The Los Angeles Lakers were coming off a flat and uninspired performance vs the Houston Rockets to begin the Western Conference Semi-Finals.
Many writers and followers lauded Houston Rockets’ small forward Shane Battier for his tremendous effort against Kobe Bryant in the Rockets stunning 100-92 Game 1 victory.
In a high volume display, Bryant went a dismal 14-for-31 (3-for-5 FT) from the field for 32 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.
With the Western Conference favorited during the 2008-09 season facing an improbable 0-2 series deficit, ‘The Black Mamba’ filled the Rockets cells with poisonous venom in Game 2 of the series.
A fired up Kobe Bryant smelled blood in the water from the very beginning. He finished the first quarter with 15 points and continued his torrid showing from there that included a self-alley oop to himself over Yao Ming.
Kobe Bryant went 16-for-27 (6-for-7 FT) from the field for 40 points as the eventual NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers picked up a must-win Game 2 win by a 111-98 final.
Take a look at the classic game from Bryant.
What is your favorite performance from Kobe Bryant? Leave your comments below!
Curry Goes Off In OKC In Wild Shooting Performance
Before the 2015-16 season the Golden State Warriors felt like they were being overlooked and disrespected despite winning the NBA title the previous season.
Add then reigning NBA MVP Stephen Curry into that group of players pissed off about a perceived lack of respect and you have a team motivated to do something special coming into the season.
Historically special. The Golden State Warriors broke the 96′ Bulls all-time wins record of 72 after they finished the season 73-9.
In their quest to break MJ’s Bulls 72-10 mark, the Golden State Warriors faced difficult test like the one on February 27th, 2016 vs Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder.
On that night the Oklahoma City Thunder welcomed the 52-5 Golden State Warriors to Chesapeake Energy Arena playing with an extra fire to them as they sized up a Golden State team finishing off a seven-game road trip.
We’ve seen many ridiculous games out of Stephen Curry, but if we looked back on his NBA career, this may go down as his most memorable to date.
Take a look below.
In a out of this world shooting display, Curry finished the game 14-for-24 (12-for-16 3PT) for 46 points as the Warriors pulled off a wild come from behind victory in Oklahoma City to increase their winning streak to five games.
In this game Stephen Curry tied Donyell Marshall’s NBA-record with his 12 3-pointers from beyond the arc, a feat he would in the next season conquer with 13 3-pointers vs the New Orleans Pelicans.
There are no shortage of iconic moments in the career of Stephen Curry, but I rank this as his greatest. It highlighted just how unstoppable and unbelievable this one player can become when he sees the ball go in.
Pulling up from 35-feet from 3-point range to win a game in overtime? Only Steph Curry has license to do that, and why wouldn’t?
Where does this moment rank in Stephen Curry’s career? Leave your comments below!
Michael Vick’s Controversial Legacy Worth Revisiting
… You hear that?
That’s the sound of a NFL defensive coordinator spitting his gum out in anger along his team’s sidelines. He takes his right foot and steps on it because he felt he called the perfect play in the absolute best defense to stop then Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick on a 3rd down play.
But it didn’t work.
There were many times when the former Atlanta Falcons icon was dead to rights, defenders draped all over him and close to putting him into grass all while he carried the football in his left hand carelessly like it was a yo-yo.
Take your index finger and your thumb on one hand and form what looks like the letter ‘C’ using both. That’s all it took for Michael Vick to take off and run for a first down or better, 30-40 yards down the field as he somehow some way found a way to make defenders look silly in the open field.
Michael Vick was that fantastic collegiate track star who’s favorite sport growing up was always football, his first true love.
Not really, but you get the point, right?
Told before entering the NFL Draft that he was too small, didn’t throw the ball accurately enough and wasn’t ‘intelligent’ enough to read or counteract what defenses would do to him at the NFL level, Michael Vick exceeded everyone’s expectations of him.
Even himself.
When looking back on his career, specifically the career before he was convicted and sent to prison for 23 months due to his role in dogfighting conspiracy, Michael Vick the player was transcendent in ways that he could be the answer to this question, Who was the most important African-American football player of their generation?
Drafted by the Atlanta Falcons with the first overall pick back in the 2001 NFL Draft, the former Virginia Tech star quarterback was looked at as the savior for the Atlanta Falcons franchise which went from a high of reaching its first ever Super Bowl during the 1998 season with a 14-2 regular-season mark to going 9-23 over the next two seasons after.
After sitting for a majority of his rookie season, it would be in 2002 when the electric athlete got his opportunity to start. A year after a 7-9 finish, The heroic dual-threat Quarterback would lead the Atlanta Falcons to a playoff birth as the Falcons went 9-6-1.
The Newport News, Virginia native would set three NFL rushing records by a quarterback in 2002 as he rushed for 777 rushing yards, 8 TDs, and averaged 6.9 yards per carry. The left-handed quarterback would also throw for 16 touchdowns on the season.
His most tantalizing and heart-stopping moment of the season would be his then record and career-high 173 rushing yards on 10 attempts in the Falcons 30-24 overtime victory over the Minnesota Vikings in Week 13 that season. Vick would use a 46-yard touchdown run in OT to give the Falcons their 8th win of the season.
He and his Atlanta Falcons would earn a date with Brett Favre’s Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field in the NFC Wildcard round where fans around the world would be treated to a historic upset.
Michael Vick would lead the Falcons to a 27-7 victory at frigid Lambeau Field as stunned Cheeseheads looked on from the stands in disbelief at what they had just witnessed as the Falcons showed they were more than a dome team. Vick would finish the game 13-for-25 for 117 passing yards, 1 TD and 64 rushing yards on the night. It was the Packers first playoff loss at Lambeau Field in NFL history.
In the national spotlight under the bright lights of the NFL postseason it served as a coming out party for the then 22 year-old Quarterback who in just his first full season as a starter was a Pro-Bowler.
Misfortune would hit Vick during his 2003 season as one of the brightest stars in the NFL during his time, thrilling the fans with his unreal athleticism and speed and ability to fling the ball down the field effortlessly, would break his leg in a preseason game vs the Baltimore Ravens on August 16th, 2003.
The Falcons unsurprisingly would struggle without their franchise star quarterback’s contributions, going 2-10 without him before Vick returned later in the season to go 3-1 as a starter as the Falcons finished 5-11.
The injury wouldn’t diminish his star, as he began appearing on countless magazine covers and commercials while becoming a feature athlete for Nike as he became the first NFL quarterback to ever have a shoe named after him as his Nike Zoom Vick signature shoe back in 2003 was the first of four signature shoe entries.
In 2004 behind a strong rushing attack by Michael Vick (902 rushing yards) and running back Warrick Dunn (1,106 rushing yards) along with a stellar defense led by linebacker Keith Brooking would finish the regular-season as NFC South champs at 11-5 and ultimately reached the franchise’s second NFC Championship Game.
With talent and athleticism never before seen by an NFL quarterback, Vick easily became the league’s most poster boy among the African-American contingent and was revered in Atlanta by fans, entertainers and musicians. His popularity would show up in one of the most important markets: jersey sales. He consistently finished among the top 5 in jerseys sales throughout his tenure in Atlanta.
He fit in perfectly with the African-American hip-hop culture at the time, immersing himself well in a city that’s built on its music and its love for sports.
Continuing to run his way to the NFL record books as today he’s still the only quarterback to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season, an incredible feat set back in 2006 with the Falcons, his last season in a Falcons uniform. He also still owns the all-time rushing yards record for a quarterback at 6,109 rushing yards.
Focusing specifically on his first six seasons with Atlanta and not the five seasons that would follow with the Philadelphia Eagles where he had the best statistical season of his career in 2010, Michael Vick was every young kid who grew up in a neighborhood of violence, drugs, and corruption that used football as a path to escape it necessary hope.
Vick smashed his arguable labels and stigma that still today seem to follow African-American quarterbacks, with Baltimore Ravens rookie quarterback LaMar Jackson told he should consider a move to wide receiver for his NFL future instead of playing quarterback where he won the Heisman Trophy for his outstanding 2016 season.
Flamboyant and always full of confidence, Michael Vick was larger than life at his peak, a hero and inspiration to the future generation of dual-threat quarterbacks like Cam Newton, Russell Wilson, Colin Kaepernick and Robert Griffin III.
“I was the guy who started it all,” Vick told ESPN back in 2014 as a member of the New York Jets. “I revolutionized the game. I changed the way it was played in the NFL. The things I’ve done, I’ve pretty much surpassed myself and expectations — over 25,000 yards in total offense in the NFL, and I missed a lot of years and a lot of games.”
Vick finished his NFL career with 22,464 passing yards, 133 TDs, 88 INTs while completing 56% of his passes.
Never a perfect quarterback, Michael Vick playing the most prized and important position in the NFL and doing it in a way that defied common football logic.
A 6-foot tall (barely), 200-pound quarterback who could out-run defensive backs and make 260-300 pound defensive lineman miss when they tried to collapse the pocket, his influence in the urban culture doubled with his importance to African-American children picking up a football is why Vick, in my opinion, is the most influential and important African-American player of his generation.
Not worthy of a place in Canton, Ohio, Vick is worthy of this specific recognition as he’ll always be remembered as the NFL’s quarterback version of Michael Jordan that could ruin a defensive coordinator’s day if their defense lost containment on him or underestimated his ability as a passer.
Long after his career has ended, we can still visualize in our mind and hearts what we felt whenever Michael Vick had a football in his hands.
What are your thoughts on Michael Vick’s legacy? Leave your comments below!
Rams Will Welcome Minnesota Vikings With Eyes Set On 4-0 Start
The Minnesota Vikings won’t have much time to lick their wounds from last Sunday very long as they travel to California to take on one of the NFL’s last unbeaten teams in the Los Angeles Rams to open the Week 4 slate.
These two teams last met in 2017 back in Week 11 when the Minnesota Vikings shutdown Todd Gurley and the Los Angeles Rams in a 24-7 victory at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
Things have changed on the Vikings side at quarterback as Case Keenum — who finished the game 27-for-38 for 280 passing yards and 1 TD — has been replaced by Kirk Cousins, who Minnesota signed to a three year/$84 million contract this past March.
A huge matchup early in the season between two teams with huge title aspirations favors Los Angeles, according to Las Vegas Sportsbook, which lists Los Angeles a -7.0 favorites.
Before the matchup, we’ll take a look at three headlines heading into this NFC battle.
Let’s get started below!
What Will The Response Be For The Vikings?
The Vikings (1-1-1) are coming off a embarrassing 27-6 defeat vs the Buffalo Bills at home in which they were 16.5 point favorites coming in. Finishing 13-3 last season, head coach Mike Zimmer’s team is faced with a truly adverse situation of trying to bounce back from a defeat that stings the team to the core.
A loss like the one they suffered vs a Bills team that coming in had the worst point differential in the NFL (-55) and were 0-2 can’t be swept under the rug as just a ‘bad game’.
The Vikings allowed a rookie quarterback making his first career road start to finish the game 15-for-22 for 196 passing yards and 3 TDs (2 rushing). A team that’s fundamentally one of the best teams in the NFL defensively looked clueless, unfocused and lacked intensity from the start vs a team without their top offensive weapon in LeSean McCoy (ribs).
The character of his football team will be put to the test vs a team that remembers last season’s loss which played a factor in Los Angeles settling for a wildcard home playoff game.
Can The Rams Mask Losses At Cornerback?
The Los Angeles Rams (3-0) will be short handed one way or another at cornerback on Thursday night as both Marcus Peters and Aqib Talib — who the Rams picked up this past offseason — may both miss the game with separate injuries.
Both Pro Bowl cornerbacks suffered injuries last Sunday vs the Los Angeles Chargers. Aqib Talib suffered an significant ankle injury that will require surgery while Peters suffered a calf injury and needed help getting off the field.
Head coach Sean McVay said on Tuesday that Marcus Peters is a ‘game-time decision’ for Thursday’s game, but unless Peters has magical healing powers or likes exaggerating injuries, it’s almost certain he will miss the game.
Veteran cornerback Sam Shields and backup Troy Hill are the next cornerbacks on the depth chart who will likely be tasked with trying to cover a dynamic wide receiving combo of Steffon Diggs and Adam Thielen.
Will The Rams Front Four Combo Finally Break Through?
The defensive tackle combo of Aaron Donald and Ndamukong Suh haven’t gotten off to a blazing start in Los Angeles.
Together the nightmare combo has not provided the kind of impact in terms of sacks and pressure on the quarterback as many would’ve expected. Combined, the two only have one sack combined, with Suh recording a sack this past Sunday vs the Chargers.
Donald is seeing heavy attention and teams are trying to get the ball out of their quarterback’s hands quickly to negate the pass rush. Suh, meanwhile, is also getting his share of double teams.
There’s reason to be optimistic going into Thursday if you’re a Rams fan. Watching the Buffalo Bills-Minnesota Vikings game, it was hard not to notice just how easy the Bills front established the tone vs the Vikings ailing offensive line which lost Nick Easton to a season-ending injury before the regular-season.
Buffalo sacked Kirk Cousins four times and minimized the time Cousins had to make his progressions. If Buffalo — who couldn’t lay a finger on Philip Rivers or Joe Flacco in the first two weeks — can accomplish this, Thursday night at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum could get ugly quickly for Cousins and the Vikings.
What are your thoughts regarding Thursday night’s Vikings-Rams matchup? Leave your comments below!
The MLB Regular-Season Will Come To A Close This Week, But Not Without Excitement
There’s one week left in the season and still playoff spots are up for grabs.
What we do know is that the AL playoff field is mostly set as the Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Houston Astros and New York Yankees have all clinched playoff births. The Oakland Athletics are a win away from securing a playoff birth.
On the NL side, much is unclear.
While the Atlanta Braves have clinched the NL East, the NL West and NL Central have yet to be clinched and the two NL Wildcard spots are still up for grabs.
We may be in store for one wild finish in the MLB with the final week of the 162-game marathon coming to a close as October baseball is around the corner.
With that said, here’s the final recap of the 2018 MLB season.
Dodgers Take Over First Place With Sweep Of Rockies
Photo by Associated Press
Coming off one of the best regular-seasons in franchise history a season ago that culminated in their first World Series birth since 1988, Dave Roberts’ Los Angeles Dodgers had reason to be optimistic about their chances coming into 2018.
Few could’ve imagined their season could be such a roller coaster as has been the case, but now they’ve put themselves in position with one week left to accomplish one of the goals they accomplished fairly easily in 2017.
Back only by a half game in the NL West to begin the series, the Los Angeles Dodgers would go on to sweep the Colorado Rockies out of Dodger Stadium and took a 2.5 game lead into their next series.
The Dodgers began the series by thrashing the Colorado Rockies 8-2. Left fielder Joc Pederson led the way for the Dodgers with two home runs on the night as Los Angeles got a strong performance from right-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu (7 IP, 0 ER, 5 Ks, 0 BB).
The next night they would win on a walk-off home run by shortstop Chris Taylor, who ended the game in the 10th inning off of reliever Adam Ottavino with a shot to left field to give the Dodgers a 3-2 win.
The Dodgers would finish off the sweep by stunning Bud Black’s Rockies late again, this time on a pinch-hit home run by right fielder Yasiel Puig in the seventh inning in a tied game as they went on to win 5-2.
Los Angeles, although taking a 2.5 game lead in the NL West with them into a series with the last place Padres, would be unable to fully capitalize as they dropped the first game in the weekend series.
Colorado would go on to sweep the fading Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field to bring them within 1.5 games of Los Angeles.
The Dodgers (87-79) still have plenty of work to do in this final week as they’ll finish their final six games on the road.
Los Angeles will begin a three-game set vs the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night before ending the season with three games in San Francisco.
Blake Snell Wins 20th Game Of The Season
Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images
He’s floated under the radar for most of the season, but no longer can he be ignored.
It’s been an amazing year for Blake Snell, who put an exclamation point on his season last Tuesday in Arlington.
Blake Snell won his 20th game of the season vs the Texas Rangers last Tuesday, becoming the first pitcher to get to 20 wins this season.
Snell pitched five shutout innings for the Tampa Bay Rays vs the Texas Rangers, allowing one hit and two walks while striking out five in the Rays 4-0 victory.
The Tampa Bay Rays ace has been a model of consistent for Kevin Cash and the Rays this season as he’s had 19 quality starts while going at least 5 innings with 2 ER or fewer 25 times this season.
Snell — who wasn’t voted in as a starter for this season’s All-Star Game — leads AL starting pitchers in ERA (1.90), BA against (.179) and WAR (7.0). He is also second in WHIP (0.96) and tied for fourth in K/9 (10.81).
Snell has heavy competition in Houston Astros’ ace Justin Verlander for the AL Cy Young award, with both benefiting from Boston Red Sox’ left-hander Chris Sale missing a majority of the second half with left shoulder inflammation.
If it’s a pick for me to make, I have to go with Blake Snell given that he’s been dominant all season long with lesser hiccups as evidenced by his ERA and BA against.
Snell will make one more final start on Saturday vs the Toronto Blue Jays at Tropicana Field.
Red Sox Celebrate AL East Crown On Yankees Home-Field
Photo by Getty Images
The Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees came into 2018 making it a goal to win the AL East as a statement being made to the other.
Only one team can accomplish that goal and that team this season is the Boston Red Sox, who celebrated a AL East division title on the Yankees home-field at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx last Thursday.
After dropping the first two games of a three-game set in New York, the Red Sox made sure to leave a series they lost with a joyful feeling. Left-hander Edwin Rodriguez got the start for the Sox and struggled (3.2 IP, 4 H, 5 ER, 7 BBs, 4 Ks).
That wouldn’t matter, however, as the Red Sox pounded out runs vs Masahiro Tanaka and the Yankees pitching staff. AL MVP candidate Mookie Betts led the way for Boston with a big game as he went 4-for-5 with a HR and 5 RBIs in the Red Sox’ 11-6 victory.
Steven Wright (3-0) recorded the win for the Red Sox and Craig Kimbrel came into the ninth inning struck out two to end the game as Red Sox Cleared the dugout to celebrate in a noiseless Yankee Stadium.
The Boston Red Sox (105-51) all but has home-Field advantage throughout the playoffs locked up with one week left in the season.
The New York Yankees (95-60), meanwhile, have clinched an AL Wildcard playoff spot, but have work to do in the final week with the Oakland Athletics (1.5 GB) closing the gap on them for the first AL Wildcard spot.
Christian Yelich Makes History With Second Cycle
Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images
Garnering a strong crowd for the NL MVP award that includes Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield, left fielder Christian Yelich increased his chances of winning the award with another big game vs a division rival.
Last Monday Christian Yelich hit for his second cycle of the season, again vs the Cincinnati Reds, as the Brewers continued their path to a playoff spot with a 8-0 victory at Miller Park.
Yelich — who went 4-for-4 with 4 RBIs — became the first player in MLB history to hit for the cycle twice in the same season vs one team.
The star outfielder would single in the first inning off starter Anthony DeSclafani before doubling off him in the third inning. With a man on with no outs, Yelich would hit the second Brewers home run of the inning as he took DeScalfani deep to right field for a two-run homer to make it a 4-0 Brewers lead.
In the next inning Yelich would triple off of reliever Jesus Reyes to complete the cycle as fans in attendance gave Yelich a loud applause while raining down ‘MVP’ chants for the first-year Milwaukee Brewer.
Christian Yelich is powering the Brewers in the second half, leading most categories like BA, OBP and SLG.
On the season he’s batting .322 with 32 HRs, 96 RBIs and 21 SBs.
The Milwaukee Brewers look to inch closer to a playoff spot as they visit the St. Louis Cardinals for three games at Busch Stadium beginning on Monday night.
What are your thoughts on the final week of the MLB season? Leave your comments below!
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