Weekend Wake Up: NBA Goes Nuts, NHL Works Overtime, Strikeforce Skirmish

I touched on Ubaldo Jiménez’ no-hitter last night and will cover Cardinals-Mets shortly, so that’s why they’re not here.

Celts Win, KG Loses Mind. It is not a shock that Kevin Garnett is perhaps too intense for his own good and those in his immediate vicinity when a fight breaks out. But KG throwing an elbow at Quentin Richardson is the sort of egregious idiocy that merited his ejection, merits a suspension, and merits concern about the Celtics’ playoffs lifespan despite a win over the Heat. If a cold shooting night from the Fightin’ Dwyane Wades -- Wade had 26 to lead all scorers -- can keep Miami within single digits in Boston, imagine what happens without Garnett or on the road?

’Melo Carries Nuggets. The Nuggets are going to need to make the second round of the playoffs if ailing coach George Karl is to rejoin the team. Carmelo Anthony playing like he did on Saturday night a couple more times might make that a foregone conclusion. Anthony practically lit the net on fire against Utah, making 18 of 25 shots, scoring 42 of Denver’s 126 points in a Game 1 win despite attempting just four free throws, and pouring in ten points during Denver’s 24-15 run in the final 7:31. He is pretty good at basketball, and got plenty of help down the stretch from J.R. Smith, who scored 16 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter.

Caps Goin’ Ham, Canucks Flaming Out. Favorites were under fire in the NHL on Saturday. John Carlson’s game-tying goal with 1:21 left and a Nicklas Backstrom hat trick helped the Capitals erase 2-0 and 4-1 deficits and beat the Canadiens in overtime to tie their series at 1-1. The Canucks were not so lucky: They gave up a 2-0 first period lead and fell to the Kings in overtime, sending their series to Los Angeles tied at 1.

Strikeforce’s Nashville Naughtiness. At the end of a night of fights defined by domination at Strikeforce’s event in Nashville, a brawl broke out between the camps of Jake Shields and Jason “Mayhem” Miller. The best part of the relatively benign skirmish as it happened was Gus Johnson’s admonishment of the participants with “Gentlemen, we’re on national television!” The best thing to come from the incident, though, was unquestionably UFC boss Dana White’s cheeky tweet.

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