Welcome to the latest episode of Hot Takedown, FiveThirtyEight’s sports podcast. On this week’s show (April 26, 2016), we break down how Steph Curry’s MCL strain will affect the Warriors’ chances of repeating as NBA champions. We discuss the Chicago Cubs’ lightning start to the baseball season and ask if they might turn into the Warriors of MLB. Then we talk to The Washington Post’s Neil Greenberg about the first round of games in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Finally, a significant digit on Leicester City, the little English team that’s one game away from winning the league title. Stream the episode by clicking the play button, or subscribe using one of the podcast clients we’ve linked to above. Links to what we discuss are here:
- Neil Paine breaks down how Steph Curry’s injury will affect the Warriors’ playoff chances.
- Scott Cacciola at The New York Times says Warriors fans have their fingers crossed for Curry’s recovery.
- Michael Powell says the NBA should cut the number of playoff games.
- Here are FiveThirtyEight’s new predictions for the 2016 baseball season.
- And here’s ESPN’s David Schoenfield diving into the numbers behind the Cubs’ fast start to the season.
- Neil Paine explains how to predict MLB records from early results.
- A different Neil, Neil Greenberg, tells us why parity reigns in the NHL.
- If you want to check out The Washington Post’s Fancy Stats blog, you can find it here.
- The Chicago Blackhawks may have lost on Monday but Nate Silver wrote last year that the Blackhawks are definitely a dynasty.
- Finally, here’s some Deflategate coverage! Ben Morris breaks down how Tom Brady’s suspension will affect the Patriots.
- And here is Brian Burke’s “Deflategate Bayesian Network” which allows you to calculate your implied belief that Tom Brady is guilty.
- Significant Digit: 5,000-1. Those are the odds bookmakers offered for Leicester City to win the English Premier League at the beginning of the season. They are now one win away from the title.
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