WATERCOOLER CHAT: KNICKS ALWAYS SWEPT, OKC TAKE 3-0 LEAD, RIVERA TEARS ACL

BASKETBALL

 

In the  NBA, the New York Knicks were hoping to turn their luck around when they took on LeBron and the Miami Heat in Madison Square Garden.  The Knicks would need a big night from star Carmelo Anthony, as they were without their other star Amare Stoudemire (who was out because he decided to punch the glass encasing of a fire extinguisher — hmmm).  The Knicks did get a 22 point, 8 rebound night from Carmelo, but the Heat are absolutely surging right now and can’t be stopped.  LeBron went off with 32 points, as the Heat simply manhandled the Knicks.  They had no problem with them.  Prior to the playoffs, a lot of people were picking the Knicks to possibly upset the Heat in the first round, but now the Knicks are just 1 game away from being swept, and ousted from the playoffs.  There are rumors that the Knicks are ready to pay coach Phil Jackson a fortune to take over, and next year might be their year… not this year.  Miami 87, NY Knicks 70.

Elsewhere in the NBA, it was Dallas’ first home playoff game since they won the NBA Championship last year.  They were trailing the Oklahoma City Thunder 2-0 in the series, but a veteran team like the Mavs playing in front of their home crowd are a very difficult bunch to defeat.  Dirk Nowitzki had a decent 17 point night for the Mavs, and were trailing by only a modest margin at halftime. They were expecting to really heat up in the second half in front of an enthusiastic crowd.  But, the Thunder came out with a vengeance in the second half and absolutely destroyed the Mavs in the 3rd quarter.  Kevin Durant had 31 points on the evening, as the Thunder sent Mavs fans home early.  The place was lifeless, and the Thunder take a 3-0 lead in the series, priming themselves for a likely second round battle against the Lakers.  OKC 95, Dallas 79.

BASEBALL

Finally, in baseball, some potentially very scary news for Yankees fans.  In a road game against the Royals, the Yankees were practicing their standard pop fly drill.  Very simple:  a batting coach hits pop flys, and the players chase them to warm up.  Sometimes pitchers participate in these drills, pitchers such as Yankees Hall Of Fame closer Mariano Rivera — who’s been doing this for years.  Yesterday, Rivera was chasing a ball when he collided with the wall and his leg buckled, causing him to tear his ACL.  Yes, that hurts.  But more importantly, that’s a very serious injury for an athlete, and it’s likely that Rivera will not only be out for the season, but this injury might end his career.  It would be one thing if Rivera was 25 and needed to just recover.  But for a 42-year old pitcher just looking to hang on to his closing spot and prolong his career, this could be the end.  We’ll see what the medical reports say, but certainly a huge disappointment for all.

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