Round 1 of the NBA Playoffs are coming to an end. The Defending Eastern and Western Conference Champs, Cavs and Warriors respectively are on their way after sweeping their opponents 4-0. The Pacers and Trailblazers have been sent home!
Cavs await the winner of the Bucks-Raptors series. Warriors await the winner of the Jazz-Clippers series.
Rockets vs. OKC
James Harden and the Houston Rockets destroyed OKC 4-1 and are through as well. They await the winner of the Spurs-Grizzlies series.
The remaining teams have been battling it out back and forth, however injuries have played a big part in the outcome.
Celtics vs. Bulls
After the Bulls jumped ahead with the help of veteran, Rondo versus the Celtics they are now behind 2-3. Rondo was finally starting to contribute to the team and play more like the Rondo we know, but he injured his thumb and has had to sit out the last 2 games that they lost.
Jazz vs. Clippers
The Clippers are also without a crucial player, Blake Griffin, who injured his toes. They now trail the Jazz 2-3 in the series. The Jazz look like they may beat them regardless of if Griffin is present or not. However, even though the Clippers do not play consistently well during the season, they are known to be a ‘Playoff team’, so that’s where they show up. Even though the Jazz looks like the better, more complete team, don’t count out CP3 and the Clippers just yet!
Wizards vs. Hawks
The Hawks could not contain John Wall last night. Wizards now lead the Hawks 3-2.
Wall was so pumped up that he wore a cape for his post-game conference interview.
Spurs vs. Grizzlies
‘Grandpa’ Ginobili finally scored some points on Monday night for the Spurs for this series! He then fired up young, Patty Mills who scored raining 3s.
Spurs took the lead in the series 3-2 and play the Grizzlies tonight at 9:30pmET.
Bucks vs. Raptors
The momentum has switched and the Raptors have come alive in the past 2 games. Raptors lead the series 3-2 and they face the Bucks at 7pmET.
Which team will force a Game 7?! Stay tuned!
By: Gabrielle Burgess
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The Celtics recovered and have now drawn the series 2-2. So have the Raptors versus the Bucks, with their series at 2-2.
The Grizzlies recovered as well in their series with the Spurs to bring it to 2-2, but looks like the Refs have been on their side this time to help them to do so. Coach Popovich of the Spurs also made some rookie coaching errors. For instance, he had Tony Parker who is 38, mark Mike Conley whose hands were red hot.
The Warriors should be taking care of business soon to sweep the Trailblazers.
The Clippers and Jazz have been going back and forth. Their series is tied at 2-2.
The Wizards are up on the Hawks 2-1. I think that series is a toss up but I give the Wizards the edge.
OKC looks like they cannot pull off an upset at all to beat the Rockets. They can’t win with a one-man show. The Rockets are up 3-1, so that series should be over soon at the looks of it.
Continue to enjoy the series!
By: Gabrielle Burgess
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It is certainly a sad day for the athletic world, friends, family and fans, as retired High Jumper, Germaine Mason died suddenly this morning in a bike crash.
Jamaican-born, Germaine Mason still holds the National record for Jamaica in High Jump. He migrated to the UK and represented Great Britain after 2006.
He won the Silver Medal in High Jump at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 for Great Britain.
This morning, Germaine lost control of his motor bike along the Palisadoes road, crashed and died on the spot.
Rest in Peace Germaine.
By: Gabrielle Burgess
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Round 1 of the Playoffs have begun and we have already had 2 upsets. The Bucks beat the Raptors at home and the bigger story is the Bulls beating the Celtics in their house as well. However, even though the Bulls is the number 7 seed going into the Playoffs and the Celtics is number 1, the match ups are competitive. You cannot ignore the talent and experience of Rondo and D. Wade and the freshness and hunger of Jimmy Butler. This should be an interesting series.
The Pacers have kept close to the Cavs but have failed twice to overcome them. They don’t have what it takes to beat the Cavs this year.
In the West, The Trailblazers held their own versus the Warriors but the Warriors are just in a different class. They will keep the Warriors on their toes this series though.
The Jazz upset the Clippers to take Game 1 but I think these teams will go back and forth like the Hawks and Wizards in the East. They are the number 5 and 4 seeds respectively.
The Rockets rolled over OKC in Game 1. Suga believes OKC has what it takes to upset them but they have a lot of work to do.
The Spurs rolled over the Grizzlies in a Game 1 blowout. Game 2 was more competitive though, where the Grizzlies chipped away a 26-point deficit to a 4-point deficit. The Spurs regrouped and stretched the lead again to win and go up in the series 2-0.
During the game there was visible frustration from Zach Randolph for not getting foul calls, but it was their Coach Fizdale who was the most upset of all.
He went on a huge Post-game tirade on the Refs and is likely to get fined.
Watch “Grizzlies Coach David Fizdale was ABSOLUTELY TRIGGERED and GOES OFF on the referees!!” on YouTube here:
Coach Fizdale’s data does raise eyebrows but he should have quit while he was ahead. It’s not like he was playing a team like the Cavs. He was playing a team with class as well. ‘Kuwiet Kawhi’ is definitely not the type to cry for free throws. It just happens he got a lot.
Coach Fizdale has a ring from being on the Coaching staff for Miami so those Refs better recognize.
I assume they will come out hard at home. Hopefully the data is more reasonable for the rest of their series.
We’ll be looking out for the ‘They’re not gonna ROOK US’ T-shirts.
Tonight’s Schedule:
Photo: ESPN Scorecenter
Enjoy!
By: Gabrielle Burgess
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Photo of OKC’s Russell Westbrook: ESPN ScoreCentre
Oscar Robertson held the record for the most triple-doubles in an NBA season. He scored 41 triple-doubles in the 1961-1962 season with the Cincinnati Royals. The 12-time All Star was also a key player for the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1970-1971 season, helping them to win their only NBA title.
Oklahoma City Thunder’s Russell Westbrook set the record last night with his 42nd triple-double, passing Oscar Robertson.
He did it in fine style with 50 points, grabbing 16 rebounds and dishing out 10 assists in a 106-105 win over the Denver Nuggets.
Congrats Russ!
By: Gabrielle Burgess
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Edwin Allen as predicted got the 4-peat for the Girls. The fight was on for 2nd place between Jago, Holmwood and Hydel. Hydel took 2nd and the other standings are below.
Suga would like to big up her alma mater, Immaculate for finishing in the top 10. Well done ladies!
Boys
The prediction for the Boys did not have the same outcome as the Girls. KC thought they had Champs in the bag and did a lot of talking. I don’t know where their maths went wrong but they clearly did not account for injuries and other mishaps. Even KC’s ‘import’ from Uganda lost the 1500m to Calabar. However, he still managed to win the 5000m giving them a 4-point lead before the last race of the meet. But it was not enough. They did not have a strong enough 4×400m relay team, especially without Jhevaughn Matherson who aggravated his injury after the 100m semis. If they finished 3rd or higher in the 4×400m relay, they could have won Champs. How? It would have been a tie with Calabar and they had the deeper team with more Gold medals. That was not accomplished though and Calabar’s Christopher Taylor anchored Calabar to victory, 6-love.
Suga’s Championship Girl is Gabrielle McDonald from Edwin Allen!
The quality and speed of the hurdling impressed me most of all this year. Tiny but mighty, Gabrielle smashed the Class 1 100m hurdles record, finishing in 13.12s and won the 400m hurdles open as well. She won in 56.53s ahead of the favourite from Holmwood, Nicolee Foster. Keep in mind that our Danielle Williams ran a PB of 12.57s to win the 100m hurdles at the 2015 World Champs. These young athletes have been running spectacular times. Keep it going Gabrielle!
Gabrielle McDonald of Edwin Allen hurdling her way to victory. Photo: The Jamaica Gleaner
Suga’s Championship Boy is Christopher Taylor from Calabar!
Entering his first year in the Class 1 Boys, he won the 400m, the 200m and anchored his team to victory in the 4×400m relay. Bright future ahead from this humble, young man.
Christopher Taylor from Calabar after he took Calabar home to their 6th straight Champs victory
Congrats Edwin Allen and Calabar! Well done. Kudos to all the other schools as well that competed and help to put on an amazing show. There were surprises, injuries, false starts, tears, laughter, joy and numerous records broken.
See you all next year!
By: Gabrielle Burgess
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First of all, Suga would like to Congratulate Dirk Nowitzki of the Mavs for joining the 30,000 points club and being the 1st International Player to do so. He joins Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain. Who is the closest NBA player in line to try and join the club? LeBron James. He may take about 63 more games to do so based on average points per game. Other players are way off with hundreds of games more to go.
Photo: SLAMonline
Now to the meat of the matter. It’s almost Playoff time and teams on the chopping block are striving for every win they can get.
How are The Finals looking?
Eastern Conference
Suga believes the Cavs are going straight to the Finals again. The teams on the East continue to be weak and King James and the Cavs are just too good right now. Despite their last 3 consecutive losses, they turn it up when they need to. The closest contenders, currently a close 2nd in the East are Isaiah Thomas and the Celtics. They beat the Warriors Wednesday night without KD but they aren’t consistent enough. They should give the Cavs a run for their money though.
Main concern for the Cavs
The main concern for the Cavs has been not enough time to rest their star players. The plan to do so got a dent with them obtaining Warriors’ Andrew Bogut.
How so?
Photo: Black Adam Schefter
He’s so fragile. Bogut fractured his tibia within minutes of his team debut and will be out for the rest of the year. Kevin Love is still out and J.R Smith is just returning after an injury to his finger. However, they added Deron Williams and Kyle Korver. Coach Lue has already started to implement a system to trim minutes for Kyrie Irving and Tristan Thompson whose defense game has stepped up majorly this year with 70 blocks and he still has more games to go this season.
Suga Finally Anoints LeBron James as King
Oh and yes I said it earlier, King James. The rain is going to pour and the gates are going to open because I have finally put some ‘respek’ on his name and anointed him. Timing is everything though and he anointed himself before his time, that is, before he even got a ring. I still do not think he is better than MJ, so let us not get carried away folks.
If and when LeBron and the Cavs reach The Finals this year, it would be LeBron’s 7th straight Final! I’m sure everyone would agree that is quite commendable.
There may be many times he may not be able to hit the game-winning shot and a lot rests on Kyrie but Kyrie and the team could not keep winning without him.
The best players are usually arrogant but they aren’t usually babies crying, falling to the floor and begging for calls from the Ref after every little hit or shove. So quit being a baby LeBron and you will get some more respect from Suga.
Photo: USA Today
Western Conference
The Warriors have acquired Matt Barnes but at the same time have lost Harrison Barnes, Andrew Bogut, Festus Ezeli, Leandro Barbosa and Marreese Speights. They therefore have no BIGS in the paint. The Splash Brothers are no more because Steph Curry and Klay Thompson no longer play in sync as they used to and they are not unstoppable. Both Klay and Curry have been very inconsistent with scoring and something seems off with the overall chemistry of the team. Even with Kevin Durant (KD), Suga doesn’t see a Super team. I see a weaker team.
Hold up, I should say without KD because right now KD is sitting it out with a Grade 2 MCL Sprain after his teammate, Zaza Pachulia fell on him while his knee was hyperextended in a game on February 28th. Grade 2 MCL Sprains normally take about 6 weeks to heal but the Warriors say he will be re-evaluated in 4 weeks and could return before the end of the season.
Following KD’s injury, the Warriors suffered back to back defeats, which hasn’t happened since 2015. They suffered back to back losses again Wednesday night after they lost to the Celtics. KD was shooting the best in his career and led the team in points and rebounds per game. Sadly he can no longer be in the race for MVP because of his injury.
Suga thinks karma will come around to bite KD for going to the Warriors and all the players they sacrificed just to get him will go in vain.
If not the Warriors then who?Â
The San Antonio Spurs of course. They are currently in 2nd spot close behind the Warriors. They had a tough loss against OKC last night, especially when Kawhi Leonard had to go to the Locker room after getting hit in the head. They weren’t themselves last night but you have to keep in mind they were on a 9-game winning streak. They play the Warriors tomorrow night at 8:30pm!
Once the Spurs play to full potential they are quite hard to beat. This was proven on Wednesday night when they beat the Kings after overcoming a 28-point deficit with both LaMarcus Aldridge and Kawhi out resting. That win showed their Coach, Gregg Popovich all fired up. A sign they are going for that #1 spot in the West.
Also note that with veteran Gasol, Aldridge and Kawhi, they have BIGS in the paint.
The Spurs clinched an NBA record with their 18th straight 50-win season on Wednesday night.
Current Eastern & Western Conference Standings
Photo: ESPN Scorecenter
Race for MVP
Photo: www.foxsports.com
LeBron is in the race for MVP with James Harden of the Rockets, Russell Westbrook of OKC and Kawhi Leonard of the Spurs. It depends on how they define MVP but Suga thinks all roads lead to LeBron James for MVP, the Stats King.
To break it down briefly, let’s look at LeBron vs. Harden.
LeBron has better numbers from the field and 3-point line over Harden. He is actually better than KD and even with Steph Curry at the 3-point line. Let’s not even talk about Harden’s record for turnovers this season. Rockets’ defense improves when Harden is off the court. No MVP for him this year.
LeBron vs. Kawhi
Despite averaging 0.4 points more per game than LeBron, Leonard is a less efficient scorer. He shoots 5.1% worse from the field and 1.3% worse from the 3-point line.
Kawhi is known for his strong defense but surprisingly, the stats show that the Spurs are better defensively without him on the court.
Since the stats show that Rockets and Spurs do better and/or still win with Harden and Leonard off the respective teams, that rules them out for MVP in my books.
That now leaves LeBron vs. Westbrook.
Kudos to Westbrook for not crumbling after a bad break up. He has shown tremendous effort and focus in every game he plays and as a result, has led OKC to a spot they are likely to keep or move up by one to head to the Playoffs without KD. He does not have a good team and regardless of if they miss shots or good opportunities he hasn’t cursed them yet. He has shown he has prepared mentally for each and every game.
Steven Adams, Victor Oladipo and Enes Kanter showed their potential last night in a win vs. the Spurs. When it’s Playoff time, could OKC rise a dark horse? We’ll see because that was just one game and they played versus the Spurs’ bench in the 4th. This puts us back to the MVP race between Russ and LeBron.
Last night Russ tied Wilt Chamberlain’s record of 31 for the 2nd most Triple-Doubles in a season. Congrats to Westbrook but LeBron’s shooting is still better at 53.8% vs. 41.9%. LeBron is first for Field Goal Percentage in the league and Westbrook is way behind.
Also keep in mind that Westbrook is on a team that may not make it to 50 wins this season. MVPs are usually on teams that made 50 or more wins during the regular season
LeBron is universally accepted as the best NBA player in the world and the fact remains that when LeBron takes a breather, especially if Kyrie’s game isn’t on point, the Cavs fall flat. The same occurs with OKC without Westbrook. The difference? The Cavs are an excellent team with LeBron and OKC is a good team with Westbrook.
Excellence wins the race and so may LeBron for MVP.
Let’s see how it all plays out. Don’t you just love this game?!
By: Gabrielle Burgess
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The West beat the East last night in the NBA All-Star Game 192-182. Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans passed Wilt Chamberlain’s record by scoring 52, the most points in an All-Star Game.
Photo: Bleacher Report
The other highlight for Suga was the alley-oop from KD to Russ early in the game after their bad break up. Their ongoing squabbles and avoidance of each other has been the talk for a while now and this was the first sign of them putting their feelings aside as they were forced to be teammates in the All-star game
Watch “KD Lobs to Westbrook, West’s Bench celebrates” on YouTube here:
Westbrook was visibly competitive and serious throughout the game. The commentators had to say it seemed like a Playoff game to him.
That alley-oop dunk did not mend the split with him and KD based on his post-game interview though as he played with the reporters.
Poor Russ. Deeply wounded.
In other news, it was announced last night that DeMarcus Cousins has been traded to the New Orleans Pelicans to join Anthony Davis in exchange for Buddy Hield, Tyreke Evans, Langston Gallaway and a furture 1st and 2nd round pick!
By: Gabrielle Burgess
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