A wild first round of the NBA playoffs is finally over, but not before a whopping five Game 7's took place. The Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericks, Golden State Warriors, Memphis Grizzlies, and Toronto Raptors all saw their seasons come to an end in do-or-die situations last weekend. It is also a do-or-die time of year on the pitch as the final week of Premier League action takes center stage.

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Golden State Warriors . A series dominated by the Donald Sterling controversy never saw any one team take complete control. In the end, however, home-court advantage proved to be the difference for an inspired Los Angeles Clippers squad. The Clippers won Game 5 at home shortly after commissioner Adam Silver banned Sterling for life, lost Game 6 on the road, then pulled out the decider in the Staples Center last Saturday night. Golden State briefly led Game 7 with just more than two minutes remaining, but it could not finish the job. Now the franchise is bracing for an indefinitely long period of speculation surrounding head coach Mark Jackson. L.A. is a +165 underdog to win its upcoming series against Oklahoma City.

Atlanta Hawks . It cannot get much more painful for an NBA team than failing to close out a series in Game 6 at home. When you are No. 8 seed with that exact opportunity to finish off a No. 1 seed, it has to feel even worse. The unheralded and injury-plagued Hawks twice gave back a home-court edge against Indiana, first by losing Game 4 and again by losing Game 6. They had little left for Game 7 last Saturday when the much-maligned Pacers coasted to a season-saving 92-80 victory. Like Atlanta, Memphis also failed to shut the door on Oklahoma City in Game 6 before being forced to go on the road without a suspended Zach Randolph. As expected, the Thunder rolled 120-109. Indiana is a -4 home favorite in its series opener against Washington on Monday.

Atlanta Braves . Exactly one week ago, the Braves were the second-best team in baseball. Suddenly, they are 1.5 games away from last place in their own division. Atlanta has lost six in a row thanks to sweeps at Miami and at home against San Francisco. It has scored a total of 10 runs in the current six-game slide, including one in each of the three setbacks at the hands of the Giants. The Braves are second to last in the entire league in runs scored with 99 on the season, ahead of only San Diego. They are a +110 second choice to win what is currently an extremely crowded National League East.

Montreal Canadiens . It was all right there for Montreal to win two straight games on the road and take a 2-0 lead over Stanley Cup favorite Boston in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Instead, the Canadiens squandered a 3-1 advantage with fewer than 10 minutes remaining in Game 2 last Saturday as the Bruins answered with four goals in the final 9:04 for a 5-3 win. Boston is a -250 favorite to win the series and a +250 co-favorite with defending champion Chicago to win the Stanley Cup.

Phil Mickelson . Lefty was just two shots out of the lead heading into Sunday's final round at the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte, N.C., and none of the leaders pulled away early. Mickelson, however, could not capitalize. It all fell apart for him after the seventh hole as he three-putted from 15 feet on eight, missed a three-footer for par on 11, could not convert a four-foot birdie attempt on 14, and four-putted from 30 feet on 16. His 76 tied his worst final-round score on the PGA Tour since The Barclays in 2012. J.B. Holmes ended up winning the tournament by one stroke over Jim Furyk. Mickelson is +2500 to win this week's Players Championship; Rory McIlroy is a +1200 favorite.

Liverpool . Liverpool's 2-0 loss to Chelsea on April 27 means it needs help from Manchester City in order to get back on top of the Premier League table. It did not get any last Saturday, but it came close. Man City trailed 1-0 after 21 minutes before taking a 3-1 lead and hanging on for a 3-2 win over host Everton. That may have been Liverpool's last hope, because City's final two matches are against teams on the bottom half of the table-Aston Villa (14th place with 38 points) on Wednesday and West Ham United (12th place with 40 points)on Sunday. The Sky Blues are tied with Liverpool at 80 points, but their goal differential (59 to the Reds' 50) is virtually insurmountable. Manchester City is a -450 favorite to win the title.

Brad Keselowski . It has been a rough two weeks for Keselowski, the 2012 Sprint Cup champion. In late April he contended at Richmond International Speedway but was blocked by Matt Kenseth from making a late move. Joey Logano prevailed as Keselowski had to settle for fourth. The No. 2 car was even more involved on Sunday in Talladega. It made a reckless early move in front of Danica Patrick and spun out, falling six laps off the pace. Despite being so far behind, Keselowski still raced aggressively in the middle of the pack and eventually caused a 14-car pileup with 51 laps remaining. Denny Hamlin went on to take the checkered flag. Keselowski is +800 to win the 2014 Sprint Cup; Jimmie Johnson is a +300 favorite.

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