Leave it up to MLB and PED’s to take the NBA finals off the front page. Various sources are reporting that MLB is looking to suspend 20 players that are connected to a Miami-area clinic, Biogenesis Labs, that has been in the middle of an ongoing PED investigation. These players include former MVP’s Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Braun, Bartolo Colon, Nelson Cruz, Everth Cabrera, Jhonny Peralta, Yasmani Grandal, and Melky Cabrera. Grandal, Colon, Cruz, and Melky Cabrera already served suspensions, so it is unknown if they will be serving additional time. Also mentioned in this report is Gio Gonzalez, although it was reported that Gio only received legal substances from Biogenesis Labs. Here are some of the stories:
First up, ESPN:
Fox Sports:
Yahoo! Sports:
I’m positive that we will be hearing more and more on this in the coming days, weeks, and months.
The Miami Heat and the San Antonio Spurs will tipoff their NBA Finals series tomorrow night at the AAA. Here are the game times and dates for the series, all games will be broadcast by ABC, Channel 10 in South Florida:
Game 1 Thu, June 6 9:00 pm @ Miami
Game 2 Sun, June 9 8:00 pm @ Miami
Game 3 Tue, June 11 9:00 pm @ San Antonio
Game 4 Thu, June 13 9:00 pm @ San Antonio
Game 5 * Sun, June 16 8:00 pm @ San Antonio
Game 6 * Tue, June 18 9:00 pm @ Miami
Game 7 * Thu, June 20 9:00 pm @ Miami
- -- If Necessary
These two teams met twice during the regular season, and believe me, those results mean absolutely nothing. Miami won both games, by the way, at home on November 29, 105-100, and in San Antonio March 31, 88-86. In the game in Miami, the Spurs rested four of their starters, choosing to send Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, and Danny Green home to San Antonio during a long road trip. The team and Head Coach Gregg Popovich were reprimanded and subsequently fined by the league. In the game in San Antonio, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Mario Chalmers all missed the game due to assorted injuries.
My thoughts on this series: The Spurs are a MUCH BETTER team than the Pacers, however, I believe they don’t matchup as well as the Pacers did against Miami. We know Tim Duncan is a hall of fame player, and his presence and experience are huge. His front-court partner, Tiago Splitter is a tall drink of water, but the 6’11” 240 pounder from Brazil isn’t going to ever be confused with David West. Duncan is no spring chicken at 37 years of age, and although he is still a formidable player, he cannot be asked to carry the load 48 minutes per game. First of all, Duncan is not the post-up player he used to be, and he is also going to have to worry about Chris Bosh on the defensive side of the court and Bosh’s midrange game is going to give him something to do. Trust me: Chris Bosh will come up big in the finals. The Spurs are tall with Splitter and Duncan, but they are not nearly as athletic or as physically strong as Indiana’s Roy Hibbert and David West. The Spurs were the 29th worst offensive rebounding team in the NBA this season, don’t look for these number to change against Miami.
What will San Antonio do against LeBron James? Pretty much not anything more than what the rest of the NBA is able to do against the best player in the game. You can expect to see Kawhi Leonard match up against LeBron most of the time, and maybe Boris Diaw when Leonard is on the bench. Danny Green will be spending most of his time guarding Dwyane Wade, and Wade really needs to come up big in this series. His game 7 against the Pacers is a good sign. Green could be effective against Wade, but it comes back to, can anyone really hope to stop LeBron? It wouldn’t surprise me to see LeBron put up 35-point games, while only attempting 12-15 shots.
Spurs point guard Tony Parker should worry Miami a bit. He is almost impossible to defend with the Spurs’ ability to use the pick and roll to free Parker up. Miami will probably use different coverages to defend Parker, sometimes with quickness, other times with size and strength (spelled LeBron James). I really don’t see the Heat just putting LeBron on Parker for long stretches because all LeBron would be doing is fighting through constant picks and screens. Norris Cole and Mario Chalmers are going to have to cover Parker like black beans on white rice, and they need to make him work on defense. I believe the X-factor for San Antonio is Manu Ginobili. His role will continue to be to provide a safety valve for a driving Tony Parker, and if he shoots effectively, could pick apart the Heat’s defensive schemes and rotations. If that happens, the series could be closer than what I expect.
This is a case where the nine-day layoff could benefit the Spurs, and the seven-game brouhaha against the Pacers could have the Heat a bit tired. I just don’t think so.
The Heat were forced to change their game against a physically strong Pacers team, and Miami will be able to play their brand of “small ball” without having to take the physical punishment the Pacers were able to dish out. Miami’s shooters, Ray Allen, Shane Battier, and Mike Miller, will open up the floor, pulling the Spurs’ front line away from the rim. You cannot discount the advantage Miami will have by having an extra shooter on the floor at all times, as opposed to a bigger body that they needed to battle the Pacers.
As much as I have always loved the San Antonio Spurs and their head coach, Gregg Popovich, I truly believe that the 2013 edition of the Miami Heat and their head coach, Erik Spoelstra, will be able to win this series in five games.
TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: What player holds the record for scoring the most points in an NBA finals game? Tell you later, alligator. (The answer may surprise you)
Let’s go the the diamond. After blowing a 2-0 lead in the seventh inning, and a 3-2 lead in the tenth inning, the hapless Marlins lost again last night to the Phillies, in 11 innings, 7-3. John Mayberry tied the game with a solo homer in the tenth and won it with a grand slam in the 11th. The Fish and Phillies close out the three-game series this afternoon at 1:05 pm. Jacob Turner will take on Cole Hamels.
The Fish are still the worst run-scoring team in MLB, with 173 runs in their 58 games. We congratulate the KC Royals, who have joined the “bottom five” rankings in runs scored today, replacing the Phillies.
TEAM W-L Runs
Marlins 16-43 176
White Sox 24-32 192
Nationals 29-29 200
Dodgers 25-32 206
Royals 23-32 210
In the major leagues yesterday, in the American League,
Yankees 4 Indians 3
Mark Teixeira blasted a three-run dinger, his second in two days. David Phelps struck out seven in six shutout innings of work.
Tigers 10 Rays 1
Anibal Sanchez was brilliant, with seven innings of one-run ball, striking out 9, and allowing only four hits. Prince Fielder homered and drove in four runs, Omar Infante also connected long distance and finished with three RBI.
Red Sox 17 Rangers 5
Mike Carp and Jackie Bradley Jr. both homered and drove in three runs each. David Ortiz also finished with three RBI.
Orioles 4 Astros 1
Chris Tillman threw seven strong innings, allowed four hits and struck out eight. The Astros’ six game winning streak is over.
Twins 3 Royals 0
Ryan Doumit homered and Samuel Deduno tossed six-plus innings in the win. The Royals have lost 11 straight games at home.
Mariners 7 White Sox 4
Raul Ibañez homered and drove in four runs. Felix Hernandez improved his record to 7-4.
Angels 4 Cubs 3
Albert Pujols hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning.
Over in the National League,
Nationals 3 Mets 2
Steve Lombardozzi ended the game with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth.
Braves 5 Pirates 4 (10 innings)
Andrelton Simmons drove in the game-winning run with a base hit that scored Dan Uggla. BJ Upton hit a two-run homer and Freddie Freeman drove in a pair of runs for the Braves. Gaby Sanchez and Pedro Alvarez homered for the Pirates in the loss.
Rockies 5 Reds 4
Troy Tulowitzki did the damage, with a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning. Jonathan Herrera had three hits and two RBI in the win.
D-Backs 7 Cardinals 6 (14 innings)
Paul Goldschmidt was the hero with the go-ahead single in the top of the 14th inning. Heath Bell got his tenth save of the year.
Dodgers 9 Padres 7
After a great debut the day before, Yasiel Puig followed it up with a better day. Puig hit the first two homers of his career and finished with five RBI.
Brewers 4 A’s 3 (10 innings)
Yunieski Betancourt’s RBI single in the bottom of the tenth was the game winner. Yoenis Cespedes homered twice for Oakland in the loss.
Giants 2 Blue Jays 1
Andres Torres hit a two-run homer to back a solid performance by Tim Lincecum, who allowed only one run and three hits in his seven innings of work, while striking out six. Josh Johnson took the loss for Toronto, allowing only the two runs in seven innings in his return from the DL.
Today’s games:
In the American League,
Indians @ Yankees 1:05 pm
Corey Kluber vs CC Sabathia
White Sox @ Mariners 3:40 pm
Dylan Axelrod vs Hisashi Iwakuma
Rays @ Tigers 7:08 pm
Alex Cobb vs Doug Fister
Rangers @ Red Sox 7:10 pm
Alexi Ogando vs John Lackey
Orioles @ Astros 8:10 pm
Freddy Garcia vs Dallas Keuchel
Twins @ Royals 8:10 pm
PJ Walters vs Jeremy Guthrie
Cubs @ Angels 10:05 pm
Matt Garza vs Jason Vargas
Over in the National League,
Pirates @ Braves 12:10 pm
Wandy Rodriguez vs Julio Teheran
Marlins @ Phillies 1:05 pm
Jacob Turner vs Cole Hamels
A’s @ Brewers 2:10 pm
Bartolo Colon vs Yovani Gallardo
Blue Jays @ Giants 3:45 pm
RA Dickey vs Barry Zito
Mets @ Nationals 7:05 pm
Dillon Gee vs Dan Haren
Rockies @ Reds 7:10 pm
Jon Garland vs Johnny Cueto
D-Backs @ Cardinals 8:15 pm
Wade Miley vs Joe Kelly
Padres @ Dodgers 10:10 pm
Jason Marquis vs Clayton Kershaw
Here are the up-to-the-minute standings in MLB:
Here are the individual league leaders in MLB:
In NFL news, Deacon Jones, one of the greatest of all time, died yesterday at the age of 74. The long-time defensive end was credited with coming up with the phrase “sacking the quarterback”. Here’s the full story from ESPN:
In college baseball, here is the NCAA tournament bracket this year. Up next, are the Super Regionals, with the winners advancing to the College World Series in Omaha:
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THE ANSWER TO TODAY’S TRIVIA QUESTION: What player holds the record for scoring the most points in an NBA finals game?
Elgin Baylor of the Los Angeles Lakers scored 61 points, to go along with 18 rebounds, in the 1962 finals against the Boston Celtics. Baylor sank 22 of his 46 attempts from the field and hit 17 of 19 free throws. The second highest point total in a finals game belongs to Rick Barry, who scored 55 in 1967 against the Philadelphia 76ers.
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.
