Damn Braves

I’d like to thank the good lord for making me a Yankees fan. If I had to root for the Braves, I’d be an ornery, frustrated bastard. The Braves, winners of seven straight, have run hot and cold all season. They started the year 33-40, losing some pretty brutal games in the season’s first-half, before recovering with an impressive 44-28 run. This season alone, they’ve had four separate four-game losing streaks and two five-game losing streaks to go along with one four-game winning streak and three five-game winning streaks.

They are maddeningly inconsistent.

Take, for instance, their recent seven-game winning streak, extended last night with a come-from-behind victory over the hapless Mets. The recent streak sounds pretty good, particularly down the stretch in a pennant race. Impressive, at least, until you realize the Braves previously dropped six of seven immediately before their current wining streak. 6 down; 7 up. Nautically speaking, there is little difference between the Braves and an ocean buoy. (Ed. Note: Thanks, Bob Sullivan.) 

This morning, the Braves find themselves a season-high 10 games over .500, 4.5 games behind the Colorado Rockies for the Wild Card, with 16 games to play. If the Rockies go 7-8 over their final 15 games, the Braves would have to go 12-4 just to force a tie. Mathematically, the Braves are still in it. If I were a betting man, though, I’d sit this one out, preseason predictions be damned.

Where Postmortems Happen

Two games 7s, two unremarkable contests. The Lakers beat the Rockets by 19, while 3,000 miles away, the Magic outscored the Celtics by the same margin. Neither game, though, was as close as the final score. Pau Gasol carried the Lakers to victory, and Hedo Turkoglo led the Magic, finishing with 24 points, including 12 from beyond the arc. The Lakers simply outlasted and outmuscled an undermanned--and undersized-- Rockets team. The Magic simply played their game, which, thankfully, didn't highlight Dwight Howard in the low post. The Magic hit roughly 62 percent of their threes, which is exactly what they needed to do to advance.  

That's my take, anyway. Here's a brief rundown of what some of the teams' beat writers have to say about last night's games, the good and the bad, the highs and the lows. 

Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times:

Having dragged this town kicking and screaming into an unwanted game of chicken Sunday, the Lakers at least had the decency to make it fun. Pau Gasol played with Ker-Pau cartoon strength. Kobe Bryant played with M-V-P defensive fervor.

Sasha Vujacic actually made a jumper. Derek Fisher actually had a steal. Andrew Bynum actually showed a pulse.

Jonathan Feigen, Houston Chronicle:

In the end, to win big in the NBA requires stars, even superstars, and by the time the series ended, the Rockets did not have them. The Rockets had to ask Aaron Brooks to fill that role, and that was a bit much to expect.

It also requires that certain steps are taken, steps the Rockets never took in the past.

They finally do have young players that will remain part of their core. It is like a young band that gets in the recording studio for the first time. That's when they hone their craft and become more than buddies in a garage.

Mike Bianchi, Orlando Sentinel:

Mark this down as one of the greatest days in Orlando sports history. This is the night, the Magic, the resoundingly resilient Magic, ignored all of the Celtics legend and lore and started building their own legacy of triumph and tradition.

[Snip]

On this, the 20-year anniversary of their inception, the Magic vanquished the most dynamic, dynastic champion this league has ever known. The Celtics have won 17 NBA titles in their proud history, but the Magic's Big Three of Howard, Rashard Lewis and Hedo Turkoglu had that look in their eyes like they aim to win their first.

And, now, they are halfway home. Eight wins from a championship.

Bob Ryan, Boston Globe:

The spirit was willing, perhaps, but the flesh was not up to the task. The Celtics could not stop a team that came out firing threes and never stopped. The Magic are very much a 21st-century team, and so it is appropriate that on a night they advanced to the conference finals for the first time in 13 years they did so by shooting significantly better from 3-point range (61.9 percent) than from two (47).