On Sunday night, the Los Angeles Kings earned a spot in the Stanley Cup Finals against the New York Rangers. The day before, the San Antonio Spurs punched their ticket to an NBA Finals rematch with the Miami Heat.
The Kings beat the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks 5-4 in overtime in Game 7 of their NHLÂ Western Conference Finals series to join the waiting New York Rangers to determine the champion in professional hockey. The Rangers finished off the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday in 6 games 1-0 to win the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Kings won the Stanley Cup 2 years ago, but the Rangers have not even been in the finals since they won the title back in 1994. Never before had a team played 7-game series in the first 2 round of the playoffs, and made it to the finals, until this year. The Kings and Rangers both accomplished the feat this year.
No team had ever won 3 consecutive Game 7s, and especially not all road Game 7s in a playoff year, until the Kings have now done in these playoffs. They came from down 3 games to 0, winning 4 straight games to eliminate the San Jose Sharks in the first round.
In the second round, the Kings won the first 2 games on the road, then lost the next 3, before winning the final 2 games, to send the Anaheim Ducks home for the summer.
Against the Blackhawks, the Kings had a 3-1 series lead, so it looked like they finally would cruise in an easy series. Not so fast. The Blackhawks won the next 2 games, and led nearly the entire Game 7, until the Kings’ Marian Gaborik tied the game with 7:17 remaining in regulation. He scored his league leading 12th goal of the playoffs. Not bad for a trade deadline acquisition. Alec Martinez won the game and series for the Kings 5:47 into overtime.
How can you go against the Kings in the Stanley Cup Finals? The western conference has been tougher the entire year, and the Kings always seem to find a way to win. They were the lowest scoring team to make the playoffs, and are now the highest scoring team in the playoffs. They are also 7-0 when facing elimination. The Kings will win their 2nd title in 3 years.
In the NBA Finals, we will have a rematch of the great series last year between the 2-time defending champion Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs, which went 7 games a year ago. The Heat are only the 3rd franchise to ever make it to the finals 4 straight years, along with the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers.
The Spurs beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 112-107 in overtime in Game 6 on Saturday night to win the Western Conference Finals 4 games to 2. The home team had won every game in this series by at least 9 points, until Game 6. It’s good for the Spurs that they didn’t have to play a Game 7 on Monday, so now the older players can rest.
On Friday night, the Heat blew out the Indiana Pacers 117-92 to win the Eastern Conference Finals in 6 games also. The sporadic Pacers managed to win 2 games, but this series was never really in doubt.
As hard as it is to pick against the Heat, with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, I think the San Antonio Spurs have a better bench, and will prevail to win their 5th championship in the last 16 years. The Spurs’ Manu Ginobili seems to be playing better than he did last year, and you never know when Wade’s knee will give out.
The Stanley Cup Finals begin Wednesday in Los Angeles, while the NBA Finals rematch starts on Thursday in San Antonio.
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Sports With Frank Thomas
