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This was a great game as we all thought it would be. Just a little over three minutes into overtime Brad Marchand ended it with a goal which literally required a perfect shot.

The Boston Bruins now lead their second round matchup with the NY Islanders 2-1 as a consequence of Marchand’s third career playoff overtime game winner.

Tuuka Rask made two huge saves in the OT which gave Marchand his opportunity and he made the most of it.

Chris Jackson is going to have a problem if it turns out to be the Bruins vs. the Colorado Avalanche in the Finals. As in who he’s going to root for in the Stanley Cup Finals.. If the Denver Broncos somehow end up with Aaron Rodgers… I’ll have a decision to make as well.

In the two games in the NBA’s Western Conference…yawn.

Anthony Davis couldn’t go beyond five minutes in Game 6 and that’s all she wrote for the defending champion Lakers. Devin Booker scored 47 points and was clearly the MVP in this first round series.

What does this say about last season’s bubble champions or the team they played against…the Miami Heat?

Both go out in the first round playing like shit. Rob Pelinka has nothing on his roster beyond LeBron and Anthony Davis. Jimmy Butler didn’t show up for the Heat and we wonder if the Bubble gave us a fraud championship of sorts.

But congrats to the Phoenix Suns who now given the fact have beaten the defending champs appear to be legit contenders. I think it’s nice for the game to see something different.

The Phoenix Suns vs. the Denver Nuggets should be fun. My son is beside himself in Denver right now. Monte Morris lives right down the street and goes to the same park in Bonnie Brae… which btw has the best ice cream shop in America a few blocks from the park where I sit and watch Little Robert play when we visit.

A note to Sam Presti as we watch these Western Conference playoffs… Donovan Mitchell was the 13th pick in his draft class, Devin Booker was the 13th player taken in his class… Nikola Jokic was a second round pick as the 41st player taken. These are the three best players in YOUR OWN DIVISION.

You do your job in this summer’s draft and pick a player to go along with SGA and we shouldn’t be hearing anymore bullshit about the need to tank again next season.

The Atlanta Hawks, Philly Sixers, and Utah Jazz all clinched their respective series 4-1 last night, but I was watching hockey.

This Colorado vs. Vegas second round series should be a conference final, but due to the NHL having to redraw divisions for the Canadian teams during the pandemic—the best two teams with the best records in the regular season are squaring off in the second round.

The Colorado Avs are on a roll with a 6-0 start in these Stanley Cup Playoffs.

But this was a game they should have lost as they were outplayed in both the second and third periods.

Colorado netminder Phillipp Grubauer bailed out his team and when they got a powerplay play opporunity in overtime it was Nathan McKinnon assisting Mikko Rantanen on the game winner.

An excellent game. One in which the Vegas Golden Knights may look back on as a missed opportunity.

The Boston Bruins at the NY Islanders tonight in what should be a war.

I try to be fair and balanced on my blog presenting both sides. So even as much as I disdain Donald Trump in the name of fair play this was his recent Memorial Day speech before he sets out to go across the country having rallies for various white domestic terrorism groups.

And for those who disdain Trump…this might be more in line with your Memorial Day celebrations.

Hopefully…we don’t find out Todd is a Proud Boy because I would feel very sad at that point.

Game 7, 2019 St. Louis Blues vs. Boston Bruins

Let me start with this…with it being wet in Oklahoma…I watched First Take this morning with our own Kendrick Perkins. I love Perk. Always have.

My son named his chocolate lab puppy Perk back in 2012 and Perk has been a part of me ever since. The difference between the dog and the NBA player is that not once have I seen Perk the Dog drop or fumble a tennis ball on the fly. If Perk the player had Perk the Lab’s handle he would be in the Hall of Fame and the Thunder would have a banner. He never talks about that on First Take.

Perk said on First Take this morning that the Lakers without Anthony Davis tonight will win Game 5 in Phoenix inside of sold out Talking Stick Resort Arena.

Steven A on the other hand says the Suns win tonight inside of Talking Stick Arena even with it full of Crazy Joe Arpaio types.

On my last three hot takes since the playoffs have begun…I’m 2-1.

I was completely wrong about Miami vs. Milwaukee being the most compelling NBA first round viewing. It was easily the worst first round series.

I was right about Norman Powell being a difference maker if the Trailblazers would use him correctly and allow his co-alpha status to blossom.

I was also right in flatly stating the Toronto Maple Leafs would choke up versus Montreal like Mullet King Mike Gundy standing on the sidelines in a Bedlam game. 1-15—Vegas knows, buddy. You’re the only football coach Tyreke Hill has ever had who couldn’t figure out to get the ball in Tyreke Hill’s hands at least fifteen times game.

That’s 2-1.

I haven’t even looked at the Vegas spread tonight per Lakers vs. Suns. I’m not looking. I’m going in Vegas-blind.

This is a great question.

I’m not talking spread here. I’m talking outright winner.

I like Phoenix in this game for the simple reason both Chris Paul and Devin Booker have their respective legacies on the line tonight. This should be personal with both of them. Lose this game to the Lakers without AD and they both look like posers to a certain degree… like the Toronto Maple Leafs of hoops.

You could very well say this is the most important basketball game in the careers of aging Chris Paul and somewhat youthful Devin Booker on the same night at completely different juxtapositions in their respective careers. You won’t ever read ‘juxtapositions’ melded seamlessly like that on Daily Thunder. Trust me.

I’m taking Phoenix outright and openly challenging Jae Crowder and Torry Craig to bring their Big Boy games to Talking Stick tonight. Remember …role players in post season NBA games usually play much better at home.

I’m taking the Suns tonight.

Perk…as far as I’m concerned your banner should be hanging right next to Nick Collison’s. Love you.

What a magnificent hockey game!!!

And it’s a good thing for the NHL this was the second game of their Memorial Day doubleheader given the listless performance by the Texas A&M Aggies of the NHL who call Toronto their home base.

The first game had about as much drama as last season’s Bedlam football game in Norman with Ronnie Perkins taking over the game. You could see it on the faces of the Toronto players. The understanding of the fact as a franchise they haven’t done anything of note since 1967 as an organization. A great Canadian city in search of a viable hockey operation.

For the Canadians …who haven’t won a Cup since 1993 when they beat Gretzky’s LA Kings’ team…it was a nice win as they came back from a 3-1 games deficit to advance to the second round to play the Winnipeg Jets.

Hopefully…with the bracket rigged this way to ensure a Canadian based team makes the Final Four in this special Covid bracket year our neighbors to the north will feel they are represented in the NHL teamwise circa 2021.

But the main feauture of the night with the Bruins hosting the annoyingly gritty NY Islanders who are coached by Barry Trotz led up to the billing.

With the score 4-3 about fifteen minutes deep into the first overtime Islander Casey Cizikas broke away at center ice with the puck when Bruin defenseman Jeremy Lauzon basically passed the puck right to him on a nightmarish miscue.

Cizikas buried the mistake topshelf right shoulder over Bruin netminder Tuuka Rask and that was the end to a fabulous hockey game played in front of a raccous sellout crowd inside of TD Garden.

It was a tough night for Lauzon who accidentley deflected the puck on the Islanders’ first goal of the evening as well.

This was the best game of the Road to the Stanley Cup so far. This game had it all. Ebb and flow. Momentum shifts. Board rattling checking. Clutch goaltending by Seymon Varlemov and Tuuka Rask. A few scrums. A glorious comeback by the Bruins from a 3-1 hole only to be erased by the game winner.

A great hockey game in every facet.

Don’t sleep on the NY Islanders. Barry Trotz was the coach who finally convinced Alex Ovechkin to play both ends of the ice on the Capitals’ 2019 Cup championship team.

This Islander team is blue collar. They come at you and when they’re right with all four lines playing with an attitude they can wear on a glamour team like the Bruins.

So I believe Thursday night it will be Game 3 in Nassua for those of us who love hockey hunker down for what should be a great second round series.

It’s a beautiful city who’s best sports moment came when Millwood High School’s own Joe Carter Jr. went yard on Mitch ‘Wild Thing’ Williams. Consider the irony of that…an Oklahoma kid playingf or the Blue Jays did what the hockey team hasn’t done in fifty-four years.

So in 1993 the Montreal Canadians won the Stanley Cup and the Toronto Blue Jays won the World Series. Then in 2019 the Toronto Raptors won the NBA champipnship. Toronto needs an NHL team befitting a great city.

Norman Powell flexed his big boy game in Game 4 of the Denver-Portland series and as a result we head into Game 5 in Denver knotted at 2-2.

Norman Powell came to Portland as an unrestricted free agent at the deadline. Unlike all of the other Trailblazers…Powell has an NBA championship ring from being a key member of the 2019 Toronto team.

And make this clear…Powell is not only playing to make Portland a more viable two way team, but he’s playing to show the rest of the league what the value of his next contact should be at the conclusion of this season.

We all love watching the Trailblazers because of what Damian and CJ do offensively, but let’s be honest–Portland in reality is kind of a pushover basketball team which seldom goes deep because they don’t have the overall team grit to be a viable defensive team.

Damian Lillard to me is kind of what Ovechkin was in hockey pre-2019. That being a great offensive player who doesn’t backcheck and do all the dirty little blue collar things which your best player has to do if you want to hoist a Cup or an O’Brien Trophy.

Same with Russell Westbrook. He’s not winning anything with all those triple doubles because he now plays like a cupcake on the defensive end of the floor. He didn’t at UCLA, but in the NBA he’s become a dandelion.

I personally think Norman Powell is a better overall player than CJ. So can the second best player on a team change the culture of a team?

Messier did in hockey with Gretzsky. Michael, Kobe, and LeBron never needed someone to play defense for them as all three were bulldogs on the defensive end.

So what I asking myself out loud is can Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum feed off of a Norman Powell and become real legit two way basketball players who can make deep runs in post season play?

Unlike the Miami flameout versus Milwaukee…at least this Denver-Portland series is giving me some reasons to keep watching the games.

Norman Powell somewhat fascinates me.

Damian Lillard…your legacy as of now is your’re a great scorer who never wins anything. You want to take your legacy to the next level…you gotta do the little dirty things or at least have a guy around you who will do them for you.

Damian…you’re not alone in this. Chris Paul hasn’t won anything else either. Legacies are defined in post season, not the regular season. He’s in the same boat as you and I would guess that’s why he’s playing hurt this time around in Phoenix.

Hope everyone is having a great Memorial Day week-end. More heavy rain headed for Deer Creek at about 5:00am. We had 2.5 inches on Thursday which puts us at around 6.5″ for the month plus whatever we get today on the last day of May.

Be sure and thank those who have served or are serving our county currently. Freedom is a fragfile, treasured commodity we all take for granted.

The Road to the Stanley Cup is heating up with Tampa, Colorado, and Boston already leading their second round series 1-0.

Nine teams are still in play with Toronto hosting Motreal in a first round Game 7 tonight. Then there will be eight teams left…this is how I would seed the remaining nine at this point:

1 Tampa, 2 Colorado, 3 Boston, 4 Vegas, 5 NY Islanders, 6 Carolina, 7 Toronto, 8 Montreal and 9 Winnipeg.

Toronto…the perennial team which always looks good, but hasn’t won a Cup since 1967. The Texas A&M Aggies of the NHL.

I still have Tampa as my team to beat, but both Colorado and Boston clearly have my attention.

Sixteen wins are needed to win a Cup. Three teams are now in need of eleven more wins. The best tournament in sports. Jim Nance doesn’t know what he’s been missing all these years.

Both Ovechkin and Sid gone in the first round. The hockey world is Nathan McKinnon’s this Stanley Cup tournament. In five games so far…Nate has 8 goals and 5 assists as his team has yet to lose a game.

Nathan McKinnon is the best hockey player in the world at this window of time.

Chris Jackson is conflicted. Now that he lives in Denver he doesn’t know if his hockey heart belongs to Boston or the Avs. I say why not both.

Some interesting games in the NBA Playoffs tonight.

The Atlanta Hawks with a former Thunder player in Danilo Gallanari won at home to to take a 2-1 series lead over the NY Knicks who also have a former Thunder in Nerlens Noel. Pretty good series to watch. Trae Young is obviously proving he can be an impact player in this league.

The LA Clippers with three former Thunder players in Paul George, Serge Ibaka, and Patrick Patterson pulled themselves together and beat Luka Doncic to close within 2-1 in that series.

These former Thunder players are everywhere in these NBA Playoffs except Oklahoma it seems.

Then there was Jayson Tatum going off for fifty points as the Brooklyn Nets without Jeff Green in this game looked very vunerable defensively as the Celtics notched a win.

All three of these series now at 2-1.

Worse team by far in these NBA Playoffs so far the Miami Heat without a doubt. I wonder if this would mean Sam Presti could now pry Tyler Herro away from the Heat on the cheap given their implosion.

Best off season under the radar move this past off-season or at the trade deadline which made a team a legit contender?

Harden and Kyrie don’t qualify as under the radar…so neither one of them. Not Chris Paul in Phoenix because they’re not a legit contender.

If the Portland Trailblazers weren’t so horrible defensively maybe Norman Powell could have emerged in this category.

So far I would have to go with Jrue Holiday in Milwaukee. He seems to fill the right gaps for the Bucks.

For the second straight game the Miami Heat were not a watchable basketball team. It was hideous to view, but this time it was at home and it was a game in which you would have expected some passion and desperation by the defending champs of the Eastern Conference.

There was none of that and as a result the Milwaukee Bucks are on the cusp of sweeping the Miami Heat in a series in which most thought would be quality NBA post season viewing.

It wasn’t just one player or one thing for the Heat. They were brutal from the top of the roster to the bottom. They couldn’t defend, they couldn’t rebound, and couldn’t make open shots.

The Miami Heat some are saying were Bubble Frauds last season.

I’m not sure if that’s fair, but the Heat basically have rolled over these last two games and not shown any professional pride in their craft.

But on the flip side…let’s give the Bucks some credit—they made their team better by adding Jrue Holiday, PJ Tucker, and Bobby Portis.

All three of these guys make the Bucks a tougher, smarter, and better basketball team.

It would appear we are headed for a Brooklyn Nets vs. Milwaukee Bucks conference semi-final in the East.

It can’t get here soon enough for NBA fans because the Miami Heat are not watchable at the present time for whatever internal reason it may be.

The dark skies above Deer Creek have opened and copious rainfall in duplicate layers is descending upon us. It is truly amazing. Almost hypnotic.

I now know why Gary England was held captive by his mistress…the Oklahoma weather.

I have a Honda water pump if it ever come to that, but even though we live realtively close to Deer Creek…we’ve never had an issue with the rains in seventeen years.

The Honda pump is amzing though. State of the art. Stunning in its ability to move water in a rapid period of time.

If my neighbor to the north doesn’t get his act together…I may divert some water his way at some point. You wear that MAGA cap around Mike and at some point karma might come in play I’ve tried to tell him in a nuanced manner several times. He knows what that MAGA cap does to me and yet he taunts me with the cap.

This is when you almost wish you were Jim Cantore on the Weather Channel and getting paid for standing in the rain with the wind blowing you over on live cable television.

Pauli doesn’t even go outside in light showers so she’s not moving. She’s clearly not a Weather Dog.

I’m out on the back patio looking into the forest as the rain obliterates the tree line.

These storms are beautiful.

I was just kidding about diverting water on my neighbor with the MAGA ball cap because Miguel had an epiphany at the Wal Mart Auto Center last week and no longer thinks like that. Instead…I’ll pray for him.