After last night’s fifth game of the NBA finals, nothing that happens in this series is going to surprise me. The Spurs beat the Heat last night, 114-104. The game started innocently enough, with the teams tied at 17-17 with just over four minutes left in the opening period. The Spurs then went on a 15-2 run and led 32-19 after the first quarter. Miami couldn’t recover after that first period, cutting the lead to one point a couple of times in the game, but the Spurs were not to be denied. Manu Ginobili made a surprising start for San Antonio, and his presence was felt for the first time this series. The crafty lefty, who did not start a game during this entire season or postseason, scored 24 points and dished out 10 assists. Danny Green scored 24 points, connecting on six more three-point baskets, setting an NBA finals record, Tony Parker finished with 26 points and five assists, while Tim Duncan was just Tim Duncan, contributing 17 points and pulling down 12 rebounds. San Antonio shot an incredible 60% from the field, hitting on 42-70 shots. The Heat got 25 points from LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh had 16 points and six rebounds, while Ray Allen came off the bench and pumped in 21 points. LeBron struggled against the tenacious defense of Boris Diaw, struggling from the floor, connecting on just 8 of 22 shots from the field. The Spurs now lead the series 3 games to 2, as the teams return to Miami for game six tomorrow night and a possible game seven on Thursday. The Heat, technically, still have the home-court advantage, but they haven’t been able to knock down consecutive wins in quite a while. The winner of game five of a series when a series is tied 2-2 has won seven of a possible ten times under this 2-3-2 format. The Heat will try and become only the fourth team since 1985 when the league went to that format to win games 6 and 7 at home in the finals after trailing 3-2. The schedule for the rest of the series:
Game 6 Tue, June 18 9:00 pm @ Miami
Game 7 * Thu, June 20 9:00 pm @ Miami
* -- If Necessary
Unfortunately, the media will now spend the next couple of days trying to analyze and explain what is wrong with the Heat. Let me be the first to tell you this: there is nothing wrong with either team when they lose a game. This is what everyone should have expected in this series. The back and forth, ebb and flow of a series played by two extremely talented teams, each with at least three potential hall of famers still playing at a high level; two teams with terrific role players and solid benches. A legendary coach against an up-and-coming young coach, both of them making the adjustments necessary after a loss. Fun to watch for most, but the emotional roller-coaster may be starting to cause Miami fans (and Spurs fans) some palpitations of the heart.
TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: The Heat will try and become the fourth team since 1985 to win games six and seven at home after being down 3 games to 2. Who are the three teams that were able to accomplish this? Tell you later, alligator.
This is a bizarre story. Apparently, Russian President Vladimir Putin stole NE Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft’s Super Bowl ring when the Patriots owner visited Putin in St. Petersburg, Russia back in 2005. Here’s the story from ESPN:
In another bizarre story, the Marlins enjoyed this weekend at home, to say the least. The team with the worst record in baseball took on the team with the best record in the majors here at Marlins Park. Of course, the Marlins took two out of three against the Cardinals, closing out the series with a 7-2 win over St. Louis yesterday. Ricky Nolasco scattered three hits and gave up only one run in his seven innings of work. Placido Polanco, Justin Ruggiano, and Juan Pierre each drove in two runs for the Fish, who have managed to win five of their last eight games. The team is now in Arizona, where they will take on the Diamondbacks in a three game series starting tonight. They will then travel to San Francisco to take on the Giants in a four-game series starting on Thursday. The team will then return home to take on the Minnesota Twins in a two-game set starting on Tuesday, June 25th, and a four-game long weekend series against the Padres at Marlins Park. Here are the expected pitching matchups for the D-Backs:
MONDAY Jacob Turner vs Patrick Corbin 9:40 pm
TUESDAY Nathan Eovaldi vs TBA 9:40 pm
WEDNESDAY Jose Fernandez vs Trevor Cahill 3:40 pm
Even after the offensive explosion against the Cardinals this past weekend, he Fish are still the worst run-scoring team in MLB, with 213 runs in their 68 games. Here are the bottom-dwellers:
TEAM W-L Runs
Marlins 21-47 213
Nationals 34-34 237
White Sox 28-38 237
Dodgers 29-39 240
Mariners 31-39 246
In the major leagues yesterday, in the American League,
Orioles 6 Red Sox 3
Chris Davis hit his major-league leading 23rd homer and drove in three runs as the Orioles took three out of four against the Red Sox.
Royals 5 Rays 3
Alex Gordon drove in two runs and Jeff Francoeur connected long distance.
Astros 5 White Sox 4
Jason Castro hit a two-run homer and Matt Dominguez hit a three-run double.
Tigers 5 Twins 2
Torii Hunter blasted a home run, the 300th in his career, and finished with three RBI. Austin Jackson also connected long distance.
Blue Jays 7 Rangers 2
Chien-Ming Wang won for the first time in over a year as the Blue Jays completed a four-game sweep over the Rangers.
Yankees 6 Angels 5
CC Sabathia took a shutout into the ninth inning but the Yankees needed to use the bullpen in the ninth to nail down the W. Mariano Rivera surrendered three hits and a run in the ninth before striking out Alberto Pujols with the bases loaded.
A’s 10 Mariners 2
Josh Reddick, Josh Donaldson, Seth Smith, and Brandon Moss all connected long distance. Bartolo Colon improved to 9-2.
Indians 2 Nationals 0
Corey Kluber threw eight shutout innings before turning it over to Vinny Pestano in the ninth. The Indians have won four out of five.
Over in the National League,
Mets 4 Cubs 3
Kirk Nieuwenhuis ended the game with a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning against Carlos Marmol, who, for some unexplained reason, continues to try and close out games for the Cubs.
Reds 5 Brewers 1
Jay Bruce connected long distance, Donald Lutz drove in two runs. The Reds have won four out of their last five.
Pirates 6 Dodgers 3
Pedro Alvarez homered with two men on base, Alex Presley also went yard.
Padres 4 D-Backs 1
Kyle Blanks’ three-run homer in the eighth inning was the difference.
Rockies 5 Phillies 2
Jhoulys Chacin took a shutout into the ninth inning. Wilin Rosario and Carlos Gonzalez both homered in the win. Cole Hamels fell to 2-10 this season for the Phillies.
Braves 3 Giants 0
Julio Teheran threw six shutout innings before handing it over to the Braves bullpen. Craig Kimbrel got his 19th save of the season.
In the American League,
Royals @ Indians 7:05 pm
James Shields vs Carlos Carrasco
Rockies @ Blue Jays 7:07 pm
Jorge de la Rosa vs Josh Johnson
Orioles @ Tigers 7:08 pm
Jason Hammel vs Max Scherzer
A’s @ Rangers 8:05 pm
Dan Straily vs Nick Tepesch
White Sox @ Astros 8:10 pm
Nick Axelrod vs Bud Norris
Mariners @ Angels 10:05 pm
Aaron Harang vs Jason Vargas
Over in the National League,
Cubs @ Cardinals 7:00 pm
Travis Wood vs Shelby Miller
Nationals @ Phillies 7:05 pm
Dan Haren vs John Lannan
Mets @ Braves 7:10 pm
Dillon Gee vs Tim Hudson
Pirates @ Reds 7:10 pm
Nelson Liriano vs Chris Leake
Marlins @ D-Backs 9:40 pm
Jacob Turner vs Patrick Corbin
Padres @ Giants 10:15 pm
Andrew Cashner vs Barry Zito
Ran across this article remembering the incredible consecutive no-hitters thrown by Johnny Vander Meer:
ESPN talks about trying to protect pitchers from injuries:
Here are the up-to-the-minute standings in MLB:
Here are the individual league leaders in MLB:
In college baseball, the College World Series got under way this past weekend. On saturday, Mississippi State beat Oregon State 5-4 and Indiana blanked Louisville 2-0. On Sunday, NC State overpowered 8-1 and UCLA beat LSU 2-1. In today’s games, Oregon State battles Louisville at 3:00 pm and Mississippi State takes on Indiana at 8:00 pm. You can watch the games on ESPN-2.
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THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: The Heat will try and become the fourth team since 1985 to win games six and seven at home after being down 3 games to 2. Who are the three teams that were able to accomplish this?
The Heat look to join the 1988 Los Angeles Lakers, the 1994 Houston Rockets, and the 2010 Lakers in the record books.
Don’t miss my two “Descarga Deportiva” radio segments (for the Spanish-challenged, “Sports Jam Session”) every day, Monday through Friday, at 9:25 am and 12:15 pm on Radio Esperanza, 1550 AM or on the internet on www.miradioesperanza.com.
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Behave yourselves, and always remember that tomorrow will bring us a brand new day.
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