2 Page 88 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The Lakers need to humble the Grizzlies in Game 2 for sake of the NBA
The Memphis Grizzlies are on the brink of falling 2-0 to the Los Angeles Lakers in their first-round series, which brings a smile to the faces of many people outside Tennessee. These young Grizzlies have talked a gang of mess all season and could find themselves in a deep hole after Wednesday night’...

In their infinite wisdom, the Cavinder Twins turn to… Jake Paul?
I don’t know what part of “Down with influencers” landed me on the Cavinder Twins beat, yet here I am, writing my third story on Haley and Hanna as if my only motivation in life is engaging with their content. I’d rather throw myself to the wolves or discover what “YouTubers” are than bring you up t...

How’d giving away garbage bags full of draft picks work out for these NFL teams?
The NFL Draft is easily the second-most important event on the league’s annual calendar, with most teams that privately know they won’t be close to winning the Super Bowl prepping for the three-day event. Yet, there are still plenty of teams who don’t take an active role in the draft. In each of the...

What do the Jets do if they don't land Aaron Rodgers?
The New York Jets are in a potentially awkward position if a deal to land Aaron Rodgers from the Green Bay Packers continues to stall, as Charles Robinson of Yahoo noted it has — or doesn’t materialize at all. Gang Green could be lurking in the quarterback wilderness looking for a solution at QB onc...

Death, taxes, and James Harden disappearing during the playoffs
James Harden’s sunsetting in the playoffs is a reliable annual trend. Similar to Punxsutawney Phil emerging as a sign spring has sprung, but with darker clouds in the forecast. For what feels like a decade, Harden has disappeared into his shell once the best-of-seven portion of the schedule begins. ...

Kevin Love’s surprise cameo starring beside Jimmy Buckets helps Miami squash Milwaukee
If you’re a casual NBA fan, you may have forgotten about Kevin Love, as it feels like he hasn’t played much since things fell apart in Cleveland after LeBron James bolted for Los Angeles following the 2018 postseason. Love stepped up, making a surprise appearance in the Miami Heat’s game one victory...

Half of the road teams took 1-0 leads in the First Round of the NBA Playoffs — welcome to April Madness
Just weeks after March Madness gave us an NCAA Tournament that provided multiple historic upsets during its first weekend, it looks like the pros in the NBA took that personally. Four of the eight matchups from this past weekend’s Game Ones were won by the road team. And one of them was the Miami He...

Russell Westbrook — flaws and all — was crucial in the Clippers’ Game 1 victory
For those who may be too young to remember Russell Westbrook’s best work, show them from the 1:08 mark in the fourth quarter of the Los Angeles Clippers 115-110, 2023 Game 1 playoff victory against the Phoenix Suns, to when the clock stops at 10.1 seconds....

Here's which NBA playoff teams will boom or bust
NBA fans are preparing for one of the most equitable and competitive playoffs in recent memory. The lack of an active dynasty or superteam has the door open for nearly any team to make a Finals run. We’ve highlighted five teams headed toward playoff glory and five teams destined for despair. We cons...

Isn’t it ironic, don’t you tank?
The Dallas Mavericks went from the Western Conference Finals to being fined for punting on the postseason in less than a year. As a result of a decision to sit key guys and play Luka Dončić only a quarter in essentially an elimination game against the Chicago Bulls on April 7, Mark Cuban’s pockets a...

Which is more impressive: Tampa Bay's win streak or Jordan Walker’s hit streak?
The best team in baseball has one of the hottest hitters of this young season, but there’s a young hot hitter also on his own 12-game streak, so I thought it’d be fun to debate over whose accomplishment is more impressive: The Tampa Bay Rays’ 12-game winning streak, or St. Louis Cardinals rookie Jor...

The good, the bad, and everything in between of Bryce Young
Stop the presses if you’ve heard this one before, but Bryce Young is building a reputation as one of the more polarizing quarterbacks to ever hit the draft process. Blessed with creativity akin to Salvador Dali, Young can work wonders on a football field, but his diminutive size and frame are anomal...

The NBA has a Charles Barkley problem — again
TNT’s flagship show Inside The NBA is at its best this time of the year, as fans tune in multiple times per week to watch Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, Ernie Johnson, and Shaquille O’Neal do their thing. But what happens when the star of the NBA’s biggest and best studio show gets on TV to tell fans...

The Sports Emmys are lacking, so Deadspin is here to pick up the slack
A problem with the Sports Emmys is there simply aren’t enough categories for individuals. Most awards are for shows, segments, reports, documentaries, etc. Only a handful acknowledge the on-air personalities, so those who care about bringing home some hardware are in for an uphill battle....

The Democratic National Convention is coming to Chicago — what sports anthem should Joe Biden come out to?
CHICAGO — Intro music matters, especially here. ...

The Lakers need to get their stuff together if they wanna advance any further
Once again the Los Angeles Lakers found themselves in a game that they desperately needed to win, clutching victory with one hand hoping that the opposing team would fall off of the cliff first. That is certainly a path to a 108-102 overtime victory against the Minnesota Timberwolves who were missin...

The Calgary Flames were undone by a gimmick
While sneaking into the bottom rung of the playoffs is something to be eschewed in the NBA given that it rarely leads anywhere, there’s still a perception in the NHL that all you have to do is “get in.” The NHL has dined out for decades on the idea that the playoffs set everything anew, and that one...

American hero T.J. Oshie’s time in the nation’s capital should come to an end
As the Washington Capitals exited last year’s playoffs in the first round against an upstart Florida Panthers squad, it felt like the end of an era. The core of the team stayed together from their 2018 Stanley Cup victory but hadn’t won a playoff game since and was only growing grayer. And if being ...

The 2023 NFL draft is either a truncated dollar menu or a punch to the jewels
I’ve been a fan of a tanking team for a couple of years now, and I think the hardest part of staring at big boards before the season even hits its dog days is when that big board is dumbed down to a bar menu. The 2023 NFL Draft is one such menu. It’s airport Chick-Fil-A, going to Frontera when Topol...

Aaron Ramsdale’s fingertips may have saved the Premier League title for Arsenal
There isn’t another league that can produce the utter chaos, at least as consistently, as the Premier League can with yesterday’s 2-2 draw between Liverpool and Arsenal at Anfield. It starts with the end-to-end action, two teams waylaying into each other for various periods of the game. Which is the...