The media is going wild with reports and interviews and fans are shaking with anticipation for the rematch between the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers but more so, Stephen Curry versus LeBron James.
I have seen 5 reasons why Curry is the MVP versus 5 reasons why LeBron is the MVP flood my social media and sports app timeline. The majority of the statisticians and experts give the Defending Champs, the Warriors, the edge to win it all.
Cleveland has not won a title in 52 years and LeBron James left Miami to bring a title to them. If they win, it is the thought that even though LeBron may not win 4,5 or 6 rings, his career will be complete. Last year he stated that he is The Best Player in the World.
Recently, he has voiced that the Warriors now face the full and real Cavaliers team since Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love were injured last year in the Finals versus the Warriors.
The Warriors have been like a thorn in their side since, beating them on Christmas Day and following that up with a demoralising 34-point win in January, where their Coach, David Blatt was fired 4 days after. The Warriors have certainly forced change on the Cavs in the past year. Kyrie Irving even said he planned to play with a rage this season because of what the Warriors did to the Cavs last year.
One thing for sure is, LeBron will lose his ‘King James’ title if he loses and will no longer be considered the Best Player in the World.
What does Steph Curry have to say about all of this? He is annoyed and tired of hearing about the comparisons and what LeBron James has to say. At the end of the day he is not concerned about who is the face of the NBA or taking a throne, he is chasing rings and the conversation stops for him there.
That is something LeBron should have been concerned about all along. After all, you can’t have a King without Jewellery. Only a Prince has 2 rings.
When many started to doubt the determination and winning spirit of the Warriors who faced elimination last Saturday night in Oklahoma, Klay Thompson led the team with 41 points to force a Game 7.
73 wins was not enough for Klay Thompson though. He made an NBA record scoring 11 3-pointers and imagine it could have been more. He said it himself when interviewed after the game. He missed a few good looks in the first half and was visually upset with himself. Then in the second half he just turned on the nasty.
What happened to OKC? They choked. Plain and simple. Durant with 29 points and Westbrook with 11 assists did well but not great. In a Game 6 on your homecourt trying to put a away the Warriors so there is no Game 7 in California, you have to be GREAT. Both teams took a while to warm up in the 1st quarter, missing a lot of shots. Durant played selfish basketball in the first half. They still managed to lead by 13 and more at some points but the Warriors kept coming back within reach and closed in to be within 5 for halftime.
In the second quarter, OKC starters were in foul trouble then eventually both teams went over the limit. OKC failed to get crucial rebounds and for Suga, if your rebounds are not on point, forget about winning the game.
In the 4th, the other Splash Brother, Steph Curry came alive when it counted. No worries folks, there is no sibling rivalry here. Curry sealed the deal when he hit that floater over the energized, Serge Ibaka to take a 5-point lead with 14s remaining in the game. OKC marginally outscored the Warriors for 3 quarters but choked in the 4th with Warriors outscoring them 33-18. Warriors 108 – 101 OKC was the final score.
GAME 7 will be tonight at 8pm in California! The Cavs who destroyed the Raptors in Game 6 await the winner for the Finals.
What a crazy few days in the NBA! This is not a season to gamble on. If you are, bet the total opposite of how you would usually bet. The outcome of games have been wild.
Photo: The Score
Firstly, LeBron James won an Oscar. The Raptors came with all claws out on Saturday night to take Game 3 with a 99-84 win. The game belonged to DeRozan with 32 points and Bismack Biyombo with 26 rebounds and some crazy blocks!
Watch “LeBron James Flop vs Raptors |Game 3|East Finals| 2016 NBA Playoffs” on YouTube here:
On the West side, OKC destroyed the Warriors on Sunday night in their home town to take the lead in the series 2-1 with a 133-105 win. Durant and Westbrook were unstoppable with 63 points combined and the Splash brothers’ pool has run dry. They had no answers. Then the drama! Draymond Green needs to humble himself real quick. His stats for most annoying or disliked player in the league by NBA fans are going up as we speak. He kicked Steven Adams in the balls and the controversy is that he did not get suspended, he just got a flagrant 1, which was upgraded to a flagrant 2. If he gets another flagrant he will be suspended. He just might at the rate he has been going. He needs to take a page out of Westbrook’s book this Playoff season because the Wild has certainly come out of Westbrook. He has been keeping real cool and that is dangerous for opponents. That just leaves his athleticism to do the talking.
Watch “Draymond Green Kicks Steven Adams in the Groin | Warriors vs Thunder | Game 3 | 2016 NBA Playoffs” on YouTube here:
The Raptors showed up again in Toronto last night and this time it was all Lowry with 35 points. Biyombo had 14 rebounds and 3 blocks. He continues to strive to be like one of his mentors, Dikembe Mutombo who was famous for the craziest blocks in NBA History. Biyombo even uses his gimmick. They may say he can’t because he is not Mutombo but he surely is acting like him.
This block was one of the highlights of the game.
Watch “Bismack Biyombo Blocks LeBron James | Cavaliers vs Raptors | NBA PLAYOFFS | 5.23.16” on YouTube here:
Raptors led the majority of the game that included 16 point leads and more and finished the game with a 105-99 win. The Cavs have now dug themself in a hole like the Warriors. How will they respond when they head back to Cleveland if the Raptors keep this up. The Raptors are playing with pure heart.
There have certainly been some crazy endings to the last couple of games in the NBA Playoffs for both the East and the West recently.
Kyle Lowry of the Raptors made a crazy buzzer beater from the half court line the other night to force OT with the Heat but Dwyane Wade was on fire and they couldn’t hold him back. Heat won 102-96 to take the lead in the series 1-0.
Watch “Kyle Lowry Buzzer Beater to force overtime in Raptors vs. Heat Playoff Game!” on YouTube here:
Suga had Miami to win this series but with the recurrence of blood clotting in Chris Bosh’s left calf over the All-Star break keeping him out of the games, it will not be an easy task to overcome the Raptors. Their fate to meet LeBron and the Cavs is now at stake.
The Cavs – Hawks series will be dead. Cavs won easily 104-93.
But the last 13.5s of the Spurs-OKC game with OKC leading 98-97 in San Antonio was madness! So many things happened and no fouls were called for either team. The most obvious foul was the offensive foul on Ginobili on the inbound, players were scrambling all over the place and falling on the court and most hilariously, a Spurs fan (no it wasn’t Suga) grabbed the arm of OKC’s Steve Adams! Even though no fouls were called, at the end of the day, Ginobili should not have passed the ball to go for a 3. Shame on him. This win for OKC levelled the series 1-1. This will be the most exciting semi final series.
Watch “Dramatic Finish in San Antonio | Thunder vs Spurs | Game 2 | May 2, 2016 | 2016 NBA Playoffs” on YouTube here:
Watch “Spurs fan grabbed Steven Adams’ arm on the final possession Spurs vs Thunders” on YouTube here:
Last night, Trail Blazers led Warriors for the majority of the game with a 11-point lead into the 4th quarter. Lillard was on fire and Klay Thompson was not. Then Blazers forgot they had to play a 4th quarter and it all went downhill from there. They started to trail again.
Klay Thompson then started to make shots when it counted, ending the game with 27 points and the Defending Champs quickly erased the 11-point deficit in the 4th to take a 2-0 lead in the series. Trail Blazers have no chance.
Photo: www.nba.com
So what’s the status of the NBA 2016 Playoffs now?
The Warriors managed to hold off the Spurs not once but twice, to equalize the record of 72 wins by the Bulls of the 1995-1996 NBA season.
After the Warriors beat the Spurs last Thursday, they joined the Bulls as the the only other team in the NBA league to have 70 wins in one season. The Spurs were also close to joining them in that prestigious category but fell short and are currently at 65 wins with two more games left to play. Both on Thursday and last night they played without one of their key defensive players and facilitators, Boris Diaw who has a minor injury and it costed them big time. In order to beat this Warriors team, the best hands have to be on deck. Warriors won 92-86 last night with Stephen Curry scoring 37 points as they recorded their names in history and also stopped the Spurs’ 48-game home win streak. Note that Curry could have scored 40 points if his shot that made the basket from the Spurs’ 3-point line wasn’t released after the buzzer. Just amazing.
So what is the mind frame of Steph and thw Warriors now? According to ESPN Score Center, Steph Curry said they put themselves in position to win 73 games and they will approach it the right way.
Tune in this Wednesday to witness history (Yes, Suga is calling it) as the Warriors face the Grizzlies at 9:30pm.
What a weekend in Sports! Congrats to Calabar and Edwin Allen for winning the oh so entertaining and inspiring ISSA/Grace Kennedy Boys’ and Girls’ Athletics’ Championships! With 16 finals to go, both schools led the field and there was no turning back.
Our young Jamaicans put on quite a show, looking very promising for our future in Athletics. Suga’s main concern though is the workload put on the star athletes. There needs to be some kind of stipulation put in place for the Boys and Girls to run only a certain amount of events, ideally 2, because once they excel in individual events they are further pressured to run relays to help their team and school. The star athletes should also be restricted from running the heats for their teams in relays. Careful consideration needs to be given to this matter in order for them to make the transition like our legend, Usain Bolt.
With all seriousness aside, who took Champs for Suga?
Junelle Bromfield of STETHS with 4 GOLD medals! Junelle won the Class 1 Girls’ 400m, 800m, 1500m and anchored the 4×400m relay. She was absolutely exceptional and did not even blow after any final she ran. Amazing. She also blew away her rival in the 400m, Ashley ‘Felix’ Williams of Holmwood who beat her recently so she was on a mission and the revenge was sweet.
Ashley ‘Felix’ Williams, as her nickname suggests has a very similar running style and looks like USA’s athletic star, Allyson Felix. Ashley won the Girls’ 200m impressively.
KC’s Akeem Bloomfield continued his reign in the Class 1 Boys’ 400m, of which he holds the record from last year.
The tall, powerful, Dejour Russell of Calabar was upset by his teammate, Michael Stephens in the Class 2 Boys’ 100m after he could not recover from his usual slow start, but he got the opportunity again to win Gold and did just that in the Class 2 Boys’ 110m hurdles.
Another disappointment was Defending Champ of the Girls’ Class 2 100m, Shellece Clarke of Edwin Allen. She was not fully on form, had a poor start and failed to medal. She was also pulled out of the 200m event.
Instagram: @issachamps
Back to the winners! Christopher Taylor of Calabar! In addition to breaking the Class 2 Boys’ 400m record early in the heats in 46.33s, he also won 4 GOLD medals and ran a beautiful and strategic anchor leg in the last race of Champs, finishing ahead of KC’s Akeem Bloomfield in the Boys’ 4×400m relay. Akeem ran out too hard but had too much work to do anyway by the time he received the baton. Fantastic end to the Championships.
Then there was a big NBA game on Saturday night as well!
The San Antonio Spurs held the Golden State Warriors’ Steph Curry to 1 for 12 on 3 pointers in their 87-79 win over the Warriors. It was Curry’s worst stats for 3-pointers this season.
What happened? San Antonio’s superb defence and LaMarcus Aldridge with 26 points and 13 rebounds.
Check out some of the high class defense action below!
Watch “Danny Green becomes the 1st player to block a 3-pt attempt by Steph Curry in 15-16′ season” on YouTube here:
Then there was another massive block sacrificing his body! Watch “Danny Green Rejects Stephen Curry | Warriors vs Spurs | March 19, 2016 | NBA 2015-16 Season” on YouTube here:
The IAAF 2016 World Indoor Championships also occurred over the weekend in Portland, USA.
Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson beat the Dutch, Dafne Schippers in the SEMIS but did not have as fast of a start in the finals, where Schippers edge her to win the 60m in 7.10s.
Watch “Dafne Schippers Wins 7.10 Women’s 60m Final Glasgow Indoor Grand Prix 2016” on YouTube here:
Asafa Powell was impressive in the semis, but as usual choked in the 60m final. He had a bad start and was edged out by USA’s Trayvon Brommell.
But who really came through for Jamaica?
Omar Mcleod!
I will leave you with Jamaica’s Omar McLeod’s win.
Watch “Omar McLeod 7.41s Wins 60m Hurdles Final – IAAF WIC in Portland 2016” on YouTube here:
Of all the teams after close shaves with the Hawks, OKC and Clippers recently, the Lakers were hitting on all cylinders yesterday to beat the Warriors 112-95, making it the Warriors’ sixth loss of the season.
Stephen Curry scored 18 points. According to ESPN Scorecenter, Curry stated, ‘Just one of those nights you want to avoid at all costs’. The team scored a season’s worst of 13% from 3-point range.
Who came up big for the Lakers? Young Jordan Clarkson who scored 25 points and D’Angelo Russell with 21 points. Kobe Bryant scored 12 points, sitting out a lot of the game with his sore shoulder but mentored his younger teammates from the sidelines.
The Warriors are still in pursuit to break the Bulls’ record of best season ever in the NBA of 72 wins. Warriors now have 55 wins. However, the San Antonio Spurs are closing in under the radar with 53 wins!
The West Indies Under 19 Cricket Team won the ICC World Cup vs India! Signs of a good future? Maybe not. They only scored 146 runs in 49.3 overs to win, however the bowling and fielding were impressive.
It is the first major title on any level that the West Indies has won since the senior team won the ICC World Twenty20 in 2012.
FOOTBALL
Photo: www.theguardian.com
Arsenal put a dagger in Leicester’s campaign to win the Barclay’s Premier League title yesterday with Welbeck’s header in stoppage time to seal a 2-1 victory.
Leicester’s only goal was from a penalty kick at the end of the first half that probably shouldn’t have been awarded. They got a red card at 54′ downsizing them to 10 men, then Walcott of Arsenal equalised at 70′.
Here is a look at the BPL table now:
There was exciting action in La Liga yesterday too. Lionel Messi had an unbelievable Penalty kick, where it was Barcelona 6-1 Celta Vigo! Watch it here!
BASKETBALL  – NBA ALL-STAR WEEKEND
Zach LaVine and Aaron Gordon put on a show for the Slam Dunk Contest! Zach LaVine reclaimed his title from last year with all 10s.
Klay Thompson defeated Splash brother, Steph Curry with 27 points in the final round to win the All Star Weekend 3-point shoot out competition. Thompson tied Curry’s score of 27 last year for the most points ever in the All Star 3-point shoot out competition.
The West beat the East, 196-173 with the record for the most points in a half, 92 and both sides surpassed the record for the most combined points in a half, 92-90.
Russell Westbrook got MVP for the 2nd straight year with 31 points.
Paul George of Pacers was on fire with 41 points, just 1 point shy of Wilt Chamberlain’s record of 42 for the most points scored in an NBA All-Star game. Paul George also had the most 3-pointers in the game with 9.
This was also Kobe Bryant’s last All-Star game. All the greats were there to watch including the Greatest of all time, Michael Jordan a.k.a MJ. The commentator confirmed it saying, he IS still the greatest of all time. MJ sent his best wishes to Kobe. The other ‘MJ’, Majic Johnson also did a tribute. Kobe follows the 2 MJs with his level of skill and greatness. Kobe we salute you!
After leading the Pacific Division for the entire NBA 2014-2015 season and then the Western Conference Division in the Playoffs, the Golden State Warriors proved that they are the best team in the league last night in Game 6, winning the NBA Finals, 105-97. Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James had impressive stats as usual with 32 points, 18 rebounds and 9 assists but really fell short last night, missing many key shots with hardly any help from his team that was consistent enough to challenge the Warriors that led for the majority of the game. This will make the 4th NBA Finals that LeBron James has lost. Let us remember that the World’s Fastest Runner, Usain Bolt did not achieve that status by appearing on the track in the Olympic Finals and not winning the race, no matter how many Diamond League, World Championship or season race wins he may have.
Similar to last year, with the San Antonio Spurs’ commanding Championship win in 5 Games over the Miami Heat, the Golden State Warriors have helped to prove once again, that the TEAM wins and players contribute. Yes, the injuries of key starters such as Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love truly hurt the Cavs chances of winning this year, but the ‘Best Player in the World’ is usually able to elevate the level of the game of the players around him and makes them just as hungry for that ring. The Warriors showed in this series that they were the better and hungrier team from even Game 1 when they fought for that win with Irving still playing. Who wants it most wins!
MVP Andre Iguodala also demonstrated the strong desire to win and for everyone to remember his name after this series. He came off the bench to begin the Warriors-Cavs series and only started in the last 3 games. Note that he is the first player to be honoured as such without starting every game. He was able to guard LeBron James impressively. When Iguodala was on the court, James was only able to shoot 38.1% from the field. He tied with 2014-2015 Season MVP and teammate, Stephen Curry to score the highest points on their team last night with 25. He is one to watch next season especially after he learns to shoot some free throws.
Suga congratulates Golden State for winning their first title in 40 years! Congratulations also go out to Coach Steve Kerr for his 1st Playoff finals resulting in winning the Championship and kudos to his coaching team as well.
This season was highly entertaining. Can’t wait for the 2015-2016 NBA season!
