The race at the box office was no contest with Fate of the Furious obliterating the field taking home a whopping $532 million worldwide in the biggest opening weekend in history.
The NBA and NHL are also charging along with their playoffs kicking off last week. Get you popcorn ready because these leagues will be in focus over the next two months as they march toward their championships in June.
National Basketball Association (NBA)
The NBA Playoffs first round tipped off over the weekend.
Heavy heart…Playing a day after his 22-year-old sister was killed in a car accident, Boston Celtics MVP-candidate Isaiah Thomas scored 33 points Sunday despite being visibly distraught. He came up short (no, not because he is 5’9”), however, as the Celtics lost to the Chicago Bulls in their series opener.
Source: Sportskeeda.com
Friendship on hold…The top-two MVP candidates, Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook and Houston’s James Harden, were teammates and friends. That’s on hold now as their squads are facing each other in the first round. Houston won big Sunday and jumped out to a 1-0 lead.
Source: Sports Illustrated
Four-time MVP LeBron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers stumbled down the stretch of the regular season and fell to the #2 seed in the East. They had a scare Saturday but got back on track Monday night with another win over the Indiana Pacers to take a 2-0 series lead.
National Hockey League (NHL)
Like the NBA, it’s game on in the race to win four and advance to the NHL playoffs second round.
The shockers thus far are that the #1 seeds in the Eastern and Western Conference are both in serious trouble. The perennial doormat Toronto Maple Leafs (who haven’t won a Stanley Cup since 1967 and have only qualified for the playoffs twice in the past 12 seasons) won again in overtime Monday. The Leafs lead the Washington Capitals, the squad with the best regular season record, 2-1.
The Nashville Predators also shook up the hockey world with an overtime win Monday to go up 3-0 over the Chicago Blackhawks, the Western Conference’s best team.
Also up 3-0 are the defending champion Pittsburgh Penguins who are looking to move ahead Tuesday night. Joining the Pens are the St. Louis Blues, who can close out Wednesday night. Rounding out the up 3-0 club are the Anaheim Ducks who also won in overtime Monday night.
Major League Baseball (MLB)
In a Patriots’ Day tradition, the Boston Marathon is run in the morning followed by the Boston Red Sox hosting an 11:05am game (the earliest game of the season).
First the race…Kenya’s Geoffrey Kirui won the 121st Boston Marathon, winning in 2:09:37. Extending the African country’s dominance, Edna Kiplagat, a Kenyan policewoman won the women’s race in 2:21:52, adding to her wins in London, New York and Los Angeles.
Even though U.S. runners didn’t win, Americans performed well accounting for six of the top 10 men’s finishers and two of the top four women’s finishers.
It’s only fitting that baseball came next…
Boston’s strong man on the field goes was Red Sox Andrew Benintendi who had three hits, including a go-ahead two-run single, as the Red Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-3.
Source: Gazettenet.com
Breaking out the special unis, the Red Sox home jerseys displayed “Boston” across the front rather than “Red Sox” and had a “Boston Strong” patch, which they have worn since the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings.
Don’t look now but the New York Yankees are the hottest team in baseball and have won eight in a row. Despite the recent tear, the Yankees are still looking up at the surprising Baltimore Orioles who have the best record in baseball.
Other surprise division leaders are the Cincinnati Reds and Colorado Rockies who Vegas gave 200-1 and 40-1 odds, respectively, to win the World Series.
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