While You Were Sleeping: The Heat are the Play-In team For a while there, it looked like Miami was going to do it all over again.
Regardless, the Heat are reliably the team doing the most to make the NBA Play-In Tournament entertaining and memorable.
Consider last night: Miami raced out to a big first-half lead before surrendering to, ahem, Nic Batum and the Philadelphia 76ers in a 105-104 thriller.
Tomorrow night, Miami — who might be missing Jimmy Butler — gets the Bulls again with another No.
The lifetime punishment is warranted, and if we’re keeping it a buck, the NBA got lucky here.
For 95 percent of the Pelicans’ Play-In game against the Lakers, he willed a New Orleans comeback with 40 points and looked unstoppable against one of the league’s better defenses.
He got hurt with three minutes left, the Pels lost and now Williamson won’t play in the final Play-In game against Sacramento tomorrow.
Related: Sam Amick wrote a great column from courtside at Warriors-Kings, which felt like much more than a Play-In game.
Greetings! I hope you have a successful real playoff run today.
The Heat are the play-in team while you were asleep.
It appeared for a while that Miami would repeat the entire thing. It’s possible for them to pull off another bait-and-switch, where they gain momentum only during the postseason, but it will be challenging.
Whatever the case, the Heat are unavoidably the team contributing the most to an exciting and unforgettable NBA Play-In Tournament. Take last night into consideration:.
Miami jumped out to a commanding lead in the first half and lost a thrilling game 105-104 to, uh, Nic Batum and the Philadelphia 76ers. Batum made six three-pointers and scored 20 points, a season high. In the opening round of the playoffs, full-strength Philadelphia plays the Knicks. That will be a ton of fun.
The Heat team from the previous season also suffered a first-round loss, but they pulled through by defeating the Bulls in the elimination round, and went on one of the most surprising runs in the NBA Finals history. It seems that they are the target audience for the Play-In.
Miami plays the Bulls again tomorrow night with another No., though Jimmy Butler might not be there. There are eight seeds on the line. Chicago defeated the Hawks 131-116 last night, and they looked fantastic. I predict that the top-seeded Celtics will be very anxious following a Miami victory.
We say farewell to the Hawks, who will face some difficult decisions in the upcoming offseason. The most crucial one is: Is Trae Young a potential trade target?
The significance of Porter’s historic lifetime ban is a serious matter.
Former Raptors forward Jontay Porter was banned by the NBA yesterday for life. This is the first lifetime ban for gambling imposed by the league since Jack Molinas of the Pistons was banned in 1954.
Here are two things to remember:.
Every time a contemporary gambling scandal breaks, I find it impossible to believe how ridiculous it all looks. Porter is accused by the NBA of making $22,000 by making his own wagers. During his five-year career, this man earned about $5 million in salary. In addition, he is accused of telling another sports bettor that he was injured and would miss a game. This information allegedly led to the bettor placing a $80,000 parlay wager on Porter, a lesser-known Raptors backup. We could have all easily identified that wager, in my opinion. These monitors are incredibly well-trained, as Mike Vorkunov made clear last week.
To keep it simple, the NBA struck it lucky in this case and the life sentence is well deserved. Porter had minimal influence on basketball’s daily operations while he was traded between the Raptors and their G-League affiliate. Remember how tense things felt for the MLB during the gambling scandal involving Ohtani’s money? If this had involved a bigger star, the NBA would have suffered a huge, huge scar. Rather than negatively impacting the company’s finances, Silver is able to demonstrate his tough stance on gambling-related issues. Gain-win situation for him.
Previous recipient of this dumb award: Brad Bohannon, the former baseball coach at Alabama.
Things to Know about News.
Clark’s unusual day.
During yesterday’s inaugural press conference, Caitlin Clark, the guard for the New Indiana Fever, had an awkward moment with a local columnist. Visit this link to watch it. Positively, she is about to sign an eight-figure contract with Nike that will include a signature shoe.
Zion leaves.
A perfect representation of Zion Williamson’s NBA career was shown on Tuesday night. With 40 points and an unstoppable look against one of the league’s best defenses, he willed a New Orleans comeback for 95 percent of the Pelicans’ Play-In game against the Lakers. In the final Play-In game against Sacramento tomorrow, Williamson will not play due to an injury he sustained with three minutes remaining in the Pels’ loss. William Guillory wrote a moving column about the situation as a whole.
More news.
Remarkable Villanova transfer Lucy Olsen is moving to Iowa, where she will bring her 23 points per game to a team that is losing its top scorer in the NCAA, she announced yesterday.
Alongside Pat McAfee, Bill Belichick will co-host a live draft show. Must be flawless or a catastrophe. Absence of a middle.
A fraud accusation has been brought against one of the women who reported Trevor Bauer for alleged sexual assault. Click here to read our report.
The season will begin on Friday with Justin Verlander’s debut. He is vital to the struggling Astros.
After 19 seasons, center Jeff Carter of the Penguins announced his retirement. He had an unforgettable night out last night.
Trophies, Mate: The Premier League is having a bad day.
This week’s second leg of the Champions League quarterfinals featured some outstanding soccer. The Premier League is an enormous loser.
In the most exciting match of the day, Real Madrid managed to defeat Manchester City on penalties, sending the defending Champions League winners and likely English Premier League winners packing for the semifinals. Jude Bellingham was significant; last summer, he picked Real over several Premier League clubs.
Bayern Munich eliminated Arsenal from the UCL race with a 3-2 aggregate victory, capping off an odd season for the team. Bayern lost its 11-game winning streak in the Bundesliga, but could the team part with a Champions League trophy for manager Thomas Tuchel? The EPL won’t likely win the newly available fifth UCL spot either as a result of Arsenal’s defeat.
Watch this match.
Diamondbacks vs. Giants, MLB, 9:45 p.m. me. ET on FS1 In one of baseball’s top divisions, both of these teams ought to be better than they are right now (below .500). They’re not the Rockies, at least.
NHL: Kings vs. Blackhawks, 10:30 p.m. m. ET on ESPN+.
The Kings are the only team left with a chance to earn a playoff spot, and the playoffs begin on Saturday. This one is a fitting farewell to the regular season.
Quick Picks.
Although the defending NBA Defensive Player of the Year is fantastic, Rudy Gobert is aware of what everyone is thinking—hold off until the playoffs. As Jon Krawczynski wrote today, he’s actually been training with that idea in the back of his mind for the last four years. Everything shines on Saturday.
Check out the WNBA Draft board we have already put together for the upcoming season. That’s what the Paige Bueckers draft will be.
Chris Paul claims he is not retiring. But does the Warriors have a future?
Related: The Warriors-Kings game felt like much more than a Play-In, and Sam Amick wrote a fantastic column from courtside.
Since the Virginia Squires participated in the ABA, Virginia has not had a professional sports team. Even though the team was short-lived, it had a significant influence on basketball as it exists today.
Dane Brugler’s complete seven-round NFL mock draft was, naturally, the most popular post on the website yesterday.
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