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Let’s catch-up on a variety of sports action from the past weekend.
NBA 1st Round Playoffs and the Tragic Orlando Magic
When a basketball team (at any level) misses 23 straight shots during a game, that team is more than likely going to lose.
The NBA’s #8 seed Eastern Conference Orlando Magic was at home on Friday night. They were leading the #1 Detroit Pistons 3-2 in their best-of-seven series.
The Magic raced out to a 60-38 halftime advantage and had their home crowd ready to celebrate the team’s biggest first round upset in history.
Then they played the second half.
The Orlando Magic couldn’t hit the proverbial broad side of a barn over the final two quarters. Orlando scored just 11 points in the third quarter. The fourth quarter produced a paltry eight points. At one point, the Orlando Magic missed 23 consecutive shots.
The tiny 19-point second half total in Game 6 was the lowest ever recorded in the NBA’s long playoff history. Detroit was easily able to overcome the 22-point halftime deficit and won 93-79 to even the series at three games apiece.
Sunday night’s Game 7 found Detroit back at home to win the finale 116-95. The #1 East seed Pistons advance into Round 2 this week against #4 Cleveland.
On Monday morning, the Orlando Magic announced the firing of fifth-year coach Jamahl Mosley.
As I have mentioned over the years, it’s a lot easier for a professional sports team’s ownership to fire the head coach rather than an entire roster of players. That coach wasn’t on the floor missing 23 shots in a row in Game 6.
The Boston Celtics did, indeed, die by the 3-point shot
Just like Orlando, the #2 Eastern Conference #2 seed Boston Celtics took at 3-1 series lead before losing three straight games to the #7-seeded Philadelphia 76ers.
As we covered a few weeks ago, the Boston Celtics thrive or die by their ability to make 3-point shots. The NBA’s fourth-most prolific 3-point shooting team during the regular season clanked home just 13 of 49 long-distance shots (27%) in a 109-100 Game 7 home playoff loss to Philadelphia Saturday night.
The Celtics blew a 3-1 playoff advantage for the first time in the team’s storied history. Boston had been 32-0 all-time when leading by such a wide margin.
This year’s Celtics also lost three of the four games played in their hometown at historic Boston Garden.
Philadelphia 76ers fans rejoiced after their team finally won a decisive Game 7 playoff game on the road in Boston for the first time since Julius “Dr. J.” Erving played for the Sixers in 1982.
Saturday night’s Game 7 in Boston saw the visiting 76ers zoom to a 30-15 first quarter advantage and never relinquish that lead.
Boston played Game 7 without injured star forward Jayson Tatum. He was dealing with soreness in one of his legs and was held out of the game as a precaution.
Tatum and his teammates will now have five months to recover, practice their outside shooting, and, perhaps, consider adding a legitimate inside presence prior to next season.
The Houston Rockets failed to achieve a first round lift-off for the 2nd straight year
Houston’s Rockets sizzled during the 2024/2025 regular season but fizzled in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.
The team quickly reacted by adding veteran sharpshooter Kevin Durant to beef-up the Rockets’ scoring during the 2025/2026 season.
Unfortunately, the NBA #5 Western Division seed Rockets crashed and burned in the first round of the playoffs once again.
In the first two games against the #4 Los Angles Lakers, Kevin Durant sparkled on offense. Unfortunately, the other four Houston starters seemed to stand around and wait for their designated shooter to carry the offensive load.
Durant was injured during Game 2 and didn’t play again for the rest of this series.
The Rockets looked likely to win Game 3 but then blew a six-point lead in the final 30 seconds to go down 0-3 against 41-year old LeBron James and the Lakers.
Houston found a way to win games 4 and 5 before getting drubbed 98-78 on Friday night in Los Angeles to conclude their season with a final loss.
The Lakers played the entire series without two of its key starters – Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.
Houston may be looking at a few shake-ups for the roster and, perhaps, the team’s coaching staff after a second straight one-and-done playoff performance.
PGA Tour – Cameron Young put the sleeper hold on the rest of the field in Miami
The PGA Tour finally returned to Miami’s famed Doral Country Club Blue Monster golf course this past week. While some golfers may have trembled while standing on the tee at the tour’s most difficult par-4 #18, stoic Cameron Young seemed to love every minute of it.
The bearded 28-year old golfer with the signature pause at the top of his backswing was winless in his first five seasons on the PGA Tour. Notably, though, Young posted six top ten finishes in the tough golf majors in his early years on the tour.
Cameron Young was overdue to win.
Sundays’ victory became Young’s third title in the past nine months. He broke through with his first PGA victory in August, 2025 in Greensboro. Young added The Player’s Championship title in March for career win #2.
Cameron Young told reporters Sunday, “When the golf course is difficult and the conditions are difficult, that tends to make it easier for me mentally.
Young led from start to finish in all four rounds of the Cadillac Championship tournament at Doral. His 19-under par total was six shots clear of World #1 golfer and runner-up Scottie Scheffler.
Cameron Young even called a one-stroke penalty on himself on the second hole as his golf ball wobbled on the fairway.
He said, “Your heart sinks when you see it move, but it moved. That’s part of what golf’s about. There’s no one who is going to give me a penalty there but myself.”
Keep your eye on this golfer in the upcoming PGA Championship, US Open, and The Open at Royal Birkdale in England.
Savannah Bananas packed 102,000 BananaFans into Texas A&M’s Kyle Field Saturday
It’s not football season yet, but you wouldn’t have known that in College Station, Texas on Saturday night. Kyle Field is the massive football stadium home of the Fightin’ Texas Aggies.
On Saturday night, the stadium was filled with 102,000 fun seekers as baseball’s crowd-pleasing Savannah Bananas arrived to play (of course) the Texas Tailgaters.
“BananaBall” has been sweeping the nation with sell-out crowds everywhere they play. This talented traveling team utilizes a number of “get the fans involved” humorous antics to help make baseball games more fun to watch.
It’s baseball’s equivalent of the Harlem Globetrotters – except on steroids. Every Savannah Bananas baseball game becomes a party unto itself.
The actual game (as if it really mattered) was won by the Texas Tailgaters 4-3.
Speaking of baseball, NY Yankees’ legendary radio announcer John Sterling passed away early Monday at age 87
He was best known for his unabashed enthusiastic radio calls for his beloved New York Yankees. John Sterling’s signature game-ending calls of “The….Yankees win!” were enjoyed by fans in the New York City metropolitan area for 36 years beginning in 1989.
At one point, John Sterling didn’t miss a Yankees radio broadcast for 5,060 consecutive regular season games. That was a span covering more than 30 seasons.
The New York Yankees posted Monday, “John Sterling breathed life and excitement into Yankees games for 36 years while wearing his passion for baseball and the Yankees on his sleeve. The symmetry between John and his audience was both undeniable and magical.”
John Sterling was at the microphone for the last five New York Yankees World Series championships. He retired in 2024 after the season ended. Sterling required heart surgery early in 2026.
John Sterling’s enthusiasm and talent behind the mic will be sorely missed by all of us baseball fans.