Must-Wins

Big night in playoff sports tonight:

* For the second series in a row, the Celtics have dropped the first game at home, leaving themselves in a "must-win" situation tonight. Ironically, the Cs might have been able to stick the Magic with their worst-ever-Game-One-loss-that-didn't-involve-Nick-Anderson had they been able to close the deal after storming back from 28 down. Instead, Gang Green needs a win and then more perimeter jump shooting in the Magic Kingdom (from the Os) rather than pounding the ball down to Dwight Howard or Rashard Lewis.

* Speaking of Lewis, his confidence has to be helped by the fact that for much of the game, he was being guarded by Brian Scalabrine. While Scal is not a stopper in the best of times, he has only recently returned to the lineup (Game 3 of the Chicago series) after suffering a series of concussions in February. Scal's post-concussion syndrome 'disappeared' the night that Leon Powe's knee was shredded, and he wears a headband as "cushioning"; it's perhaps the NBA's equivalent of giving Dumbo-the-Elephant a feather to hold to enable his to "fly." And repeated head injuries are very dangerous for the future health of the victim.

* Let's just not mention "Derrick Rose" anywhere around Scal. Please.

* In the Adams Division final, the Bruins need to show that they can match the Canes' intensity. After getting blown out in the opener, the Whale came back and showed up in Game Two; the Bruins now need to respond with an uptick themselves. And hope that Goalie Cam Ward is through standing-on-his-head.

* Finally, the Pittsburg Penguins also face a 'must-win' tonight, back home in the Igloo and down 0-2 to the Washington Ovechkins. While Sid Crosby has backed up his end of the Rivalry, he's not received a lot of help from NHL regular-season leading scorer Evgeni Malkin or (even) the 413's Bill Guerin. The Pens looked slow and old in the last 20 minutes on Monday night; they need to turn it around tonight.

* One more NHL thought: wouldn't you love to be a the guy who got to tell Commissioner Gary Bettman, "Oh, by the way, our franchise in Phoenix just filed for bankruptcy"?

Off the Deck

Less than a day after the Bulls stunned the Pistons in Detroit, and less than 24 hours after the Suns won a must-must-win in San Antonio, the Nets rebounded from an atrocious Game Four finish by controlling Game Five from start to finish. Despite a 1-15 fourth quarter -- and an even more incredible 6 points -- the Nets nonetheless won convincingly.

Jason Kidd (8-14 FGs), Vince Carter (5-11), and Richard Jefferson (6-11) recovered, and moved the pressure from themselves to the Cavaliers. If the Cavs can't close New Jersey out on Friday, you will be able to cut the pressure on Sunday in the Quicken Arena with a knife.

Must-Win Game(s) 3

ESPN briefly flashed a graphic last night in the midst of the Chicago Bulls meltdown (blowing a 19 point lead in a must-win Game Three against the Pistons):

Comebacks from 0-3
NBA 0-81
MLB 1-28
NHL 2-147

What's interesting is that (i) hockey has had more 3-0 leads than the other two sports combined (although the tradition of the MLB with no playoffs until 1969 (only the World Series prior) must have some impact); and (ii) that the Red Sox's comeback in 2004 is such an anomaly (baseball, with its high element of chance, would seem to give more rise to more comebacks than the other two sports - instead the Red Sox are the only team to dig out of the hole.)

New Jersey and Golden State each face must-win Game Threes in the 24 hours. San Antonio faces a "Almost-Must-Win" Game Three as well, although the Spurs seem likely to win.