In this episode of BallCourt - The World of Basketball, Coach Drew drills down on the matchup of Lebron vs Melo - comparing results of various games, skills and stats.
Also discussed are Rockets vs OKC playoffs and the NBA Players Boycott about Breanna Stewart. Will we see more social justice requests in sports?
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Sponsored by: Cash 2 Checking
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Blitz Sports Magazine Podcast publisher Malik Spann digs in to the current events around politics and sports. This week: the Democratic Party and Kamala Harris' nomination as Vice President. No one is listening as long as the games go on as though there are no problems... Sports and Politics, Politics and Sports. Coronavirus pandemic, Breonna Taylor, and Russia meddling in the elections.
Main question: Should the NBA Players use their platform to bring more awareness to social issues? Should the playoffs be boycotted?
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The Milwaukee Bucks did not take the court today for game 5 of the NBA playoffs against the Orlando Magic. Their absence is in response to the shooting of 29-year-old Jacob Blake, an African-American who was ultimately paralyzed from the waist down after an encounter with police. Multiple teams have discussed a potential boycott in light of these circumstances, including the Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors, who are supposed to be playing tomorrow – however, the Bucks are the first team to put action behind those words. The Magic had initially started their pre-game warm-up, but ultimately left when Milwaukee didn't show up. Disappointing as it may be for some, this instance will most likely not be the last; if anything, it will serve as a catalyst that will push other teams to pursue a similar response. This could easily develop into a league-wide movement.
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With a 122-126 victory over the Memphis Grizzles on Saturday morning, the Portland Trail Blazers have officially clenched the 8th seed for the Western Conference playoffs. This game marks the first time the NBA has implemented a play-in format for the final playoff berth; in this case, the 9th seed Grizzles had to win Saturday's game in order to force a winner-takes-all match-up on Sunday – if they won that, then they would have made the playoffs instead. But, that didn't happen. The Trail Blazers, behind numerous big performances, managed to pull together a fourth-quarter rally to win the game by four. Players like CJ McCollum and Carmelo Anthony were major contributors in their late-game comeback, with McCollum scoring 12 of his 29 points in the final quarter (including 8 in the final 3:08), and Carmelo hitting a big 3-pointer with under 30 seconds remaining. Additionally, Damian Lillard tallied a double-double – 31 points and 10 assists – and Jusuf Nurkic put up 22 points and grabbed 21 rebounds. For the Grizzlies, Ja Morant led the way with 35 points and 8 assists, while Jonas Valanciunas scored 22 and grabbed 17 rebounds, but it wasn't enough. The Portland Trail Blazers will face the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the playoffs starting Tuesday.
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Read moreIt was on March 11 when the NBA first postponed its season due to COID-19, after a few of its players started testing positive for the virus. For months, players and fans watched with anticipation as the NBA gradually unveiled plans for restarting, including when and where they would play. Finally, about four and a half months later, the regular season has officially continued.
July 30 marked the opening night for the restarted season, where the first official match-ups played in the Orlando bubble. There were only two games. The first was the Utah Jazz vs the New Orleans Pelicans, where the Jazz won 106-104 behind Jordan Clarkson's 23 points – Donovan Mitchell and Mike Conley also scored 20 apiece. The second, more anticipated match-up, was between the Clippers and the Lakers. It was another close game, with the Lakers winning by only two, 103-101, despite the 58 combined points from Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. Anthony Davis led the Lakers in scoring with 34 points, and LeBron James tallied a double-double, with 16 points and 11 rebounds, on top of 7 assists.
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