SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
And now it's time for sports.
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SIMON: NBA playoffs. And in baseball, do you necessarily follow the money? Sports writer Howard Bryant joins us. Howard, thanks so much for being with us.
HOWARD BRYANT: Good morning, Scott Simon. How are you?
SIMON: I'm fine. Thanks, my friend. First round of the NBA playoffs almost over. Western Conference has already wrapped things up with a 5 of 6-game series. The Los Angeles Lakers advance to the second round, 98-78, over the Houston Rockets last night. LeBron. LeBron, 25 points, I believe. He looked like he was almost 18 again. The Eastern Conference, we have three Game 7s this weekend - Philadelphia at Boston today, Orlando at Detroit, Toronto at Cleveland tomorrow. The Raptors won in overtime last night. What do you make of that first round?
BRYANT: Yeah. I make a lot of volatility for certain. While the Boston Celtics, everybody's panicking up here simply because you don't blow a 3-1 lead, which the Celtics are in danger of doing...
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: ...If they lose today to Philadelphia. Credit to the 76ers. They were down. They were down by 13 points in an elimination game in Game 5 and haven't - really haven't trailed since. They've been great. And so that is going to be a fantastic series. Joel Embiid is back. What happened last night in Orlando was something nobody had ever seen before.
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: Unbelievable collapse by the Orlando Magic. They had a 3-1 lead over the Detroit Pistons. They're at home last night. They are up by 24 points. Everything is looking great. And they collapsed. They shot - they missed 21 straight shot and didn't score in, like, real time in an hour in a basketball game. It's - it is unreal. And now they are going to play a Game 7 in Detroit. And obviously, the surprise of it all - I mean, Cleveland, Toronto - total toss-up there. But the big story to me in the East is suddenly the New York Knicks are looking amazing. They look like a championship-level team. Lot of basketball. Looking forward to seeing how this whole thing plays out, but the defending champs are sitting there waiting. They are the Oklahoma City Thunder.
SIMON: Yeah.
BRYANT: They - they've cruised. And, obviously, in the West, San Antonio looking pretty good, too.
SIMON: Move to baseball. Red Sox fired Alex Cora, their manager, after beginning of the season 10-17. The Mets, the team's - the league's third highest payroll, are last in the major leagues. Following the money doesn't work, does it?
BRYANT: Well, not always. And this is one of the things about, you know, watching the game, playing the game, evaluating and being present as - both as a baseball fan, player and as an organization, it's so easy to say, oh, the Dodgers, the Dodgers, the Dodgers. And, you know, obviously, there's a reason for this, which is baseball wants a salary cap. They want this - you know, they want their business piece to be settled.
But just to say, oh, one team has the most money is - it does not really cut it because look at what's happening in Philadelphia. You know, and they - you know, they fire Rob Thomson. That team was supposed to be a championship team. Everyone has expected the Mets to be on par with the Yankees and the Dodgers with Steve Cohen and all of his money, and it hasn't worked out. They look absolutely terrible. You look at another team like the Red Sox, a superpower team. They've got four World Series in the last, you know, 20 years - 23 years, and they are in complete disarray. And so it's just so convenient to say that, you know, the money changes everything. And it does to an extent, but you got to go out and play. You still got to play the game.
SIMON: I have to ask about a wonderful scene in Buffalo where the mic gave out for "O Canada." And the Buffalo fans joined in. I had tears in my eyes over a hockey highlight.
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UNIDENTIFIED CROWD: (Singing) O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
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BRYANT: Oh, it was fantastic. What a terrific moment, and even more terrific for them to cap it all off by winning their first playoff series last night in - since 2007. They're a really good team, and a lot of good spirit up in Buffalo.
SIMON: Howard Bryant, thanks so much.
BRYANT: My pleasure, Scott. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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