This has been a record weekend for winner-take-all games in sports. Between the NBA and the NHL, a total of seven Game 7s were on the docket. However, two games in particular stand out and will have a special place in the history of professional sports.
At 7 p.m. local time, the Dallas Mavericks will try to complete their second-round upset of the 64-win, No. 1 seeded Phoenix Suns by winning Game 7 on the road. Then, 90 minutes later, the Dallas Stars will play 1,500 miles away in Calgary against the Flames in the seventh game of their first-round series. This is the first time in the history of North American professional sports that two teams from the same city will play in a Game 7 on the same day, according to Elias Sports Bureau.
Ironically, neither the Mavericks nor the Stars will be playing their Game 7 in Dallas. Both are lower seeds, and will therefore need to win on the road to keep their seasons alive. Logistically, that works out for the best. The Mavericks and Stars share the American Airlines Center, so scheduling multiple Game 7s would have been difficult for the leagues. In another fun twist, both Dallas teams are playing against fire-themed teams in the Suns from Phoenix and the Flames from Calgary.
Both the Mavericks and Stars are underdogs as they enter what might be their final games of the season. Even if they are both defeated, though, they’ve managed to extend their seasons long enough to make a bit of sports trivia. If nothing else, fans in Dallas will win bar bets off of this for years to come.
