It seems unnecessary to talk about a series that is already over, but it bears mentioning that the Boston Celtics closed out the Philadelphia 76ers in one of the most unnecessary 7 game series I have ever witnessed. The Celtics, both on paper and on the court, should have won this series in no more than 6 games. Give credit to the Sixers for not playing the game on paper. But, even in the absence of Avery Bradley, the Celtics played down to their competition.

Beginning last night, there was no playing down to the competition for the Celtics. There could not have been a more dramatic increase in level of competition for Boston than going from Philly to Miami.

People talk a lot about the Heat’s lack of depth. “They’re just LeBron, Wade, and 9 other guys” is the general narrative. Last night, in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, the Heat showed just how good LeBron, Wade and 9 other guys could be even on an off night.

The Heat used their defense and ability to get to the basket to put away the Celtics in the second half of last night’s game, en route to a 93-79 win. Despite shooting just 20% from the 3-point line, Miami shot 66 % from inside the arc. They were led, as usual, by the unclutch LeBron James who scored just 32 points and added a measly 13 rebounds to go with his 3 blocks.

Out West, the Spurs used a 39 point 4^th quarter on Sunday to win Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. They have now won 19 games in a row. That is very good.

The New Jersey Devils netted an overtime goal on Friday to win the Eastern Conference Finals over the New York Rangers.

Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals will be played some time in the next 3 weeks, apparently. Or tomorrow. Which may as well be 3 weeks from now. Again, remember this one thing: It’s important NOT to have 5 days off between any two games in your playoff season. We are a culture of distraction. You cannot allow your fans to become distracted if you’re the NHL.

-Angels starter Jered Weaver left last night’s game against the Yankees in the first inning with a  back injury. The extent of his malady is not known.

-Dodgers star Matt Kemp will return from the DL tonight after he suffered a hamstring strain.

-White Sox starter Chris Sale and Rays starter Matt Moore became the first pitchers under the age of 23 to strike out at least 25 batters in a Major League game yesterday. Sale had 15 Ks.

The Nats finally swept a series in the 2012 season and did it in style, knocking off the Atlanta Braves over the weekend. The Nats winning streak came to an end yesterday in Miami though, as they fell to the red-hot Marlins 5-3. Game 2 of that series is tonight at 7:05 (MASN2). Edwin Jackson will take the hill for the Nats. He’ll be opposed by Anibal Sanchez, who has never lost a game to the Nationals.

Other info:

-The Nats offense may be receiving a huge boost by week’s end when Michael Morse returns from a strained lat muscle that has kept him on the shelf for the entire season. Morse batted .303 last season with 31 HR.

-Ross Detwiler was removed from his role as the Nationals’ fifth starter, after another shaky outing on Friday and was replaced by Chien-Ming Wang. Detwiler was moved to the a bullpen role.

-Catcher Jesus Flores suffered a strained hamstring over the weekend, though the Nationals believe he will return to the lineup later this week.

-To add depth at the Catcher position, Washington sent Tyler Moore down to AAA Syracuse and called up Jhonathan Solano. Solano was getting on-base at a robut 29% clip in AAA. Consider his stay in Washington a brief one.

Oklahoma City @ San Antonio (SAS leads 1-0). 9 p.m./TNT