A Sports Filled Weekend Ahead

We love the playoffs in the NBA and the NHL. They give us so many choices and at so many different times. There’s plenty of action.

Contrast that with the NFL draft, where very little happens but lots of people talk incessantly. As we said, something for everybody, and it’s all right here in your Weekend TV Six-Pack. Let me know when your heiner and your recliner have a meeting of the, uh, minds.

The NFL draft continues on Friday night with rounds 2-3. ESPN, the NFL Network and ESPN2 show this gabfest, beginning at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN and NFLN, with a shift to The Deuce at 8 p.m. while NFLN stays with it.

If you’d prefer actual action, there are three NBA playoff games. All of them could be series-enders. The Washington Wizards and Atlanta Hawks go at it at 7:30 p.m. on ESPNU and NBA TV, with the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls meeting at 8 p.m. on ESPN. The Wiz and Celtics each lead their opponents 3-2. The Utah Jazz are up 3-2 on the Los Angeles Clippers; you can see Game 6 at 10:30 p.m. on ESPN.

As an alternative, try the NHL playoff match of the Edmonton Oilers and Anaheim Ducks at 10:30 p.m. on NBC Sports. The Oilers lead the series 1-0.

The NFL draft – rounds 4-7 – can be seen on ESPN and NFLN on Saturday at noon.

Saturday night brings boxing on HBO at 11 p.m. Heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua defends his IBF belt against Wladimir Klitschko, with the vacant WBA (Super) title also at stake. Joshua is favored in a matchup of punchers.

It wouldn’t be Sunday without NASCAR. The round-and-round guys are at it in Richmond, Va., in the Toyota Owners 400 on Fox at 2 p.m.

Watch, and be grateful for this bounty.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman