Jazz 100 Warriors 87- Stop us if you've heard this before, but after a back-and-forth game, the Warriors lost the game in the closing minutes as their offense was unable to score. Actually, it's amazing the Warriors were even that close as they had trouble shooting threes, Davis was held somewhat in check, and they let their emotions get to them again and racked up a flagrant foul and two technical fouls within minutes of each other.
If you take away all the excitement of the playoff run, it has to be said that all of this is as expected when they hired Nellie. Nellie is known for having his teams play an exciting up-tempo game and getting his team into the playoffs where he's good for an upset or two. But that's about it. When you hire Nelson and get his team to play Nellie Ball you get a team not geared for advancing far in the playoffs. Sooner or later, his team will run into a team like the Jazz-- bigger, better defensively, and coached by somebody who can match Nellie move for move-- and get eliminated. The Warriors got all that when they hired Nelson. But that's pretty much what we can expect to see over the next few years.
Giants 6 Astros 5- Many people will think Armando Benitez lost the game for the Giants when he gave up a two-run home run in the eighth and allowed the 'Stros to tie the game. We, however, think the blame should reside with us as we turned on the game just as Benitez came into pitch, therefore altering the time/space continuum and changing the karmic balance in which the game was being played. We apologize.
A's 5 Royals 4- Like the Giants, the A's had a lead going into late innings only to have their bullpen blow the save and allow the other team to tie the game. Unlike the Giants, however, the A's managed to squeak out the win in extra innings. Games like this could be the norm for Oakland as Huston Street and Justin Duchscherer are the latest to go down with injuries.
Hey, maybe the A's would be interested in Armando Benitez?.