Posted on May 31st, 2018
By DERON SNYDER (as published in The Washington Times)
The number of games – not the series outcome – seems to be the only question.
As Golden State and Cleveland meet for their fourth consecutive NBA Finals, predictions of a Cavaliers’ triumph are as numerous as sunrises in the West. The Warriors got the nod from 24 of 24 ESPN experts; 15 envision a five-game series and one sees a sweep.
Analyst Jeff Van Gundy wasn’t on the list but shared his thoughts with reporters during a conference call. “This is the biggest difference that I remember between two teams heading into the Finals in my time in the NBA,” said Van Gundy, whose association with the Association dates to 1989. “I can’t think of a bigger gap from a team perspective.”
That’s saying a lot considering the talent gulf between San Antonio and Cleveland in 2007, and the Lakers and New Jersey in 2002, the most recent Finals sweeps. Only six other NBA champions have been crowned via the broom, but Golden State seems poised to join that group.
“It will be interesting to see how competitive LeBron James can make this Finals, but any game they get in this Finals would be a huge upset to me,” Van Gundy said. Cleveland needs “to be lights-out from three-point line to have a chance to win a game.”
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Posted on May 29th, 2018
By DERON SNYDER (as published in The Washington Times)
Maybe next year.
That familiar refrain was on Boston’s mind Sunday after LeBron James advanced to the NBA Finals for the eighth consecutive season.
Boston expressed the same sentiment last season (and in 2012), just like Chicago, Indiana, Indiana again, Atlanta and Toronto in years prior. Three versions of the Celtics have been four wins from an Eastern Conference championship, but those squads – led by Paul Pierce, Isaiah Thomas and Kyrie Irving – ultimately fared no better than doormats under James’ Nikes.
“He’s unbelievable,” Boston coach Brad Stevens told reporters Sunday after losing Game 7. “Every day that you’re totally focused on this and he’s gone past that eight straight times. It’s ridiculous, and he does it at this level with the pressure, with the scrutiny – doesn’t matter. It’s just unbelievable.”
Just as he did Friday, James looked tired at points during Game 7. But he defeated fatigue to play all 48 minutes, notching another sublime closeout performance. He entered with career averages of 34.9 points, eight rebounds 4.5 assists in Game 7s. That was sub-par compared to Sunday, when he had with 35 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists, while connecting on half of his 24 shots.
The Cavs were without Kevin Love, their second-best player. Sharpshooter Kyle Korver was 1-for-6 from the field, all behind the arc. The bench contributed a whopping three points.
But none of that mattered because Cleveland had No. 23. James is now 6-2 in Game 7 situations after losing his first two.
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Posted on May 23rd, 2018
By DERON SNYDER (as published in The Washington Times)
Sometimes nothing reveals less about NBA teams than the result from their previous playoff game.
Boston lost to Cleveland by 30 points in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals, a couple of games after thrashing the Cavaliers by 25.
Golden State lost to Houston on Tuesday, a couple of nights after routing the Rockets by 41 points in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals.
You want to make grand proclamations and sweeping assessments after each 48-minute segment of a best-of-seven series? Go right ahead.
Just understand you run the risk of looking foolish.
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Posted on May 22nd, 2018
By DERON SNYDER (as published in The Washington Times)
Sports’ ability to bind geographic kinfolk is fleeting, but it’s always strongest after tragic events and during championship runs.
When those conditions exist simultaneously, the result is epic.
On Oct. 1, 2017, a gunman on the 32nd floor of Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas opened fired, killing 58 concertgoers and wounding hundreds of others. In a matter of minutes, a city known most for fun was forever linked to one of the nation’s gravest mass shootings.
The Vegas Golden Knights played the home opener of their inaugural NHL season nine days later. A crowd of 18,191 jammed into T-Mobile Arena, where the official hockey capacity is 17,500.
First responders escorted players onto the ice and there was a 58-second moment of silence to honor the lost. The Knights improved to 3-0 that night.
On Sunday, they advanced to the Stanley Cup Final. The team and its surprisingly hockey-crazed city are within four wins of the ultimate fairy-tale ending.
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Posted on May 18th, 2018
By DERON SNYDER (as published on 106.7 The Fan)
Remember last season’s NBA playoffs, when Bradley Beal said Cleveland “didn’t want to see us” in the second round? The notion was laughable, considering Beal and the Wizards were sitting at home while the Cleveland battled Boston in the Eastern Conference finals.
Not much has changed this year, with the Cavaliers and Celtics engaged in a rematch and the Wizards on vacation. But the team that Washington – and the rest of the conference – must worry about isn’t Cleveland anymore.
It’s Boston.
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Posted on May 16th, 2018
By DERON SNYDER (as published in The Washington Times)
For NBA fans like yours truly – those of us who love to watch LeBron James and grew up with a healthy abhorrence of the Celtics – the Eastern Conference finals have become a problem.
Why can’t Boston acquiesce to theories about young players and wait its turn like previous upstarts? Why can’t Cleveland ride its experience and coast to a fourth consecutive NBA Finals? Why can’t James’ brilliance be enough one more time, ensuring that we receive the maximum dosage possible this season?
Here’s my biggest question: Why can’t I hate these Celtics like the Celtics of years past?
Rooting against Boston is a time-honored tradition in my circle of native New Yorkers, Howard University alums and others who now call D.C. our home. We’re not old enough to have detested Red Auerbach’s Celtics with vigor, but the Larry Bird-Kevin-McHale-Robert Parish squads got our full attention and all the negative emotion we could muster.
Naturally, we all preferred Magic Johnson and the Showtime Lakers.
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Posted on May 14th, 2018
By DERON SNYDER (as published in The Washington Times)
The Capitals’ first-round series against the Columbus Blue Jackets seems like ages ago. So much has changed so quickly for Washington since the playoffs began.
But nothing good happened until the Caps fell into a deep hole, dropping the first two games and obliterating their home-ice advantage. They flew to Ohio as a desperate and determined team, with hopes but no certainly of playing again at Capital One Arena this season.
The rest of the story is wonderful, delirious history: four wins in the next five games, followed by a triumph in the typically dreadful second round against the hated Pittsburgh Penguins.
Goodbye, curse. So long, hump. See you later, wall.
Washington was sky-high without a plane Sunday as it returned from Tampa Bay, having thoroughly outplayed the No. 1 seed through two games of the Eastern Conference. Even without franchise cornerstone Nicklas Backstrom, the underdog Caps have been the better team in virtually every phase.
As it turns out, the 0-2 home start against Columbus was great. Coming back served as a booster shot for Washington’s confidence.
But that wasn’t the only benefit.
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Posted on May 9th, 2018
By DERON SNYDER (as published in The Washington Times)
The 2018 top-seeded Toronto Raptors are over there in a dark corner, nursing their drinks and muttering about being swept in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
The 2015 top-seeded Atlanta Hawks are in another corner, reminiscing about their 60-win season and the broom they endured in the Eastern Conference finals.
Across the room, the 2017 top-seeded Boston Celtics and the 2011 top-seeded Chicago Bulls (62 wins) have their heads together, peering at tablets that loop highlights of the sole victory each managed in their respective conference finals.
Those loud voices coming from the bar? They belong to the 2014 top-seeded Indiana Pacers, bragging about how they extended their conference finals to a whole six games.
The Pacers disparage everyone assembled but speak especially ill of the 2012 Chicago Bulls, who otherwise might’ve qualified for admission here but were upset by No. 8-seed Philadelphia in the first round.
That’s real ignominy, not what Toronto just suffered. The Raptors shouldn’t feel too bad about joining this club, identified by a gleaming plaque on the door:
“Top Seeds Vanquished by LeBron James.”
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Posted on May 7th, 2018
By DERON SNYDER (as published in The Washington Times)
When the Nationals began their first homestand of the 2018 season, Dave Martinez said he expected to have fun in the home opener, specifically, and his rookie managerial season, in general.
The scoreboard didn’t cooperate that day (Stephen Strasburg took the loss against the New York Mets’ Jacob deGrom) and neither did the injury bug (outfielder Adam Eaton’s awkward slide forced him to the disabled list a few days later).
It was the beginning of a pattern.
DL stints soon followed for outfielder Brian Goodwin and third baseman Anthony Rendon. Victories became scarce. The Nats were 4-2 entering that homestand, 7-9 when they departed. They remained below .500 upon their return to D.C. and promptly lost two games against Arizona to fall to 11-16.
Martinez contributed to a 10-inning loss with a glaring rookie mistake, calling for reliever Adam Austin before the Diamondbacks announced their pinch-hitter, a gaffe that contributed to Arizona’s winning run. “I completely take ownership to that,” Martinez told reporters afterward. “It will never happen again because I will make sure I look right at (the pinch-hitter) and say, ‘Is he in the game?’”
It was another one-run game with the Nats on the wrong end, dropping their record to 1-8 in such affairs. The offense was scraping along, increasing the stress and workload of a thin bullpen. The NL East leaders were six games ahead and the division was shaping up as much more competitive than the last two seasons.
Suffice it say the first month wasn’t much fun, not for the skipper or his team.
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Posted on May 3rd, 2018
By DERON SNYDER (as published in The Washington Times)
The Capitals and Penguins have played three games in their second-round series. The action has featured a pair of shoulder-to-head hits by Washington’s Tom Wilson, the latest resulting in a broken jaw and concussion for Pittsburgh’s Zach Aston-Reese in Game 3.
Caps fans would be livid if, say, Brett Connolly was knocked from action with a borderline hit from the same Pittsburgh player who caused, say, Matt Niskanen to exit the previous game after a similar blow.
Washingtonians’ opinion entering Game 3 would’ve been loud and clear: There should’ve been a suspension!
But since Pittsburgh defenseman Brian Dumoulin was on the receiving end Sunday in Game 2, Caps fans were relieved when the NHL decided Wilson and his shoulders could carry on. After reviewing the play, the Department of Player Safety determined that Dumoulin moved his head just prior to contact, making the contact unavoidable.
Maybe that was the right call. Just like in the NFL, deciphering split-second. high-speed movements in super slow-motion is an exceedingly frustrating – and often ineffective – way to legislate games. Especially when trying to gauge intent.
The league also ruled in Wilson’s favor during the first-round series against Columbus, when his shoulder-to-head hit drew a penalty and caused Blue Jackets forward Alex Wennberg to miss the next three games.
The trend is bright red, in all caps.
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