Butler Does It On Both Ends To Stick It To Hornets
The story of Saturday night’s game in Charlotte was undoubtedly going to be All-Star guard Kemba Waller’s brilliant career performance at the Spectrum Center.
Until Jimmy Butler pulled the rug from under.
Jimmy Butler, playing in just his second game since being traded to the Philadelphia 76ers, played spoiler during Kemba Walker’s career-high 60-point game as he sunk the Hornets in overtime.
After blocking Kemba Walker on one end to keep the game tied, Jimmy Butler would come down the floor and drill the game-winning 3-pointer over Dwayne Bacon with 0.3 seconds left in the game as the 76ers won 122-119.
That’s a second heartbreaker for the Charlotte Hornets in eight days against the Philadelphia 76ers, who came up short last week in Philadelphia 133-132, another overtime defeat.
Afterwards, Kemba Walker wasn’t too pleased about the loss. When asked how he felt after his 60-point showing he responded, “Pissed.”
What are your thoughts on the wild game in Charlotte on Saturday? Leave your comments below!
The Brooklyn Nets had little time to rest as the next challenge awaited less than 24 hours later back home in Brooklyn in a Clippers team surprising to start the season.
The Los Angeles Clippers made the most of their trip to Brooklyn as they outlasted the Brooklyn Nets 127-119 on Saturday night at the Barclays Center to win their fourth straight and send Brooklyn back to the drawing board.
Danilo Galinari scored 28 points and Tobias Harris scored 27 as Los Angeles rallied back from a double-digit second half deficit.
The Brooklyn Nets led 97-90 to begin the fourth, but were unable to hold the lead as the Clippers played an almost flawless quarter.
The Clippers were lights out, putting the inconsistent Nets on their heels as they played much of the final six minutes of the game with a lead before closing out the show.
Brooklyn had a better shooting night from beyond the arc than in recent games, hitting 13 3-pointers on a 46 percent clip, but Los Angeles was more efficient from the field as they shot 50 percent and limited Brooklyn to 45 percent.
Jarrett Allen scored a career-high 24 points and added 11 rebounds as he was strong on this night down low.
D’Angelo Russell would score 23 points, hitting five 3-pointers while handing out 10 assists in 35 minutes of action.
Brooklyn (7-10) is searching for consistency, losing a game in which they at one-point led by 15 points in the first half shows Kenny Atkinson’s team is a long way from accomplishing that.
The Los Angeles Clippers played an up-tempo style of basketball that gives most teams troubles, even the Golden State Warriors, who they defeated earlier this week.
That was the case here as Brooklyn struggled to get good shot contests on most of Los Angeles’ shot attempts while also giving up 56 points in the paint.
Critical in close games, the Nets can ill afford to shoot 76 percent from the free throw line, another reason for their loss just a day after beating the Washington Wizards to snap a three-game skid.
The Brooklyn Nets will visit the American Airlines Arena to take on the Miami Heat on Tuesday night as they look to get back on track.
What are your thoughts on Brooklyn’s loss on Saturday night? Leave your comments below!
Dreams do come true, and while it took awhile, Santiago Ponzinibbio had a chance to live it on a special night in front of his homeland in Argentina.
After distributing violence in one of his most impressive performances in the UFC to date, Ponzinibbio is dreaming bigger.
Santiago Ponzinibbio (28-3, 9-2 UFC) defeated Neil Magny (21-7, 15-5 UFC) by 4th-Round KO on Saturday night at the Parque Roca Arena in Buenos Aires.
Ponzinibbio emphasized all week how much this opportunity to fight in Argentina in the UFC’s first trip to the country.
Standing in his way was a fighter in Neil Magny rolling with wins over former champions and title challengers, but none of that would matter once the bell rung.
Ponzinibbio was incredible in his homecoming to Argentina as he dominated this one from start to finish.
Creating different angles as he pushed forward against the longer and rangy Neil Magny, Santiago Ponzinibbio made his opponent uncomfortable from the very beginning as he used a stalking style with a long jab to touch Magny.
Magny would begin having trouble seeing out of his right eye from a jab that would land early in the first round, backpedaling and retreating as Ponzinibbio continued to press forward.
The pro-crowd Ponzinibbio would applaud the Argentine at every turn, coming to their feet for their loudest applause after their guy hurt Neil Magny with a hard right cross that snapped Magny’s head back.
The Colorado-bred Magny made an effort to be first with his shots in the beginning of the second round, coming out aggressive with 1-2s. Hard leg kicks by Ponzinibbio would alter that pace, however, as two would drop Magny to the mat on two separate ocassions.
Ponzinibbio suffered a bad cut on his left eyelid after the two fighters clashed heads, but he would fight on, continuing to cause the six-foot-four Magny trouble with his jab and leg kicks that continued to break down his opponent.
The beating to Magny’s lead leg would continue on over the next two rounds and Magny, tough and durable, would continue to fall to the mat off of Ponzinibbio’s hard leg kicks as he winced in pain and hopped off his right leg.
In sensational fashion, Santiago Ponzinibbio would use a vicious right-hand to put away Neil Magny in the fourth round.
Looking at Neil Magny’s inability to take leg kicks in recent bouts, Ponzinibbio and his team carved out a gameplan to follow those who showed the blueprint to breaking down the No. 8 welterweight contender in the world.
It’s Ponzinibbio’s 21st career finish and his 15th by knockout.
He is currently on a seven-fight win streak, the second longest active streak in the welterweight division.
UFC Fight Night 140 Results
Ricardo Lamas wrecks Darren Elkins with Round 3 TKO
Johnny Walker uses vicious elbows to throttle Khalil Rountree by Round 1 KO
Ian Heinisch powers past Cezar Ferreira for unanimous decision victory
Marlon Vera finishes game Guido Cannetti in Round 2 with rear-naked choke submission
Cynthia Calvillo uses rear-naked choke to finish Poliana Botelho in Round 1 by submission
Michel Prazeres uses guillotine to down Bartosz Fabinski in Round 1 by submission
Alexandre Pantoja uses rear-naked choke to put away Yuta Sasaki in Round 1 by submission
Humberto Bandenay out-grapples Austin Arnett in unanimous decision victory
Laureano Staropoli steady in unanimous decision win over Hector Aldana
Jesus Pinedo aggressive in unanimous decision win over Devin Powell
Nad Narimani outmuscles Anderson dos Santos for unanimous decision win
What are your thoughts on UFC Fight Night 140? Leave your comments below!
“American Horror Story” is finally back, and this is the long-teased “Murder House” and “Coven” crossover season! But before we can get to any of that, we have to get to the end of the world.
Promotional material for the eighth season of “American Horror Story.” Photo courtesy of NME.com
The season premiere, “The End” wastes no time getting to the apocalypse. After getting her hair cut by Gallant (“AHS” staple Evan Peters), heiress and wannabe Instagram influencer Coco (Leslie Grossman for last season’s “Cult”) and her assistant Mallory (Billie Lourd, also from “Cult”) find out that nuclear war has broken out and Los Angeles in next. Her super-rich father has spots reserved in a fallout shelter and a private jet waiting. Coco calls her boyfriend Brock (Billy Eichner from both “Cult” and “Billy on the Street”), but he doesn’t make it to the airport in time. Instead, Gallant and his Beverly Hills grandmother (Joan Collins).
The whole opening sequence really underscores the terror and anxiety that the end of the world would likely bring. As they’re getting on the private jet, Coco’s security guard shoots down the desperate people trying to get on the plane, which was scary and all too realistic.
As our new core four are safely in the air, Mallory realizes their plane has no pilot (is that a thing with the 1%?) and they watch the bombs go off.
(FROM LEFT TO RIGHT_) Leslie Grossman, Evan Peters and Joan Collins try to ride out the nuclear bombs on a private jet. Photo courtesy of huffingtonpost.com
This brings up to the opening credits. After Season 6, “Roanoke” skipped the credits all together and last year’s “Cult” went with the politically revamped theme song, it was nice to get back to the classic “AHS” credits sequence, especially considering this sequence has so many direct references to the openings of “Murder House” and “Coven.” The shot of the creature in the woods is a play on the witch in “Coven’s” theme and the old photos of babies are right out of “Murder House.”
Timothy’s (“AHS” newcomer Kyle Allen) college acceptance celebration is cut short by the news of the bombs. As his family prepares for the end, people from “The Cooperative” come and take him to a holding cell because of his genetic makeup, courtesy of 23andMe.
This has me rethinking everything I thought I knew about the Ancestry sites. I can totally see them performing their own tests, but if it gets me saved from the nuclear war, maybe I’m not against it.
At the holding cell, he meets Emily (Ash Santos, also in her first “AHS” role) and they wait out the bombs. Once it’s safe to leave, the pair, adorned in hazmat suits, enter the grey post-apocalyptic wasteland and are taken to Outpost 3.
First impressions matter, and their first glimpse of their new home is two people being executed. Once they get inside, they meet the woman in charge, Ms. Wilhemina Venable (“AHS” queen Sarah Paulson). With a pimp cane in one hand and a candle in the other, Paulson finally gets to play an antagonist, and she crushes it. She’s super menacing but still believable.
After seven seasons of “AHS” Sarah Paulson finally gets to play an antagonist in Ms. Venable. Photo courtey of thehollywoodreporter.com
She explains the rules of their new home. They can never leave the building nor can there be any “unauthorized copulation.” Also, there’s a clear purple vs grey class system, with the purples being the wealthy and the grey working as the help.
At dinner, we meet the residents of Outpost 3. Coco and her crew made it, with Mallory working as a grey. Discount Oprah Dinah Stevens (Adina Porter, who I’ve never liked in any of her roles on “AHS.” Her voice just annoys me), is there with her son and his boyfriend, Stu. Miss Mead (horror icon Kathy Bates) works as Ms. Venable’s right hand and is, as always, super eerie. There are few people who can play evil as well as Kathy Bates can.
Kathy Bates costars as Ms. Mead in “American Horror Story: Apocalypse.” Photo courtesy of mashable.com
We find out that all the other Outposts have been overtaken, so they are the only hope of humanity’s survival. Ms. Mead performs a rigged radioactivity test to keep everyone on their toes, and takes Gallant and Stu in for decontamination. They’re stripped naked and brutally scrubbed with push brooms. Mead decides Gallant is good to go, but mercilessly shoots Stu in the head.
It turns out Mead is a purple is disguise, working undercover for Ms. Venable. I was sensing some serious lesbian undertones between them during their interaction in Venable’s bedroom. I would 100% not be against that! A guy can dream.
Rather than eating the nutrition cube they’ve been fed every night, the occupants of Outpost finally get some real food, a nice stew. After finding some all-too-human bones in it, they realize in the campiest way possible “The stew is Stu.” While that line didn’t work for me, Coco yelling at Mallory to come stick her fingers down her throat, and Mallory obediently following, was probably the funniest moment of the night.
Just as they start to get hopeful that help is coming, a hard cut to 18 Months Later, with Coco’s new ridiculous hairstyle, also made me laugh. I really didn’t expect to time jump a year and a half in the first episode.
Timothy and Emily’s budding romance is cute, but definitely won’t last long. I’m just hoping they don’t devote too much screen-time to them, because I want my witches and ghosts. \
Tensions flare when they’re told that, in an attempt to save food, they all have to cut back to only half a nutrition cube per day. Just as Gallant is about to lose his cool, there’s a security breach.
We cut to outside the Outpost, where a horse-drawn carriage emerges from the grey fog. They’re not just regular horses, though; they’re wearing gas masks and seem to be infected with some kind of radioactivity. The image of them slowly coming from the grey was weirdly sinister and I was all for it.
Langdon’s horses wear gas masks to travel through the post-apocalyptic wasteland. Photo courtesy of tvtropes.com
Who gets out of the carriage but Michael Langdon (Cody Fern, from this year’s “American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace”). Serving up Lucius Malfoy realness with his long, luscious blonde locks and oddly soothing yet unsettling voice, it looks like we’ve met our other antagonist this season.
If that name sounds familiar, consider yourself a hardcore “AHS” fan, because you’re right! He’s the baby from the end of “Murder House” who was fathered by the ghost Tate Langdon, which in “AHS” lore makes him the second coming of the Antichrist. The crossover has officially begun!
The first episode of “Apocalypse” concludes with Langdon telling Ms. Venable that he has a safe haven for them, if he deems them worthy. The Biblical parallels aren’t exactly hard to see, but I think that placing this season within Biblical context could have potential to be really interesting.
What did you think of the season premiere of “American Horror Story: Apocalypse?” Let me know in the comments below! Make sure to check in every Wednesday night for the weekly recaps of “AHS.”
Since the holiday seasons are quickly approaching, studios are releasing more and more trailers for their upcoming family films, so that there’s won’t be any lull in conversation at the Thanksgiving dinner table. In addition to “Toy Story 4” Disney released a new trailer for their live action remake of “Dumbo.”
Directed by Tim Burton, the live-action “Dumbo” stars Danny Devito and Colin Farrell. The full trailer, released this week, shows off the ridiculously cute titular character. I’ve never really found elephants to be especially cute, but this rendition of Dumbo is seriously adorable.
The trailer promises Burton’s visual flourish will be a major component of “Dumbo.” I’m not expecting it to go full “Edward Scissorhands” but it looks much better than the last few movies he’s done (I’m looking at you “Dark Shadows”). I’m hoping Burton doesn’t hold back with some of the more psychedelic elements of the original, including the “Pink Elephants Dance.” That seems like the kind of scene with which Burton could really work his magic.
Danny DeVito is one of the stars of Disney’s live-action remake of “Dumbo.” Photo courtesy of imdb.com
“Dumbo” is set to be released on March 2, 2019.
How do you feel about a live-action remake of “Dumbo?” Does the trailer have you excited, or are you over Disney’s phase of rebooting their classics? Let me know in the comments below!