2 Page 185 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Well, At Least David Backes Is In A Cup Final
I’m sitting here trying to come up with a reason it’s not a total bummer that the vile Boston Bruins are in their third Stanley Cup Final of the decade after a 4-0 win to complete a sweep of Carolina, and, reader, I am struggling. (This applies to non-Bruins fans only, of course. For Bruins fans: Co...

Trail Blazers Solve Many Of Game 1's Problems, Still Narrowly Fall To The Warriors
The Portland Trail Blazers made a real contest out of Game 2 of their Western Conference Finals series against the Golden State Warriors. After getting blown out in Game 1, head coach Terry Stots rejiggered his lineups and—thank God—his defensive approach, and the result was a 15-point halftime lead...

Is There Anything Fishy About The Sharks?
The San Jose Sharks have forged a reputation over the decades of always being invited to the party and always having to leave by 10:30, either because that’s when their ride is leaving or they have to relieve the babysitter or they have to work in the morning and need their eight hours because they ...

What Will Zion Williamson Put Up His Rookie Year?
Barring some unlikely outcomes—an inspiring protest that gets him out of New Orleans, a defiant but ultimately depressing return to the accursed NCAA—Zion Williamson will suit up for the Pelicans this fall. What will he do there?...

Don't Send Joe Thornton To The Old Folks Home Just Yet
On your typical playoff team that features a wizened old veteran looking for his first-ever championship, the old guy isn’t much more than a walking feel-good story, there to positively affect the locker room and take charge with the media. As the San Jose Sharks moved through the Western Conference...

The Blues Got Screwed By Yet Another Officiating Disaster
Images the NHL wants to linger after an hard-fought overtime game: the jubilation of the goalscorer; his teammates erupting on the bench and spilling over to celebrate on the ice; the disappointment and hard-earned exhaustion of the losers, skating off in disbelief....

Brook Lopez Leads The Bucks Over Kyle Lowry And The Raptors, Just As We All Saw Coming
In an epic matchup of global basketball superstars, Brook Lopez led his top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks over Kyle Lowry and the second-seeded Toronto Raptors, 108–100, in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Lowry led the Raptors to an early lead and kept them in front for the first three quarters, b...

Timo Meier's Controversial Assist Hands The Sharks A Game 3 Win
You’re not going to believe this, but there was a huge controversy in the NHL Playoffs tonight. In overtime of Game 3 between the Sharks and the Blues, Erik Karlsson scored the winner, his second goal of the game, to give San Jose a 2-1 lead in the series. The Sharks’ 5-4 victory was not received po...

Pascal Siakam Reduces "Splash Mountain" To Rubble With Savage Dunk
Seems like Bucks scrapper Ersan Ilyasova thought he’d have more help in the paint when he overplayed the right hand of Raptors forward Pascal Siakam, in the first quarter of Wednesday night’s Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. In an unfortunate coincidence, it seems like Bucks center Brook “Sp...

If The Pelicans Don't Deserve Zion Williamson, Every Other Team Deserves Him Less
When the New Orleans Pelicans landed the right to seize the beginning of Zion Williamson’s basketball career, the reaction was swift, predictable and consistent: “What did those people do to deserve such a prize?”...

Terry Stotts Has To Do Better Than That
There is no great shame in losing to the Golden State Warriors and Steph Curry, and no matter how the Western Conference final shakes out, the Blazers should be proud of their season. But if there’s one thing that should have them feeling a bit embarrassed in the aftermath of their 116-94 Game 1 los...

The Hurricanes Finally Didn't Stink, But Tuukka Rask Made Sure That Didn't Matter
Sometimes, it just isn’t your series. Sometimes, you just run into a buzzsaw—or perhaps a brick wall. The Carolina Hurricanes, now down 3-0 to the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference final, may not particularly care which of those two cases is more applicable here, but it’s really a Venn diagram...

Steph Curry Reminds The Trail Blazers Just How Terrifying He Can Be
Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals had a familiar look for anyone who’s watched many Golden State Warriors home games during the Steph Curry era. The Warriors held the tough and determined Trail Blazers at a comfortable arm’s length for most of the night, and then just sort of cruised out of vi...

There's A 14 Percent Chance That A Generation Of Accursed Knicks Fandom Has Been Worth It
In tonight’s draft lottery the Knicks have a 14 percent chance of obtaining the first pick and Zion Williamson. They were the worst team in the NBA, but this year, odds have been flattened out at the top of the lottery to disincentivize tanking. So the three worst teams all enjoy a 14 percent chance...

Robert Bortuzzo Scored An Unlikely Goal And Then Got Roasted By His Teammates
Robert Bortuzzo doesn’t score goals. He doesn’t really try to, and he’s not good at it. There’s no more delicate way to put this....

Kawhi Leonard And Joel Embiid Co-Starred In The Greatest Photo Of The NBA Season
Experienced live, Kawhi Leonard’s Game 7 buzzer-beater was an agonizing bounce-bounce-bounce-bounce. As a still image, all the drama on the floor could be frozen in time. Toronto-based photojournalist Mark Blinch masterfully captured the full spread. This shot appears to have been taken at some poin...

Do The Blazers Have A Chance Against The Warriors?
Now that we have entered the dog days of the Western Conference playoffs, it is incumbent upon us to find ways to caricature the Portland Trail Blazers to keep up our interest in what most folks fully expect to be a desultory series against the Golden State Warriors....

Jessica Andrade's Neck Slam KO Was Legal, But That Doesn't Make It Any Easier To Watch
Tip to tail, UFC 237 was a bummer. Saturday’s event felt sour from the start of the prelims—when former UFC champ B.J. Penn led off the undercard one month after MMA Junkie reported on allegations against Penn of years of physical and sexual abuse—and the evening culminated with Jessica Andrade det...

The Raptors' Defense Was Outrageous In The Clutch
The Sixers hit their last field goal in the half-court—a long, and-one leaner by J.J. Redick—with 3:29 remaining in Game 7. Then the Raptors put the clamps on. Philly would only even hit the rim one more time, off a heroic Jimmy Butler transition play. As stagnant and deferential as the Raptors have...

Pope Thrower Vs. Jizyah Shorts Is The Name Of The Year Final
Well, we can’t say we’re surprised....