It’s what I stand for, it’s how I live and I think that’s how the world should try to see itself, to impact other people’s lives. Hill, who joined the Bucks via a trade in December 2018 and re-signed with the team in the summer of 2019, has brought his outreach mentality to Milwaukee over […]
Bucks’ George Hill receives NBA award for his positive impact on communities and social justice initiatives — 227’s YouTube Chili’ Fox News (Jamaal Al-Din TV) Spicy’ NBA Mix!
The Lakers aren’t destined to win a championship because Kobe Bryant died. Bryant’s death shook the world, not just the Lakers. Many people – including players on other teams – still grieve. But Kobe does mean something special to these Lakers. Playing to honor his memory does inspire them. Whether or not you think they […]
Lakers to wear Kobe Bryant Black Mamba jerseys in Game 5 of NBA Finals — Portal4News
Anyone else saying it and you scoff, because the reality of a 3-1 deficit in the NBA Finals is that after three months in the league’s quarantine bubble at Disney World this all could be over Friday night. But when Jimmy Butler says it, deride at your own risk, considering the unexpected heights he already…
Heat down, but Jimmy Butler insists not out in NBA Finals: ‘Our confidence ain’t going nowhere’ — Boston Herald
Game 3 of the ALDS saw three dramatic lead changes, but the A’s kept their season alive with a 9-7 win over the Houston Astros. Chad Pinder’s 360-foot blast in the seventh was the shortest of them all, but was by far the most impactful. The three-run homer erased an Astros’ 7-4 lead late and…
ALDS Game 3: Oakland A’s keep season alive with thrilling comeback victory — Times-Standard
By SHAYNA RUBIN |PUBLISHED: October 7, 2020 at 4:18 p.m. | UPDATED: October 7, 2020 at 4:18 p.m.
Game 3 of the ALDS saw three dramatic lead changes, but the A’s kept their season alive with a 9-7 win over the Houston Astros.
Chad Pinder’s 360-foot blast in the seventh was the shortest of them all, but was by far the most impactful. The three-run homer erased an Astros’ 7-4 lead late and shifted the momentum.
The offensive flow rode again on another Home Run Derby, with both sides upping the count to 18 total long balls at Dodger Stadium in these three games.
The A’s took an early lead with four solo blasts. Tommy La Stella got the A’s out to an early 1-0 lead in the first.
The Astros claimed the lead the following inning. José Altuve hit a solo home run and, with runners on the corners, La Stella’s weak throw on a potential double play turn scored Houston’s go-ahead run.
Oakland could feast a little on José Urquidy, who was hanging his breaking balls. Mark Canha, Matt Olson and Marcus Semien notched solo home runs to extend the A’s lead to 4-2.
The incremental lead gathered via solo home run was easily squashed with one big inning. Jesús Luzardo had been rolling. Getting ahead in counts, he held the Astros scoreless through three innings.
It started with a leadoff walk to Yuli Gurriel in the fifth inning. Aledmys Diaz worked back from an 0-2 count and nailed a fastball over the left field fence to tie the game 4-4. With reliever Yusmeiro Petit on the mound, Houston taught the A’s a lesson in hitting with runners in scoring position, stringing together four hits from the heart of the order for a 7-4 lead.
The comeback A’s, capable of reclaiming unlikely leads late, gave way to the comeback Astros. It was a snapshot for how this series has gone for the A’s: Petit allowed four earned runs in 21 2/3 innings during the regular season. Houston put up four against him in one inning this series, including three Wednesday.
The bullpen just couldn’t mask the offensive deficiencies much longer. The A’s had their opportunities to bust the game open in their favor.
After Semien’s home run in the fourth, Oakland loaded the bases with a walk and Chad Pinder’s single — the A’s first single of the game. Khris Davis, batting cleanup for the first time since July, couldn’t get all of a fastball in the zone and flied out. After Olson walked to load the bases, Canha popped out to extinguish a prime opportunity.
Pinder salvaged the mess. After back-to-back singles from Semien and La Stella to lead off the seventh, Pinder launched the opposite field three-run home run that just cleared the right field fence and missed Kyle Tucker’s outreached glove. It was the A’s first hit with runners in scoring position of the series — he also had the A’s key two-run single against the White Sox in Game 3 of the wild card series.
Liam Hendriks had to whip out his “Hercu-Liam” alter ego, tasked with shutting down the Astros in three innings.
After not throwing more than 30 pitches in any outing in the regular season, Hendriks threw 49 in Game 2 of the wild card series and got the save in Game 3. With a lead, he threw 25 through the seventh and eighth inning. He escaped a game-tying threat in the eighth by striking out pinch hitter Josh Reddick on a 98 mph heater — Reddick broke his bat in frustration.
Hendriks finished off the game by retiring Springer, Altuve and Brantley in order in the ninth.
James will allegedly not sleep until the Lakers clinch the championship, and he’s been very online at night lately while he stays up.
LeBron James Is Going To Incredible Lengths To Keep The Lakers Locked In For The Finals — UPROXX
As LeBron James nears his fourth NBA championship, it appears he is becoming nocturnal in an effort to remain vigilant about the task at hand of closing out the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals. Prior to a powerful Game 4 win, James reportedly shot his Lakers teammates a text message in the middle of the night with a simple message: That the following night’s game was a must-win.
“We see the message from our leader saying this is a must-win,” Anthony Davis told The Athletic. “and he just left it at that.”
As James would later explain it, the text was not only a byproduct of his fierce competitiveness, but also his inability to fall asleep lately. With Game 4 clinched and the Lakers on the cusp of a championship, James elaborated to reporters about his recent insomnia.
Here’s what he said:
“We understand what’s at stake,” James explained. “The job is not done. We get an opportunity to get our bodies back underneath us with an extra day of rest but also keep our minds sharp. I am looking forward, once again, to looking at the film tomorrow. Do all around the clock treatment and treating it like we play Thursday. I’m going to continue to get the work in and continue to not sleep until the job is done. So, I look forward to the next match.”
It may not seem like a great idea to play a deciding NBA Finals game having not slept in a few days, but at this point James’ judgment probably supersedes ours. If it pays off, he’ll have several months to get plenty of sleep before next season.
There are side effects to the no sleeping plan, as the King gets a little bored late at night in the Bubble. That much was clear when James posted a joking meme overnight following Game 4.
— LeBron James (@KingJames) October 7, 2020
Difficulty sleeping is understandable in James’ position, but it is admittedly pretty funny that he’s actively staying awake in order to keep his game face on.
Clippers center Montrezl Harrell won Sixth Man of the Year.
Clippers’ Montrezl Harrell wins NBA Hustle Award — ProBasketballTalk | NBC Sports
Clippers center Montrezl Harrell won Sixth Man of the Year.
Now, he adds more hardware to his collection.
NBA:
LA Clippers forward-center Montrezl Harrell has won the 2019-20 NBA Hustle Award, which honors the player that makes the energy and effort plays to help his team win throughout the season.
This is why it’s silly for the NBA to announce regular-season awards so long after the regular season (especially when there was a great opportunity to do so earlier). Though he deserves sympathy for the cause, Harrell just had a miserable playoffs, struggling on the court and feuding with teammates. It’s hard to get excited about honoring him right now.
Harrell definitely played with a lot of energy during the regular season. He relentlessly scrambled to find ways to score junk baskets inside, took charges, crashed the glass and set screens.
Kyle Lowry, Chris Paul, Anthony Davis and Giannis Antetokounmpo should’ve drawn consideration. But, unfairly, it’s tough to see a star winning something called the Hustle Award.
Sub-stars Marcus Smart and Steven Adams also warranted consideration.
Doc Rivers and 76ers a high-profile matchReport: Tyronn Lue interviewing with Rockets and PelicansReport: Tyronn Lue ‘early favorite’ to become Clippers head …Leave a comment
Mere minutes after losing Game 4 and falling behind 3-1 against LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the heavily favored Lakers, members of the Miami Heat got on Zoom and kept talking their talk. “We’ll respond, that’s not even – that’s academic at this point,” Coach Erik Spoelstra said after the 102-96 loss. “We’ll just rest…
Miami Heat, down 3-1 to the Lakers in the NBA Finals, embrace the challenge — Press Telegram
Mere minutes after losing Game 4 and falling behind 3-1 against LeBron James, Anthony Davis and the heavily favored Lakers, members of the Miami Heat got on Zoom and kept talking their talk.
“We’ll respond, that’s not even – that’s academic at this point,” Coach Erik Spoelstra said after the 102-96 loss. “We’ll just rest up tomorrow and get back to work and get ready for the next one.”
It’s one thing to say all the right things; it’s another to believe it. And when Miami, with no more margin for error, claims to be undeterred, and perhaps even inspired by the obstacle in front of them, an opponent probably ought to take that seriously.
And the Lakers will. Over on the Lakers’ Zoom on Tuesday night, James responded to the Heat’s “stick-to-it-iveness” as if he were logged on, listening to what Miami personnel was saying over on the other stream.
“After the Game 3 win, that confidence they had, the confidence they still have even after tonight’s loss, they are just a gritty, so damn-well-coached team,” James said. “If we’re going to be a championship ballclub, if we want to really be a championship team, that we got to have that same grit and that same attitude.”
Because, no, the Heat don’t plan to go quietly in Game 5.
“I’m sure on Friday night, it will be James and Davis on (Jimmy Butler) quite a bit and Jimmy’s not running from that,” said Spoelstra of his star, who couldn’t escape Davis’ shadow Tuesday, when he finished with 22 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists, but had to work hard for it two days after he posted just the third 40-point triple-double in NBA Finals history.
Spoelstra acknowledged the Heat would work on strategy to try to create additional space for their star to perform, but overall, he like the idea of the ensuing knock-down, drag-out battle.
“These games may just end up being in the mud,” Spoelstra said. “You have two competitive groups and you just have to figure out how to make some plays at the end, and that’s usually where we figure it out and usually where our group thrives.”
Butler maintained that Miami will have to play “damn near perfect” to beat the Lakers, but suggested if the Heat can screen better and make a few more tough shots, another victory is there for the taking.
Rookie Tyler Herro said he’s learning he has to resist letting the Lakers speed him up. Bam Adebayo – who Tuesday played 33 minutes and had 15 points and seven rebounds in his first action since missing two games with a strained neck – said the Heat need to be more disciplined, avoid putting up shots too early. Spoelstra suggested his team missed a few reads and let some fleeting windows of opportunity close.
In other words, the Heat recognize ways they can improve. Whether they can solve the puzzle is to be determined, but Miami means it when its players say they enjoy this sort of thing.
“Our guys love competition and love the challenge,” Spoelstra said. “We are here for a purpose. We never expected this to be easy. We’ll just rest and recover (Wednesday). Recalibrate, get back to work on Thursday. I know our group’s going to be ready.”
Fact. Nowhere. #HEATCulture pic.twitter.com/puTIt8uJTq
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) October 7, 2020
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee will not be returning to the team’s facility Wednesday after two more players tested positive amid the NFL’s first COVID-19 outbreak, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press. In Foxborough, Massachusetts, the New England Patriots have canceled their Wednesday practice amid that a third player – reigning NFL…
NFL hit with more COVID positives in Tennessee, New England — Press Telegram
File it under sports science. “The law of averages will come back around: If you have a bad night, typically you’ll have a good night the next night,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel hypothesized when asked Tuesday what he expected from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Danny Green before the Lakers’ 102-96 victory in Game 4 of the…
Lakers’ Kentavious Caldwell-Pope rebounds, displays ‘big guts’ with big shots in Game 4 — Daily News
The view from left field 