HOLBROOK, NY- Greetings to all on what should be a tremendous day of sports. Here’s todays topics: Sunday at Augusta, Knicks Playoffs and NBA Eastern Conference Preview.
Sunday at Augusta
Scottie Scheffler leads at -7 with two time major champion Collin Morikawa in second at -6, six time PGA tour winner Max Homa in third at -5, budding superstar Ludvig Aberg who would be the first debutant to win The Masters since Fuzzy Zoeller in 1979, at -4 in fourth, and first round leader and 2020 US open champion Bryson DeChambeau in 5th at -3. The last 27 winners at The Masters were within four shots of the lead entering Sunday, so history would tell us one of Ludvig,
Morikawa, Homa, Bryson, or Scheffler will don the green jacket. Scheffler hasn’t had his A game and yet he still leads. Even with a group of exceptional players chasing Scheffler it still feels as though he’ll fend them all off and win for the second time in three years. Scottie Scheffler’s never going to lose a tournament, he’s too good and doesn’t make enough mistakes. For someone else to win they’ll have to shoot sub 67 and take it from him.
Knicks Playoffs
This is far and away the best Knicks team since the Melo days. There is a real argument to be made that Jalen Brunson is the best free agent signing of all time. The Knicks signed Brunson to a bargain of a contract and he’s played at an MVP level all year long. I’m very excited to see who the Knicks play in the first round.
Eastern Conference.
As for the rest of the Eastern Conference… The Celtics are the most complete team in the NBA, they’ve dominated the regular season as they have for several of the past few seasons. However they enter the playoffs a bit unlucky with their potential first round match-up being either Indiana, who’s been one of the most explosive offensive teams in the league – led by star guard Tyrese Haliburton… Orlando one of the best young teams in the league – led by Paolo Banchero… Miami, who for whatever reason plays its best basketball come playoff time… or a 76ers team that just got Joel Embiid back.
While all of those teams would certainly be a tough out for Boston, Philadelphia is the only one who can go toe-to-toe with the Celtics and would set up a brutal draw for Boston. Having said all of that, I’ll take Boston – regardless of their first round match-up.
That leaves the Knicks, Bucks and Cavs. Simply put, I have zero faith in any Doc Rivers-led team. With a banged-up Giannis I don’t think this is Milwaukee’s year and I have them bounced early in the playoffs. The Knicks and Cavs are similarly constructed, they’re both stout defensively and rely on star guards for much of their scoring. In my opinion the Knicks are the deepest team in the NBA and I’ll take the Knickerbockers to go to the Conference finals for a showdown with the Celtics. I absolutely think the Knicks can knock off Boston in a 7 game series. The OG Anunoby trade has been everything the Knicks could have hoped for and he’s really the ultimate X factor that can matchup with Jayson Tatum in a potential matchup. In what’s been a magical year for the Knicks I’ll take them to knock off the Celtics in the conference finals and go to the NBA finals for the first time since 1999.
