Jazz Stun Rockets to Even Series in Houston
Despite the Utah Jazz's turnaround of their season, as well as a first-round win, they are still the heavy underdogs in their series with the Houston Rockets. Following a Game 1 loss, the Jazz bounced back on Wednesday night, stunning the Rockets at the Toyota Center with a 116-108 to even the series at one-apiece. Joe Ingles took over as the scoring leader with a career-high 27 points for Utah, who shot 51 percent from the floor in the impressive road win. Ingles' career night included a career-high seven made three-pointers, while Donovan Mitchell had 17 points and a franchise-rookie record of 11 assists. Although, it was the first game this postseason that he as held under 20 points.Rudy Gobert added a double-double of 15 points and 14 rebounds, despite this being an off night for the big man. This showing helped overcome a tough 110-96 blowout loss in Game 1, where they trailed by 25 at halftime. They wasted no time bouncing back, leadin by as many as 19 in the first half. Not even James Harden's 32 points and 11 assists, along with Chris Paul's 23 points. The Rockets had won the first five meetings of the season against the Jazz before this loss. They will look to bounce back as the series shifts to Utah for Game 3, which will take place on Friday night.
Lightning, Sharks Pull Away For Win
The Stanley Cup Playoffs were not too intensely close on Wednesday night, but the San Jose Sharks and Tampa Bay Lightning are completely okay with that. First, the Sharks evened their series with the Las Vegas Golden Knights with a 4-0 shutout win on their home ice. San Jose got 34 saves from Martin Jones, who was supported by a fast start from his team with a two-goal first period. Marcus Sorensen and Joonas Donskoi both scored in that first period, while Thomas Hertl added his team-leading fifth goal of the postseason. Joe Pavelski did find the back of the net on the power play in the third, as the Sharks continue to be the only team to figure out the Golden Knights this postseason. Marc-Andre Fleury made 30 saves for the Knights, who will host Game 5 on Friday night. Meanwhile, the Lightning jumped ahead of the Boston Bruins for a 2-1 series with a 4-1 victory at the TD Garden. Ondrej Palat scored twice, both coming in the first 3:19 of the game, while Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 28 shots. Anthony Cirelli added his first career playoff goal to cap off a three-goal first period for Tampa Bay. Patrice Bergeron netted the lone goal for Boston, who got 33 saves from Tuukka Rask. Steven Stamkos's empty-net goal late sealed the win for the Lightning, who will look to pull away again in Friday's Game 4, which will again take place in Boston.
Stanton Powers Yankees Past Keuchel, Astros
The New York Yankees' current run is so untouchable at the moment, that even the defending World Series Champion Houston Astros can't slow them down. Giancarlo Stanton went deep twice off of Dallas Keuchel and drove in all four runs in a 4-0 shutout victory. Meanwhile, Luis Severino pitched a five-hit shutout in his first-career complete game, as he struck out 10 batters, Stanton home runs were of the two-run and solo varieties, as he also added an RBI double on the night. That helped send the Astros' hurler to fall to 1-5 on the season. On the opposite side, Severino improved to 5-1 for the Yankees with his third straight win, as he threw 110 pitches in his 60th career major league start. At 24 years old, Severino becomes the youngest Yankee to throw a shutout since Sterling Hitchcock, who was also 24 in 1995. It was also the Yankees' second consecutive shutout of the Astros, marking the first time they've done that since May of 2014 against the New York Mets. Keuchel had three runs on six hits against him, as he struck out five over seven innings in the loss. These two teams have one more game to play in this series, which will take place on Thursday afternoon. The Yankees will send Masahiro Tanaka to the mound for the series finale, as he will be opposed by Lance McCullers Jr.
Despite the Utah Jazz's turnaround of their season, as well as a first-round win, they are still the heavy underdogs in their series with the Houston Rockets. Following a Game 1 loss, the Jazz bounced back on Wednesday night, stunning the Rockets at the Toyota Center with a 116-108 to even the series at one-apiece. Joe Ingles took over as the scoring leader with a career-high 27 points for Utah, who shot 51 percent from the floor in the impressive road win. Ingles' career night included a career-high seven made three-pointers, while Donovan Mitchell had 17 points and a franchise-rookie record of 11 assists. Although, it was the first game this postseason that he as held under 20 points.Rudy Gobert added a double-double of 15 points and 14 rebounds, despite this being an off night for the big man. This showing helped overcome a tough 110-96 blowout loss in Game 1, where they trailed by 25 at halftime. They wasted no time bouncing back, leadin by as many as 19 in the first half. Not even James Harden's 32 points and 11 assists, along with Chris Paul's 23 points. The Rockets had won the first five meetings of the season against the Jazz before this loss. They will look to bounce back as the series shifts to Utah for Game 3, which will take place on Friday night.
Lightning, Sharks Pull Away For Win
The Stanley Cup Playoffs were not too intensely close on Wednesday night, but the San Jose Sharks and Tampa Bay Lightning are completely okay with that. First, the Sharks evened their series with the Las Vegas Golden Knights with a 4-0 shutout win on their home ice. San Jose got 34 saves from Martin Jones, who was supported by a fast start from his team with a two-goal first period. Marcus Sorensen and Joonas Donskoi both scored in that first period, while Thomas Hertl added his team-leading fifth goal of the postseason. Joe Pavelski did find the back of the net on the power play in the third, as the Sharks continue to be the only team to figure out the Golden Knights this postseason. Marc-Andre Fleury made 30 saves for the Knights, who will host Game 5 on Friday night. Meanwhile, the Lightning jumped ahead of the Boston Bruins for a 2-1 series with a 4-1 victory at the TD Garden. Ondrej Palat scored twice, both coming in the first 3:19 of the game, while Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 28 shots. Anthony Cirelli added his first career playoff goal to cap off a three-goal first period for Tampa Bay. Patrice Bergeron netted the lone goal for Boston, who got 33 saves from Tuukka Rask. Steven Stamkos's empty-net goal late sealed the win for the Lightning, who will look to pull away again in Friday's Game 4, which will again take place in Boston.
Stanton Powers Yankees Past Keuchel, Astros
The New York Yankees' current run is so untouchable at the moment, that even the defending World Series Champion Houston Astros can't slow them down. Giancarlo Stanton went deep twice off of Dallas Keuchel and drove in all four runs in a 4-0 shutout victory. Meanwhile, Luis Severino pitched a five-hit shutout in his first-career complete game, as he struck out 10 batters, Stanton home runs were of the two-run and solo varieties, as he also added an RBI double on the night. That helped send the Astros' hurler to fall to 1-5 on the season. On the opposite side, Severino improved to 5-1 for the Yankees with his third straight win, as he threw 110 pitches in his 60th career major league start. At 24 years old, Severino becomes the youngest Yankee to throw a shutout since Sterling Hitchcock, who was also 24 in 1995. It was also the Yankees' second consecutive shutout of the Astros, marking the first time they've done that since May of 2014 against the New York Mets. Keuchel had three runs on six hits against him, as he struck out five over seven innings in the loss. These two teams have one more game to play in this series, which will take place on Thursday afternoon. The Yankees will send Masahiro Tanaka to the mound for the series finale, as he will be opposed by Lance McCullers Jr.
