Leafs, Pacers, Lakers and More!

 Ok maybe not more. The Jays seem to be coming back down to earth here as the weather warms and other teams can actually hit the long ball now, it's glaringly obvious that the Jays cannot. The Jays have 13 homeruns this season so far, surprisingly that's only the second fewest in the league. The Yankees have 41. We used to be a team with pop man, how times have changed. Anyway I did lock in to the Leafs game from the second period onward and flipped to the important parts of the Bucks game then took in the first half of the Lakers game before finally needing to sleep, so we will relay my thoughts on all of them here!

Leafs Feel Different

I don't know who I do these disclaimers for, everyone who reads this knows I am a super casual hockey fan, but for anyone wondering, these takes are from the perspective of someone who maybe knows 10 Leafs. I was actually surprised, in game 2 of the playoffs, that the Leafs had Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson. Anyway, now they're my favorite and nobody can say anything bad about them. The Leafs came out of the gates for the second straight game on fire scoring the first 2 goals. A nice little boost that's been different from years past is the Leafs can actually score on the power play now? They netted a power play goal in the first period to get up 2-0 and significantly calm the fan base. Then my novice eyes noticed the Leafs seemingly let up a little. The second period was hard fought with neither team really getting a good offensive chance. Ottawa managed to score their first goal off of a fluky bounce with Matthew Tkachuk passing the puck in off of a Leafs' player's skate. The third period was more of the same, neither team could get a good opportunity, but Ottawa was dominating the possession. It felt like for the first 15 minutes Ottawa had the puck in the Leafs zone the entire time, but they couldn't manage to get a shot through to the goalie. Finally with the Leafs 4th line out there for a quick shift, the Sens set up a perfect tip in front of the net to get their second goal to tie the game. Instantly a switch flipped for the Leafs and they started looking like a team with elite forward talent again. After literally 35 straight minutes of lackadaisical play, the Leafs woke up and were flying up and down the ice. They managed a few good opportunities to get the winner in regulation but came up short sending the game to OT. Not long into OT Max Domi scored a beautiful game winner and I screamed LETS GO alone on my couch. 

I know they kind of took some time off in the middle of a playoff game there, but something about this Leafs team feels different from past years. Throughout the game Ottawa looked clearly like the less experienced team. When it came time to turn it on again, the Leafs flipped the switch and out-talented the Sens, something they honestly couldn't do in past years' first round series. I don't know though, Austin Matthews still doesn't have a goal and I like to say he's a notorious playoff dropper. The Sens aren't the best competition if the people I talk to know anything and so it might just be a lighter first round series for a change. Still, up 2-0, chance to go up 3-0 and I will be at game 4 in Ottawa wanting nothing more than to ride back to my hotel on a bus full of sad Sens fans who just got swept. Go Leafs!

Bucks are COOKED

I probably already said the Bucks are cooked on this blog like 100 times this season, but I'll say it again, they're cooked. The Pacers through 3 and a half quarters led that game wire to wire. Damian Lillard coming off a brutal blood clot issue played like he was obviously super rusty for 37 minutes. Giannis was amazing again and this time he had contributions from Bobby Portis in support, but there's only so much you can do when Dame is playing awful and you have no choice but to rely on Kyle Kuzma, Taurean Prince and Kevin Porter Jr. to play big minutes for you. Still though, despite being pounded all game, the Bucks made it interesting in the last 5 minutes going on a 13-0 run to cut the lead to single digits. There were some theatrics with Damian Lillard hitting a big 3 to bust out of his slump, then talking trash to Tyrese Haliburton who just laughed and nodded his head back in response. Hilarious, we've got a real rivalry brewing here. After Dame's big 3, Siakam responded with a 3 of his own which was awesome to see as a Raptors fan. Andrew Nembhard., who was awesome all game, hit a huge 3 shortly after to put the game out of reach and ensure the Bucks comeback remained fake. 

I love to hate the Bucks! Seriously, even if Dame is at full strength I just don't think they have enough to win 4 games against this Pacers team. As an exercise, I wanted to go through the Pacers rotation and see how many of them would start on this Bucks team, excluding Hali and Siakam who obviously would: 

Myles Turner: probably slightly better version of Brook Lopez at this stage

Aaron Nesmith: Way better than Taurean Prince or Kyle Kuzma

Andrew Nembhard: would be legit the Bucks 3rd best player

Obi Toppin: What the Bucks wish Kyle Kuzma was

Bennedict Mathurin: Same as Nembhard, would be their 3rd best player

TJ McConnell: Close one, he'd be small in a backcourt with Dame but I think he's better than Gary Trent Jr or Kevin Porter Jr.

Jarace Walker: Literally what the Bucks wish Taurean Prince was

Thomas Bryant: I have to get to the Pacers 10th man before I get to someone who definitely wouldn't start on the Bucks

That's right, I honestly think you can argue that the Pacers have 9 guys who could start on the Bucks. Giannis deserves more MVP buzz for making that sorry group a respectable basketball team. I don't know where they go from here, but something needs to change in Milwaukee. Still, you can't rule them out going back home, Giannis is just that good!

Lakers Bounce Back

Disclaimer here, I didn't watch the 4th quarter of this one because I needed to sleep, so I'll keep this section quick. The whole first half I was watching this game in absolute awe that the Mavericks traded Luka Doncic. He was slicing up the Timberwolves getting whatever he wanted on honestly amazing defense. When he checked back in off the bench in the second quarter he immediately hit a turnaround fadeaway no scope jumper over Jaden McDaniels who was practically inside his jersey. He then lost his dribble against Rudy Gobert on the baseline, but no problem he just faked a pass behind Gobert's back, froze him for a nanosecond and went up with a floater for another 2 points. He drove into the paint and hit a cutting Dorian Finney-Smith with a no look behind the back pass for a dunk moments later. Luka is just so incredible at basketball and there's really nothing you can do about it. I think this series will be a long one. The Lakers showed the Wolves a lot of zone which I think is the smart strategy against this team. The Wolves may have the Lakers beat in athleticism and size, but the Lakers blow them out of the water in basketball IQ. The more you make Ant beat you with his brain rather than his physical gifts, the easier a time you'll have with the Wolves. I was not worried after game 1 and I am even less worried now. 

And that's that! So many sports on I am just overwhelmed every night! It's been really fun plopping myself on the couch and taking it all in and I am even more glad to have this little platform to pump out some thoughts. More tomorrow and a big recap on Monday about the experience watching a playoff game in Ottawa live!