The NBA fined Clippers guard Patrick Beverley $25,000 for “verbal abuse of a game official,” the league announced Monday in a statement from Kiki VanDeWeghe, executive vice president of basketball operations. The fine stems from an incident with 1:04 left in the Clippers’ 110-101 loss Saturday, when Beverley was assessed two consecutive technical fouls and…
NBA fines Patrick Beverley $25,000 for “verbal abuse” of official — Daily News
The Milwaukee Bucks avoided a sweep by beating the Miami Heat 118-115 in overtime of Game 4.
No Giannis, no problem: Bucks top Heat in OT, force Game 5 — The Florida Daily Post
Giannis Antetokounmpo was waiting in the locker room for his teammates Sunday, standing on his bad right ankle to greet every one of them.
His day ended early.
His season isn’t over yet.
Khris Middleton scored 36 points, including a big 3-pointer with 6.4 seconds left in overtime, and the Milwaukee Bucks avoided a sweep by beating the Miami Heat 118-115 in overtime of Game 4 of the teams’ Eastern Conference semifinal series.
The Heat still lead 3-1, but the Bucks — the best team in the regular season — are still alive, even after Antetokounmpo left early in the second quarter with an aggravation of his sprained right ankle.
“Khris is very unique,” Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “He’s got a way about him. He wanted to play. He asked to stay in the game.”
As if there was any other option. Middleton’s season-high before Sunday was 40 minutes; he logged 48 in Game 4, taking over with Antetokounmpo watching from the locker room.
“Just keep fighting,” said Middleton, who also had eight rebounds and eight assists. “That’s all my teammates did.”
Bam Adebayo had 26 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists for Miami. Duncan Robinson scored 20 points, Jae Crowder had 18, and Goran Dragic and Jimmy Butler each finished with 17 for the Heat.
“We didn’t deserve to win that game,” Butler said.
Miami had an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter, promptly allowed the Bucks to score the next 12, and now needs to come back Tuesday in an effort to finish the series off.
“At the end of the day, we should have played like we did in Game 1, Game 2 and Game 3,” Adebayo said.
Antetokounmpo scored 19 points for the Bucks in only 11 minutes, while Brook Lopez and Eric Bledsoe each had 14 for Milwaukee. George Hill added 12 for the Bucks.
Miami managed only two points in the first 4:30 of overtime, got within one on a 3-pointer from Tyler Herro, but Middleton delivered the biggest shot of the night to make it 116-112.
Herro made another 3-pointer with 3.0 seconds left, but Middleton sealed it with a pair of free throws — and Miami coach Erik Spoelstra lauded Milwaukee’s effort afterward.
“The reality is, they deserved to win the game,” Spoelstra said. “They were doing things with more force, more consistency.”
Antetokounmpo had 19 of Milwaukee’s first 30 points, shooting 8-for-10 from the floor. But in an instant, everything changed for the Bucks.
Antetokounmpo aggravated his sprained right ankle with 10:18 left in the second quarter, rolling it inward — just as he did in Game 3 on Friday — as he tried to drive past Miami’s Andre Iguodala. He tumbled to the court, grabbing the ankle and screaming in pain.
He took the free throws; without doing that, he would not have been permitted to return. But at halftime, the Bucks delivered the word that he would not be back.
So, his game was over.
The Bucks’ season wasn’t. Milwaukee said Antetokounmpo would get plenty of treatment Sunday night and Monday before a decision is made about his availability for Tuesday.
“He’s going to be back,” Bledsoe said.
Middleton did all he could to keep the Bucks afloat, scoring 21 points in the third quarter — the highest-scoring quarter of his career — on 6 for 9 shooting from the field and 7 for 7 from the foul line. His previous quarter-best was 20, on Nov. 1, 2017, against Charlotte.
He set the tone, and the Bucks’ season is still alive.
“We’ve got to fight every night to keep on playing,” Middleton said.
Bucks: Milwaukee missed 19 consecutive 3-pointers — its last 12 of Game 3 and first seven of Game 4 — before Antetokounmpo connected late in the first quarter. … Milwaukee won despite getting outscored 51-33 on 3-pointers.
Heat: Miami was looking to become the first No. 5 seed in NBA history to go 8-0 in the first two rounds of the playoffs. The Heat were the last unbeaten team in this year’s playoffs. … The Heat lost for only the fourth time in their last 17 series-closeout opportunities.
The Bucks avoided becoming the first overall No. 1 seed to get swept from the playoffs since 2001 when the Los Angeles Lakers did it to top-seeded San Antonio in the Western Conference finals. Budenholzer was a Spurs assistant at that time.
Middleton wasn’t the only Milwaukee player to log big minutes. Lopez played 42, Bledsoe 40, and Hill 37. “We’re absolutely a family. We always have each other’s backs,” Lopez said.
Game 5 is Tuesday.
Now that he has a new multiyear contract, Nationals GM Mike Rizzo says his top priority is working out a long-term deal for manager Dave Martinez.
Nationals GM Rizzo says new deal for Martinez is ‘priority one’ — MLB | NBC Sports
Associated PressSep 6, 2020, 8:49 PM EDTLeave a comment
ATLANTA — Now that he has a new multiyear contract, Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo says his top priority is working out a long-term deal for manager Dave Martinez.
The Nationals have a club option for Martinez for 2021. Rizzo said Sunday his preference is “just to disregard that” club option and instead work out a new contract for the manager.
“That’s priority one to get Davey taken care of,” Rizzo said. “My plan is and my preference is to not pick up the option and go well beyond that.”
Rizzo’s multiyear extension was announced by the team on Saturday.
Martinez said Saturday he wants to remain in Washington.
“Mike’s is done. Mine should be coming around the corner pretty soon,” Martinez said when asked about his contract status. “We’ll see what happens.”
Rizzo and Martinez led the Nationals to the 2019 World Series title. This year, Washington is in last place in the NL East.
“Going through what we’re going on the field, it’s kind of hard to celebrate a personal achievement,” Rizzo said, referring to his new contract.
Rizzo said negotiations on his deal began about one week ago.
Asked if he became frustrated the extension did not come sooner, Rizzo said the deal allows those who work around him to relax.
“People run into a little bit of anxiety as you get closer to the end of the season,” he said. “It feels good for everyone around us. Now we can do what we need to do and take care of what we need to for the rest of the season and the offseason.”
Rizzo said he didn’t let his uncertain status affect his work.
“I was never going to mention it to the ownership and never did,” he said. “… They knew I wanted to be here and also knew this negotiation wouldn’t take long once we got into it.”
Negotiations with shortstop Trea Turner may be another priority for Rizzo, who said there were discussions of an extension in spring training.
Turner has a one-year, $7.45 million deal this season. He can be eligible for free agency in 2023.Tags: Dave Martinez, Mike Rizzo, Nationals, Washington Nationals, Trea TurnerLeave a comment
Los Angeles Lakers’ Rajon Rondo (9) scores a three-point basket against Houston Rockets’ Austin Rivers (25) during the first half of an NBA conference semifinal playoff basketball game Sunday, Sept. 6, 2020, in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill) Los Angeles Lakers’ Rajon Rondo (9) celebrates with LeBron James (23) after scoring a…
Lakers race by Rockets as Anthony Davis, LeBron James overpower on offense — Daily News
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — The Lakers-Rockets series might have four of the NBA’s players who are next to impossible to imitate. That doesn’t stop coaches from trying. Both the Lakers and Rockets have used scout teams to prepare their strategies for the series, using end-of-the-bench players to replicate All-Star counterparts. Houston coach Mike D’Antoni…
Lakers, Rockets rely on scout teams to plot out series adjustments — Press Telegram
It’s a best of three now. The Celtics were a half second away from taking a 3-0 stranglehold on the Raptors in Game 3. Kyle Lowry and OG Anunoby said ‘Not just yet’ stealing Game 3 and a completely different looking Raptors unit took the floor for Game 4. This time there was no buzzer-beater […]
GANTER: Raptors have their swagger back now — Toronto Sun
It’s a best of three now.
The Celtics were a half second away from taking a 3-0 stranglehold on the Raptors in Game 3.
Kyle Lowry and OG Anunoby said ‘Not just yet’ stealing Game 3 and a completely different looking Raptors unit took the floor for Game 4.
This time there was no buzzer-beater needed as the Raptors pulled away for a 100-93 win to even up the series.
The Raptors were the clear aggressors in this game continually building leads but to the Celtics credit continually having to re-establish those leads after the Celts response.
But there was a different look in Toronto from the very outset.
No one between games was willing to say the Raptor swagger was definitively back given how little of Game 3 they actually controlled but it’s a much safer statement following Game 4.
The three-point game, a staple of their offence was back led by that stellar backfourt of Fred VanVleet and Kyle Lowry who were a combined 9-for-20 from distance. Serge Ibaka off the bench was a perfect 4-for-4 from behind the arc.
Were it not for Pascal Siakam’s 2-for-13 from distance, the team average would have been other worldly.
HOW ABOUT SERGE
Ibaka really isn’t getting the credit he deserves in this series.
With Gasol not quite himself until about Game 3, it was Ibaka who was so important just to give the Raptors a chance in Game 2.
With Gasol looking more like himself in Game 3 and again in Game 4 (despite the foul trouble) Ibaka has ccontinued to play big minutes as Nurse’s first or second man off the bench.
Nurse has been talking up Ibaka’s shooting since the re-start began and for good reason. Ibaka has been averaging just under 16 points a game in the playoffs for the Raptors in just over 24 minutes.
“Serge plays like that, we’re always a better team,” Lowry said afterwards. “When our bigs played the way they did tonight — Marc (Gasol) hit a big shot for us, Serge does like he did tonight, it gives us a big lift.”
NOT CELTICS’ NIGHT
The Celtics have been so good through three games it was almost unbelievable watching them shooting makeable three after makeable three Saturday night and missing.
The Celtics were just 7-for-35 from three in the game with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, their two big gunners going a combined 3-for-17.
Obviously credit the Raptors defence but sometimes the ball just isn’t falling and it seemed like that was the case for a good portion of the night for
the Celtics, but Brown in particular.
The Raptors on the other hand hit 17 threes in the game and while they weren’t real happy about their mid-range game – “We shot like crap from two” was how Fred VanVleet put it, they had a decent night from behind the arc. Lowry still thinks they can be better overall.
“I still think we’re not close to where we could be shooting it at but we made some threes in a good stretch in the third quarter, made some big ones in the fourth,” Lowry said. “You know, the way they play defence is: they contest really, really hard, but we’ve just got to shoot the ball with confidence and continue to shoot the ball with confidence and keep getting better. If we get one of those games where we get really, really hot, it makes a big difference.”
STEVENS’ TAKE
Celtics head coach Brad Stevens was rather adamant that the Celtics did carry a bit of a grudge into Saturday’s game after the way Game 3 ended.
“I don’t think there’s any question that we were (angry) and guys played exceptionally hard and did a lot of good things,” he said defending his team. “But the other team is out there, too. And they made it very tough on us. When you miss, as we know, it can kinda cascade on you, and that’s what happened tonight. We gotta handle that better. I was pretty encouraged at halftime. We were shooting awful and it was 49-49. But it’s part of it. Gotta play better, gotta shoot better, gotta feel better. Gotta be ready to go on Monday night.”
SIMMONS SUNDAY: Still waiting on that Ujiri extension, RaptorsWild Game 3 win has Raptors feeling and looking more like themselvesSIMMONS: Lowry takes your breath away in last second win for Raptors
QUICK HITS
Pre-game Stevens revealed injured forward/guard Gordon Hayward was due back on the NBA campus on Sunday at which point he will have to undergo a four-day quarantine. But as for a return, Stevens tamped down expectations. “He’s not going to play any time soon,” he said … The Miami Heat are a win away from sending the East’s No. 1 seeded Milwaukee Bucks home from the bubble. News yesterday had Giannis Antetokounmpo questionable for Game 4 with an ankle sprain which makes things infinintely tougher for the Bucks who would be without their leading scorer and leading rebounder … Speaking of the Heat, and we only bring this to your attention to start stoking the fire in case the matchup eventually comes to pass. But long-time Heat beat writer Ira Winderman was asked in his daily exchange with readers who he thought the Heat would rather face in an Eastern Final should they eventually finish off the Bucks. Winderman who knows better than most not to mess with the basketball gods, began by reminding his reader the Heat had not yet qualified for the Conference Final. Only after that did he finally admit the Heat would probably prefer to see the Raptors who they handled better in the regular season than they fared against the Celtics. But don’t let that stop you from starting your Miami-doesn’t respect-Toronto file.
Denver’s Nikola Jokic embodies the John Wooden saying, “be quick, don’t hurry.”
Nikola Jokic: “I’m patient because I cannot really run fast” — ProBasketballTalk | NBC Sports
BOSTON — The injury woes that have plagued the Blue Jays in this crammed 2020 season has claimed another of its star players, the Toronto Sun has learned. Read More
BREAKING: Blue Jays star Teoscar Hernandez headed to injury list with suspected rib injury — Toronto Sun
BOSTON — The injury woes that have plagued the Blue Jays in this crammed 2020 season has claimed another of its star players, the Toronto Sun has learned.
A source in Boston said that outfielder Teoscar Hernandez will be out of the lineup for a lengthy but undisclosed time after suffering an apparent rib injury here on Saturday night.
Hernandez, who earlier in the game had hit his team-leading 14th home run of the season, has been spectacular for the Jays in their playoff push. It’s almost certain he will spend extended time on the injury list.
An MRI is scheduled for later Sunday to determine the severity of the injury. The team is already without star shortstop Bo Bichette and closer Ken Giles and is wearing down from a gruelling 28 games in 27 days stretch. Hernandez was batting .306 and also leads the Jays in RBI with 27.
After finishing a five-game series with the Red Sox here on Sunday afternoon, the Jays return to Buffalo for what is seen as a crucial three-game set vs. The New York Yankees.
[ad_1] Jamal Murray scored 27 points and Nikola Jokic had 26 points and 18 rebounds as the Denver Nuggets beat the Los Angeles Clippers 110-101 in Game 2 of their Western Conference semi-final on Saturday. Game leaders Denver Nuggets Points: Jamal Murray – 27 Assists: Jamal Murray – 6 Rebounds: Nikola Jokic – 18 Los […]
NBA Playoffs: Jamal Murray scores 27 points as Denver Nuggets tie series against Los Angeles Clippers | NBA News — The Latest News
Kemba Walker said his lack of aggression was “unacceptable” after taking only nine shots in the Boston Celtics’ 100-93 loss to the Toronto Raptors in game 4. The series is now even at two. “I got to be more aggressive. I wasn’t aggressive enough. That’s unacceptable on my behalf, to be honest. There’s no way […]
Kemba Walker Says He’s ‘Got To Be More Aggressive’ After Taking Nine Shots In Game 4 Loss — Portal4News
Kemba Walker said his lack of aggression was “unacceptable” after taking only nine shots in the Boston Celtics’ 100-93 loss to the Toronto Raptors in game 4.
The series is now even at two.
“I got to be more aggressive. I wasn’t aggressive enough. That’s unacceptable on my behalf, to be honest. There’s no way I can just be taking nine shots. That’s unacceptable,” said Walker.
Walker finished the game with 15 points and 8 assists, while also going 1-for-6 from three.
Jaylen Brown, who shot 4-of-18 from the field, echoed Walker’s struggles.
“I just missed some open shots. I’m a good shooter. I’ve just got to make them. It’s make-or-break time, 2-2. The series is tied up. We didn’t play that well. I didn’t play that well. We got to bounce back and be ready to fight. That’s what it comes down to: fight. We have to be ready to fight for our lives next game and keep playing good basketball.”
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — So much fatigue. So much for playing tiny lineups. So much for an entire organization feeling crushing pressure to advance. The Lakers won the tip-off against the small-ball Houston Rockets in Game 1 of their second-round series Friday, and then every perceived advantage they had entering the night vanished. The…
Lakers fail to match the energy, speed of revved up Rockets in Game 1 — Daily News
The Milwaukee bucks and their superstar forward Giannis Antetokounmpo were the Eastern Conference favorites to make the NBA Finals when the playoffs started, but last night they dropped their third straight game to the Heat and are now on the brink of elimination. Last season, the Bucks won 60 games and finish first in the […]
The Bucks are down 3-0 to the Heat, and that means big questions about Giannis Antetokounmpo — Aaron’s Blog
The view from left field 