The first few days off the NBA and NHL playoffs provided plenty of excitement. Several teams, though, wish that had not been the case. It was a rough week for the Indiana Pacers, who back-doored their way into the Eastern Conference's top seed but promptly dropped their playoff opener. On the ice, the Chicago Blackhawks saw their title defense get off to a painful start-to put it mildly.

All odds provided by Sportsbook.ag

Indiana Pacers . It looks like tales of Indiana's epic demise at the end of the regular season were not greatly exaggerated. Instead of coming out for the playoffs rejuvenated, the Pacers laid an egg in Game 1 at home against Atlanta last Saturday. The Hawks, who had been 14-27 on the road, led by as many 20 points in the fourth quarter en route to a 101-93 upset that was nowhere near as competitive as the final score suggested. Losing one game to a No. 8 seed that is well under .500 is generally not cause for panic, but it might be given the current state of the Pacers. They lost six of 10 and nine of 15 to end the regular season. Indiana is a -7 home favorite in Game 2 on Tuesday.

Mike Woodson . Woodson was a proverbial dead man walking when the Knicks brought in Phil Jackson as team president late in the regular season. Jackson was never going to sit around with someone else's guys running the in-game ship for more than a month, and the head coach knew it. Woodson braced for the worst, and he got it on Monday, when Jackson fired the entire New York staff. The Knicks finished 37-45, so bad that they could not even qualify for the playoffs in the lowly Eastern Conference. Woodson had one year remaining on a contract he signed prior to the 2011-12 campaign. Miami is +200 to win the NBA Championship; San Antonio is +250 and Oklahoma City is +380.

Chicago Blackhawks . The defending Stanley Cup Champions should be up 2-0 in their first-round series against the Blues. Instead, they trail 2-0. Chicago blew last-minute (or second) leads in each of the first two contests in St. Louis and lost both in overtime (triple OT in Game 1). The home team tied the opener with one minute and 45 seconds left and sent Game 2 into an extra frame by scoring with just seven seconds remaining. Following consecutive 4-3 thrillers, the Blues head to Chicago for Game 3 with all kinds of momentum. The Blackhawks are -175 favorites on Monday and +1700 to win the Stanley Cup.

Ivan Nova . James Andrews. Tommy John. Those are two dreaded names that Nova will likely be hearing all too much of in the near future. The Yankees' right-hander left in the fifth inning of Saturday's blowout loss to Tampa Bay with discomfort in his elbow. An MRI revealed on Sunday that Nova has a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament and manager Joe Girardi suggested that the 27-year-old will likely need Tommy John surgery. Nova will visit a team doctor-not Dr. Andrews-for further evaluation sometime this week. He was just 2-2 with an 8.27 ERA this season but won 37 games the previous three years and compiled a 3.10 ERA in 2013. New York is a +200 favorite to win the AL East and +600 to win the AL Pennant.

Luke Donald . Donald is to the RBC Heritage what Matt Kuchar is to pretty much every golf tournament in the world; always contends, almost never (or in Donald's case at the RBC, never) wins. The Englishman posted a whopping fifth Top-3 finish in the last six years in Hilton Head when he succumbed to Kuchar in stunning fashion on Sunday. Kuchar trailed Donald by four shots entering the final round before seven birdies in his first 10 holes set the stage for late-day dramatics. The American three-putted from four feet for bogey on 17 but holed out from a bunker for birdie on 18 to regain a one-stroke advantage. Donald could birdie none of his remaining three holes and fell by one. Kuchar is a +750 favorite to win the FedEx Cup.

Rafael Nadal . The King of Clay is showing chinks in his armor. Nadal once won eight Monte-Carlo titles in a row, but he lost to Novak Djokovic in last year's final, and this time around he did not even make it out of the quarters. The top-ranked Spaniard fell to countryman David Ferrer last Friday for an inauspicious start to his spring clay-court swing. Djokovic, meanwhile, struggled with a right wrist injury in his semifinal loss to Roger Federer, and Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka eventually snagged the winner's trophy. Nadal is a -150 favorite to win the French Open; Djokovic is +160.

FC Barcelona . It was a good week, however, for Nadal's favorite soccer team. Even without an injured Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid managed to beat rival Barcelona 2-1 in last Wednesday's Copa Del Rey title match. The latest installment of El Clasico was tied in the 85th minute before Real's Gareth Bale outran pretty much the entire Barca defense and finished past goalie Jose Manuel Pinto. It has been a tough month for FC Barcelona, which got bounced from the Champions League by Atletico Madrid in the quarterfinals. Real Madrid is +275 to win the Champions League; Bayern Munich is a +150 favorite.

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