Ness Notes (June 6)
While I don’t offer much commentary on the NHL, the Stanley Cup playoffs have always been one hell of a ride. Game 1 of last night’s Finals was everything a fan could ask for and more. My early Christmas wish is a great NBA Finals. Coverage starts tomorrow.
My free play for Tuesday is Oak A’s over the Cle Indians at 7:05 ET. Last night’s win over the Thousand Brewers increased my current MLB streak to 8-2 80% since May 30 and my Las Vegas Insiders MLB record to 10-3 77% since May 1! Tonight I’ll be featuring another exclusive Las Vegas Insider, plus a rare MLB 20 play* (the first this month). Get them BOTH, right now!
MLB ratings
Three teams entered last night’s games with four-game winning streaks and two of the three extended those winning streaks to five. The Nationals and Reds won, while the D’backs lost. Brandon Webb couldn’t hold a 3-0 lead for Arizona, but he wasn’t around to take the loss, which would have been his first of the year.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Brewers ended the longest active losing streak in the majors at eight, beating the Padres 5-2. That leaves the Rockies with the longest active streak (six straight and 11-for-13 losses), with the Braves and Astros (each losing five straight) just one game behind.
All 30 teams are in action tonight with more than a few games of interest. The Red Sox and Yankees opened their four-game series at Yankee Stadium last night (NY won 13-5) and it continues tonight with Pauley vs. Wang at 7:05 ET. Last year’s defending champion Chicago White Sox open a three-game series tonight with the biggest surprise team of 2006, the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers have the best road record in the MLB (20-7), while the White Sox have the best record at home (20-8).
There’s a good pitching matchup tonight in Los Angeles, as Pedro Martinez (Mets) takes on Derek Lowe (Dodgers). While Martinez hasn’t won since April 28, a stretch of six out of six starts, it’s not due to poor pitching. Pedro has pitched 42 innings in his last six outings, allowing just 10 ERs, for a 2.14 ERA. His strikeout-to-walk ratio is 55-6.
In his last three starts, he allowed 14 hits and just two ERs (22 innings), for a 0.82 ERA with a 26-1 ratio. However, the Mets have only scored 10 runs in those six starts, giving Pedro an 0-1 record with the Mets going 2-4.
As for Derek Lowe, he’s allowed two or fewer ERs in 10 of his 12 starts this year, but despite a 2.68 ERA, he’s 4-3 on the year and the Dodgers are 7-5 in his starts. . Lowe, like Pedro, has been nearly unbeatable in his last three starts. He has allowed 13 hits and just one ER in 20 innings, for a 0.45 ERA. He looks like a ‘nuts dead’, doesn’t he?
Goodbye Birdie (Detroit)
What happened to the team that opened the season by winning its first eight games was 22-3 after an 85-70 Christmas Day win over the Spurs, 36-9 on Feb. 3, 47-9 (.839). ) at the end of it. February? The Pistons finished the season 64-18, the most wins since the Lakers won 67 in 1999-2000. They were the best in the league 37-4 at home and had a 27-14 record on the road (second best to San Antonio’s 29-12 mark), but maybe we should have seen it coming?
In hindsight, it’s always 20-20, but why didn’t many realize Detroit was just 17-9 (.654) after going 47-9 (.839) through February, including an ATS mark of just 8 -17-1? Even more concerning was Detroit’s road game down the stretch. Beginning with a Jan. 31 loss at the Meadowlands to the Nets (91-84), Detroit finished the regular season 10-11 SU and a pathetic 5-15-1 ATS in its last 21 road games. How come the ‘bells’ didn’t ring?
Well, maybe it was the way Detroit opened the playoffs? Detroit easily beat Milwaukee (4-1) and then defeated the Cavs in Game 1 of the second round, 113-86. Yes, the Pistons won Game 2 only 97-91, but that game was well controlled, and the final score did not indicate Detroit’s dominance. At the time, the Pistons were 6-1 in seven games, averaging 106.6 PPG. They went to Cleveland, leading the series 2-0.
What happened then was the Pistons got ‘hit’ and NEVER recovered! Cleveland won Game 3, 86-77 and, despite a “Guaran-Sheed,” lost Game 4, 74-72. The Cavs even won Game 5 in Detroit, 86-84, but when Detroit avoided elimination in Game 6 (won 84-82) and won convincingly in Game 7 (79-61), many thought it was all over. be fine. it was not
The Pistons were dominated by the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals as they had no answer for Dwayne Wade and no one big enough to stop Shaq. They lost all three games in Miami by 15, 11 and 17 points, averaging a measly 79.7 PPG while allowing the Heat to shoot around 55 percent of their shots.
A final tally shows that Detroit averaged just 82.3 PPG in its last 11 playoff games, going 4-7 SU and 2-9 ATS. That includes a 1-5 SU and 0-6 ATS mark on the road. All 11 games were ‘under’ the total. Again, maybe we should have seen it coming? Flip Saunders’ “new offense” had the team in the top 10 in offense through the end of January, but by the end of the year, Detroit was ranked 19th.
The Pistons, a team hailed for their selflessness and team play, came back together in the end. They were united in blaming head coach Flip Saunders! Chauncey Billups, when asked by Sports Illustrated earlier this year to rank this Piston team among the best teams in NBA history, responded modestly: “I have to rate us in the top five of all time.” I hope Chauncey and his teammates enjoy watching Miami/Dallas.
Ness Notes is available Monday through Friday at 1:00 ET.