Kevin Durant stood above the 3-point line and watched the shot clock dwindle in the final seconds of Game 4. When Metta World Peace backed up slightly on defence, Durant hesitated only an instant before launching a 26-footer.
“It left my hand, (and) I was thinking, ‘If this doesn’t go in, it’s going to be a terrible shot,“’ Durant said.
The three-time scoring champ trusts his instincts and his silky-smooth jumper. Neither let him down while he and Russell Westbrook engineered yet another late comeback that pushed a frustrated Kobe Bryant to the brink.
Westbrook scored 10 of his 37 points during a stirring fourth-quarter rally, Durant added 31 points and hit that tiebreaking 3-pointer with 13.7 seconds left, and the Thunder seized control of their second-round series with a 103-100 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night.
Serge Ibaka scored 14 points and the second-seeded Thunder took a 3-1 series lead with a rally from a 13-point deficit in the final 8 minutes, moving one win away from their second straight trip to the Western Conference finals.
“Everybody kept fighting,” Westbrook said. “We all believed in each other. It’s the playoffs. You can’t afford to sit back and wonder about it.”
Game 5 is Monday night in Oklahoma City.
Oklahoma City improved to 7-1 in the post-season with a tenacious rally on the second night of back-to-back games against the Lakers and Bryant, who scored 38 points but struggled in the fourth quarter of Los Angeles’ fifth loss in seven games. After Durant put the Thunder ahead with his shot-clock-draining 3-pointer, Kobe couldn’t match it with 10 seconds left.
With a surge that seemed inevitable to the Lakers’ worried crowd, Durant and Westbrook led the Thunder back with teamwork throughout a 32-point fourth quarter. Bryant was left lamenting the help he didn’t get — particularly from four-time All-Star Pau Gasol, who made the unforced turnover that led to Durant’s decisive 3.
“Pau has got to be more aggressive,” Bryant said of Gasol, who managed just 10 points and five rebounds while committing three turnovers. “He’s got to be aggressive, got to shoot the ball, drive to the basket, and he will next game. … (The turnover was) just a bad read on Pau’s part. It happens.”
The Thunder finished Game 4 on a 22-8 run, punctuated by Durant’s dramatic 3-pointer and two late free throws from James Harden, who had 12 points. After sweeping Dallas in the first round, the Thunder are one win away from sending home the NBA’s last two champions — and in perhaps the greatest measure of the Thunder’s growth over the two years since the Lakers ushered them out of the first round on the way to their second straight title, nobody seems surprised.
“We know no game is over,” Durant said. “We’ve witnessed that before. We play hard every possession and live with the results, and we came out on top.”
Andrew Bynum had 18 points and nine rebounds for the Lakers, who led 92-81 with 7:45 to play before Westbrook went to work with a furious series of drives to the hoop. The UCLA product scored nine points in just over 2 minutes, and Kendrick Perkins capped the 17-4 run on a putback layup with 1:16 left, putting Oklahoma City up 98-96 with its first lead since the first quarter.
After Bryant evened it with two free throws, Westbrook and Pau Gasol then traded turnovers, with Durant swiping Gasol’s careless pass before burying a straightaway 3-pointer that silenced Staples Center. The Thunder made 10 of their 15 shots in the final period.
“I wish I could sit up here and say how that happened,” Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks said. “It just happened.”
Rene Fasel is more than happy to wait for the NHL to make a decision on whether it will send its players to the 2014 Olympics.
The president of the International Ice Hockey Federation was much quieter on the issue of the Sochi Games than he has been in the past during his annual state of the union session to conclude the world championship.
“I’ve always said our door is wide open,” Fasel said Sunday. “That’s in their hands. Our door is wide, wide open. That’s their decision to make, if they want to come or not.”
Fasel has angered NHL commissioner Gary Bettman in the past with his comments about the need for the top players to participate in a fifth straight Olympics. With the league soon expected to open collective bargaining talks with the NHL Players’ Association, Fasel clearly wanted to avoid making any headlines.
The pervasive feeling around the world championship was that the strong desire of NHL players to participate would ultimately ensure that it happens, with one well-placed source saying “there’s no chance” the league would pull out. It’s also thought that the NHL’s relationship with NBC, which broadcasts the Games in the U.S., is another motivating factor behind going to Russia.
However, concessions will have to be made — as Bettman made abundantly clear in a memorable press conference with Fasel at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. The league wants more control over the organization of the event and will seek better access for its media platforms, among other things.
Fasel is also a member of the International Olympic Committee, but wouldn’t speculate Sunday on whether that organization was prepared to satisfy the NHL’s demands.
“We will wait and once they make the decision to come, we will sit at the table and make the important decisions,” said Fasel.
On Sunday, the IIHF released the groupings for next year’s world championship. Canada will play its round robin games in Stockholm in a pool with the Czech Republic, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Denmark, Belarus and Slovenia. The other group will play in Helsinki.
When asked about Canada losing three straight quarter-final games at the tournament by a Russian reporter, Fasel indicated it was disappointing.
“Canada has a real big fanbase in Europe,” said Fasel. “This is the sport — what can you do? Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. The Canadians came here with a very strong team and they had not a really good day at that special day.
“This is sport.”
Among the other items he touched on:
— As soon as next year, teams may be able to carry 27 players at the world championship. The current roster max is 25.
— He hailed the setup in Sochi, where the hockey arenas and athlete accommodations are all located together in one area. “For the athletes, this will be very convenient,” said Fasel.
— He indicated that the IIHF considered recognizing those killed in the Yaroslavl plane tragedy during this world championship before deciding against it. “We will never forget about that — for sure,” said Fasel. “It will be said for many, many years what happened in Yaroslavl. We still remember.”
It’s PLAYOFF season Sarasota!!! And time for the BEST Minor League Football teams in Florida to fight for the title position in the AFC. On Saturday, April 7th the Sarasota Millionaires will take on the Charlotte County Riduring the Wildcard Playoff game at 3:30pm on the Booker High School field. As always the Sarasota Millionaires provide games and prizes for (for the community) and their top cheering fans so don’t hesitate….purchase your tickets today and support your Sarasota home team!! The Millionaires against the REIGN!!! Saturday April 7th, at 7pm. For tickets call: 941.487.7444 or visit sarasotamillionaires.com
Страна: США Жанр: stand-up комедия, монолог Перевод: любительский НЕНОРМАТИВНАЯ ЛЕКСИКА! Это 13-й выпуск Выступления Джорджа Карлина на HBO и последняя запись, сделанная в театре “Маяк”. В этом году Джордж Карлин праздновал своё 50 летие в шоу-бизнесе и устроил хорошее шоу Список миниатюр: “Современный человек” (1:00) “Три маленьких слова” (5:05) “Самоубийца” (8:58) “Экстримальное человеческое поведение” (16:00) “Суицидный ТВ-канал” (29:50) “Тупые американцы” (31:53) “Пирамида безнадежных” (44:08) “Аутоэротическая асфексия” (52:25) “Послесмертная женская трансплантация” (57:37) “Вагинальная инфекция” (1:01:09) “Континентальная чрезвычайная ситуация” (1:01:47)
Video Rating: 4 / 5
K’naan – Wavin Flag South Africa 2010(english and arabic lyrics) Mondial Football Championship song
By admin | May 20, 2012
K’naan feat David Bisbal – Wavin Flag South Africa 2010 Mondial Football Championship song.Thanks to the Coca Cola Company for the sponsorizating(english and arabic lyrics).
Video Rating: 5 / 5
100 ft. SKLZ Pro Mini Hoop Basketball Shot. ” This, Is The Worlds Longest Mini Basketball Shot” ***Shot Goes In*** “Practice, Play, Win, SKLZ.” It Was Made On Labor Day (Uploaded Late) Sorry about my premature chipmunk voice, it was before puberty X)
Video Rating: 3 / 5
2010 basketball highlights from McDonough High School’s point guard, Marcus Stewart. Music: Gameface by ID Labs -video produced by Digimixx Productions (footage provided by outside source)
Video Rating: 5 / 5
May is the worst month for NFL fans as little is happening, but this off-season has seen a number of players taking their contract talks public and that can’t make owners around the league very happy. . . .
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Jarrod Saltalamacchia wanted to make sure Bobby Valentine put him in the Boston Red Sox’s lineup Saturday night.
So the catcher texted Valentine on Friday night from the hospital, where he received 12 stitches after taking a ball off his ear, and told the manager that he was feeling good and predicted a homer Saturday.
Saltalamacchia kept his word, going 3 for 4 and falling a triple shy of the cycle, as Boston hit four home runs in a 7-5 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.
David Ortiz homered, singled and drove in two runs to help Boston snap the Phillies’ six-game winning streak. Mike Aviles and Will Middlebrooks also homered for Boston, which won for the seventh time in nine games.
“Everything came back good, I’m cleared to play, plus I’m due to hit a bomb,” Valentine said, reading the text sent by Saltalamacchia.
“I wanted to make sure he knew I could play,” Saltalamacchia said. “Sometimes if you tell the manager you are going to hit one out, he’ll put you in there. I felt good. The ear didn’t bother or affect me.”
Jon Lester (3-3) improved to 3-0 in four career starts against the Phillies despite matching a season high for hits allowed with eight and giving up four runs in six innings.
“I didn’t have my best stuff, but I tried to battle through it and keep the ball down,” Lester said.
Freddy Galvis homered, and John Mayberry Jr., Hector Luna and Shane Victorino each had three hits for the Phillies as the teams combined for 26 hits.
Alfredo Aceves got four outs for his ninth save in 11 chances.
Joe Blanton (4-4) pitched a season-low 4 1/3 innings while surrendering seven runs — six earned — on nine hits.
“I threw a lot of pitches down the middle, not good results when you do that,” Blanton said. “They have a lot of good hitters and when you make mistakes, a lot of times a lineup like that will make you pay.”
Aviles gave the Red Sox a 1-0 lead with the club’s first leadoff homer of the season.
Boston extended the margin to 3-0 with a pair of runs in the second, with Saltalamacchia scoring on Daniel Nava’s grounder and Ryan Sweeney reaching on Lester’s double-play groundout.
Philadelphia got a run back in the third on Shane Victorino’s RBI double off the metal fence above the 10-foot, 6-inch wall in left. But Middlebrooks and Saltalamacchia opened the fourth with consecutive homers to put Boston up 5-1.
Philadelphia scored three runs in the fourth, highlighted by Galvis’ two-run homer to left, to make it a one-run game. Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel had Pete Orr in the on-deck circle ready to pinch-hit for Blanton, but pulled Orr back with the bases clear.
“I thought he still had something left, thought he might settle in and give us two (more) innings,” Manuel said of Blanton.
But after Dustin Pedroia singled to lead off the fifth, Ortiz launched the first pitch he saw off Blanton in the fifth over the wall in straightaway centre to give the Red Sox a 7-4 advantage.
“That was a big blow,” Manuel said. “We couldn’t catch up.”
Said Blanton: “It was supposed to be away and I threw it down the middle.”
Sweeney saved two runs in the seventh when the Red Sox centre fielder robbed Carlos Ruiz of extra bases with a highlight-reel diving catch just in front of the warning track in right-centre with two outs and runners on first and second.
“I thought it saved the game,” Valentine said. “I didn’t think he had anything left. It was full extension, a top-tenner (highlight).”
The Phillies trimmed the lead to 7-5 in the eight on Jimmy Rollins’ RBI infield single, but stranded the bases loaded when Victorino popped out to shortstop off of Aceves.
Victorino defended his swinging at the first pitch despite Aceves walking the previous batter, Mayberry, on four pitches.
“I was looking for a cutter and he threw a cutter, I’ll swing at that every single time,” he said. “He just beat me. I want to be the hero, but I was the goat tonight.”
Notes: Red Sox OF Cody Ross did not play after fouling a ball off his left leg in Friday’s game. Boston manager Bobby Valentine said before the game that X-rays were negative. … The crowd of 45,656 was the Phillies’ 224th straight sellout and 240th counting post-season play. … Former Philadelphia OF Pat Burrell was honoured in a pregame ceremony after signing a one-day contract and officially retiring as a member of the Phillies. … Boston right-hander Josh Beckett (3-4, 4.97) is scheduled to face Phillies left-hander Cliff Lee (0-1 1.95) at 1:35 on Sunday.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Refreshed in body and spirit, the Miami Heat returned to practice reunited and refocused.
There was no looking back. No heartfelt apologies given. No need for a detailed autopsy of Dwyane Wade’s ugly sideline exchange with coach Eric Spoelstra in Game 3.
What’s done is done. All that’s for another day. Right now, it’s time to save the season.
“We move on,” Wade said.
Down 2-1 in the Eastern Conference semifinals to the ready-to-rumble Indiana Pacers, the Heat were back on the floor Saturday after staying away from Bankers Life Fieldhouse for a day to decompress following their stunning 94-75 loss, a defeat amplified by the clash between Wade and Spoelstra during a timeout in the third quarter.
On Friday, Wade drove to Bloomington, Ind., and visited Indiana coach Tom Crean, his college coach for three years at Marquette. LeBron James went to the movies, catching “The Dictator.” Spoelstra joked that he locked away the keys to the team bus so players couldn’t get to the arena.
“We wanted to get away,” Spoelstra said as his team prepared for Sunday’s Game 4.
Wade, who scored just five points on 2-of-13 shooting and had five turnovers in Thursday’s blowout, insists that any apparent problems with Spoelstra were overblown. He downplayed their fiery spat.
“Things happen,” said Wade, who refused to acknowledge his quarrel with Spoelstra following the game. “In a perfect world a lot of things would go differently, but it’s not a perfect world. A lot of stuff in our game is in the heat of the battle, emotional-type things. When something happens, it happens and we move on as a team.
“Me and coach have been together for nine years in some capacity. We’ve had many different conversations, some like that and some not. It wasn’t the first, it won’t the last. We know how to move on from things and we know each other wants the best for each other.”
“There’s no harm done. We’re a family.”
Spoelstra knows the dispute didn’t look good to the outside world, but it’s just part of professional sports.
“Your communication sometimes is not for everybody’s living room, but it’s normal in our living room,” he said. “We’ve moved well beyond that. Dwyane and I have been together for a long time, nine or 10 years. That’s the least of our concerns the last two days.”
With an aggressive approach on both ends of the floor, the Pacers have won the past two games to put the Heat in an unforeseen hole and place their title hopes in serious danger. A win on Sunday would put Indiana up 3-1 and send the panic meter to code red in south Florida.
James, though, believes the Heat can even the series.
“We’re a confident bunch,” the MVP said. “We’ve got a veteran ballclub. We didn’t play well in Game 3, so we have an opportunity to go out and make amends and try to bring it back to our house with the series tied 2-2.”
The Pacers expect Wade to be back on his game Sunday. Although he’s struggling with leg issues, Wade is still one of the game’s top players and has the ability to score in bunches. So his players wouldn’t forget how dangerous Wade can be, Indiana coach Frank Vogel gave them some video reminders before practice.
“We showed clips of him torching us in previous games, making shots that he’s been missing in this series,” Vogel said. “Dwyane Wade has not been the normal Dwyane Wade we’re all used to seeing. We understand the threats that are there and I’ve made sure they leave here understanding that this team can beat us.”
The most intense matchup in this series has been between James and Indiana’s Danny Granger, who has not shied away from being physical with Miami’s superstar.
Granger and James have had altercations in the past two games, with their teammates stepping in to separate them before either could do anything they’d regret. Granger was called for a technical Thursday after he pulled James’ jersey on a breakaway and then took exception to an elbow extended toward his face.
“That’s part of basketball. That’s two men battling,” Granger said. “I’m not backing down from anybody, and he’s not backing down from anybody. And when you get that, you get some altercations.”
Vogel has preached all season for his players to have an “edge,” but doesn’t want them to do anything that could hurt the team.
“They understand very clearly that we are not interested in any ejection or suspension,” he said. “They also understand very clearly that a key to this series is letting the Miami Heat know that we’re not backing down from them.”
Granger said he knows not to take things too far. The risks are too great.
“I know where the line is,” Granger said. “(NBA commissioner) David Stern has done a good job of making sure we know what the line is and what not to cross. We won’t cross that line. We just want each other to know it’s going to be an intense battle, and it’s going to be a fight.”
James brushed aside Granger’s tough-guy talk as an opponent playing mind games.
“Why would he be scared of me?” James said. “I’m not no monster and this ain’t no horror movie. I’m not trying to scare anybody. He’s hyping himself up to say he’s not scared of me. Have I ever been intimidated by anybody in this league? I don’t think so.
“I go out and play my game and let my game do the talking.”
