Sports

Knicks Set For Second Round Against The Pacers, An Old-School Playoff Rival Who Play A New-Age Game

Published

2 weeks ago

2024-05-06

AP - VOR News Image

NEW YORK — When the New York Knicks would make their annual playoff run, they would nearly invariably run into the Indiana Pacers.

With the clubs preparing to resume their playoff rivalry in the Eastern Conference semifinals on Monday, it’s easy to recall those bruising battles from the 1990s. While the matchup is traditional, Jalen Brunson and the Knicks expect a modern opponent.

Tyrese Haliburton leads the NBA’s highest-scoring offense, with Indiana putting numbers on the scoreboard that made previous Knicks-Pacers games appear to be from another sport if not a different century.

AP News – VOR News Image

Knicks Set For Second Round Against The Pacers, An Old-School Playoff Rival Who Play A New-Age Game

“I guess whenever you have the original teams from back then, there’s always going to be some type of history,” Brunson said. “But you have two good teams that play, I don’t want to say differently, but they play their brand of basketball. So there’s going to be a battle of who will go out there, who wants it more, and who will try to get it.

Brunson led the No. 2-seeded Knicks past Philadelphia in the first round, advancing the team to the East semifinals in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1992-2000.

He scored 40 or more points in three consecutive playoff games, becoming only the eighth player in NBA history to do it. The league’s fourth-highest scorer in the regular season leads all players in the postseason with 35.5 points per game.

Indiana’s impressive numbers come as a group. The Pacers topped the league with 123.3 points per game, the sixth highest in league history, and were also first in field goal percentage and assists. They scored 140 points eleven times, an NBA record.

The sixth-seeded Pacers have not slowed down much in the playoffs. They averaged 113 when defeating No. 3 Milwaukee and scored at least 120 in all four victories over the six-game series.

The Knicks and Pacers played three times in a row from 1993 to 1995, swapping Game 7 triumphs in the latter two. They then played again from 1998 to 2000, the last two in the Eastern Conference finals. Indiana won their most recent meeting, defeating the No. 2-seeded Knicks in the 2013 East semifinals.

Neither club scored 120 points in any of the 41 games.

“It’s just a very intense matchup,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle stated. “There has been a lot of stuff with Reggie Miller over the last five or six years, and I know there was another clash in 2013. We’re going to need to be very robust and very united.”

AP News – VOR News Image

Knicks Set For Second Round Against The Pacers, An Old-School Playoff Rival Who Play A New-Age Game

This season, Indiana was 2-1 versus New York, averaging 123.3 points per game, including 140 in a Dec. 30 win when the Knicks were short-handed due to a trade. Brunson averaged 35.7 points.

The point guards were teammates for the United States at the Basketball World Cup last summer before going on to enjoy their best NBA seasons. Both were All-Stars, with Haliburton starting for the Eastern Conference in his home arena and leading the league in assists with 10.9 per game.

Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby started the season in Toronto before being moved to the Knicks in December and Indiana in January. The Knicks are 24-5 with Anunoby in the lineup, and he may be needed now to guard his old teammate, who began the playoffs with consecutive games of at least 35 points and 10 rebounds.

Brunson began his career in Dallas, playing under Carlisle, who lauded his former player’s character and said they had a terrific three years together. Brunson was asked whether he had any added motivation when an ESPN podcast mentioned his disappointment about seeing only 10 minutes of playing time in a Game 7 defeat to the Clippers in 2021.

“In all honesty, I said this last time, you’re in the playoffs now, there is no extra motivation,” Brunson said. “It is what it is, and the past is the past.” Rick welcomed me into this league, helped me become a player, and helped me improve from the beginning. So, a coach must make decisions that benefit their squad. So whatever occurred happened, and we’ll move on from there.”

AP News – VOR News Image

Knicks Set For Second Round Against The Pacers, An Old-School Playoff Rival Who Play A New-Age Game

Obi Toppin was the Knicks’ first-round choice in 2020 and quickly became a fan favorite despite rarely seeing lengthy playing time behind All-Star Julius Randle. He scored a career playoff-high 21 points off the bench in the final victory over Milwaukee and will return to his first NBA home.

“They’re one of the most physical teams in the league,” Toppin added. “They’ve had that identity for many years and we’ve got to come in there and match that physicality and play our style of basketball, and I think we’ll be good at that.”

SOURCE – (AP)

Sports

Seize The Gray Win the Preakness 2024, Mystik Dan Finished Second

Published

3 hours ago

2024-05-18

Geoff Thomas

Seize The Gray has won the Preakness 2024. Favorite and Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan finished second, halting his pursuit for the first Triple Crown since Justify in 2018, NBC Sports Reports.

Seize the Grey won the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland, on Saturday, defeating Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan and six other horses. Seize the Grey led from start to finish, with Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan in second place. Catching Freedom placed third.

D. Wayne Lukas, 88, becomes the oldest trainer in history to win a Triple Crown event. It marks his eighth Preakness victory in his career, tying Bob Baffert for second all-time. Lukas has won 15 Triple Crown races in his career.

Jaime Torres made a memorable Triple Crown debut with his triumph in Seize the Grey.

MyRacehorse owns Seize the Grey, and it sells thoroughbred “micro-shares” to the general public. There are 2,570 shareholders in Seize the Grey, representing 42 of the 50 states.

Seize the Grey is the Preakness’ 18th victory from the seventh post since 1909. No other post has resulted in more than 14 winners.

If Seize the Grey competes, his next race will be the 156th Belmont Stakes on June 8 at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York.

Preakness 2024 Full Race

Sports

Dallas Stars Eliminate Avalanche 2-1 With Double Overtime Win

Published

4 hours ago

2024-05-18

Geoff Thomas

Dallas Stars Eliminate Avalanche 2-1 With OT Win

The Avalanche’s aspirations of returning to the Stanley Cup were dashed late Friday night when they lost 2-1 in double overtime against the Dallas Stars.

Former Avalanche player Matt Duchene scored the game-winning goal, allowing the Dallas Stars to advance to the Western Conference final.

Duchene, who began his professional career in Denver, grabbed a loose puck in front of the net and blasted it over a sprawled-out Alexandar Georgiev. Duchene raced down the ice and sank to his knees in celebration.

Dallas Stars will play either Edmonton Oilers or the Vancouver Cunucks next. The Dallas Stars are making their second straight trip to the conference finals, having fallen to eventual Stanley Cup champion Vegas last season. The Stars won their sole Stanley Cup championship in 1999.

This was a series in which the road team won five of six games, with the Stars winning all three in Denver. The Avalanche were the best home team throughout the regular season, while the Stars had the best away record.

After winning the Stanley Cup two years earlier, the Avalanche finished the season 50-25-7.

Dallas Stars Avalanche Highlights

Sports

NFL Distances Itself From Chiefs Kicker Harrison Butker’s Comments During Commencement Speech

Published

6 hours ago

2024-05-18

Kiara Grace

NEW YORK — The NFL has distanced itself from Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, stating that “his views are not those of the NFL as an organization.”

Butker spoke at the commencement ceremony at Benedictine College, a private Catholic liberal arts institution in Kansas, last week and claimed most of the graduating ladies were likely more enthused about getting married and having children.

AP- VOR News Image

NFL Distances Itself From Chiefs Kicker Harrison Butker’s Comments During Commencement Speech

Butker also said that some Catholic officials were “pushing dangerous gender ideologies onto the youth of America.”

“Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity,” said Jonathan Beane, NFL senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer, in a statement issued on Thursday. “His opinions do not represent the NFL as an organization. The NFL remains unwavering in its commitment to inclusion, which only strengthens our league.”

The three-time Super Bowl champion gave his about 20-minute speech Saturday at the school in Atchison, Kansas, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) north of Kansas City. He earned a standing ovation from graduates and other attendees.

Butker, who has made his conservative Catholic convictions known, also criticized Pride Month, which is especially crucial for the LGBTQ+ rights movement, as well as President Joe Biden’s abortion stance.

“I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you,” Butker concluded.

The Nation – VOR News Image

NFL Distances Itself From Chiefs Kicker Harrison Butker’s Comments During Commencement Speech

“Some of you may go on to have excellent jobs in the world, but I believe the bulk of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into the world. I can guarantee you that my lovely wife Isabelle would be the first to state that her life truly began when she began to live her vocation as a wife and mother,” he said.

Butker, 28, claimed his wife accepted “one of the most important titles of all.” Homemaker.”

Butker also chastised The Associated Press for emphasizing a move toward conservativism in some sectors of the church.

Butker also made an oblique allusion to Pride Month, referring to a “deadly sin sort of pride that has a month dedicated to it.” Butker also criticized Biden’s views, such as his rejection of the Supreme Court’s reversal of the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling and support for abortion rights, which are significant campaign topics in the 2024 presidential race.

Hollywood Reporter – VOR News Image

NFL Distances Itself From Chiefs Kicker Harrison Butker’s Comments During Commencement Speech

The 2017 seventh-round pick from Georgia Tech has emerged as one of the NFL’s greatest kickers, breaking the Chiefs franchise record with a 62-yard field goal in 2022. Butker helped them win their first Super Bowl in 50 years in 2020, added a second Lombardi Trophy in 2023, and kicked the game-winning field goal in overtime against San Francisco in February.

SOURCE – (AP)