NFL SEASON/ NBA PLAY-OFFS
THE National Basketball Association (NBA) Conference contenders have been decided and those series are already underway. And while fans were thinking that the ousting of the league-leading Milwaukee Bucks by the fifth-seeded Miami Heat was the stunner of the semi-finals, the Denver Nuggets outpaced and embarrassed the Los Angeles Clippers in their Game 7 on Tuesday night for added shock value.
The Nuggets were down 1-3 in the series and had to fight off three-straight elimination games to earn their place in the Western Conference Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers.
The previous Justbet favourite, Clippers, were thoroughly outplayed in the second half of the last three games of the series and their prized gladiators, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, combined for a meagre 24 points on 10-for-28 shooting in Game 7 (including missing all 11 of their combined shots in the fourth quarter).
Denver, led by 40-points from Jamal Murray, have now become the first team in NBA history to come back from consecutive 3-1 series deficits, having also trailed in the prior series against the Utah Jazz.
They are in the Conference Finals for the first time since 2009 when they pushed the eventual champions (Los
Angeles Lakers) to six games.
Prior to this year, the Clippers last won a play-off series in 2006 (breaking a 30-year drought) but have never been to a Western Conference Finals in their 50-year history. The pairing of Leonard and George last year was made in the hope that the Clippers could shed their reputation for being LA’S second-best basketball team. Now, that plan will be put on hold as they lick their wounds and watch LA’S best basketball team play on.
In the midst of this basketball drama (and undoubtedly the greatest sporting blitz ever), the National Football League (NFL) had amazing Week 1 action amid the COVID-19 pandemic protocols and the Black Lives Matter protests — both pros and cons.
Outside of the fact that there were little-to-no spectators at the games, the Raiders now call Las Vegas home (originally based in Oakland, California since 1960), Tom Brady is now the quarterback (QB) for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (played for New England Patriots since 2000) and Cam Newton is now the QB for the Patriots, everything else was fairly normal.
From the offensive explosion by the Kansas City Chiefs in the
first game last Thursday to the bruising defensive struggle in the second Monday night game between the Denver Broncos and the Tennessee Titans, the first week of gridiron battle did not disappoint.
The Chiefs didn’t miss a beat in the opening game and picked up exactly where they left off in the Super Bowl.
The Houston Texans scored the first touchdown of the season then Kansas City reeled off 31 unanswered points that put the game way beyond the last-minute heroics of QB
Deshaun Watson and the rest of the
Texans.
But beyond any doubt, the most anticipated game took place on Sunday afternoon between the Buccaneers and the New Orleans Saints. The game featured the two oldest QBS currently in the league, Tom Brady (43) and Drew Brees (41)— only surpassed by
The first blockbuster clash of the new Premier League season takes place this Sunday as big spending Chelsea welcome champions Liverpool to Stamford Bridge for an expected tantalizing match-up.
While tomorrow, title hopefuls Manchester United kick-start their campaign when they host Crystal Palace at Old Trafford.