Talk about a memorable sports weekend! What caught our eye? How about Chris Paul’s game winning shot from Saturday night? Good stuff.

QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK

NBA

A preliminary congrats to this season’s soon to be MVP…  Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors!

Chris Paul’s inspirational Game 7 heroics led the LA Clippers past the defending NBA champions, the San Antonio Spurs, 111-109. Paul, who had previously been forced to leave the game with an injury, returned with a vengeance, sinking the game-winning shot with under 10 seconds to go, propelling the Clippers into the next round. It’s too early to tell, but it sounds like Coach Popovich, Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili  will come back to the Spurs for at least one more season after all.

The second round of playoff action has begun!  The Washington Wizards continue to impress, after sweeping the Toronto Raptors in the first round by stealing Game 1 against the top-seeded Atlanta Hawks. This week, the Chicago Bulls will face LeBron James and the Kevin Love-less Cleveland Cavaliers. The Western Conference Semi Finals see the Houston Rockets taking on the LA Clippers while NBA MVP  Steph Curry’s Golden State Warriors match up against the Memphis Grizzlies.

This week, we’re excited about:

Monday – Chicago Bulls vs Cleveland Cavaliers 7pm EST and LA Clippers vs Houston Rockets 9:30pm EST

Tuesday – Washington Wizards vs Atlanta Hawks 8pm EST and Memphis Grizzlies vs Golden State Warriors 10:30pm EST

NHL

There’s nothing quite like playoff hockey and so far this post season has lived up to the bill.  Round 1 saw two series decided by Game 7, two thrilling all-Canadian match ups, two Western Conference upsets, fights, penalties, goaltender changes, a triple overtime, and no shortage of pretty passes, big hits, and goals galore. Round 2 pits the Chicago Blackhawks against the Minnesota Wild, the Anaheim Ducks take on the Calgary Flames, Montreal Canadiens versus the Tampa Bay Lightning, and the New York Rangers face off against the Washington Capitals.

Ice Hockey World Championships kicked off this past week, and we were able to watch many of the NHL stars who didn’t make it to the playoffs compete. Meanwhile, the NHL Hart Memorial Trophy, awarded to the league’s most valuable player, will end up in the deserving hands of Washington Capitals’ forward Alex Ovechkin, Montreal Canadiens’ goalie Carey Price or New York Islanders’ forward John Tavares.

MLB

The Houston Astros won their 10th game in row on Sunday evening against the Seattle Mariners to remain atop the American League thus far in the season.

Josh Hamilton is back with the Texas Rangers and is expected to bat for the team for the first time this season this week.

The Milwaukee Brewers parted ways with Manager Ron Roenicke after their MLB worst start at 7-18. The team is expected to choose a replacement this week.

 

Other

Let’s talk about this past week’s NFL.  The real story was the quarterbacks as Jameis Winston went #1 to the Tampa Bay Bucs followed by Marcus Mariota at #2 to the Tennessee Titans.  Also of note was Todd Gurley going to the St. Louis Rams at #10.

Floyd Mayweather defeated Manny Pacquiao this weekend by unanimous decision to become the welterweight world champion. It was one of the biggest fights in boxing history.

Saturday was the 141st running of the Kentucky Derby, and it did not disappoint. American Pharoah, ridden by Victor Espinoza, beat the crowd and came home victorious. This was Espinoza’s third Kentucky Derby win.

In golf news, Rory McIlroy took home his first WGC Match Play title this weekend with a 4 & 2 win over Gary Woodland.

Lastly, congratulations to Dale Earnhardt Jr. for his first win of the season at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend. He has won at the Alabama track six times in his career, but this is his first win there since 2004.

JUST FOR FUN

What’s in a name?
How the 2015 Kentucky Derby runners were named (and how the winner ended up with his name spelled wrong)

STORIES FOR INSIGHTS, COOL FACTOR + DEBATE

Patience is a virtue
He’s become more selective as he ages
Bryce Harper’s new take on baseball – and how upping his walk rate is helping him improve

Fight day hype
We can no longer ignore what happens outside the competition
Even though we were all wrapped up in the Mayweather/Pacquiao fight night itself, we had to think about what these men are like outside the ring

A lot left to wonder about
Thinking through the NFL draft
Some teams were looking for the winners, but others were just looking to enrich their communities

And then this weekend got a little busier…
There was tennis, too!
The inaugural Istanbul Open was this weekend, and Roger Federer won his first clay title since 2012