The 76ers had a great chance to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. In the sixth game in their series against the Boston Celtics, they had the lead in the middle of the fourth quarter. Their best two players, Joel Embiid and James Harden, failed to step up when needed to close out the series. Then they got completely dominated and lost by 24 points in Game 7 in Boston.
It was an embarrassing way to end the season, which also cost Doc Rivers his job as head coach. I think the decision to fire him was disappointing, but inevitable. The coach is always the scapegoat at the end of the season, something I have never liked. I think the Sixers need to get younger players, which means that James Harden needs to move on. The fans will know pretty soon who the next coach is because the NBA Draft occurs right after the season is over June 22.
The Phillies also had a disappointing series against the San Francisco Giants, where they got swept by the third-place team in the NL West. If the Phillies want to have any chance to make the playoffs to defend their National League pennant of last year, they have to start playing much more complete baseball. Right no,w the biggest problem is that game by game, either their pitching fails or their offense is nowhere to be found. The defense has also not improved much in the outfield compared to last season. As a team, their offense is striking out way too much by trying to win every game with a home run.
Hopefully they can get their momentum back this week while playing the Cubs and Diamondbacks at home. This is not where I thought they would be at this point in the season for sure!
In golf, it is PGA Championship week. This year it is being played in Rochester, N.Y., at Oak Hill Country Club. This club has hosted major golf tournaments for 60 years with either the U.S. Open or PGA Championship. I think the winning score will probably be 10-under par because the rough is very thick and the weather is going to be questionable for the last three days of the tournament with drizzling rain and wind up to 20 miles an hour. The course is a par 70 course, which means there’s only two par 5 holes and they’re both over 600 yards long. So there won’t be many eagles if any at all. The coverage is going to be on ESPN, and CBS and I will be watching.
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A 2002 Cape grad and 2007 UD grad, Lewes resident Sumner Spence is one of the Cape area's biggest sports fans. Although he’s used a wheelchair his entire life, he has lived vicariously through his sports-playing father, brother, and friends, who gave him his love of sports. He hopes to provide new and interesting perspectives on the sports stories and issues of the day. Email Sumner at sumspence@gmail.com.
