Arya Stark became a hero by killing the Night King after displaying serious knife skills. Game of Thrones faithful worldwide were cheering in excitement as were Avengers fans who showed up in droves to push Avengers: Endgame to the biggest opening weekend of all time grossing $350 million in North America and $1.2 billion globally.
A lot of throne chasing happened in the sports world too so let’s take a look…
TINK Sports Big-3
Here are three things you need to know:
1) The NBA Playoffs are into the second round without any major upsets
2) A different playoff story is unfolding in the NHL where several heavyweights were sent home
3) The NFL held its annual Draft last week with several surprises, both big and small
National Basketball Association (NBA)
The NBA playoffs are on to the second round without much drama. The Eastern Conference features the Boston Celtics versus the Milwaukee Bucks (Boston leads 1-0) and the Toronto Raptors battling the Philadelphia 76ers (series tied 1-1). Former NBA champions, Boston’s Kyrie Irving and Toronto’s Kawhi Leonard, are flexing their experience and super stardom hoping to lead their teams to a conference finals matchup.
Source: WNYC
In the Western Conference the series everyone is watching is the Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors. The Warriors have won three of the last four NBA titles but very nearly lost to the Rockets in last year’s conference finals. The Warriors won a close game Sunday to take a 1-0 series lead and Houston fans are still taking about the questionable refereeing.
Subplots: the Warriors are trying to keep the band together but will likely lose megastar Kevin Durant this offseason, while the Rockets James Harden is looking to avenge last year’s Conference Finals meltdown versus the Warriors, and win his second straight league MVP.
The other series out West features the Denver Nuggets, who squeaked by the San Antonio Spurs, taking on the Portland Trail Blazers, led by another superstar Damian Lillard. Dame Time dropped 50 points and hit the game-winning 3-pt shot to close out the Oklahoma City Thunder in the last round.
National Hockey League (NHL)
While the NBA’s first round was a snoozer with all favorites winning (aka “chalk”), the first round of the NHL playoffs was the exact opposite leaving plenty of fans shocked when their teams lost.
The best team (by far) in the regular season, the Tampa Bay Lightning – Out! Lost 4-0 to Columbus.
The defending champion Washington Capitals – Bye Bye! Lost 4-3 to Carolina
Nashville Predators and Calgary Flames, the top two team in the West, both sent packing.
After the dust settled here are the teams left standing:
Eastern Conference
Carolina Hurricanes lead the New York Islanders 2-0
Boston Bruins and Columbus Blue Jackets are tied 1-1
Western Conference
San Jose Sharks and Colorado Avalanche are tied 1-1
St. Louis Blues lead the Dallas Stars 2-1
National Football League (NFL)
Swipe right…The NFL held its annual draft of college football players last week. The biggest winner was one of the smallest players, 5’10” Kyler Murray of Oklahoma, who was selected first overall by the Arizona Cardinals, the league’s worst team last year. One minor issue…Arizona had picked Josh Rosen as their franchise QB in the 2018 draft. Rosen got swiped left and was traded to the Miami Dolphins Friday. #HereTodayGoneTomorrow
Source: BeIN Sports
All in the Family…The next pick was Ohio State’s Nick Bosa who, despite missing most of the college season to injury, was chosen second by the San Francisco 49ers. Nick’s selection means that the Bosa family had the father and two sons all drafted in the first round joining only the legendary Mannings (Archie, Payton and Eli) as father and brothers selected in the first round. Nick might want to be careful about his social media activity as he Tweeted negative statements about former 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick, which Bosa deleted as the draft approached. #Awkward
Speaking of Mannings, with the 6th pick in the draft the New York Giants selected a QB to replace the 38-year-old Eli Manning. Many expected the selection to be Bosa’s Ohio State teammate QB Dwayne Haskins but instead it was unheralded QB Daniel Jones of Duke. Good luck with the New York media scrutiny.
For his part, Haskins will be playing with a chip on his shoulder but doesn’t have to carry it far. Haskins gets to perform for the Washington Redskins, who selected him with the 15th pick, allowing him to be close to his Gaithersburg, Md home.
Soccer
After several dramatic matches, the UEFA Champions League is down to its Final Four.
Tottenham takes on Ajax Tuesday and Barcelona meets Liverpool Wednesday in the first of their home-and-home matches. Game two of both series be will played next week.
Major League Baseball (MLB)
Baseball’s throne is shared by two players having amazing starts to the season. The Milwaukee Brewers’ Christian Yelich (last year’s MVP) and the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Cody Bellinger (who leads the league in every major offensive category) both have 14 home runs in the season’s first month – an April productivity record shared by only two MLB legends: Albert Pujols and Alex Rodriguez. #KeepingGoodCompany
Source: Yahoo Sports
The Tampa Bay Rays and Minnesota Twins continue to surprise with the top two records in the American League. On the other end of the spectrum, Boston Red Sox fans are getting restless as the defending champs own one of the worst records in baseball and their ace pitcher Chris Sale looks bad going 0-5 this season.
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See you next time…
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