NBA: Outlook, Conference Finals // MLB: the Standouts; Colorado Rockies---"A Game to Remember"

sports-notebook.blogspot.com . . . FOR MORE ANALYSIS, GO TO "MILE HIGH SPORTS RADIO," AM1510 or FM93.7, and to Denver’s best sports blogging team---milehighsports.com. SPORTS NOTEBOOK posts its columns Tuesday and Friday of each week. Ed., Publ., Marvin Leibstone; Copy & Mng. Ed., Gail Kleiner . . . NBA: Outlook, Conference Finals // MLB: the Standouts; Colorado Rockies---“A Game To Remember”. . . NBA---FROM the NBA Conference Finals that began last night, and with the possibility of 12 more games occurring, there’s no sure way of knowing which of the contenders for the conference titles will prevail. Analysts and fans seeking surety to the question can only rely on regular season + playoff rounds one and two data and on present situational factors such as injured big man, Serge Ibaka, unable to say to the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Scott Brooks, “Put me in now, Coach,” causing Brooks to re-imagine the Thunder’s defense, having to substitute for Ibaka’s height, width and speed with enhanced defense rotation so that Thunders shielding can be seamless, in effect, defense elasticity and jump for the block and the rebound, eyes on likelihood of the San Antonio Spurs guard, Tony Parker, attempting to exploit Ibaka’s absence, meanwhile Brooks increasing reliance on MVP Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook for escape, evasion and points, this to offset any losses from Ibaka being off-court. Durant and Westbrook have combined for an average PPG exceeding 50 during the playoffs, and Durant scored 33 and 38 points respectively in final 2013/14 playoff games vs. the Memphis Grizzlies and the L.A. Clippers. The Spurs will certainly attempt to remain the Spurs of the regular season and of its 4-0 and 4-1 series wins during the playoffs (“If it aint broke, don’t fix it” is probably a Spurs Coach Greg Poppovich motto.). The Spurs ranked third in defense when the regular season ended; the Thunder, sixth. Here’s a schedule should six more Thunder/Spurs games occur---(all on TNT:) Wednesday, May 21, 9 PM; Sunday, May 25, 8:30 PM; Tuesday, May 27, 9 PM; Thursday, May 29, 9 PM; Saturday, May 31, 8:30 PM; Monday, June 2, 9 PM. . . Eastern Conference: DEFENSE wasn’t enough to help the Indiana Pacers win initial NBA-2013/14 playoff games during series versus the Atlanta Hawks and the Washington Wizards, but it was platinum against the Miami Heat in game one of the best-of-seven EC title match-up. The Pacers 107-96 win surprised anyone confident that the best defense in the NBA this year would be no match for the Miami Heat foursome of James/Wade/Bosh/Allen, an offense combo arguably best in the league when the four are to the hilt of their capabilities, which is rare, James and/or Wade usually the performance catch-up for the win. The Pacers defense kept James, Bosh and Allen to fewer points, while the Heat defense couldn’t keep the Pacers Paul George from scoring 24 and achieving seven assists, with Roy Hibbert scoring 19. Also, performance factors displayed by the two teams during the last weeks of the regular season showed the Pacers declining in skills and the Heat upgrading. Too, the Heat made it through rounds one and two of the current playoffs with greater ease than it took the Pacers to reach the ECF. But the regular season weaknesses within the Pacers occurred mostly in offense capacity, which did not show often last night while the Pacers defense was full-out, though Miami’s Wade scored double digits. Still, it’s anyone’s pick for the following possibility of six more Pacers/Heat games (all on ESPN): Tuesday, May 20, 8:30 PM; Saturday, May 24, 8:30 PM; Monday, May 26, 8:30 PM; Friday, May 30, 8:30 PM; Sunday, June 1, 8:30 PM . . . MLB---NO division last place team has won a game since last week, all seeing their losses increase, worst among them the 18-28 Arizona Diamondbacks and the 16-28 Houston Astros. Meanwhile, of the six division leaders, five increased their number of wins, best the NL West’s S.F. Giants and the AL West’s Oakland A’s, each with 28 wins, while last Friday the Baltimore Orioles, then the AL East’s leading team at 21-18, dropped to second place at 22-20 behind the now first AL East club, the 23-20 N.Y. Yankees. The AL Central’s Detroit Tigers maintained first position from three wins since last week, now at 27-12. Within the NL Central, the Milwaukee Brewers maintained leadership from a win, now at 27-17, though its lead over second place club, the St Louis Cardinals, dropped by a win, the Cards now at 23-21. The NL-East’s 23-19 Atlanta Braves also maintained leadership from a win, but with the Washington Nationals now just one win behind them. Presently, five division second place teams own four or less wins behind first position teams, a sixth, the AL Central’s K.C. Royals, being seven wins behind Detroit. As for best in both leagues, the win gaps among the six division leading clubs are quite slim, from the 28 wins each of the Giants and Oakland A’s being at the top, to the 23 wins each that are held by the Yankees and the Braves. . . COLORADO ROCKIES---Sunday, May 18, Coors Field: A third inning “triple play” by the Colorado Rockies, 3B Nolan Arenado to 2B D.J. LaMahieu, to 1B Justin Morneau, followed by the Rockies line-up producing three singles, a sacrifice bunt and a home run by OF Corey Dickerson, this putting the Rockies ahead of the San Diego Padres, 4-1, then drawbacks causing a 6-6 tie and a 10th inning during which Rockies LF Carlos Gonzalez got on base and Rockies 1B Morneau delivered a walk-off home run from a 3-2 count, game over, Rockies ahead, 8-6. Same game, Rockies SS Troy Tulowitzki blasted a fifth inning home run, holding to his .400 batting average. Tulowitzki is also at the top in the NL re. home runs to date, 13. Thus far in the MLB season, the Rockies have won three series vs. division challengers, v. the Diamondbacks, the Giants and the Padres, and three against other NL clubs, accounting for nine of the Rockies 25 wins. Versus NL clubs, the Rockies are 20-16 today. Next up for the Rockies is a series vs. the Giants, starting tonight. Sweeping this series means the Rockies and Giants tied at NL West’s top slot. END/ml