Sports Then and Now

Steph Curry scored 22 points to lead a balanced Golden State offense in a game one win.

Game 1 between the Utah Jazz and the Golden State Warriors was exactly what everybody expected. Golden State got off to a hot start at Oracle Arena and cruised to a 106-94 victory.

The Warriors now have a perfect 5-0 record in the playoffs and don’t look like they’ll be challenged in this semifinals series.

But then again, Utah has some issues that prevented them from being as competitive as they would’ve liked. Let’s discuss what these issues were, along with if you should consider betting on the Jazz.

Utah vs Golden State Game 2 Betting Odds Released by BetOnline.ag

Point Spread: Utah +12.5 (-110); Golden State -12.5(-110)
Money line: Utah +700; Golden State -1400
Totals: 204 (over -115) (under -105)
Gametime: 10:30pm ET on Thursday, May 4

Golden State Warriors Game 2 Preview

As mentioned in the introduction, Golden State didn’t have much of a problem with Utah. They were up by 12 early in the second quarter and never looked threatened from there on out.

All five Warrior starters scored in double digits, with Steph Curry leading the way with 22 points. Five bench players also scored for Golden State too.

Perhaps the most-telling sign of Golden State’s easy victory is that they got 32 assists. Utah had trouble staying with Curry, which led to plenty of defensive breakdowns and easy baskets for the Warriors.

Golden State doesn’t need to change much heading into Game 2 of this series. Their defense was strong, they made shots, and they did a good job of dealing with Utah’s slowed-down pace. The Warriors will look to replicate their success in an effort to go up 2-0. Read the rest of this entry →

LeBron’s last game in a Cavaliers uniform?

The Cleveland Cavaliers didn’t expect their season to end this early, but now that it has, the 2011 season is already beginning for teams in the NBA.

It hasn’t even been a week since the Cavaliers lost to the Celtics, and everyone is already mentioning LeBron heading out of town. Within a week we have heard different rumors about LeBron playing for teams like New York, Chicago, New Jersey, L.A. (Clippers), and Miami.

Now there is a new rumor that LeBron wants a packaged deal with Coach John Calipari in Chicago. Just like all the other assumptions, this is only a rumor. Calipari said on Twitter that the statement was not true, and he has told the media that he will stay at Kentucky.

“I want to address this with the Big Blue Nation one last time, I will be coaching at Kentucky next year. Now let’s finish what we started!”    – UK Coach Calipari

Not even a week and there are all these speculations on where LeBron will go. Technically, no teams can reach out to LeBron until July 1^st. So the media has until July 1^st to think about what is to come of LeBron James and the future of the NBA. Behind LeBron in the free agent market this year are superstars Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade. Both have been rumored to team up with LeBron for an NBA Championship in 2011. LeBron’s free agency journey has been the big talk for a couple years now, and it is still being analyzed more than the ongoing NBA Playoffs. Read the rest of this entry →

Bird and Person battled in an epic and deciding Game Five in the '91 NBA Playoffs.

In the ’90-’91 season, the Celtics were still one of the top teams in the NBA. They finished with a 56-26 record under head coach Chris Ford and won the Atlantic division. However, everything wasn’t rosy for the Celtics especially with Larry Bird.

Age and injuries were catching up with the “Big Three”. Kevin McHale only played 68 games, Robert Parrish miraculously stayed healthy and only missed one game, and Larry Bird missed 22 games to due to a compressed nerve in his back. This would be the injury that would cause Larry Legend to retire after the following season.

Bird, at age 34, would still have a productive season. He averaged 38 minutes per game, 19.4 points (which led the team), 7.2 assists, and 7.6 boards. However, he was a far cry from the Larry Bird of old.

The Celtics faced the Indiana Pacers in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs that season. Boston would split the first two games at the Garden before traveling to Indiana for Games 3 and 4. The Celtics would take Game 3 112-105, but they couldn’t close out the scrappy Pacers in Game 4. The series was tied 2-2 and set up a winner take all Game 5 back in Boston.

Larry Bird spent the night of May 4, 1991 in the hospital in traction due to his insufferable back pain. No one really thought Bird would be able to play in the deciding Game Five versus the upstart Pacers.

However, as people learned throughout Bird’s whole career, never count him out.

Read the rest of this entry →