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
If you liked this blog, follow Suga Lifestyle or like the Suga Lifestyle Facebook page.
There was another showdown in the NBA last night with the two top teams in the West, The Golden State Warriors who currently hold the top spot and the San Antonio Spurs who are close behind.
San Antonio had a blazing start scoring 15-0, holding the Warriors scoreless for about 4 straight minutes and eventually stretched to a 22-point lead. But their guns were out too early and eventually they started missing and their defense broke down. Warriors creeped back in the 2nd quarter closing the gap to 3 points. They took over in the 3rd and the Splash Brothers were unstoppable. David West who the Spurs sold to the Warriors this season looked like he had a chip on his shoulder and was on fire. Their bench was deep and everyone was scoring and Klay was exceptional with defense as well. The Spurs just did not have enough answers.
The Warriors erased a 22-point deficit and beat the Spurs 110-98, just one day after the Spurs routed the Cavs 103-74. The Spurs sent a message to the league on Monday night and the Warriors answered last night, even without KD.
With the Splash Brothers getting their groove back, the depth of their bench and the overall talent of that team, they look like the NBA Finals’ Winner. Get back on that court KD because that ring will finally be yours…and your Mom’s.
By: Gabrielle Burgess
If you liked this blog, follow Suga Lifestyle or like the Suga Lifestyle Facebook page.
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
If you liked this article, follow Suga Lifestyle or like the Suga Lifestyle Facebook page.
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
If you liked this article, follow Suga Lifestyle or like the Suga Lifestyle Facebook page.
Last night the Warriors got revenge after losing to the Cavs on Christmas Day by 1 point. They rout the Cavs 126-91 in quite a thrilling game. Curry stated in his post game interview that winning the game hasn’t won them the trophy so they will keep it going.
There was quite a little drama too and you can easily guess Warriors’ Draymond Green was involved. He got a flagrant foul for colliding into LeBron James mid-court, whose acting was even more hilarious followed by Draymond mocking him.
Watch “Draymond Green FUNNY Flagrant Foul on LeBron James | WARRIORS vs CAVS | Jan 16, 2017 | 16-17 Season” on YouTube here:
KD and Curry then sunk the Cavs further before Halftime. Curry drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer and did the shimmy on the sidelines.
Watch “Stephen Curry Halftime Amazing Buzzer Beater 3 Point Shot NBA 01/16/2017 Golden State Vs Cleveland” on YouTube here:
Don’t you just love this Game!
In other news, the Australian Open has begun. Serena beat Bencic in her first match, 6-4, 6-3 and said it was one of the toughest 1st round matches she has ever played. Young Swiss Bencic is quite a worthy opponent but Serena looked good and erased any thoughts of an upset.
Will Serena’s recent engagement cause her to go home early or can she get that 23rd Grand Slam title?
Stay tuned. It’s Sports season!
By: Gabrielle Burgess If you liked this article, follow Suga Lifestyle or like the Suga Lifestyle Facebook page.
The Cavs got their Championship banner raised for the first time last night and routed the Knicks 117-88.
LeBron James scored a triple double that included 19 points, but it was Kyrie Irving who was their highest scorer with 29.
The Golden State Warriors’ ‘Super team’ was in action versus the San Antonio Spurs but did not look so super. They still don’t have anyone to defend in the paint especially since they traded Bogut! Not a good look with all eyes on them since they got KD.
The Spurs destroyed them with Kawhi Leonard scoring 35 points.
The result?
I love this Game!
By: Gabrielle Burgess If you liked this blog, follow Suga Lifestyle or like the Suga Lifestyle Facebook page.
Whether Basketball fans like to admit it or not, the decision to give Draymond Green a Flagrant Foul 1 for his words used to trash talk LeBron James (not for grabbing his balls as memes would suggest) leading to a suspension from the fouls he piled up before, was unnecessary. But all worked in favour of prolonging the series to a likely Game 7.
How could you have the great, LeBron James reach his 6th straight finals and have him face the strong possibility of losing his 3rd straight finals, 4-1? That would be disastrous in NBA history. It would look horrible on paper for LeBron and would smear his legacy, be a huge distraction from and basically override all the great stats he racked up over the years.
Who really thought the Warriors would win without Draymond and with LeBron and Irving fighting to stay in the Finals? What was he going to do, pop Champagne in his suite without the team after he helped get them there? Draymond is the leader of the Warriors team and they all know it. The team feeds off of his energy.
With such a bad temper it was inevitable that Draymond would be suspended at some point in the Finals series. But why did the player who calls himself the ‘Best Player in the World’ have to force the issue for him to take the bait? He shouldn’t feel threatened. Doesn’t he say he ‘ain’t got no worries?’ Has he never been called names in his life because he is a big guy? He said Draymond took it too far. Smart, but Poor Baby.
So with Game 5 in California and the Cavs down 3-1, there would be an opportunity for the Warriors to close out but even though their fans came with their best faces and cheers out, they knew they wouldn’t win that game without Draymond. LeBron James was booed from shoot around practice to everytime he had possession of the ball during the game.
Iguodala started for Draymond and had a spectacular 1st quarter. It was a tight 1st and 2nd quarter that had both teams playing well. The teams went to Halftime at 61-61.
Klay Thompson came up big with 26 points. But it was the real LeBron James who finally showed up with 25 points and 0 assists in the entire 1st half. Klay the leading scorer at that point, had no assists either. Irving’s jump shots were on point too.
But let’s get back to LeBron. He was mentally prepared, serious and focused on what he had to do, blocking out all the boos, baby bottles and ‘Cry Baby LeBron’ signs. He is the type of player that listens to what people and the media have to say and he hardly ever uses it to fuel him to victory. This wasn’t so Monday night. He was in full attack mode, making consistent jump shots and 3-pointers! He was shooting! He was mixing it up, getting into the paint area and finishing it up. He scored the most points he has ever scored in any 1st half in any finals game of his career. There is no denying he may have been unstoppable in the 1st half but without Draymond out there, he was left to do whatever he wanted to do. Draymond has the ability to see plays before they are in motion and stop them. Not every player has that gift and that major part of defense was missing for the Warriors.
Things then started to fall apart for the Warriors when center, Andrew Bogut landed awkwardly on a play, hyper-extending his left leg. He will undergo an MRI to determine the severity of a left knee injury he suffered to see if he can play in Game 6.
The Warriors then had no choice but to go small with their line-up and well, if you don’t go big you go home.
Photo: Bleacher Report
The Cavs stretched to an 8 point lead, their biggest of the night. It was cut to 6 when Kyrie was accused of going out of bounds but actually didn’t and lost possession. Klay (37 points) did some work to cut the lead to 3 when fouled on a 3-point play with about 6:44mins left in the 3rd.
Curry showed up, but not enough. He scored 25 points for the night and with Irving not missing, the lead stretched to 8 and even 10.
James went cold in 4th, missing a lot of shots and was not passing the ball. So the Warriors had at least 2 or 3 possessions to cut down the lead, but failed to take advantage. Racking up the stats is one thing LeBron but finishing is another.
Kyrie got a handle of the ball again and remained consistent and with the score at Cavs 100 – 96 Warriors, thus Cavs having a 13 point lead with about 5 mins left, he scored another 3-pointer and buried them.
Good thing Kyrie was on point because James was still missing with up to 3 minutes left. He was still cold. Would not have made a difference anyway because the game Harrison Barnes had for the Warriors was embarrassing. You would think someone paid him to play so badly after the 2 previous big games he had. This is exactly what upsets Draymond Green about being the 35th pick and even his own teammates being drafted before him, such as Barnes. He says he has nothing against his teammates but Suga is showing you Exhibit A.
Anyhow, before the Finals, Suga knew if it was a long series for Cavs to be competitive, they would have a blow out game at home where LeBron, JR Smith and possibly Tristan Thompson would come up big and a game where Kyrie and/or James came up really big. It has happened. And no, State Farm Kevin Love was never a factor. Kyrie has a lot of fight and could have another big game in him. LeBron James cannot do it by himself.
So there you have it, with Kyrie and LeBron 41 a piece, for the first time, teammates have scored 40 plus in a Finals game. The game ended 112-97.
Now we have a Game 6 back in Cleveland. The Warriors were able to win it in 6 in Cleveland last year but I think this year will be different.
So much is on the line for both teams. What a dilemma! Did the NBA mess with the Warriors fate of possibly closing out in 5 at home? We won’t know but just have to wait and see how it plays out from here.
It would be heartbreaking for LeBron to lose his 3rd straight Final and 4 Finals overall. It would be Kyrie’s first ring and the Cavs 1st Championship! Now the Warriors are Defending Champs, looking to be a dynasty and after the long road of 73 wins, they only see winning it all as the acceptable outcome.
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.
