A Playoff-Filled Weekend

Nice tandem act the NBA and NHL pull, with their playoffs stepping all over each other from now until June. But that’s OK. There’s more to watch at a time when there’s less to watch. We’ll take that deal.

So we shall gently place our heiner in the recliner this very Friday evening for Game 2 of the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers-Pittsburgh Penguins series. The Pens beat the Flyers 7-0 in the opener, so we will see what the Flyers have up their sleeves (other than their arms) in this one at 7 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network.

Leave the remote alone and stay with NBC Sports Network at 10 p.m. for Game 2 of the Los Angeles Kings-Vegas Golden Knights series. The Golden Knights, an expansion team, won their first playoff game on Wednesday night when they shut out the Kings 1-0.

The NBA playoffs get underway with four games on Saturday. The suggestion here: San Antonio Spurs-Golden State Warriors at 3 p.m. on ABC and Miami Heat-Philadelphia 76ers at 8 p.m. on ESPN. The Heat are kind of scrappy, but the Sixers have won 16 straight.

There are four more NBA playoff games Sunday, but we’ll recommend the Minnesota Timberwolves-Houston Rockets on TNT at 9 p.m. The Rockets have the fuel to win the NBA title; the T’wolves clinched the playoffs in the final game of the regular season and are in the postseason for the first time since the spring of 2004. See them while you can.

You’ve got your paint-exchanging drivers getting together at Bristol on Sunday at 2 p.m. for the Food City .500 on Fox. NASCAR is in its short-track portion of the program – Bristol is just .533 miles around. Your top short-track guy: Joey Logano.

If you are in the mood for some college football, there are a number of spring games on Saturday. We’ll suggest Ohio State’s at 1:45 p.m. on the Big Ten Network, but offensively-challenged Florida, under new coach Dan Mullen, might be worth a look at 3 p.m. on SEC.

Nice variety here. Have yourself a fine old time.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman