Finally

Memorial Day is behind us and summer has started, unofficially at least. Let’s looks at some of the winter sports coming to an exciting end to their season.

TINK Sports Big-3

Here are three things you need to know:

1) The NBA Finals is set…Finally. The Golden State Warriors will take on the Cleveland Cavaliers for the fourth straight year
2) The NHL Finals began Monday and the Las Vegas Golden Knights beat the Washington Capitals in Game 1
3) Real Madrid are the kings of European soccer, again, having won the Champions League final Saturday

National Basketball Association (NBA)

Seen this movie before? Yes. The Golden State Warriors take on the Cleveland Cavaliers for the fourth straight year in the NBA Finals. (The Warriors are up 2-1). This is the first time in pro sports history that the same two teams will play each other for the championship four years in a row.

Even though the matchup is familiar, how they got here is the story.  Let’s start with the fact that it’s the first time since 1979 that both the Eastern and Western Conference Finals went to seven games.

Source: USA Today

In the West, the Golden State Warriors survived their matchup with the Houston Rockets who were forced to play Games 6 and 7 without their floor general Chris Paul. The Warriors overcame an 11-point halftime deficit and took the deciding game seven 101-92 Monday night in Houston.

The Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers were in a similar seven-game battle in the East. LeBron James, in his 15th season, proved without a doubt that he is still the game’s best player. His 35 points, 15 rebounds and 9 assists led the Cavs to a series-clinching win in Boston Monday.

Source: Cleveland.com

Amazingly, this will be LeBron’s eighth consecutive NBA Finals.

The Finals start Thursday night in Oakland, CA.

National Hockey League (NHL)

Unlike the NBA, the Stanley Cup Finals matchup between the Washington Capitals and Las Vegas Golden Knights couldn’t be more unexpected. The Caps haven’t reached the Finals in 20 years, and even more improbably, the Knights are an expansion team in their first year of existence.

Game 1 went to the Knight 6-4 Monday night in Las Vegas.

Soccer

Ya Visto (or Deja vu in Spanish) is what European soccer fans must be saying as Real Madrid looks like a dynasty. Real won its third consecutive Champions league title Saturday, beating Liverpool 3-1 in Kiev.

Real’s Gareth Bale impressed with two goals and Liverpool’s star Mohamed Salah was injured early but the story was Liverpool’s goalie Loris Karius who surrendered two bad goals.

Car Racing

After outracing 32 drivers over 200 laps, Will Power won the 102nd Indianapolis 500 Sunday.

Source: SnapLap

Got milk? The victory earned Power $2.5 million and a bottle of cold milk.

Tennis
Tennis quelqu’un? The French Open, tennis’ second major of the year began Sunday and runs through June 10.

The top seeds are Rafael Nadal (10-time French Open champ) on the Men’s side and Simona Halep (two-time French Open runner up) in the Women’s draw.

No respect? You know who is not seeded? Three-time winner at Roland-Garros, Serena Williams, who recently returned from giving birth to her first child, goes into the tournament unseeded. #Motivation #NoRespect

Major League Baseball (MLB)

Where have you been? The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants, predicted by many to make the playoffs, are languishing this year. Both NL West teams and can’t wait to welcome back their ace pitchers, Clayton Keyshawn and Madison Bumgarner, from injuries.

 

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See you next time…