The third quarter told the tale in Boston as the Miami Heat erased a nine-point halftime deficit to beat the Celtics 123-116 in the opener of their Eastern Conference finals series. Miami outscored Boston 46-25 in the third to get the road win behind Jimmy Butler’s 35 points, 20 of them coming in the second half. The Heat have now won the opener of each of their three playoff series on the road. Game 2 in the East Friday night in Boston.
Did you watch some of the postgame interviews from the losing side? Man, the Celts are tense and tight.
The most luxurious personal thing I could think of would be to afford a brand new razor blade every day, but that would be more expensive than buying a yacht. The second most luxurious thing I could imagine would be to just lie around for the next four days and watch the PGA wire-to-wire. But, like the Isley Brothers, “I got work to do.” Par 70 at Oak Hill in Rochester, New York. Whoya got? Scheffler works for me. What’s this about opening temperatures in the 30s?
This looks like more than just flirtation between the Milwaukee Bucks and Houston Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson. I think they’re going to tie the knot. Sampson spent three years as an assistant in Milwaukee before returning to college coaching at UH. If Sampson departs, it will be a stiff blow for the Cougar program as it heads off to the Big 12 from the AAC.
“Teflon Tiger”? A Florida judge has ruled that Tiger’s ex-girlfriend must abide by a nondisclosure agreement she signed and resolve her lawsuits against Woods using private arbitration behind closed doors. There’s dirty laundry there, but we won’t see it.
Dusty Baker called it the Astros’ “win of the year” as his ‘Stros rallied with four in the bottom of the night to overtake the Cubs 7-6 and complete a three-game series sweep. Kyle Tucker’s two-run single closed it out. The Astros trailed 6-1in the fourth. Houston has finally evened its homefield record at 11-11, and is five games over .500 for the first time this season.
Sometimes you just have to smile and say, “You got me.” Yankees pitcher Domingo German will serve a ten-game suspension for loading up the ball with sticky stuff Tuesday night in Toronto. German did not half-step. Umpire James Hoye described German’s hand as “the stickiest hand I’ve ever felt.” That’s quite a distinction.
Any Diamondbacks pitcher would love to be compared to Randy Johnson. But not so much right now for Zac Gallen. It was a warm-up accident Wednesday, but, sadly, there is one less bird in the world.
I’m all for the NFL’s efforts to promote minority head coaching hirings and promotions, such as the Coach Accelerator program set for next week in Minneapolis. Forty coaches will attend, including former Bills D.C. Leslie Frazier, who stepped away from that job in February to take a break and decompress. I’m pulling for Frazier to get another head coaching opportunity. I thought he was treated poorly by the Vikings during his only previous head coaching stint from 2010 to 2013.
Finally, while it’s a nice problem to have, it’s still a problem. The Cowboys are trying to figure out a way to sign stars like CeeDee Lamb, Trevon Diggs, Micah parsons, and, yes, Dak Prescott to extensions. Dallas VP Stephen Jones says he’ll get it all done, somehow, someway. It was amusing, though, that Jones made that prediction at a Wednesday news conference promoting the Professional Bull Riders World Finals, which will be held at AT&T Stadium. Sometimes there’s a fine line between bull riding and bullshitting. Lotsa luck, Stevie!