year Award, which recognizes consistent performance in the final five minutes of close games. He defeated Anthony Edwards of Minnesota and Denver’s Nikola Jokic to win the prize. Two name brand stars in the NBA. 

The guy is fearless and possesses an arsenal of moves and fakes which will throw off a defender just enough for Brunson to find space and make a basket or get fouled on his way to the hoop. Get the ball in Brunson’s hands and then clear out so that he can control the situation. And if he’s covered by a double team from the opposition, Brunson has the ability to make nifty passes to his teammates. 

Number 11 in blue, white and orange willed the Knicks to victory on Thursday night. Absorbing contact that would drive him to the floor, he would get back up and continue to do his best. When the Pistons surged ahead in that game, Brunson brought his team back, coupled with a great defense that he and his teammates employed. 

At Villanova, Brunson won a national title. His coach, Jay Wright, said that Brunson has thrived carrying a team since high school. 

When he broke free in the final seconds of play to hit the game-winning three pointer from the top of the arc, it was dagger-like. Yes, the Knicks lucked out when a pass carelessly fell off a Pistons’ player’s hands as he readied to shoot a three pointer. But they won and didn’t have to return to MSG and worry the faithful about blowing a 3-1 lead and losing to the young and scrappy Pistons in seven excruciating games. 

As much as Brunson is the heart and soul of this Knicks team, he is also their worst liability. Should he be injured or not have a good shooting game, New York simply isn’t strong enough to without his talents. 

This does not bode well for NYK and they get the defending champion Boston Celtics next. Boston has had the Knicks number for a number of years; they are bigger, faster and shoot better as a group. 

While Orlando gave the Celtics a little trouble in the opening round, that was it. I don’t anticipate this series going the full seven games unless the Knicks team defense and overall shooting improves and the Celtics get frustrated. 

Cleveland and Indiana should be a good series. Certainly, the Pacers will be a tougher test for the Cavs than Miami, which was demolished big time by a far superior opponent. They showed that on Sunday by stealing a win in Game 1. Losing Jimmy Butler III hurt the Heat’s chemistry and left them virtually no firepower. Tyrese Haliburton, considered to be the most overrated player in the league by his peers, needs to be constrained by Cleveland to win the series. 

Denver and Oklahoma City will battle in one Western Conference semi-final series. Jokic versus OKC’s Shay Gilgeous-Alexander, the favorite to win the NBA M.V.P. Award. OKC easily took care of business versus Memphis. Denver had a far more difficult journey, having to go seven games to defeat the Los Angeles Clippers, handily winning a seventh game at home on Saturday. 

This duel easily could go seven games, and either team has the ability to win the series. Is this the year for SGA and his friends to win it all? Got to give the Thunder the slight edge here. 

Then there was the Houston-Golden State matchup. It took seven hard-fought games to declare a winner. Bodies were bouncing off the floor due to the very physical way of play—more from the pugnacious Rockets and of course, the chippy, take-no prisoners play by the Warriors’ Draymond Green. Steph Curry had to work hard and then even harder to get open for shots—and he was having difficulty finding the range from beyond the three point line due to the constant harassment and double and triple-teaming defense Head Coach Ime Udoka utilized in an effort to shut down the GSW sharpshooter. 

In the end, with a stellar performance by Buddy Hield and Curry coming alive in the fourth quarter, the veteran Warriors in a complete team effort dispatched the upstart Rockets. Awaiting GSW is a tall task—Minnesota features some stellar big men along with a red hot Anthony Edwards scoring at will. Could the Warriors go seven again, or will the bubble burst? 

It wasn’t a particularly good post-season in LA. The Clippers lost. Minnesota took out Lebron James and Luka Doncic in five games. The Kings were eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers in their opening round series of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. While the Dodgers are currently in first place, they were as low as third place a couple of days ago. And even super star Mike Trout is once more injured, tarnishing what had been an illustrious career in Anaheim. 

Lakers’ Head Coach J.J. Reddick took a lot of heat for his personnel moves against a taller and more athletic Minnesota team. He also fired a grenade at the toughness of his players defense—which was directed towards Doncic, a notoriously one-dimensional player whose defense has repeatedly been brought into question. That is why Mavs’ GM Nico Harrison made the surprising trade involving Doncic and Anthony Davis. Could Harrison be having the last laugh after all?

NBA pundits are trying to figure out what Lebron James is going to do regarding next season, where he has a $52.5 million payment to play with LAL awaiting. Or will Lebron voluntarily take less to give management a chance to make the team better with the money he leaves on the table? Also, those experts predict that Giannis Antetokounmpo will no longer be a Milwaukee Bucks player after this season. Pressing questions as Round 1 concludes. 

One more NBA note—Gregg Popovich, the long-time San Antonio head man, who holds the NBA record for most regular season wins, has stepped away from coaching due to health reasons related to a stroke he suffered earlier in the season. Not the most charming person in interviews, he had a fatherly side that his players loved. The Air Force Academy graduate showed the discipline necessary to win 5 NBA titles, although it didn’t hurt to have David Robinson, Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobli, Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard playing for him. Pops will continue as an executive with the Spurs, which is how he began his NBA journey before firing a coach and assuming the reins on the sidelines for 29 years. 

I am relieved that the Toronto Maple Leafs came back to life in Game 6 to down the pesky Ottawa Senators. For their efforts, the Leafs drew last season’s Eastern Conference playoff winner, the Florida Panthers. Florida is for real and I don’t know that the Leafs can make. It past them, no matter how hard I root for them to end the Stanley Cup drought which extends back to 1967. (Side bar question—how many snowbirds from Ontario won’t be in attendance when the games are in Sunrise, Florida due to the political/economic tensions between the United States and Canada?)

Carolina takes on Washington in the other Eastern series. I anticipate seven taut games. Is this Alexander Ovechkin’s second Cup? Edmonton plays Vegas—I’m picking the Golden Knights there. 

Dallas rebounded behind Mikko Rantanen, who had a hat trick in the third period of their Game 7 versus Colorado to rally his team against the team he started the season with and where he won a Stanley Cup in 2022. I watched the third period and it was as exciting as I could have wanted. 

The Stars get to play another team which lasted through seven games. And nearly two full overtimes. It took a miraculous comeback by the Winnipeg Jets from a two goal deficit by pulling the goalie and getting the tying goal with three seconds left in regulation. The 200th overtime game in NHL history and the 14th Game 7 OT contest as well as the first overtime NHL playoff game in Winnipeg was great theater. Dallas and Winnipeg will be a battle. For sure. 

In baseball, the New York Yankees play enigmatic baseball. There are two stars on this team. First, there is newly-acquired pitcher Max Fried, who is 6-0 and has a 1.01 E.R.A. Absolutely amazing how he has pitched two game against Tampa Bay and given up only two hits in those starts. 

Yet as astounding as Fried has been, Aaron Judge has put up incredible number. His .423 batting average, 30 game on-base streak and 11 home runs with 33 R.B.I. and 55 hits are video game stats. Sadly, he is the majority of the offense for New York., and with spotty pitching other than Fried, the Yankees still remain atop the AL East for now. 

Memo to Manager Aaron Boone—stop pitching Mark Leiter, Jr. in high leverage situations—he is only about 50% reliable in those moments. I hope bullpen reinforcements come soon. Losing second baseman Jazz Chisholm, Jr. to injury for at least six weeks does not help the Yankees’ cause. 

Mets fans are rejoicing over the team’s hot start. Before your euphoria becomes epidemic, remember that you are beating struggling teams  for the most part. Which you are supposed to do. Let’s see how the Mets fare in an upcoming nine game stretch against the Yankees and Red Sox on the road and then hosting the Dodgers. BTW—your star Juan Soto has raised his average to .258 with his slow adjustment to playing the majority of his games in Queens. 

Whatever is going on between former New England Patriots and current University of North Carolina Head Coach Bill Belichick and his 24 year old girlfriend Jordon Hudson is between them. It’s just that the optics look so horribly bad. Which has captured the eye of both the entertainment and sports worlds.

Finally, a sloppy track didn’t stop Sovereignty from winning a close race in the Kentucky Derby by 1 1/2 lengths over Journalism, denying the legendary Bob Baffert the chance to become the winningest trainer in Derby history. That result sounds more like a political statement than a horse race. Top Trump aide Steven Miller said he was overjoyed with the result. 

What is more impressive is that the entire 19 horse field is a descendant of the great Secretariat, the horse with the fastest winning time in Derby history. That was over 50 years ago, and his legacy Wilt-Chamberlain like, having sired more than 660 registered foals. 

Brunson. Wright. Jokic. Doncic. James. Curry. Butler. Green. Giannis. SG-A. Haliburton. Popovich. Ovechkin. Ratanen. Fried. Judge. Soto. Belichick. Baffert. Wilt. Secretariat.