Welcome back to another playoff edition of the US Sports Wrap. Before we get to that though, one of the coolest things I've seen this week wasn't in America at all (I know... I can't believe it either!), it was in an ice hockey game between Finland and Russia... hope I'm not stealing tomorrow's World Sport Report's thunder here...
They call it the 'airhook'... pretttty clever!
NBA (Basketball)
Previously in the NBA Playoffs, when I last posted the Dallas Mavericks had just finished off the Lakers in a clean sweep while the Heat was on the verge of a 4-1 victory over the Celtics. The Bulls were locked at 2-2 against the Hawks as were the Grizzlies and Thunder. Well, the Bulls went on to take the series 5-2, while it took the Thunder seven games to put away the Griz 4-3 (including only the fifth ever triple-double in a game seven - from Russell Westbrook).
Eastern Conference Finals
Chicago Bulls (1) vs Miami Heat (0)
The Bulls' strong defence is a good match for the Heat's big three and it proved to be too much for Miami to handle in game one as Lebron James and Dwayne Wade were shut down as Chicago won 103-82. Derrick Rose again top scored for the winners with 28 points and 6 assists, while Luol Deng kept Lebron quiet while adding 21 points and 7 rebounds of his own. Chris Bosh looked good for the Heat top-scoring with 30 points and 9 boards.
Western Conference Finals
Dallas Mavericks (0) vs Oklahoma City Thunder (0)
If Oklahoma City want to beat the Mavericks, they're going to have to stop the shooting power of the Dallas outfit that blew away the Lakers in the conference semis. In game one today that didn't happen, and Dirk Nowitzki shot an incredible 80% from the field (12/15) and 100% from the charity stripe (24/24) on his way to a game high 48 points. The Mavericks won 121-112 and included another great performance off their bench from Jason Terry (24 points) and JJ Barea (21 points). For the Thunder, Kevin Durant was impressive with 40 points but center Kendrick Perkins was a disappointment matching up against the Mavs Tyson Chandler.
* In other NBA news, the Draft Lottery was held today in what resembled a boring game-show style presentation and it'll be the Cleveland Cavaliers who will have the first pick in the draft for next season.
NHL (Ice Hockey)
Eastern Conference Finals
Boston Bruins (1) vs Tampa Bay Lightning (1)
After a 31 save efford from goalie Dwayne Roloson saw the Lighting to a 5-2 win in game one, a stunning 5 goal second period saw Bruins to a 6-5 win in today's game two and leveled the series at 1-1. Rookie Tyler Seguin had two goals and two assists for Boston in the win.
Western Conference Finals
Vancouver Canucks (1) vs San Jose Sharks (0)
The San Jose Sharks stopped Detroit's Red Wings from pulling off the impossible come back in the conference semis, however weren't able to stop a third period come back from the Canucks in game one of their conference finals series. Vancouver found themselves down 2-1 going into the final period but scored twice within 2 minutes midway through and never looked backed ending the game 3-2 winners. Game two is tomorrow.
Here are the top ten plays of last week.
MLB (Baseball)
Just quickly on baseball, the top teams in the MLB at the moment include the Cleveland Indians (26-13 and a massive +63 runs differential), Philadelphia Phillies (25-16) and the Cincinnati Reds (25-17). The New York Yankees (21-19) today stopped a recent slide of 6 straight losses which included a three game sweep by the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium.
NFL (Football)
The 8th US Circuit Court of Appeal granted a stay on the lockout earlier this week meaning it is completely in place until a full appeal of whether it is legal or not can be heard on June 3rd. Until then, the NFL owners and players will remain in mediation to try and sort it all out. During the couple of days that the lockout was in fact lifted coaches were able to get playbooks sent to players so they can at least learn what they're supposed to be doing next year while they aren't allowed to practice officially (under lockout rules players can organise their own practices but coaches aren't allowed to be present and they cannot use their team's facilities).