Today's Updates, 4/12/2017

Today's UPDATES

The Stanley Cup Playoffs start Today, the NBA Season ends tomorrow, and the WWE Superstar Shake-up lived up to it name. MaxSports will be hard at work bringing you all these important sports topics this week, so let's begin with tonight being the last night of NBA Regular Season. Everything has been topsy-turvy these last few days in Pro Basketball, the defending NBA Champions Cleveland Cavaliers have been struggling lately and find themselves the #2 Seed in the East while the Boston Celtics, believe it or not, are #1 at top which is by far the biggest surprise ever. If the Celtics win or the Cavs lose tonight, then Boston will sit quietly at #1 throughout the playoffs, but if the Cavs win and Celtics lose, then Cleveland takes back the #1 seed. Meanwhile, the last two spots the Eastern Conference which are #7 and #8 are still undecided and we could have a three-way tie between the Indiana Pacers, Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat. The Pacers have the best chance at clinching the #7 seed just by winning tonight while the Bulls and Heat will need a miracle if they even want to be in the #8 seed. All has been set for the Western Conference, only thing to decide there is who gets home-court advantage between the Los Angeles Clippers and Utah Jazz. If Clippers win or Jazz lose, they'll be #4, but if Jazz and Clippers lose tonight, then the Jazz will get that #4 seed and home-court. Time check on the current NBA standings and a lot more from last night's other games.

MLB
Yesterday
Tigers 2, Twins 1
Indians 2, White Sox 1 in 10 Innings
Nationals 8, Cardinals 3
Mets 14, Phillies 4
Reds 6, Pirates 2
Brewers 4, Blue Jays 3
Red Sox 8, Orioles 1
Marlins 8, Braves 4
Rockies 3, Padres 2
Angles 6, Rangers 5 in 10 Innings
Astros 7, Mariners 5
Diamondbacks 4, Giants 3
Today
Rays vs Yankees at 1:05PM
Twins vs Tigers at 1:10PM
Padres vs Rockies at 3:10PM
Cardinals vs Nationals at 4:05PM
White Sox vs Indians at 6:10PM
Mets vs Phillies at 7:05PM
Reds vs Pirates at 7:05PM
Brewers vs Blue Jays at 7:07PM
Orioles vs Red Sox at 7:10PM
Braves vs Marlins at 7:10PM
Dodgers vs Cubs at 8:05PM on MLB Network
Athletics vs Royals at 8:15PM
Rangers vs Angles at 10:07PM
Astros vs Mariners at 10:10PM
Diamondbacks vs Giants at 10:15PM

NBA
Last Night
Hawks 103, Hornets 76
Thunder 100, Timberwolves 98
Nuggets 109, Mavericks 91
Lakers 108, Pelicans 96
Kings 129, Suns 104
Tonight
Pistons vs Magic at 8PM
Raptors vs Cavaliers at 8PM
Bucks vs Celtics at 8PM
76ers vs Knicks at 8PM
Wizards vs Heat at 8PM
Nets vs Bulls at 8PM
Mavericks vs Grizzlies at 8PM
Timberwolves vs Rockets at 8PM
Nuggets vs Thunder at 8PM
Hawks vs Pacers at 8PM on ESPN
Spurs vs Jazz at 9PM
Kings vs Clippers at 10:30PM
Lakers vs Warriors at 10:30PM
Pelicans vs Trail Blazers at 10:30PM on ESPN

NBA Playoff Standings

Eastern Conference

1. Boston Celtics, 52-29, Clinched Division
2. Cleveland Cavaliers, 51-30, Clinched Division

3. Toronto Raptors, 50-31, Clinched Playoff Berth

4. Washington Wizards, 49-32, Clinched Division

5. Atlanta Hawks, 42-38, Clinched Playoff Berth
6. Milwaukee Bucks, 42-39, Clinched Playoff Berth

7. Indiana Pacers, 41-40

8. Chicago Bulls/Miami Heat, 40-41

Western Conference

1. Golden State Warriors, 66-15, Clinched Conference and Best Record in the League

2. San Antonio Spurs, 61-20, Clinched Division

3. Houston Rockets, 54-27, Clinched Playoff Berth
4. Los Angeles Clippers, 50-31, Clinched Playoff Berth

5. Utah Jazz, 50-31, Clinched Division

6. Oklahoma City Thunder, 47-34, Clinched Playoff Berth

7. Memphis Grizzlies, 43-38, Clinched Playoff Berth

8. Portland Trail Blazers, 41-40, Clinched Playoff Berth

NHL Playoff Matchups

Montreal Canadiens vs New York Rangers

Game 1: Tonight in Montreal at 7PM on NBCSN

Game 2: Friday in Montreal at 7PM on USA Network

Game 3: Sunday in New York at 7PM on NBCSN

Game 4: Next Tuesday in New York at 7PM on NBCSN

Ottawa Senators vs Boston Bruins

Game 1: Tonight in Ottawa at 7PM on NHL Network

Game 2: Saturday in Ottawa at 3PM on NBC

Game 3: Monday in Boston at 7PM on CNBC

Game 4: Next Wednesday at 7:30PM on USA Network

Washington Capitals vs Toronto Maple Leafs

Game 1: Tomorrow in Washington at 7PM on USA Network

Game 2: Saturday in Washington at 7PM on NBCSN

Game 3: Monday in Toronto at 7PM on NBCSN

Game 4: Next Wednesday in Toronto at 7PM on NBCSN

Pittsburgh Steelers vs Columbus Blue Jackets

Game 1: Tonight in Pittsburgh at 7:30PM on USA Network

Game 2: Friday in Pittsburgh at 7PM on NHL Network

Game 3: Sunday in Columbus at 6PM on CNBC

Game 4: Next Thursday in Columbus at 7:30PM on CNBC

Chicago Blackhawks vs Nashville Predators

Game 1: Tomorrow in Chicago at 9:30PM on NBCSN

Game 2: Saturday in Chicago at 8PM on NBC

Game 3: Monday in Nashville at 9:30PM on CNBC

Game 4: Next Thursday in Nashville

Minnesota Wild vs St. Louis Blues

Game 1: Tonight in Minnesota at 9:30PM on NBCSN

Game 2: Friday in Minnesota at 8PM on NBCSN

Game 3: Sunday in St. Louis at 3PM on NBC

Game 4: Tomorrow in St. Louis at 9:30PM on NBCSN

Anaheim Ducks vs Calgary Flames

Game 1: Tomorrow in Anaheim at 10:30PM on NBCSN

Game 2: Saturday in Anaheim at 10:30PM on NBCSN

Game 3: Monday in Calgary at 10PM on NBCSN

Game 4: Next Wednesday in Calgary at 10PM on NBCSN

Edmonton Oilers vs San Jose Sharks

Game 1: Tonight in Edmonton at 10PM on USA Network

Game 2: Friday in Edmonton at 10:30PM on NBCSN

Game 3: Sunday in San Jose at 10PM on NBCSN

Game 4: Next Tuesday in San Jose at 10PM on NBCSN

WWE

SmackDown Live results

- Randy Orton defeated Erick Rowan

- The Usos defeated American Alpha to retain the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship

- Mojo Rawley defeated Jinder Mahal

- Tye Dillinger defeated Aiden English

- AJ Styles defeated Sami Zayn and Baron Corbin in a Triple Threat to determine the next #1 Contender for the United States Championship

WWE Superstar Shake-up

From SmackDown/NXT to Raw: Apollo Crews, The Miz and Maryse, Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose, Curt Hawkins, Bray Wyatt, Kalisto, Heath Slater and Rhyno, Elias Samson (NXT), Alexa Bliss, Mickie James, David Otunga

From Raw to SmackDown: Byron Saxton, Jinder Mahal, Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, The Shining Stars, Tamina, Charlotte Flair, Sin Cara, Rusev, Lana, The New Day

People have started to make their predictions on who going to win the Stanley Cup in June, as NHL starts its playoffs tonight with five great games in the process. It's hard to tell who has the best chance making it all the way throughout hold that large trophy cup over their heads this Summer, but the next two and a half months will indeed exciting period. The biggest surprises in these playoffs I think would have to be the Columbus Blue Jackets and Edmonton Oilers and maybe even the Calgary Flames. So what predictions have people been making and who do they believe will win it all, #TwitterTrend presents the following tweets regarding the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

NHL‏ @NHL

Tag a photo of your possibly-perfect bracket with #NHLBracket. Brackets with bold picks will win RTs. http://nhl.com/bracket

Pete Jensen @NHLJensen

2017 #StanleyCup Playoff prediction: Capitals over Oilers. #NHLBracket

Justin‏ @iggyfan12

Read it and weep! 🔥🔥 #NHLBracket

Matt Zawaski‏ @SouthsideZo

Let's Ride!!!! #NHLBracket #NHLBracketChallenge #Blackhawks #Oilers

John‏ @carldehn

Oh it's true, it's damn true. #NHLBracket

Cory Maillett‏ @CoryMaillett

High hopes for this #leafs fan!! #LetsGoooo #NHLBracket

After Raw took away some of SmackDown Live's best superstars during the Superstar Shake-up last night, the question on everyone's mind yesterday was how the SmackDown would counter, the answer was plain and simple, by taking away away some of Raw best Top Stars like Kevin Owens, Sami Zayn, Charlotte Flair, Rusev and The New Day. SmackDown also got a few unexpected new additions like Sin Cara, Jinder Mahal, Tamina Snuka and Lana, I'm curious to see what these superstars have to offer to make Tuesday Nights awesome for SmackDown, but we'll all wait and see. WebChoice takes you back to all the action from last night where the second night of the Superstar Shake-up took a toll on the Blue Brand.