Happy Wednesday, folks. Hope you're well.
Let's get right to it.
Good morning to everyone but especially to...
THE DALLAS MAVERICKS
It rained all day in Dallas, and then Dallas rained 3-pointers all night on Golden State... and couldn't even be stopped by a leaky roof. The Mavericks drained 20 threes and held off a late Warriors charge in a 119-109 win to stave off elimination.
Save for a strange fourth quarter where Golden State's reserves narrowed a 29-point deficit down to as little as eight, this was exactly the performance Dallas needed. The Mavericks lit it up from deep, won the rebounding battle and weren't destroyed by points in the paint. All postseason long, the three ball has masked Dallas' deficiencies enough, and that was the case again last night. Dallas is 7-3 this postseason when it hits more than 15 threes and 2-5 when it doesn't.
In NBA history, 146 teams have fallen into a 3-0 series deficit. Zero have gone on to win the series. If the Mavericks are to become the first team to do so, it'll have to look a lot like last night.
Honorable mentions
And not such a good morning for...
Getty ImagesTHE CAROLINA HURRICANES
There's no place like home, and, for the Hurricanes, there really is no happiness on the road. Carolina fell 4-1 to the Rangers at Madison Square Garden and are now 0-5 on the road this postseason. The series is tied 2-2.
This one was never close. Frank Vatrano opened the scoring in the first period, and Adam Fox doubled the lead shortly thereafter.In the second period, Mika Zibanejad made it 3-0.Teuvo Teravainen got the Hurricanes on the board in the third period, but Andrew Copp answered to cap the scoring.The Hurricanes, of course, have gotten this far because they're 6-0 at home, winning all four home contests in the first round against the Bruins and the first two games of this series. Technically, the Hurricanes won't have to win a road game to reach the Stanley Cup Final -- they have home-ice advantage in this series and, if they advance, in the next one against the Lightning
I wouldn't exactly recommend that route, but, hey, it is an option.
Not so honorable mentions
MLB first-quarter grades: Who's at the top of the class? ⚾
We're through roughly a quarter of the MLB season, and that means it's time to hand out some grades. All 30 teams received an assessment from MLB reporter R.J. Anderson, and 10 received an "A." Among those 10?
The two teams from the Big Apple.
Anderson: "There was fair reason to think that the Yankees were being underrated in the preseason -- most projection systems had them as the best team in the American League East -- but no one could have reasonably expected them to get off to this kind of start. ... You have to give the Mets an A. They've weathered a number of injuries to their rotation, including the season-long absence of Jacob deGrom, and have not only maintained their spot at the top of the National League East, but have one of the best records in the NL overall."The other teams earning an "A" were the Astros, Angels, Dodgers, Brewers, Twins, Padres, Giants and Rays. You can see all the grades here.
