Sports

The NBA Playoffs Are Finally Here. And As LeBron James Says, ‘It’s A Sprint Now’

Published

2 weeks ago

2024-04-20

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Boston has a 64-win club that leads the league in wins. Denver’s defending champions have won 57 games. A bold young team in Oklahoma City, whose No. 1 seed was no fluke. A trio of Villanova alumni in New York transformed the Knicks into a legitimate contender.

Once again, there’s LeBron James.

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The NBA Playoffs Are Finally Here. And As LeBron James Says, ‘It’s A Sprint Now’

The NBA playoffs are ready to begin, with the Celtics and Nuggets the big favorites — at least according to BetMGM Sportsbook — to meet in the Finals, and there are plenty of teams who believe they can win the whole thing. After a seven-month buildup that included training camp, a preseason, the regular season, the first NBA Cup, and a play-in tournament, the league finally wakes up on Saturday with 16 clubs left in contention for the Larry O’Brien Trophy.

“Come Saturday, there are 15 other teams that want what we have,” Denver coach Michael Malone said. “We have the world championship trophy and everybody’s trying to take it from us.”

Let the games begin. The Nuggets are attempting to become the sixth franchise to win back-to-back championships, with the majority of last season’s core returning this year, including likely NBA MVP Nikola Jokic. They’ll begin their quest against the Lakers and James, who is chasing his fifth championship and has never concealed that this is, by far, the most important time of year for him.

“There ain’t no more pace,” said the 39-year-old James, the league’s oldest active player and all-time scoring leader who is looking for his fifth NBA championship. “What are you pacing yourself for? Now it’s time to sprint. It’s a sprint now. We already completed the marathon.”

Round 1 begins on Saturday, with four games: Orlando at Cleveland, Phoenix at Minnesota, Philadelphia at New York, and the Los Angeles Lakers at Denver. On Sunday, four more Game 1s are scheduled: Miami at Boston in a rematch of the previous two East finals, Dallas at the Los Angeles Clippers, Indiana at Milwaukee, and New Orleans at Oklahoma City.

The Thunder won 22 games three seasons ago, and 24 games the following year. Those days are long gone: 40 victories last season demonstrated potential, and 57 wins this season — with no full-time starter above the age of 25 — indicate that OKC’s time may have come.

“It means a little more, how we got here, for sure,” said Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder guard who has averaged 30.1 points this season and is a legitimate MVP candidate. “But at the end of the day, I suppose it’s home-court advantage until the Finals. That’s always a plus when you have a home court like ours.”

They are young, brash, and undeniably entertaining. When asked why he wasn’t wearing his division title T-shirt when the Thunder clinched the No. 1 seed, Thunder guard Jalen Williams responded, “This leather jacket cost a lot,” eliciting laughter.

The Thunder were not expected to be in this situation; they were assigned 100-1 odds to win the NBA championship when the season began. Boston is an entirely different tale; the Celtics met and beyond expectations.

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The NBA Playoffs Are Finally Here. And As LeBron James Says, ‘It’s A Sprint Now’

All Boston did this season was post the fifth-best record in franchise history, which is a significant accomplishment for any team, but especially for one as legendary as the Celtics. Three of the four Boston teams with the best regular season records went on to win NBA championships.

“You can’t even expect to be a 64-win team,” Celtics President Brad Stevens explained. “That’s a really difficult level to meet, no matter how good you are, how well organized you are as a coach, or how many alternatives you have as a player. That’s just difficult to do.”

The Celtics have no visible weaknesses, finishing the season ranked first in offensive rating, second in points per game, third in defensive rating, and fifth in points allowed per game. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Kristaps Porzingis all finished with at least 20 points per game; only two earlier Celtics teams had three 20-point scorers in a single season. They also added Jrue Holiday – a U.S. Olympian this summer, like Tatum — in the offseason to help lead a defense designed for this time of year.

“Everybody has that right mindset,” Celtics guard Derrick White said. “We’re looking forward to this.”

The Knicks lost Julius Randle but have continued to ascend, powered by the Villanova trio of MVP candidate Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Donte DiVincenzo. They face a blockbuster first-round series against Joel Embiid and the 76ers, who were competing for a top-2 seed before Embiid was injured and missed much of the season.

“We just focus on getting better every day,” Brunson explained.

The Thunder, Indiana (the league’s best scoring club this season), and Orlando are all making their playoff debuts for the first time since 2020. Indiana faces a Milwaukee team that will be without star Giannis Antetokounmpo, while the Magic face a Cleveland team that has not won a playoff series without James since 1993.

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The NBA Playoffs Are Finally Here. And As LeBron James Says, ‘It’s A Sprint Now’

“We’re going to enjoy this,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said, “because they deserve to.”

The title will most likely go to one of Boston, Oklahoma City, Denver, New York, Milwaukee, or Minnesota. Since 1984, 39 of the 40 NBA champions have begun the playoffs as the first, second, or third seed in their conference.

Having saying that, this year has been somewhat unpredictable. And, as always, the playoffs are full of surprises.

“The reality is we’re going to have to play well on Sunday,” Stevens told reporters. “And beyond.”

SOURCE – (AP)

Sports

Miami Dolphins Agree To Sign Odell Beckham Jr. To A 1-Year Contract

Published

8 hours ago

2024-05-03

Kiara Grace

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Miami Gardens, Florida – The Miami Dolphins have agreed to sign wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. to a one-year contract, a source informed The Associated Press on Friday.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the contract had not yet been formalized.

The NFL Network initially reported on the pact, estimated to be valued at up to $8.25 million.

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Miami Dolphins Agree To Sign Odell Beckham Jr. To A 1-Year Contract

Beckham, 31, will be joining his sixth franchise, having previously played for the Los Angeles Rams, Baltimore, Cleveland, and the New York Giants, who drafted him 12th overall in 2014. He won a Super Bowl with the Rams in 2021-22.

Beckham will join Tyreek Hill, the Dolphins’ receiving yards leader last year, and Jaylen Waddle, his fast opponent. Hill and Waddle combined for more yards (2,813) than any other wide receiver tandem in the NFL in 2023, but Miami lacked depth at wide receiver beyond those two.

The Ravens released Beckham in March after he had 35 catches for 565 yards and three scores with Baltimore last season. He visited the Dolphins earlier in the offseason and received an offer, but the two parties have yet to reach a deal.

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Miami Dolphins Agree To Sign Odell Beckham Jr. To A 1-Year Contract

“Things went great with him,” Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel stated in March. We made him an offer, and business takes time, especially with someone like Odell, who has had a fantastic career and still has a lot of football and choices ahead of him. I’m completely ready to teach him if we can reach a deal, and I believe both sides are working toward that goal. “We will see what happens.

Beckham established himself as one of the league’s top receivers throughout his first three seasons with the Giants. He had three consecutive 1,300-yard seasons after being drafted by New York out of LSU, and he grabbed one of the most memorable touchdowns in NFL history in his rookie season when he extended his body, leaping backward and reaching as far as he could with one hand to pull in a 43-yard pass from Eli Manning.

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Miami Dolphins Agree To Sign Odell Beckham Jr. To A 1-Year Contract

Beckham was traded to the Browns in 2019 and played two seasons there before joining the Rams. He caught a touchdown pass in Super Bowl LVI before suffering an ACL injury that sidelined him for the 2022 season.

SOURCE – (AP)

Sports

Brittney Griner Says She Thought About Killing Herself During First Few Weeks In Russian Jail

Published

1 day ago

2024-05-02

Kiara Grace

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Phoenix — Brittney Griner, a WNBA star, says she considered suicide during her first several weeks in a Russian jail following her 2022 drug-related arrest.

Griner spoke for the first time about her months-long captivity in Russia during an hour-long interview broadcast on ABC Wednesday night. Her memoir, “Coming Home,” is scheduled to be released on May 7.

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Brittney Griner Says She Thought About Killing Herself During First Few Weeks In Russian Jail

Griner was seized after arriving at a Moscow airport when Russian investigators claimed a search of her luggage found vape cartridges purportedly containing cannabis oil.

“I wanted to take my life more than once in the first few weeks,” Griner told interviewer Robin Roberts. “I felt like leaving here so badly.”

She opted against it in part because she was concerned that the Russian authorities would not return her body to her family.

Her plight began at the same time Russia invaded Ukraine, escalating tensions between Russia and the United States, and ended only after she was released in exchange for Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.

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Brittney Griner Says She Thought About Killing Herself During First Few Weeks In Russian Jail

Griner stated that she was ordered to compose a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin before being released.

“They had me write this letter. “It was in Russian,” she explained. “I had to ask for pardon and gratitude from their so-called great leader. “I didn’t want to do it, but I also wanted to get home.”

She was dismayed when she boarded the plane for the transaction and found that Paul Whelan, another American held in Russia, was not with her.

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Brittney Griner Says She Thought About Killing Herself During First Few Weeks In Russian Jail

“I continued on and didn’t see him; perhaps he’s next. “Maybe they’ll bring him next,” she added. “They shut the door, and I was like, Are you serious? “You are not going to let this man come home right now.”

Griner plays for the Phoenix Mercury. The WNBA season starts on May 14.

SOURCE – (AP)

Sports

Adrian Newey, Red Bull’s Chief Technical Officer, Will Step Down From The F1 Team.

Published

2 days ago

2024-05-01

Kiara Grace

AP News - VOR News Image

Milton Keynes, England – Red Bull announced Wednesday that Adrian Newey, the designer who played a key role in Red Bull’s Formula One supremacy, will retire early next year.

The 65-year-old Newey will retire from his nearly two-decade career at Red Bull in the “first quarter of 2025.”

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Adrian Newey, Red Bull’s Chief Technical Officer, Will Step Down From The Formula One Team.

“For almost two decades it has been my great honor to have played a key role in Red Bull Racing’s progress from upstart newcomer to multiple title-winning team,” stated the former Ferrari driver. “However, I feel now is an opportune moment to hand that baton over to others and to seek new challenges for myself.”

Adrian joined Red Bull in 2006 and has helped the team win seven driver’s titles, including the last three seasons for defending champion Max Verstappen and six constructors’ crowns.

Red Bull announced that its chief technical officer will step away from F1 design to focus on the company’s first hypercar, the RB 17.

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Adrian Newey, Red Bull’s Chief Technical Officer, Will Step Down From The Formula One Team.

“All of our greatest moments from the past 20 years have come with Adrian’s hand on the technical tiller,” Red Bull team principal Christian Horner stated. “When Adrian joined Red Bull, I knew he was already a famous designer. Two decades and 13 championships later, he is remembered as a true legend. He is also my friend, and I shall be eternally grateful to him for everything he contributed to our collaboration.”

The news of Newey’s leaving could result in a bidding war for his services. Because Newey is free to join another team after leaving Red Bull, he has the potential to have an impact on the 2026 vehicle for whichever team he chooses. The next major regulatory reform is scheduled for 2026, and having Newey on board would provide a huge edge to his future employers.

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Adrian Newey, Red Bull’s Chief Technical Officer, Will Step Down From The Formula One Team.

Newey’s dismissal comes after Horner was accused of “inappropriate behavior” by a female coworker. Red Bull’s parent company GmbH exonerated Horner and has consistently refuted the allegations.

SOURCE – (AP)