Taking 50 shots in one game is something that should be worn as a badge of dishonor, but I wanted nothing more than for Kobe to hit the mark last night, and I was genuinely happy for him when he did.
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And the most-celebrated closing night in National Basketball Association regular-season history not only lived up to expectations, it might have exceeded them with a pair of performances that will be talked about for years to come. He’ll look at you amusing… he’ll do a dance or whatever. “Over 82 games, a coach’s voice gets old quickly, so fortunately Luke coached the first (43), so they didn’t hear mine that often”, Kerr said in his usual good-natured tone.
“I don’t think we were laying off on him or letting him get anything”. With a 125-104 win against the Memphis Grizzlies at raucous Oracle, Golden State secured a 73-9 mark. The rest of the teams? “But I think the thing we try to do is to not really worry about wins and losses”. Boston sits at 14-1 odds to reach the NBA Finals, tied with the Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks in a crowded conference.
“LeBron started a unsafe precedent, in my opinion, by going to Miami”, Barkley said.
Now, time to get down to business. So then what happens? It was his best in almost four years.
The Warriors finished their joy ride of a regular season with a 39-2 record at home, and it’s at Oracle where they will have home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. But Curry is so good, so apart from what we are used to, that he actually rendered his team’s quest for a truly remarkable record-73 wins is a big fucking deal!-a point of interest secondary to his own pursuit of a meaningless round number. “I didn’t have any doubt that he was going to be a great coach”.
Stanford quarterback Kevin Hogan, Stanford guard Josh Garnett and San Jose State running back Tyler Ervin highlight the list of 67 players on hand for the 49ers’ “local” pro day in Santa Clara.
That came after starting the game 0-for-5, before catching fire and scoring 15 of the Lakers’ first 19 points.
Barkley says there are five teams that can win it all. And by the way?
Bryant, after 20 years in the National Basketball Association, had one of his greatest games as the woeful Lakers hosted the Jazz.
That Bulls team, led by Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, went on to steamroll opponents in the playoffs on the way to the title.
The next goal is for the defending champions to repeat.
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The day before they forced those legendary Bulls into the No. 2 slot in regular season lore, there was a reminder of the path that brought them to this point. Statistics back them up. Close behind them are the Cleveland Cavaliers, who after finishing with the Eastern Conference’s best record at 57-25 are slated at 4-1 odds. There will be a lot to watch over the next two months, and maybe there will be surprises, because things can always change fast, and if you don’t believe that, ask Jordan Spieth. But the fans and team seemed to rally around Leandro Barbosa who, in the middle of the season, told Rosalyn Gold-Onwude that “we gonna be championship”. Now Charles Barkley is anxious about a whole league.
