NBA All-Star Weekend 2018 is here! It will be held in Los Angeles this year and will feature various events including your favourites.
NBA All-Star Celebrity Game (Tonight, Fri. @ 7pm ET)
The NBA All-Star Celebrity Game will be tonight at 7pm ET on ESPN. Some of the Celebs that will play are Tracy McGrady, Black Panther Star Michael B. Jordan, Nick Cannon, Jerry Ferrara (Power), Common, Dascha Polanco (Orange is the New Black) and Jamie Foxx.
NBA All-Star Slam Dunk Contest, 3-Point Contest and Skills Competition (Tomorrow – Sat., 8-11pm ET)
For probably the most exciting night of the Weekend, see who will be in each competition here!
N.B. Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz will be replacing injured, Aaron GordonPhoto: NBA
NBA All-Star Game (Sunday @8pm ET)
East Vs. West
a.k.a
Team LeBronÂÂ
Photo: www.nba.com
vs.
Team Stephen
Photo: www.nba.com
Team East and Team West will battle for a good cause this Sunday at the 67th NBA All-Star Game in Los Angeles. LeBron James will Captain Team East and Stephen Curry will Captain Team West. Both Captains got to choose their teams so players from the East and West will be all mixed up this year.
Team James’ chosen Organization is the After-School All-Stars, while Team Curry’s chosen Organization is Brotherhood Crusade.
The NBA announced that the winning team’s LA Community based Organization will receive $350,000USD. The losing team’s Organization will receive $150,000USD.
ENJOY!ÂÂ
By: Gabrielle Burgess
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Liverpool took 10 minutes to score 3 goals, making it 4-1 at 68′. Liverpool then scored twice in the last 10 minutes to set up a nervy ending for Liverpool to anticipate the sound of the whistle and win in true Liverpool fashion.
If you missed the Goals and excitement or would like to relive the moments, watch it here.
Watch “Liverpool vs Manchester City 4-3 – All Goals & Extended Highlights – EPL 14/01/2018 HD” on YouTube via secure link here:
The Battle for 2nd spot is on. Here is the table now:
Photo: ESPN Scorecenter
Australian Open – Tennis
The Australian Open has begun and it isn’t looking good for the American women.
Defending Champ, Serena Williams withdrew from the Open and her big comeback because she did not feel ready to go all the way.
2017 US Open Champ and American, Sloane Stephens has already been knocked out, along with fellow Americans, Coco Vandeweghe and Venus Williams.
Venus Williams was knocked out by a former top 10 player, Belinda Bencic of Switzerland 3-6, 5-7.
NBA – Basketball
The Cavs are on a 3-game losing streak!
After a blowout 99-133 loss to the Toronto Raptors and the release of a video with an angry LeBron James in a team huddle last Thursday night, the Cavs were trying to break their 2-game losing streak versus the Indiana Pacers on Friday night.
After the Cavs blew a 22-point lead, with just a few seconds left, LeBron James stepped out-of-bounds on a baseline drive to the hoop, then to add insult to injury, missed the last shot as well. Pacers rallied to beat the Cavs 97-95. Not a good week for LeBron and the Cavs.
Watch “LEBRON STEPS OUT OF BOUNDS, CAVS BLOW HUGE LEAD VS PACERS” on YouTube via secure link here:
Cavs play the Warriors tonight at 8pm, which won’t be an easy task either.
The Warriors had a different fate with the Raptors, holding them off 127-125 last Saturday night and the Minnesota Timberwolves continue to win.
NFL – American Football
Super Bowl Sunday is set for February 4th and the AFC and NFC Championships are 1 week away to see who will be in it!
3 of the last 4 teams remaining have never won a Super Bowl. Schedule for Next weekend’s AFC and NFC Title games:
Photo: ESPN Scorecenter
How did we get there?!
On Saturday, Top seed in the AFC, the New England Patriots led by Tom Brady beat the Tennessee Titans 35-14.
The Titans started off with a lead by a Touchdown (TD) at the end of the 1st quarter.
The Patriots scored 2 TD in the 2nd and never looked back. They scored a 3rd TD just before the half and entered the 3rd quarter, 21-7. Patriots’ Defense tore up the Titans and they led 28 -7 in the beginning of the 4th and sealed victory with another TD to finish 35-14.
The Philadelphia Eagles held off the Atlanta Falcons 15-10 to book their spot in the NFC Championship.
The Falcons led for most of the half, until Eagles’ Jake Elliott scored a 53 yard FG with 1s remaining before halftime to bring the score to Falcons 10- Eagles 9.
The Eagles later on scored to take over the lead 12-10. In the beginning of the 4th, they scored another FG to go up 15-10.
With a few mins remaining, the Falcons were unable to come up with the catch in the end zone.
The Jacksonville Jaguars pulled off the upset of the Playoffs and beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 45-42.
The Jaguars led for the majority of the game and did well to hold off the Steelers who kept trying to make a comeback.
The NFL Game of the weekend goes to the Minnesota Vikings versus the New Orleans Saints! Vikings beat the Saints 29-24.
The game was quite a snooze until the Saints finally got on the board with a Touchdown in the 3rd to make it 7-17. Then another in the beginning of the 4th to make it 14-17.
It all started with the interception by Saints’ rookie, Marcus Williams.
With 3:01 left in the 4th, the Saints were up 21-20.
With 1:29 left, Vikings got themselves in FG range and scored to make it 21-23.
The Saints then scored a FG with 25s left to make it 24-23.
Then all of a sudden, Vikings win 29-24 TD!
Vikings’ Stefon Diggs scores game-winning 61-yard TD in wild finish versus Saints in NFC Divisional Playoff
Ironically, the Saints’ rookie, Marcus Williams who initially turned the game around for the Saints also ended it for them, failing to stop Vikings’ Diggs.
Stefon Diggs scored the game-winning 61-yd TD and in his post-game interview said, ‘I don’t stop playing till the clock hits zero.’
With that wild finish, The Vikings head to NFC Championship to face the Eagles next Sunday.
If you missed the only 4th quarter ‘Walk-off’ TD in NFL Postseason history, Check it out here.
Watch “Stefon Diggs Makes Miracle Walkoff TD Catch on Last Play, Vikings Win! | Can’t-Miss Play | NFL HLs” on YouTube via secure link here:
Sports Season is now in high gear. Stay tuned!
By: Gabrielle Burgess
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A Photo from Andy Murray’s Melbourne Hospital bed yesterday morning via his Instagram page as he recovers from Hip Surgery.
British Tennis star, Andy Murray had a successful hip surgery and targets return in time for Grand Slam tournament, Wimbledon in July.
Football – English Premier League
Manchester City seems to be running away with the title this year. Here is how the table looks so far:
Photo: ESPN Scorecenter
So, for those who would just like to watch exciting matchups ahead, see the Schedule for this weekend below:
Photos: ESPN Scorecenter
Basketball – NBA
Athletes in the NBA have been plagued with many injuries within the past year.
The Star Forward for the San Antonio Spurs, Kawhi Leonard got injured in a game they won versus the Phoenix Suns last Friday. He has a partial tear in his Left Shoulder and sat out Sunday night’s game versus the Trail Blazers, which they lost 110-111. They bounced back without Kawhi last night and beat the Sacramento Kings 107-100.
Photo: www.espn.com
While Point Guard, Isaiah Thomas (IT) has returned from his Hip injury to his new team, the Cavaliers and had a good start until last night versus the Timberwolves. The Timberwolves headed by Jimmy Butler and Anthony Wiggins, is a team to watch this year from the West. IT clotheslined Andrew Wiggins in the 3rd quarter when the Cavs were down 52-82, resulting in his ejection from the game.
Watch “Isaiah Thomas Clotheslines Andrew Wiggins & Gets Ejected!!” on YouTube here:
It is still questionable how many minutes IT can play in games and if his hip will last until the end of the season and the Cavs’ possible run in the Playoffs.
Another highlight of the game was when Tyus Jones of the Timberwolves got revenge with a huge dunk on LeBron James.
Watch “Tyus Jones gets blocked by LeBron but comes back with a dunk on LeBron James” on YouTube here:
The Timberwolves restricted LeBron James to a season-low of 10 points to win the game with an impressive 127-99 points.
The biggest story of last night though was a sad one. Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors was out for a while last year with a wrist injury, also taking him out of the MVP race. After his return, playing like himself again, he had a nasty fall versus the Brooklyn Nets in OT and had to be carried off the court.
The Raptors still outlasted the Nets 114-113.
Watch “Kyle Lowry’s scary looking Back Injury leaves game – Raptors vs Nets | Jan 8, 2018 NBA Season” on YouTube here:
Prayers go out for Kyle Lowry with the hope of a quick return.
By: Gabrielle Burgess
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Spurs vs. Celtics last night lived up to Suga’s expectations to be an exciting game. The Celtics were out front early in the game, leaving the Spurs to play catch up for most of the first half. The Spurs came back strong towards the end led by LaMarcus Aldridge with 27 points. But it was veteran, Manu Ginobili who hit the game-winning three with 5 seconds remaining.
Kyrie Irving’s attempt for a game-tying three at the buzzer rimmed out and the Spurs overcame his 36-point effort to beat him and the Celtics, 105-102.
Watch “Spurs’ Manu Ginóbili Hits Game-Winning 3 to Lift Spurs over Celtics” on YouTube here:
What else happened last night?!
The Cavs 13-game winning streak came to an end despite the efforts and stats of LeBron James. The Pacers beat them 106-102.
The Warriors fought on despite being without Steph Curry who is out with an ankle injury. Kevin Durant a.k.a KD put up 36 points for their 102-98 win versus the Pistons.
Don’t you just love this game?! Keep watching the lead up to the Playoffs.
By: Gabrielle Burgess
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CONGRATULATIONS to the GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS for winning the 2017 NBA Finals. They beat the Cavaliers 129-120 to seal the NBA Finals series 4-1, which was Suga’s original prediction before a sweep looked possible and the Refs intervened Game 4.
It is the first NBA Finals where 4 players averaged 25+ points, which was achieved by Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and LeBron James.
LeBron James was sensational, putting up 41 points and JR Smith was spectacular with 25 points including 7-8 from the 3-point line. His only miss from the 3-point line was late in the 4th when the Cavs started to crumble seeing the Championship slip away from them. He regrouped and put in another 3-point sinker that was just too late.
Kyrie Irving played well, scoring 26 points. But he was benched on and off as he suffered aches and pains that naturally come at this time of the post-season. He will have the entire summer to rest now.
Tristan Thompson finally stepped up and scored 15 points. He seemed to have switched places with Kevin Love. Love was scoreless for most of the game because he was benched after the first few minutes of the game when he committed 2 early fouls. He eventually ended up with just 6 points.
The Cavs just weren’t good enough.
Apart from an 18-point lead by the Warriors at one point, the game was quite close for the most part and extremely physical to say the least.
The turning point was Andre Iguodala’s (Iggy’s) dunk to change the momentum of the game and to wake up the Warriors who were playing well but not looking like they wanted to seize Game 5 and the Championship.
At that point, Davis West shook things up further after he went for a rebound and Kyrie Irving tried to wrestle the ball away from him. West got fired up and so did Tristan Thompson who also went for the rebound but lost out on it. He came and pushed West and so did JR Smith who ran in on the action from a mile away. West, Tristan Thompson and JR Smith were all given technical fouls.
LeBron James then gave an earful to a laughing Kevin Durant (KD) and Draymond Green and backed up all his talking by sinking a 3. Coach Steve Kerr smartly and immediately called a time out. Then the Warriors prevented an angry comeback from LeBron James.
The Warriors fully amped and on their way to victory after Curry scores a 2-point shot and gets fouled
Stephen Curry was explosive in the first half, but not so much in the second half. His 3-point mojo was missing. He assisted some crucial plays to the basket in the 2nd half though. He scored a total of 34 points.
Klay Thompson scored 11 points. It seems like a small amount, but he contributed throughout the game offensively and defensively and hit those 3s when they were needed or mattered the most.
It was KD and Iggy that really carried the team down the stretch. KD scored 39 points, the most he scored in the Finals, scoring over 30 each game. Iggy came up big from the bench with 20 points, highlighted by dunks and a few 3s.
KD did everything you can think of to secure his 1st NBA Championship ring, from assists to rebounds, dunks, layups, drives through the lane, jumpers and those 3s that broke the Cavs’ heart. K-Dagger.
Last night he was the real MVP.
Wanda, kudos to you too.
Kevin Durant and his mother, Wanda celebrate the Championship win
Congrats to KD for winning Finals MVP.
KD accepts Finals MVP Trophy from Bill Russell
LeBron’s fans will ask, ‘What more could he have done?’ LeBron stated, I left everything on the floor for all 5 games.’ I could almost agree. He played great baskbetball, but not when it counted. Game 4 to save face from a potential sweep and Game 5 at the Warrior’s homecourt is just too late to show up when necessary. Let’s not even talk about the Game 1 and 2 blowouts. But Game 3?! The game back on Cleveland’s homecourt? LeBron just wasn’t clutch. Here is a reminder of how LeBron could have been better and turned this Final around – LeBron missed a driving lay-up in the late 4th and had his 3-point shot attempt blocked by Andre Iguodala with 12s left. He made the offensive rebound then stepped out of bounds resulting in a turnover with 10s left. That’s just an example of a potential 5 points gone out the window. The end result of Game 3 was Warriors 118 – Cavs 113. To be the GOAT, you have to be clutch and that title still belongs to Michael Jordan with 6 rings.
“The premise that the Warriors’ victory was inevitable due to their stacking the deck ignores an indisputable fact: Only one of these teams features four top-five picks in the starting lineup — including a pair of No. 1 overall selections — and it isn’t the Warriors”. – Kevin Arnovitz (ESPN Staff Writer)
At the end of the day, the Warriors were hungrier and played much closer to their full potential compared to the Cavaliers.
Well done and well deserved Championship win for Coaches Steve Kerr, Mike Brown and the Warriors team.
Congrats to the internet too, that keeps winning.
Until next year!
By: Gabrielle Burgess
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Rafael Nadal defeated Stan Wawrinka yesterday to win the French Open for his record 10th time, 6-2, 6-3, 6-1!
The scoreline was no indication of the quality of the match played. Wawrinka was good but the King of the Clay was spectacular. His coverage of the court was remarkable. Congrats Rafa!
NBA FINALS – GAME 5
The current scoreline of the series after Friday’s game is Warriors – 3, Refs – 1, Cavs – 0.
Lebron James and Kyrie Irving played great basketball on Friday night to end the game with a high scoring NBA Finals record of 137-116, but it was overshadowed by blatant unfair calls from the Refs. The Refs even blundered seriously by ejecting Draymond Green from the game because they had him down for a technical instead of Coach Kerr, who was originally given the technical. So when Draymond actually got his technical later in the game, they attempted to eject him. They had to revisit the call and their records, then realised they made an error.
At that point, Draymond realised it didn’t make sense he even tried to play with how ridiculous the calls were on the court.
Could this be why the Refs allowed the Cavs no chance of getting swept?
Game 5 will be played tonight at 8pm.
Maybe the brooms persons got can be used to sweep confetti. That is if and only if Steph Curry decides to show up because he legit choked on Friday night. Only KD showed up for the Warriors.
Will Curry and Klay relive the 3-1 nightmare of last year or will the road finally end for the Cavs tonight?
Stay tuned.
By: Gabrielle Burgess
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Despite LeBron James putting up 39 points and Kyrie Irving, 38, it just was not enough to beat the Warriors team. The Warriors beat them at home 118-113 last night to go up 3-0 in the series.
It was a close game throughout and the 3rd Quarter belonged to Kyrie Irving. But the new addition to the Kardashians, Tristan Thompson contributed zero for the entire game and Kevin Love missed too many shots. J.R. Smith contributed a few crucial 3-point shots but it jus wasn’t enough to surpass the fast-paced Warriors team. The Cavs were worn out after the 3rd Quarter.
The Cavs led by as much as 7 points in the 4th Quarter and as much as 6 points in the late part of the 4th Quarter.
What happened?!
With a combined 77 points between LeBron and Kyrie, neither of them were clutch. Kyrie missed a crucial 3-pointer that was a lazy shot, while he should have passed it to J.R who had a hot hand and made himself free. LeBron missed a driving lay-up in the late 4th and had his 3-point shot attempt blocked by Andre Iguodala with 12s left. He made the offensive rebound then stepped out of bounds resulting in a turnover with 10s left.
So as much as LeBron James fans hate to admit it, he isn’t clutch and remains a ‘Stats King’.
Who was Clutch?!
KD! KD broke the Cavs heart with a 3-point hook, line and sinker over LeBron James who didn’t even contest the shot with 45.3s remaining. KD scored 31 points and Klay Thompson and Steph Curry came up big with a few clutch shots of their own with 30 and 26 points respectively.
The Coaching
Props to Steve Kerr for managing and switching up the line up several times as Draymond Green kept getting into foul trouble.
Will there be a Sweep?
Yes. The Cavs are far too demoralised. They can’t manage the firepower, pace and tenacity of the Warriors this year.
After the Warriors messed up 73 wins last year, they are going for a record 16 straight post-season wins with no mercy and a ringless, past MVP, Kevin Durant is at their helm.
Brooms for SALE.
Stay tuned!
By: Gabrielle Burgess
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There will be a new French Open Winner for the Ladies this year, as Garbiñe Muguruza and Venus Williams were both eliminated yesterday.
Photo: ESPN
Venus was eliminated by Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland for the second year in a row. Venus now looks forward to Wimbledon.
Men’s Singles
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal continue on their collision course to the Semifinals. They both beat their opponents in straight sets to advance to the Quarterfinals.
World No. 1, Andy Murray advanced to the 4th round.
NBA FINALS – Basketball
The Warriors blew out the Cavs in Game 1, 113-91 on Thursday night.
Coach Steve Kerr returned to coach the Warriors in the Finals, starting with Game 2. The game seemed close up to Half Time with the Warriors only up by 3. After that, Kevin Durant (KD) was unstoppable with 33 points and Steph Curry stepped up with 32 points to lead the Warriors to a 132-113 win and a 2-0 lead in the series. Even Klay Thompson got to find his rhythm and contributed 22 points.
Cavs’ LeBron James who scored 29 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists, tied Magic Johnson for the most NBA Finals triple doubles. But it wasn’t enough for his team to win, despite 27 points from Kevin Love. Kyrie Irving was only able to score 19 points.
KD’s defense to offense was sensational.
The Cavs are in the same position as last year’s Finals, but versus a team who now has KD. After last night you cannot help but think a sweep is possible, but Suga thinks the Cavs may win Game 3 at home and sees the Warriors winning the Finals 4-1.
By: Gabrielle Burgess
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Perhaps one of THE most anticipated NBA Finals starts Today! There is so much on the line. Here are Suga’s top 7 reasons:
1. LeBron James
LeBron James is chasing 4 rings and GOAT status. The debate continues. With 1 more Championship win, will he be on Kobe’s level, a little higher or will he finally pass MJ?
For Suga, he will level with Kobe with 1 more ring.
2. Kevin Durant (KD)
The legacy of KD is on the line and the question of if one of the most controversial trades in history will prove beneficial? Will KD finally get his 1st ring?
Suga thinks a little karma will follow him the first year in and it will be a gamble if he gets this great chance again.
3.Stephen Curry
Curry and LeBron could have been tied with two Championships. How? If Kyrie Irving missed that final game-winning 3-pointer in Game 7 last year and Curry made his 3-pointer.
‘Coulda Shoulda NEVER’
Curry will never have a debate going for his level being close to MJ but he still has a chance of being a defining player of his era, especially if he wins this Championship and 1 more to level the Championship wins of LeBron.
The Warriors are 22-3 in playoff games when Curry scores 30 or more. Will Curry show up in these Finals unlike last year? Last year he scored fewer than 20 points four times in the Finals. He can forget about the ring if that is the case this year.
4. David West
Was West’s jump from the San Antonio Spurs to the Warriors worth it? Should he have taken more money to be a star on a team that had no chance of being in the Finals?
West has said one of the reasons that makes it worth it is being in the locker room during halftime of a close game with Coach Gregg Popovich.
Suga thinks the overall experience he has gotten with both teams of excellent quality makes the ring chase worth it, even if his post season ends without one.
5. Klay ThompsonÂÂ
In these playoffs, Klay is 36% on 3s, far off from his career percentage.
Will the real Klay show up in these Finals when it counts? Will he even get a chance to get the ball enough to fall into his rhythm surrounded by so many all-star teammates?
6. Kevin Love
Kevin Love  has been showing up in these Playoffs, averaging a career-best of 17.2 points and 10.4 rebounds.
With him out of the Playoff series with a shoulder injury in 2015, he can say he has never lost one and he may be LeBron’s lucky charm.
7. Mike Brown
If Coach Mike Brown guides the Warriors to another Championship without Steve Kerr, it is likely he will be a top candidate for Coaching jobs that open up next year with another good or great team, or even replace Steve Kerr full time.
The NBA Finals will kick off TONIGHT at 8pm!
Here is the Schedule for the next 3 games. You know there will be more after that, so stay tuned!
By: Gabrielle Burgess
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