N.Y. Islanders: Major Letdown Theater

From the desk: THE LONG ISLAND NOMADS

Capitals lead Islanders; 5-2

I - WAS 3; NYI 2

II - WAS 6; NYI 3

III - WAS 3; NYI 1

IV - NYI 8; WAS 4

V - NYI 1; WAS 0

VI - WAS 1l NYI 0

VII - WAS 6; NYI 3

Islanders Lose Second Straight at Home

No Ovechkin, no problem ...

The showdown that was supposed to be has turned into a major letdown.

Washington doubled up the Islanders 6-3 in the second game of their three-game set.  

The Caps already led 2-0 halfway through the first period.  Anthony Beauvillier scored an unassisted power-play goal at the 14:28 mark.  Adam Pelech then tied it at 7:37 of the second period on a shorthanded goal, again unassisted.  

However, Washington answered right back with goals at 12:21 by Nic Dowd, and at 14:46 by Daniel Sprong.  Before the period was through, Jean-Gabriel Pageau scored on a power-play at the 17:12 mark bringing the Isles within one.  

But two more unanswered goals in the third gave the Capitals six even-strength goals for the game.  Making his 18th appearance, Ilya Sorokin faced 30 shots, all at even strength.  This is his fifth regulation time loss against twelve victories. 

The Islanders afforded the Capitals just one power-play opportunity.  Josh Bailey, Casey Cizikas, Matt Martin, and Anthony Beauvillier were all minus-3 for the game.

That makes two home losses in a row for the Islanders and their fifth loss in seven tries against the Capitals.  Long Island trails Washington by one point in the East standings.  They meet one last time on Tuesday.

 

N.Y. Knicks: Nine is Just Fine

From the desk: KICKING CANS DOWN 33RD STREET WITH JIMMY

Saturday Afternoon Live!

Knicks defeat Raptors; 2-1

I - TOR 100; NYK 83

II - NYK 102; TOR 96

Raptors 103

Knicks  120

FINAL

OLD SCHOOL IS IN THE HOUSE!

It goes without saying the Knicks are far exceeding pre-season expectations.  In fact, outside of Tom Thibodeau's arrival, there were no expectations, making what they're accomplishing a pure delight.

Only eight teams presently have more victories than the Knicks, who are now seven games above .500 and winners of nine in a row.  If that isn't enough, only five teams have more home wins than the Knicks. 

While the excitement level is being compared to eight years ago and winning the Atlantic Division title, this season brings me back to 1983-1984 when coach Hubie Brown demanded defensive effort from Bernard King and a similarly populated roster.  That team finished the season at 47-35 (.573), but after 61 games, they owned a 36-25 record, just two games ahead of the Knicks' present pace.  

At 27-years of age, Bernard King led the Knicks with 26.3 points per game, and Bill Cartwright was number two with 17.0 points per game.  Today, 26-year old Julius Randle leads the Knicks with 24.0 points per game, followed by RJ Barrett averaging 17.6 points per game.

That Knicks team upset the Bad Boy Detroit Pistons in the first round of playoffs, then pushed Larry Bird and Team Green to a game seven in round two.

What this team is capable of accomplishing remains to be seen.

While Julius Randle continues flourishing in the limelight, Derrick Rose remains the underlying force quietly fueling these Knicks.  The former league MVP on Saturday led the floor with a plus-26 in 33 minutes off the bench.  He was an efficient 7/10 from the field and 5/6 from the line for 19 points and a team-high seven assists and two steals.

Nine games ago, the Knicks took Memphis into overtime and won by four; Rose scored 19 points in 26 minutes.  Last Sunday, the Knicks took New Orleans into overtime and won by ten; Rose scored 23 points, his most since joining the Knicks.  Last Wednesday, he calmly helped gear up his mates for yet another extra session victory over Atlanta finishing with 20 points and a plus-14 in 30 minutes off the bench.  Over his last four games, Derrick is averaging 19.7 points and five assists in 30.7 minutes.

Julius Randle led all scorers with 31 points in 39 minutes.  With ten defensive rebounds, he notched his 36th double-double.  In fact, Julius is one of only 14 NBA players averaging a double-double for the season.  He is averaging 24.0 points for the season but is averaging 27.3 points in April and 30.1 points during this nine-game win streak.

RJ Barrett was plus-23 in 38 minutes.  He was an efficient 8/16 from the field and 6/7 from the line for 25 points.  It marks the sixth time in 13 games this month that he's topped 20 points.  Barrett also secured a season-high twelve rebounds for his first double-double since Mar. 25 against Washington.  It's his fifth double-double of the season and the sixth time he's secured double-digit rebounds.

Together, Nerlens Noel and Taj Gibson are not the equals of Bill Cartwright, but they nonetheless joined for ten points and ten rebounds at the center.

For the moment, the NBA stingiest defensive team owns the fourth place in the Eastern Conference all to themselves.  It's just such a shame packed houses at the church of DEE-FENSE aren't being allowed to witness and enjoy this.

• Next up: Phoenix Suns on Monday.

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 4/25/1921: Walter Johnson Defeats Yanks at Polo Grounds; Giants Bow to Robins in Brooklyn

From the desk: WHEN THE POLO GROUNDS WAS THE WORLD

100 Years Ago Today at the Polo Grounds: 

New York Giants & New York Yankees 

1921 Seasons Revisited

In their last season at Hilltop Park, the now formerly known New York Highlanders lost 102 games.  Rebranded as the Yankees, in 1913, they moved just a few blocks away into the Polo Grounds as tenants of the Senior Circuit's New York Giants.  To the chagrin of Giants manager John McGraw, the Americans proceeded to lose another 94 games.  

Known to hold a grudge, McGraw, two full decades later, still harbored much animosity not only towards Ban Johnson and his rebel circuit (unkept promises included) but more so towards the Yankees themselves who were founded at the expense of his rendered defunct Baltimore Orioles.  

For as long as the Yankees paid their rent, the tenant/landlord relationship with the Giants remained amicably strained.  Mainly because the middling Americans, except for one season in 1916, never elevated themselves above the ranks of Junior Circuit also-rans.  But that changed in 1919 when they briefly vied for the pennant but tuckered out down the stretch to finish third.  A franchise-record 619,164 fans showed up to root for the American League contenders.  However, the Yankees' burgeoning success was not yet a pressing issue, per se, for the Giants, who were coming off a second-place finish and their best season in a decade at the turnstile.

Then, in 1920, baseball's tectonic plates along the New York/New England fault shift.  The Yankees' purchase of George Herman "Babe" Ruth from the Boston Red Sox sends seismic waves reverberating throughout the baseball world but none more intense than in Washington Heights.  Ruth's earth-shattering record of 54 home runs was something never experienced before in the history of baseball but an accomplishment for which John McGraw has little appreciation as one who believes players work too hard and earnestly only to have their skills disrespected by some miscreant's lone swing of the bat.

Gotham's citizenry never before descended from Coogan's Bluff in such quantity and spectacle than in 1920 as the Giants would set a franchise record with 929,609 reported attendance.  However, the New York Nationals faced an economic dilemma of Ruthian proportions.  McGraw's disdain for his tenants was further heightened when the Yankees outdrew the host Giants in their own home for the first time in each franchise's history.  Headlined by Babe Ruth, the Yankees seized the city's attention, evidenced by an all-time major league record of 1,289,422 in attendance.

In 1921, over two million fans would again pack the Polo Grounds.  Babe Ruth would continue forward, accomplishing the unimaginable, and if that wasn't surreal enough, he proceeds to top it.  All the while, with each passing day, John McGraw grows more incensed.  Lest we forget, New York City is still Little Napoleon's empire.  

Sharing a ballpark for both teams is becoming an insufferable condition.  A solution lies not too far away ...  

In the meantime, two major league titans charge headlong into a season-ending October clash at the Polo Grounds.  It is New York City's first-ever World's Championship Subway Series.  All games are played at the Polo Grounds, making Coogan's Bluff the center of the baseball universe. 

This is my replay of that season.  I'll be exercising my creative license whenever and wherever ever possible.  More than anything, this is about having fun and celebrating New York City's baseball history.  

• Stats: BASEBALL REFERENCE

Enjoy the games ... PLAY BALL!

GAME #9

BOXSCORE: Monday, April 25, 1921 - BR

Washington Senators @ NEW YORK YANKEES

POLO GROUNDS

Big Train Outlasts Carl Mays; Litany of Errors Highlight Highlanders' Undoing

For the 15,000 on hand, victory seemed a surety.  With two outs in the first, Babe Ruth connects off the great Walter Johnson for his fifth home this season.  With two outs and two on base in the fourth, third baseman Aaron Ward singles home both Ruth and Wally Pipp.  Staked to a 3-0 lead, starter Carl Mays keeps the Senators hitless through seven.  However, his flirtations with history are rebuffed in the eighth.  After issuing consecutive walks, first baseman Joe Judge singles to left/center breaking up the no-hitter and loading the bases.  Afterwhich, right-fielder Clyde Milan follows with a comebacker that hits Mays and winds up being misplayed by catcher Wally Shang resulting in two unearned runs crossing the plate.  Next up, center fielder Sam Rice's sacrifice fly to right field scores Judge tying the game at three.  After Walter Johnson retires the Yankees in the bottom half of the frame, the Senators become beneficiaries of two more New York errors leading to another pair of runs and a sudden 5-3 lead.  Walter Johnson again retires the Yankees in order during their last half of the ninth to close out his second victory this season against one loss.  Big Train allows just five hits and strikes out seven.  Carl Mays suffers his first defeat, allowing five runs, but only two earned, on four hits and five walks with four strikeouts.  The Yankees' suffer a second straight defeat against Washington and their third loss in a row, including Philadelphia.

• FINAL: WAS 5; NYY 3
• RECORD: 5-4; third place, 2.0 GB of Cleveland

⚾

GAME #9

BOXSCORE: Monday, April 25, 1921 - BR

New York Giants @ BROOKLYN ROBINS

Ebbets Field

Uncle Robbie Gets Best of Giants in Series Opener

In this season's opening battle of the boroughs, Uncle Robbie's defending National League champions turn back local foe John McGraw and his band of aspiring contenders in game one of four scheduled this week at Brooklyn's Ebbets Field.  The host Robins promptly open the scoring against New York's Art Nehf.  Leading off, Ivy Olson doubles and soon scores on a Bernie Neis fielder's choice.  The Giants answered back against Brooklyn starter Dutch Reuther with a leadoff triple off the bat of center fielder Eddie Brown and a follow-up single from the third baseman Goldie Rapp.  But Brooklyn gets the better of Nehf in the third.  Ivy Olson walks and scores on third baseman Jimmy Johnston's triple.  Bernie Neis then follows with an inside park home run to center field, scoring Johnston for a 4-1 lead and the final margin of victory.  For Nehf, a second straight ineffective start.  He now owns a 5.11 ERA through his first 19.1 innings pitched.  First-year Robins pitcher acquired from Cincinnati, Dutch Reuther, yields just one earned run in eight hits and one walk with three strikeouts to even his record at 1-1 with a 4.86 ERA.

• FINAL: NYG 1; BKN 4
• RECORD: 6-3; third place, 1.5 GB of Pittsburgh

N.Y. Rangers: Confused Mission Statement

From the desk: RAISE GRESCHNER WITH THE GREATS

Friday Night Is Alright For Fighting

 Kevin Rooney vs. Scott Laughton

Flyers       1

Rangers   4

FINAL

I began the season with no expectations and saying this campaign is about learning how to lose.  I mean that within defeat lay the education and gaining insight into the little things it takes to win at this level.  

This season's division alignments provided a wonderful classroom for just that, with intensified schedules against the Capitals, Bruins, Islanders, and Penguins.  I wanted these kids thrown into the fire.  What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, but the experience would have been invaluable if it weren't for one thing: Coach Quinn and his incessant reconfiguring of lines on the fly.  When Coach Quinn and the coaching staff were made to quarantine, AHL coach Kris Knoblaugh filled in wonderfully by rolling four lines and leaving them alone.

How refreshing!

The Rangers still trail the Bruins by four points.  Despite playing them twice more to end the season, the Bruins still have two more games in hand.  And quite frankly, I don't want the Rangers making the playoffs because I feel Quinn has left them unprepared for that level of play.  Therefore, I want him devoting the remaining minutes of the season more towards this team's up-and-coming talent from here on out.

Friday against the Flyers, Alexis Lafreniere skated 22 shifts for 17:49 minutes, and that's a good thing.  In return, the highly touted teenager rewarded Quinn with a goal and an assist.  However, Filip Chytil was held under 14 minutes, while Kaapo Kakko and Vitali Kravtsov were held under 13 minutes.  I would like to see Lafreniere, Chytil, and Kaako Kappo on a line together more, so they can grow and learn to play together.  After all, that's what rebuilding teams do, and that's what these Rangers are, and that's why Quinn has frustrated me through the second half of the season.

Kaapo Kakko and Artemi Panarin assisted on Chytil's third-period goal, his eighth of the season.  Likewise, it was Kakko's eighth assist of the season. 

Don't you wanna see more?

Chris Kreider opened the scoring at 6:02 of the first while on a power play.  That's fine, but I know he's not carrying this team if they make the playoffs.

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 4/24/1921: Phil Douglas Hurls a Gem in Front of Packed House; Yankees Bow at Washington

From the desk: WHEN THE POLO GROUNDS WAS THE WORLD

100 Years Ago Today at the Polo Grounds: 

New York Giants & New York Yankees 

1921 Seasons Revisited

In their last season at Hilltop Park, the now formerly known New York Highlanders lost 102 games.  Rebranded as the Yankees, in 1913, they moved just a few blocks away into the Polo Grounds as tenants of the Senior Circuit's New York Giants.  To the chagrin of Giants manager John McGraw, the Americans proceeded to lose another 94 games.  

Known to hold a grudge, McGraw, two full decades later, still harbored much animosity not only towards Ban Johnson and his rebel circuit (unkept promises included) but more so towards the Yankees themselves who were founded at the expense of his rendered defunct Baltimore Orioles.  

For as long as the Yankees paid their rent, the tenant/landlord relationship with the Giants remained amicably strained.  Mainly because the middling Americans, except for one season in 1916, never elevated themselves above the ranks of Junior Circuit also-rans.  But that changed in 1919 when they briefly vied for the pennant but tuckered out down the stretch to finish third.  A franchise-record 619,164 fans showed up to root for the American League contenders.  However, the Yankees' burgeoning success was not yet a pressing issue, per se, for the Giants, who were coming off a second-place finish and their best season in a decade at the turnstile.

Then, in 1920, baseball's tectonic plates along the New York/New England fault shift.  The Yankees' purchase of George Herman "Babe" Ruth from the Boston Red Sox sends seismic waves reverberating throughout the baseball world but none more intense than in Washington Heights.  Ruth's earth-shattering record of 54 home runs was something never experienced before in the history of baseball but an accomplishment for which John McGraw has little appreciation as one who believes players worked too hard and earnestly only to have their skills disrespected by some miscreant's lone swing of the bat.

Gotham's citizenry never before descended from Coogan's Bluff in such quantity and spectacle than in 1920 as the Giants would set a franchise record with 929,609 reported attendance.  However, the New York Nationals faced an economic dilemma of Ruthian proportions.  McGraw's disdain for his tenants was further heightened when the Yankees outdrew the host Giants in their own home for the first time in each franchise's history.  Headlined by Babe Ruth, the Yankees seized the city's attention, evidenced by an all-time major league record of 1,289,422 in attendance.

In 1921, over two million fans would again pack the Polo Grounds.  Babe Ruth would continue forward, accomplishing the unimaginable, and if that wasn't surreal enough, he proceeds to top it.  All the while, with each passing day, John McGraw grows more incensed.  Lest we forget, New York City is still Little Napoleon's empire.  

Sharing a ballpark for both teams is becoming an insufferable condition.  A solution lies not too far away ...  

In the meantime, two major league titans charge headlong into a season-ending October clash at the Polo Grounds.  It is New York City's first-ever World's Championship Subway Series.  All games are played at the Polo Grounds, making Coogan's Bluff the center of the baseball universe. 

This is my replay of that season.  I'll be exercising my creative license whenever and wherever ever possible.  More than anything, this is about having fun and celebrating New York City's baseball history.  

• Stats: BASEBALL REFERENCE

Enjoy the games ... PLAY BALL!

⚾

GAME #8

BOXSCORE: Sunday, April 24, 1921 - BR

Philadelphia Phillies @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

Phil Douglas One-Hits Phillies in Front of 35,000 at Polo Grounds

After retiring the first five batters faced, Giants starter Phil Douglas surrenders a second-inning base hit to Phillies shortstop Ralph Miller who is quickly erased from the basepaths when thrown out attempting to steal second by catcher Frank Snyder.  After which, Douglas does not yield another hit for the rest of the game.  Phil strikes out five and walks three, and despite two more errors by Dave Bancroft at short, he only faces two batters over the minimum.  Douglas comes to his own defense by first picking off Cliff Lee at first base in the fifth, then after walking leadoff pinch-hitter Greasy Neale to open the ninth inning, he initiates a 1-6-3 double play.  Backstop Frank Snyder also throws out two baserunners attempting to steal.  Facing Philadelphia starter Lee Meadows with one out in the sixth, Frankie Frisch singles through the middle and scores on High Pocket Kelly's triple to center field for the lone run of the game.  This marks Lee Meadows' second loss in three appearances so far against the Giants.  Phil Douglas improves to 2-0 with a 1.64 earned run average.  Upwards of 35,000 fans expressed their appreciation.  Next on the docket, the Manhattanites are off to Brooklyn to play four against the Robins before returning to the Polo Grounds to host the Boston Braves.

• FINAL: PHI 0; NYG 1
• RECORD: 6-2; second place, 0.5 GB of Pittsburgh

⚾

GAME #8

BOXSCORE: Sunday, April 24, 1921 - BR

New York Yankees @ WASHINGTON SENATORS

Griffith Stadium

Senators Take Opener; Yanks Drop Second Straight

If not for an unearned run in the first inning, Washington's Tom Zachary effectively blanks the Yankees en route to a slim 3-1 series-opening victory at Griffith Stadium.  Roger Peckinpaugh reaches safely on one of just five hits by the Yankees and eventually scores on one of three errors committed in the game by the Senators.  After which, the Yankees offense short circuits over the remaining eight innings.  Zachary, as noted, yields one unearned run on five hits and two walks with nine strikeouts for his second win against one loss.  In his second start, rookie right-hander Bill Piercy takes the loss upon yielding three runs (two earned) on six hits and four walks with four strikeouts.  Washington shortstop Frank O'Rourke goes 1 for 4 with a triple and two runs batted in, and center fielder Sam Rice drives in the Senators' other run.  With two more hits, Babe Ruth is 15 for 30 (.500) to start the season with eight extra-base hits, including three home runs and eleven runs batted in.  Nevertheless, the Yankees lose their second straight and thus fall into third place, one-half game behind the Senators and a full game behind the Cleveland Indians.

• FINAL: NYY 1; WAS 3
• RECORD: 5-3; third place 1.0 GB of Cleveland

  

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 4/23/1921: Rain Cancels Games Along East Coast

From the desk: WHEN THE POLO GROUNDS WAS THE WORLD

100 Years Ago Today at the Polo Grounds: 

New York Giants & New York Yankees 

1921 Seasons Revisited

In their last season at Hilltop Park, the now formerly known New York Highlanders lost 102 games.  Rebranded as the Yankees, in 1913, they moved just a few blocks away into the Polo Grounds as tenants of the Senior Circuit's New York Giants.  To the chagrin of Giants manager John McGraw, the Americans proceeded to lose another 94 games.  

Known to hold a grudge, McGraw, two full decades later, still harbored much animosity not only towards Ban Johnson and his rebel circuit (unkept promises included) but more so towards the Yankees themselves who were founded at the expense of his rendered defunct Baltimore Orioles.  

For as long as the Yankees paid their rent, the tenant/landlord relationship with the Giants remained amicably strained.  Mainly because the middling Americans, except for one season in 1916, never elevated themselves above the ranks of Junior Circuit also-rans.  But that changed in 1919 when they briefly vied for the pennant but tuckered out down the stretch to finish third.  A franchise-record 619,164 fans showed up to root for the American League contenders.  However, the Yankees' burgeoning success was not yet a pressing issue, per se, for the Giants, who were coming off a second-place finish and their best season in a decade at the turnstile.

Then, in 1920, baseball's tectonic plates along the New York/New England fault shift.  The Yankees' purchase of George Herman "Babe" Ruth from the Boston Red Sox sends seismic waves reverberating throughout the baseball world but none more intense than in Washington Heights.  Ruth's earth-shattering record of 54 home runs was something never experienced before in the history of baseball but an accomplishment for which John McGraw has little appreciation as one who believes players worked too hard and earnestly only to have their skills disrespected by some miscreant's lone swing of the bat.

Gotham's citizenry never before descended from Coogan's Bluff in such quantity and spectacle than in 1920 as the Giants would set a franchise record with 929,609 reported attendance.  However, the New York Nationals faced an economic dilemma of Ruthian proportions.  McGraw's disdain for his tenants was further heightened when the Yankees outdrew the host Giants in their own home for the first time in each franchise's history.  Headlined by Babe Ruth, the Yankees seized the city's attention, evidenced by an all-time major league record of 1,289,422 in attendance.

In 1921, over two million fans would again pack the Polo Grounds.  Babe Ruth would continue forward, accomplishing the unimaginable, and if that wasn't surreal enough, he proceeds to top it.  All the while, with each passing day, John McGraw grows more incensed.  Lest we forget, New York City is still Little Napoleon's empire.  

Sharing a ballpark for both teams is becoming an insufferable condition.  A resolution lies not too far away ...  

In the meantime, two major league titans charge headlong into a season-ending October clash at the Polo Grounds.  It is New York City's first-ever World's Championship Subway Series.  All games are played at the Polo Grounds, making Coogan's Bluff the center of the baseball universe. 

This is my replay of that season.  I'll be exercising my creative license whenever and wherever ever possible.  More than anything, this is about having fun and celebrating New York City's baseball history.  

• Stats: BASEBALL REFERENCE

Enjoy the games ... PLAY BALL!

GAME CALLED: RAIN

Saturday, April 23, 1921

Philadelphia Phillies @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

The Giants have their fourth game of the young season postponed by rain.  But there is good news.  The first-place Pittsburgh Pirates fall to the Cincinnati Reds at Forbes Field.  The 34-year old former Giant and Brooklyn Superba Rube Marquard goes the distance for his first victory of the season.  Cincinnati's win cuts the Giants deficit in the early National League standings to one-half game.  The Boston Braves versus Dodgers game at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn was likewise canceled.

⚾

• 4/22/1921 - Giants Win First Game at Home; Yankees Knocked Out of the Box at Shibe

• 4/21/1921 - Giants Drop Polo Grounds Opener to Phillies; Yankees Open Road Trip With Win Over A's

• 4/20/1921 - Babe Ruth, Bob Meusel Power Yanks Past Red Sox; Brave Receive Similar Treatment From Visiting Giants

• 4/19/1921 - Giants Squeeze In a Victory at Boston; Yankees Endure Second Straight Rainout

• 4/17/1921 - Yankees Blank Visiting Red Sox

• 4/16/1921 - Babe Ruth Hits First Home Run; Giants Fall at Philadelphia

• 4/14/1921 - Yankees Tripped Up By Athletics; Giants Win Second Straight at Philadelphia

• 4/13/1921 - Yankees Trounce Athletics in Home Opener; Giants Outlast Phils in Extras

⚾

GAME CALLED: RAIN

Saturday, April 23, 1921

New York Yankees @ PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS

Shibe Park

Like the Giants, the New York Yankees have a fourth game this month postponed by rain which continues inundating the East Coast.  The Red Sox game against the Washington Senators at Fenway Park was also canceled.  In Cleveland, the Indians defeat the St. Louis Browns to forge a first-place tie with the idle Yankees.  Three-time 20-game winner Stan Coveleski earns his second victory against one loss.

N.Y. Islanders: Capitals Claim the High Ground

From the desk: THE LONG ISLAND NOMADS

WEDNESDAY

Capitals   1

Islanders  0

FINAL/SO

Swing and a Miss..!

Washington draws first blood, but it was like extracting water from a rock.  The teams may have well played this game in sand.  All that skating around got the Islanders and Capitals nowhere.  Sixty minutes of regulation time hockey and no goals in an otherwise evenly contested game.  With all things being relatively equal, the teams dueled through a scoreless overtime session as well.  

Into shootout, they went ...

Semyon Varlamov made a nifty save against T.J. Oshie.  Anthony Beauvillier cashed in at the other end against Ilya Samsonov, but Nicklas Backstrom answered.  Next up, Brock Nelson inexplicably missed wide left ( I mean wide..).  After which, Evgeny Kuznetsov ended it.  

Washington wins rights to the second point.  They finish the night with 64 points.  The Islanders, with 63 points, fall into a tie with the Penguins, who dismantled the Devils. 

No!  Washington's usual starter Vitek Vanecek did not play.  

Ilya Samsonov entered the game with a .904 SV% and 2.79 GAA through 17 appearances.  He previously allowed the Islanders six goals in a game he started back on April Fool's Day.  This time, the joke was on Long Island.  He faced 26 shots on goal and stopped them all, including 24 at even strength.  But the best save he didn't need to make came against Brock Nelson!

One cannot begrudge Semyon Varlamov.  He faced 28 shots on goal, including three on special teams.

Ironically, the last time these teams met, Brock Nelson scored the game's only goal at 13:05 of the third period.

Expect more of the same this coming Saturday, including the Isles continuing plight on the power play.

N.Y. Knicks: Eight is Great

From the desk: KICKING CANS DOWN 33RD STREET WITH JIMMY

Midweek Thriller at the Garden

WEDNESDAY

Hawks   127

Knicks   137

FINAL/OT

Three Overtime Victories Highlight Eight Game Winning Streak

Julius Randle may be the shining star on this team, but Derrick Rose is the quiet captain since his arrival from Detroit.

Eight games ago, the Knicks took Memphis into overtime and won by four; Rose scored 19 points in 26 minutes.  Last Sunday, the Knicks took New Orleans into overtime and won by ten; Rose scored 23 points, his most since joining the Knicks.  On Wednesday, he calmly helped gear up his mates for yet another extra session. 

A two-point deficit at halftime was increased to seven points after three quarters.  But once Derrick Rose tied the game at 109-109 with 6:25 left in regulation, Julius Randle scored ten of his game-high 40 points in the remaining minutes of the fourth to send this game into overtime.  Once there, the Knicks outscored the Atlanta Hawks 15-5 for a ten-point margin of victory.

Julius Randle continues leading the league with 37.5 minutes per game.  Under Coach Thibs, he's been making the most of it.  With 10.4 rebounds and 23.9 points per game, Randle is one of just 14 NBA players averaging a double-double for the season.  He is presently averaging 27.0 points per game through twelve games in April.  Wednesday's effort was the second time in his last four games that Julius scored at least 40 points.

Derrick Rose absolutely helped facilitate the win with 20 points and a plus-14 in 30 minutes off the bench.  Immanuel Quickley also contributed 20 points in 30 minutes, but his game-high plus-29 proved the most imperative contribution of all.

Atlanta's Clint Capela led all players with 22 rebounds.  However, the Knicks outrebounded the Hawks 49-41, led by eleven from Randle and a team-high twelve from Nerlens Noel, who literally rendered blood for the cause.  

Team Thibs pulled this game out despite eleven fewer possessions.  Reggie Bullock added 18 points in 40 minutes, and RJ Barrett connected for 16 points, six rebounds, and five assists in 41 minutes.

The Knicks improved their record to 33-27 (.550) and move into fourth place, one half-game ahead of the Hawks in the Eastern Conference standings.  They remain the stingiest team in the league, allowing an average of 104.7 points per game, and their 20 home victories rank third-most in the conference.

And, yes, they are now winners of eight in a row!

Brooklyn Nets: Spotlight Suddenly Fixed on Kyrie Irving

From the desk: THE HOOPS OF FLATBUSH

WEDNESDAY

Nets    103

Raptors 114

FINAL

All Together, Or Not ...

One look at the starting four alongside Kyrie Irving makes it difficult to begrudge him over Wednesday's loss against Toronto.  Kyrie said it himself: Harden is the point guard, and he is the shooting guard.  Their respective talents actually make it a natural fit.  Harden is the ball handler and the facilitator; Kyrie is the shooter, penetrator, and scoreboard detonator.  

There have been a few occasions this season without KD or Kyrie on the floor wherein Harden demonstrated his ability to incorporate more of his teammates en route to victory.  Case in point, Harden squeezes the most out of DeAndre Jordan.  Not that he hasn't before, but Kyrie Irving not so much as he is usually too busy creating his own shots.  The respective season averages in assists between Harden and Irving partly bears this out.  DeAndre Jordan finished with seven points on four attempts but secured a game-high 14 rebounds in 29 minutes off the bench.  Harden looks for Jordan four times in one quarter.

With easily the game's most attempts, Kyrie Irving was 10/21 from the field, including just 2/5 from behind the arc, and once again a perfect 6/6 from the line for a game-high 28 points.  He secured eleven rebounds, but with 21 attempts being a priority, his radar blipped for just eight assists.  In his defense, Kyrie is averaging 6.1 assists for the season, so there's that.

Landry Shamet was second with 17 attempts from the field, and his inaccuracy (3/17 from the field and 2/12 from behind the arc) was certainly a contributing factor in this loss.  But he was second on the team with only four assists in 36 minutes.  That's a mere twelve assists together from Irving and Shamet when James Harden alone is averaging eleven assists as a member of the Nets.  Flatbush had 19 assists all game, and no one other than Kyrie and Landry had more than two.

Otherwise, Joe Harris followed up a big game against the Pelicans by descending back down to fourth on the team in shot attempts.  He was 5/10 from the field, including a more accurate 4/5 from behind the arc for 14 points in 34 minutes.  Bruce Brown was second on the team with 21 points and a game-high 14 rebounds in 30 minutes off the bench.

Lack of ball distribution wasn't the Nets' only problem.  Toronto was plus-14 in fastbreak points and plus-15 from behind the arc.

Brooklyn jumped out to a 36-23 lead after one but was outscored 69-45 through the second and third quarters, then in the fourth quarter dueled to a 22-22 stalemate and an eleven-point loss against the Raptors.

LAST EIGHT GAMES:

• W ~ L ~ W ~ L ~ W ~ L ~ W ~ L

Thirteen games remain before the postseason begins.  Win or lose, they're now at a point where their present condition becomes increasingly more problematic with each passing day.

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 4/22/1921: Giants Win First Game At Home; Yankees Knocked Out Of The Box At Shibe

From the desk: WHEN THE POLO GROUNDS WAS THE WORLD

100 Years Ago Today at the Polo Grounds: 

New York Giants & New York Yankees 

1921 Seasons Revisited

In their last season at Hilltop Park, the now formerly known New York Highlanders lost 102 games.  Rebranded as the Yankees, in 1913, they moved just a few blocks away into the Polo Grounds as tenants of the Senior Circuit's New York Giants.  To the chagrin of Giants manager John McGraw, the Americans proceeded to lose another 94 games.  

Known to hold a grudge, McGraw, two full decades later, still harbored much animosity not only towards Ban Johnson and his rebel circuit (unkept promises included) but more so towards the Yankees themselves who were founded at the expense of his rendered defunct Baltimore Orioles.  

For as long as the Yankees paid their rent, the tenant/landlord relationship with the Giants remained amicably strained.  Mainly because the middling Americans, except for one season in 1916, never elevated themselves above the ranks of Junior Circuit also-rans.  But that changed in 1919 when they briefly vied for the pennant but tuckered out down the stretch to finish third.  A franchise-record 619,164 fans showed up to root for the American League contenders.  However, the Yankees' burgeoning success was not yet a pressing issue, per se, for the Giants, who were coming off a second-place finish and their best season in a decade at the turnstile.

Then, in 1920, baseball's tectonic plates along the New York/New England fault shift.  The Yankees' purchase of George Herman "Babe" Ruth from the Boston Red Sox sends seismic waves reverberating throughout the baseball world but none more intense than in Washington Heights.  Ruth's earth-shattering record of 54 home runs was something never experienced before in the history of baseball but an accomplishment for which John McGraw has little appreciation as one who believes players worked too hard and earnestly only to have their skills disrespected by some miscreant's lone swing of the bat.

Gotham's citizenry never before descended from Coogan's Bluff in such quantity and spectacle than in 1920 as the Giants would set a franchise record with 929,609 reported attendance.  However, the New York Nationals faced an economic dilemma of Ruthian proportions.  McGraw's disdain for his tenants was further heightened when the Yankees outdrew the host Giants in their own home for the first time in each franchise's history.  Headlined by Babe Ruth, the Yankees seized the city's attention, evidenced by an all-time major league record of 1,289,422 in attendance.

In 1921, over two million fans would again pack the Polo Grounds.  Babe Ruth would continue forward accomplishing the unimaginable, and if that wasn't surreal enough, he proceeds to top it.  All the while with each passing day, John McGraw grows more incensed.  Lest we forget, New York City is still Little Napoleon's empire.  

Sharing a ballpark for both teams is becoming an insufferable condition.  A resolution lies not too far away ...  

In the meantime, two major league titans charge headlong into a season-ending October clash at the Polo Grounds.  It is New York City's first-ever World's Championship Subway Series.  All games are played at the Polo Grounds, making Coogan's Bluff the center of the baseball universe. 

This is my replay of that season.  I'll be exercising my creative license whenever and wherever ever possible.  More than anything, this is about having fun and celebrating New York City's baseball history.  

• Stats: BASEBALL REFERENCE

Enjoy the games ... PLAY BALL!

⚾

GAME #7

BOXSCORE: Friday, April 22, 1921 - BR

Philadelphia Phillies @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

Jesse Barnes Hurls Giants First Home Victory; High Pockets Kelly Powers The Way 

Roughly 10,000 fans anxiously sit through a nail-biter at the Polo Grounds.  To open the game, starter Jesse Barnes issues a lead-off walk to Phillies' right fielder Casey Stengel who soon advances then scores on a Dave Bancroft misplay at short.  Fans nibble away until catcher Earl Smith's home run in the fifth inning ties the game at one.  Philadelphia starter Red Causey who to this point had limited the Giants to just four hits, yields his final hit in the bottom of the seventh - a long home run to deep left field by High Pockets Kelley, his fourth of the season.  Kelly has now driven in 15 runs through the Giants' first seven games.  Earl Smith enjoys a nifty day both at the plate and behind it by throwing out two baserunners attempting to steal.  Jesse Barnes allows no earned runs on six hits and one walk over nine full innings for his first victory of the season and the Giants' first win at home.

• FINAL: PHI 1; NYG 2
• RECORD: 5-2; second place, 1.0 GB of Pittsburgh

⚾

GAME #7

BOXSCORE: Friday, April 22, 1921 - BR

New York Yankees @ PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS

Shibe Park

Babe Ruth Hits Number Four But Athletics Trounce Yankees To Even Series

The Yankees' four-game win streak comes to an abrupt halt this afternoon at Shibe Park.  Philadelphia lands a stiff jab with four runs in the third inning, then connects on a straight right with seven runs in the seventh inning, and down go the New Yorkers.  The A's punish Brooklyn-born right-hander Waite Hoyt for ten runs, seven earned, on eleven hits and four walks before Manager Huggins, with two outs in the seventh, throws in the towel.  Second-year starter Eddie Rommel improves his record to 2-2 with a 3.92 ERA upon yielding four runs, two earned, on just four hits and three walks through a full nine innings.  However, he fails to escape the bat of Babe Ruth, who swats his fourth home run of the season in the fourth inning with Roger Peckinpaugh aboard.  Third baseman Aaron Ward off to an exceptional start drives in a run, as does Peckinpaugh to no avail.  A's third baseman, Joe Dugan, finishes 3 for 5 with three runs batted in.  

• FINAL: NYY 4; PHI 11
• RECORD: 5-2; first place, 0.5 GA of Cleveland/Washington

N.Y. Islanders: First Place Showdown Against Washington Capitals

From the desk: THE LONG ISLAND NOMADS

SHOWDOWN

Capitals lead Islanders; 3-2

I - WAS 3; NYI 2

II - WAS 6; NYI 3

III - WAS 3; NYI 1

IV - NYI 8; WAS 4

V - NYI 1; WAS 0

Washington Capitals

vs.

New York Islanders

The Rangers must have been feeling really good about themselves after sweeping four straight from the Devils.  Whatever they were feeling ended Tuesday night when the Isles slapped some reality back into them with a decisive 6-1 victory at The Barn.

• Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba left the game midway through the first period with only five minutes of ice time after getting plastered in the corner by Matt Martin who was the initial recipient of a big hit by Trouba.

Josh Bailey returned from missing two games.  However, Cal Clutterbuck remains out.  Bailey was joined on the same line with Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Anthony Beauvillier.  Together they accounted for nine points.  Jordan Eberle finished with a goal and an assist, and Brock Nelson scored his team-leading 16th goal.  Even new acquisitions Travis Zajac and Kyle Palmieri joined for three shots on goal and an assist each.

The next three games will go a long way towards determining the East Division winner.  Long Island and Washington enter the series tied at 62 points each with an equal number of games remaining.  After the Capitals, the Isles finish out the season with two games each against the Rangers, Sabres, and Devils and a one-game season finale against the Bruins.  The Capitals finish up with two each against the Penguins, Rangers, and Flyers and close out the regular season with one game against Boston. 

Semyon Varlamov

• Games: 30
• Record: 17-9-3
• SV%: .923
• GAA: 2.20

Vitek Vanecek

• Games: 31
• Record: 17-9-3
• SV%: .908
• GAA: 2.77

The Islanders are sputtering of late with a 1-3-2 record in their last six games.  The Caps are 4-2-0 in their last six but are coming off a loss against Boston.  Washington leads the season series.  However, the Islanders have won the last two meetings.  When they last played on Apr. 6, Brock Nelson scored the only goal of the game.  Semyon Varlamov faced 29 shots and stopped them all for the shutout.

N.Y. Mets: Michael Conforto Stock Opens the Season on a Downtick

From the desk: HEAD-BUTTING MR. MET

Playing the Futures Game

Every Option Has Its Strike Price, But Conforto's Spread is Still Undeterminable

Before he hits the open market, both the Mets front office and super-agent Scott Boris need the real Michael Conforto to finally reveal himself.  

The two parties are agreeable to negotiating during the season.  Boras will undoubtedly seek investment as if his client were poised to become one of the premier hitters in baseball.  If you project last season over a full 162 game schedule, Conforto's career trajectory suggests he's heading in the right direction.  

But that's pure speculation.

Insofar as his ultimate valuation, herein lies a situation where it might be in the Mets' best interest for Conforto to indeed exercise his right of free agency.  That's where prices are set in a condition of supply and demand, for those with the wherewithal, that is.  Before committing to making a market, one must ask what Michael Conforto supplies and what kind of demand from Scott Boras is the Mets front office willing to entertain?  Much of that is likely being determined this season, and it is for this main reason I suspect Boras is entertaining open-ended discussions.  He needs to maximize a return before season's end, before needing to put his client up for sale, knowing full well the Mets no longer shop the discount aisle.

Michael Conforto recently turned 28-years old and is now in his seventh major league season with over 2,100 at-bats on his resume.  To date, his career .839 OPS is respectable but far from elite.  Nor is he a career .500 slugger.  That's why like the stock exchange itself, Conforto's bid and ask fluctuates with every pitch of every game.  Said another way, he is yet to firmly establish himself as one of the game's premier investment vehicles largely because he has so far failed to make a clear distinction between being common stock or the preferred variety.

Conforto has not been that type of hitter who places the team on his back and carries them because, the truth is told, those instances have been infrequent.  Why go crazy (and I did) with splits and stats like average with runners in scoring position and the like.  All those statistics demand the same thing: production; how many runs is he generating.  Thus, the following are simply the jists of what is his career highlights.

• As a rookie, there's a stretch spanning Aug. 26 - Sept. 13, where Conforto drove in eleven runs in 17 games.  He then went on to drive in six runs through twelve postseason games.  

• He got off to a hot start the following season with 18 RBI through 21 games in April, including a stretch of ten RBI through the month's last six games.  Otherwise, he was both pedestrian and injured from May through August.  In September, he drove in nine runs in 25 games.

• In 2017 Conforto gets off to a streaky start with 13 RBI in 21 games - he drives in six runs in six games; he drives in five runs over three games in another stretch.  However, in May, he drives in 21 runs in 26 games, including two separate streaks of seven RBI over five games and eight RBI over six games.  In July, he drives in 14 runs over 18 games and twice drives in four runs in one game (seven games apart).  But he downticks in August and sits out in September with an injury.

• The 2018 season goes as such: April, six RBI in 20 games; May, nine RBI in 25 games; June, nine RBI in 26 games; July, 15 RBI in 24 games; August, 14 RBI in 30 games.  In September, Michael Conforto drives in 29 runs in 28 games, including a stretch of 22 RBI over 16 games.

• In 2019 Michael Conforto, for the first time in his career, averages double-digit RBI for every month (April-Sept.)* of the season.  In May, five of his twelve RBI come in one game against the Dodgers.  His best three months were his last three.  In August, he drives in 23 runs in 27 games, including stretches of seven RBI in three games and nine RBI in six games.

• During last year's pandemic shortened season, Conforto drives in 14 runs in 27 August games and likewise drives in 14 runs in September but in eight fewer games, including five RBI in one game and four RBI in another.

• * NOTE: Conforto has no RBI in March/October regular-season games. 

Is this all indicative of more to come where it concerns proficiency, productivity, frequency, and above all, consistency?  Will the cost be commensurate with his performance?

There's a lot of potential equity in his Louisville Slugger.  The question is can Michael tap into it and become elite by Summer or the onset of Fall.  Conforto's extreme likeability is a byproduct of in-house development and fervent team support.  Stuff like that doesn't play in Adam Smith's world of free-market enterprise.  At the end of the day, preferred shareholders are guaranteed a dividend; common shareholders, not so much.  

100 YEARS AGO AT THE POLO GROUNDS 4/21/1921: Giants Drop Polo Grounds Opener to Phillies; Yankees Open Road Trip With Win Over A's

From the desk: WHEN THE POLO GROUNDS WAS THE WORLD

100 Years Ago Today at the Polo Grounds: 

New York Giants & New York Yankees 

1921 Seasons Revisited

In their last season at Hilltop Park, the now formerly known New York Highlanders lost 102 games.  Rebranded as the Yankees, in 1913, they moved just a few blocks away into the Polo Grounds as tenants of the Senior Circuit's New York Giants.  To the chagrin of Giants manager John McGraw, the Americans proceeded to lose another 94 games.  

Known to hold a grudge, McGraw, two full decades later, still harbored much animosity not only towards Ban Johnson and his rebel circuit (unkept promises included) but more so towards the Yankees themselves who were founded at the expense of his rendered defunct Baltimore Orioles.  

For as long as the Yankees paid their rent, the tenant/landlord relationship with the Giants remained amicably strained.  Mainly because the middling Americans, except for one season in 1916, never elevated themselves above the ranks of Junior Circuit also-rans.  But that changed in 1919 when they briefly vied for the pennant but tuckered out down the stretch to finish third.  A franchise-record 619,164 fans showed up to root for the American League contenders.  However, the Yankees' burgeoning success was not yet a pressing issue, per se, for the Giants, who were coming off a second-place finish and their best season in a decade at the turnstile.

Then, in 1920, baseball's tectonic plates along the New York/New England fault shifted.  The Yankees' purchase of George Herman "Babe" Ruth from the Boston Red Sox sent seismic waves reverberating throughout the baseball world but none more intense than in Washington Heights.  Ruth's earth-shattering record of 54 home runs was something never experienced before in the history of baseball but an accomplishment for which John McGraw had little appreciation as one who believed players worked too hard and earnestly only to have their skills disrespected by some miscreant's lone swing of the bat.

Gotham's citizenry never before descended from Coogan's Bluff in such quantity and spectacle than in 1920 as the Giants would set a franchise record with 929,609 reported attendance.  However, the New York Nationals faced an economic dilemma of Ruthian proportions.  McGraw's disdain for his tenants was further heightened when the Yankees outdrew the host Giants in their own home for the first time in each franchise's history.  Headlined by Babe Ruth, the Yankees seized the city's attention, evidenced by an all-time major league record of 1,289,422 in attendance.

In 1921, over two million fans would again pack the Polo Grounds.  Babe Ruth would continue forward accomplishing the unimaginable, and if that wasn't surreal enough, he proceeds to top it - all the while with each passing day, John McGraw grows more incensed.  Lest we forget, New York City is still Little Napoleon's empire.  

Sharing a ballpark for both teams is becoming an insufferable condition.  A resolution lies not too far away ...  

In the meantime, two major league titans charge headlong into a season-ending October clash at the Polo Grounds.  It is New York City's first-ever World's Championship Subway Series.  All games are played at the Polo Grounds, making Coogan's Bluff the center of the baseball universe. 

This is my replay of that season.  I'll be exercising my creative license whenever and wherever ever possible.  More than anything, this is about having fun and celebrating New York City's baseball history.  

• Stats: BASEBALL REFERENCE

Enjoy the games ... PLAY BALL!

⚾

GAME #6

BOXSCORE: Thursday, April 21, 1921 - BR

Philadelphia Phillies @ NEW YORK GIANTS

POLO GROUNDS

Giants Bow to Phillies in Polo Grounds Opener

A more livid mind cannot be found up or down the East Coast than that boiling inside the head of John McGraw.  Yielding a run in the eighth inning and ultimately losing to visiting Philadelphia on Opening Day is only partly the issue.  After all, that's baseball and within his control.  However, the Yankees outdrawing his Giants by upwards of 12,000 patrons in their respective first home games of the season is largely his matter and something disturbingly beyond his managerial authority.  Be that as it may, 25,000 watched in dismay as the Phillies jump starter Fred Toney for two runs in the first and two more in the second.  With one out in the bottom of the second, High Pockets Kelly connects off Phillies starter Bill Hubbell for his third home run of the season.  The Giants continue chipping away with runs in the fourth and fifth innings, then knot the game at five when High Pockets Kelly triples home Curt Walker and scores on Eddie Brown's sacrifice fly to left field.  But with two outs and the bases loaded with Phillies in the eighth, Dave Bancroft mishandles Bevo LeBourveau's grounder to short, allowing the decisive run to score.  Jimmie Keenan earns the victory with two scoreless innings in relief of Bill Hubbell.  Huck Betts closes out the eighth and ninth innings.

• FINAL: PHI 6; NYG 5
• RECORD:  4-2; second place, 1.0 GB of Pittsburgh

⚾

GAME #6

BOXSCORE: Thursday, April 21, 1921 - BR

New York Yankees @ PHILADELPHIA ATHLETICS

Shibe Park

The Babe Ruth Show Hits The Road; Carl Mays Earns Third Victory

The Highlanders' first venture this season away from the Polo Grounds is a successful one.  Right-hander Carl Mays wins his third decision in as many starts, limiting the host Athletics to one earned run on 13 hits and one walk.  Just as they did back on Opening Day at the Polo Grounds, Philadelphia spoils Mays' shutout effort with a late-inning run and an inconsequential one at that.  Facing southpaw Roy Moore, Babe Ruth doubles home Roger Peckinpaugh for an early first-inning lead.  In the fourth, Bob Meusel doubles home Ruth and Wally Pipp, and Aaron Ward's run-scoring single in the sixth gives the Yankees a four-run advantage.  For good measure in the ninth, Babe Ruth connects on his third home run of the season scoring Chick Fewster for a final 6-1 margin of victory, the Yankees' fourth win in a row.

• FINAL: NYY 6; PHI 1
• RECORD:  5-1; first place, 1 GA of Washington

Brooklyn Nets: Kyrie Irving Pushes Flatbush Past Pelicans

From the desk: THE HOOPS OF FLATBUSH

James Harden Out Until Further Notice;

Less Than a Month Remains in Regular Season

TUESDAY

Nets     134

Pelicans 129

FINAL

Joe Harris Picks Up The Slack Against Pelicans

Hello, Joe Harris, and thank you very kindly for showing up!

Playing minus Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Nicolas Claxton, Joe Harris is second in shot attempts behind Kyrie Irving.  He shoots 10/16 from the field, including 3/6 from behind the arc and 1/2 from the line for 24 points in 34 minutes.  

That's what I'm talking about, and with James Harden due to miss even more time, the Nets need more of this from Joe Harris.  He and Kyrie keep their hands on the ball in the closing moments to close out a five-point victory over the gamely New Orleans Pelicans.  Harris and Irving join for 18 points in the closing minutes.  Harris scores five of his 24 points, and Irving scores 13 of his team-high 32 points in the game's final five minutes.

Kyrie Irving and Landry Shamet joined together for 16 assists; both tied with a game-high eight apiece.  Shamet was third on the team with 18 points but posted a team-high plus-16 in 33 minutes.  Jeff Green added 15 points and nine rebounds in 33 minutes.  But without James Harden feeding him the ball, DeAndre Jordan finished with eight points and six rebounds.  His 21 minutes was the fewest among the starters.

Bruce Brown played in big role with eleven points and a game-high eleven rebound, along with a plus-12 in 26 minutes off the bench.  Blake Griffin led the bench scorers with 16 points and eight rebounds in 28 minutes.  

In all, the Nets had seven players score in double-digits.  They turned a two-point deficit at the half into a five-point victory with 41 points in the fourth quarter and 77 points in the second half. 

According to the Nets, James Harden suffered a setback in his recovery from a hamstring injury, and as Coach Nash put it, he is back to square one.  As we know, Kevin Durant is also still not 100% recovered from his own leg injury.  The Nets have 14 regular-season games left to figure out how to get Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving on the floor together in time for the playoffs.  The three have played just seven games together.