Flagrant 2: Jonathan Quick Just Saving Everything
The L.A. Kings on the verge of a Stanley Cup sweep, thanks to their red-hot goalkeeper. A dude named Lonnie single-handedly defeating the Texas Rangers. And a Medicine Man trying his hand at helping the Tampa Bay Rays.
Here’s your a.m. recap of the night in sports, the Flagrant 2 for Tuesday.
Flagrant 2: LeBron James Heats Up, Miami Gets Even in the NBA Finals
Jonathan Quick!
The Los Angeles Kings didn’t need any of their comeback magic on Monday night, handling the New York Rangers 3-0 in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final to take a commanding three-games-to-none lead in the series. As you can probably gather, Jonathan Quick had a lot to do with that.
The Kings keeper was phenomenal throughout, turning away all 32 shots he faced and robbing the Rangers with several sprawling saves. Like this one:
Or this one. Dude was good.
Los Angeles grabbed its first lead of the entire series with one second left in the first period on Jeff Carter’s goal (they took Games 1 and 2 in OT) then extended that lead with scores from Jake Muzzin and Mike Richards. The Rangers had chances throughout – they were 0-for-6 on the power play – but couldn’t capitalize, and the Madison Square Garden crowd, charged by the prospects of the first Cup Final in the building since 1994, could only watch as L.A. tightened the vise in the third. Is it over for the Blue Shirts? Let’s put it this way: The last team to come back from a 3-0 deficit to win the Cup was the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs. It’s been a while.
Again, Jonathan Qui — er, Lonnie Chisenhall!
The Cleveland Indians scored 17 runs last night against the Texas Rangers. As you can probably gather, Lonnie Chisenhall had a lot to do with that.
The third baseman hit three home runs and racked up 9 RBIs in a five-hit game, leading the Tribe past the injury-depleted Rangers 17-7. He’s the first player to accomplish the feat since Boston’s Fred Lynn did it in 1975.
The only other nine-RBI game in Indians history was by the immortal Chris James on May 4, 1991, in a 20-6 victory over Oakland. Chisenhall is also the first Indian to hit three home runs in a game since Shin-Soo Choo in 2010. Look, he’s not Jonathan Quick, but he’s pretty good.
Quickly (No Pun Intended) …
Donald Sterling has decided that, yes, in fact, he will sue the NBA, a reversal of his earlier decision to allow the $2 billion sale of the Los Angeles Clippers to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. “I have decided I must protect my rights,” Sterling said in a statement. … Derek Fisher will be the coach of the New York Knicks, agreeing to a reported five year, $25 million deal that reunites him with former coach/Knicks president Phil Jackson. It’s Fish’s first coaching gig, and we’d like to take this opportunity to once again remind NBA owners that we’ve never coached before either. … Rays manager Joe Maddon called in a Medicine Man to help turn around his team’s fortunes. It didn’t work, as Tampa Bay lost to the Mariners 3-0, dropping them to an MLB-worst 24-41. No word on whether the Medicine Man felt at home in the Trop, since that place has all the charm of an ancient Indian burial ground.