Month: April 2022

The NBA regular season came to a close on Sunday, with the final seeding battles in both conferences coming to an end. The Boston Celtics win moved them to the 2-seed in the East, while the Warriors and Jazz both got wins to lock down the 3- and 5-seeds respectively in the West.

While the play-in tournament this week will determine the 7- and 8-seeds in both conferences, the NBA went ahead and put out the schedule for Saturday and Sunday’s Game 1s of the first round, with times and channels already decided for Saturday’s action.

The Mavs and Jazz will have the honor of starting the playoffs on Saturday with a noon-local tip in Dallas on ESPN, with the Warriors and Nuggets taking the primetime ABC game at 8:30 p.m. ET. Between those two games will be Memphis hosting the winner of Clippers-Wolves and Sixers-Raptors, both on ESPN.

The Sunday slate will feature the Celtics, Heat, Bucks-Bulls, and Suns, but tip times and channels are yet to be announced, as they are assuredly waiting on where the Brooklyn Nets end up so they can ensure they put Nets-Celtics or Nets-Heat (provided they win one of the play-in games) in the biggest spot.

After the Eastern Conference play-in and playoff matchups were set earlier in the evening, the four teams jockeying for position in the West got their chance to solidify seeding in the late slate.

Phoenix and Memphis were locked into the 1- and 2-seed respectively and rested players accordingly, but the Warriors, Mavs, Jazz, and Nuggets all had something to play for on Sunday night. A Warriors win would secure the 3-seed, as they played a Pelicans team focused on getting rested for the play-in, but a Golden State loss would’ve left the door open for Dallas to beat the Spurs and jump into the third spot. Below them, Utah and Denver were tied for the 5-seed, with the Jazz holding the tiebreaker and playing the aggressively tanking Blazers, while the Nuggets hosted the star-less and already eliminated Lakers.

All four teams picked up wins on Sunday night, meaning the standings from earlier in the day held true and the first round matchups in the West are now set.

1. Phoenix Suns vs. 8. Winner Of Friday Play-In Game (MIN/LAC/NOP/SAS)
2. Memphis Grizzlies vs. 7. Minnesota Timberwolves OR L.A. Clippers
3. Golden State Warriors vs. 6. Denver Nuggets
4. Dallas Mavericks vs. 5. Utah Jazz

Warriors-Nuggets will be an interesting matchup between Nikola Jokic and Draymond Green, as well as Golden State anxiously waiting for the return of Stephen Curry, who is expected back and a full go by Game 1. Mavs-Jazz will feature two teams desperate to advance to the second round after some early playoff exits recently, with Dallas currently holding its breath after Luka Doncic left the finale against San Antonio with a calf strain.

The Dallas Mavericks entered Sunday fighting for third place in the Western Conference, needing a win and a Warriors loss in New Orleans to move from the 4-seed to the 3-seed.

By the late third quarter of both games, the Warriors and Mavs each held double-digit leads and it certainly appeared clear the top-4 in the West would remain unchanged, particularly with New Orleans playing all bench players in the second half. That the outcome of the playoff race was seemingly decided made what transpired in Dallas even more difficult to see, as Luka Doncic pulled up after a drive and kick grabbing at his left leg.

Doncic would go back to the locker room, grabbing at his calf, and was quickly ruled out of the remainder of the game with a left calf strain.

Further testing surely will come on Monday, as an MRI will likely determine the timetable for Doncic, but it is the thing no one wants to see on the final day of the regular season. The good news is the early indications out of Dallas are that they don’t anticipate it being a serious injury, but muscle strains are always tricky to deal with and always leaves the fear of aggravating it later.

Doncic hopefully won’t have to miss any time and is possibly aided by the play-in tournament this week that now affords team a little added break for top-6 seeds before the playoffs begin, but Mavs fans will be holding their breath until further word emerges on his status ahead of a likely showdown with Utah in the first round.

Last year, things went sideways for Houston rapper Travis Scott when his signature festival, Astroworld, was the site of mass casualties. Now facing a class action lawsuit, not just from the families of the nine people who died, but plenty more who were injured or traumatized, Scott has been laying low while multiple collaborations were put on hold. He’s was initially slated to headline Coachella next weekend, though, but along with returning to the stage for that massive event, plans for his next project, Utopia, were also delayed.

That became even more clear this weekend when billboards promoting the album popped up near the Coachella grounds. Since local attendees tend to make up the bulk of the crowd at Coachella, the marketing definitely makes sense, but it’s notable because it’s one of the first public acts Scott has taken since the tragedy in Texas. It seems like the billboards were planned in conjunction with his performance, which isn’t happening now, but they’ve been put up anyway. Obviously, Scott alone isn’t responsible for what happened at Astroworld, and at some point he will have to move forward, but it remains to be seen how his next album will fare with the public.

So far, four different billboards have popped up, “PSST….” and “WRONG WAY!” are the most oblique, while “Looking for UTOPIA?” and one with the Cactus Jack insignia are more obvious. Check out photos of the billboards below.

The Philadelphia 76ers were locked into the 4-seed in the East on Sunday night when the Boston Celtics blew out the Grizzlies in Memphis, meaning the Sixers will face the Raptors in the first round.

That is an incredibly interesting series for a variety of reasons, including being a rematch of a thrilling second round series in 2019, but on the minds of many was the status of Sixers defensive ace Matisse Thybulle, who missed their most recent game in Toronto due to Canada’s vaccine requirement for entering the country. Against a wing heavy team like the Raptors, Thybulle’s presence is very important for the Sixers on the defensive end, and being without him for road games in the playoffs would be a considerable disadvantage for the Sixers.

Thybulle needed to remedy his unvaccinated status within the last week to be eligible for Games 3 and 4 in Toronto next weekend, but Doc Rivers confirmed after a win over Detroit on Sunday that has not happened and they will be without him.

That certainly makes it imperative the Sixers hold homecourt in the first two games of the series, as yielding homecourt advantage to Toronto would mean they’d have to get a win without Thybulle on the road. While he isn’t one of their three most important players, his defensive presence is huge for the Sixers and allows them to do more switching and have more versatility on that end. Without him, Philly will have to adapt their coverages, and while they will at least have some time to come up with an approach, it’s not the ideal situation.

Somewhat ironically, one of the reasons James Harden reportedly wanted out of Brooklyn was fear of facing Toronto in the playoffs with Kyrie Irving not budging from his stance on getting vaccinated, and now on his new team Harden finds himself in that exact situation of playing the Raptors and being shorthanded for road games. Philly has a week-plus to come up with their plan of attack and rotations without Thybulle, but if things go poorly on the road, particularly on the defensive end, Sixers fans aren’t likely to be pleased with Thybulle’s refusal to get the vaccine.

Entering Sunday’s final day of the regular season, none of the Eastern Conference first round playoff matchups were known. The early window of games solidified the play-in picture, with Cavs-Nets determining the 7 seed, while Hornets-Hawks will play for the chance to win the 8-seed, but the evening window would determine the rest of the seeding.

The Miami Heat were locked into the 1-seed, while Toronto was guaranteed the 5-seed and Chicago the 6-seed coming into the day, but Milwaukee, Boston, and Philadelphia all had games left to determine their first round matchups. Milwaukee rested everyone and got blown out by Cleveland early on Sunday, meaning Boston and Philadelphia would determine what would happen from 2-4 in the East.

The Sixers rested Joel Embiid and James Harden against Detroit, but still had reason to try and win as they could earn the 3-seed and avoid Toronto in the first round if they won and Boston lost. However, with the Celtics playing a Memphis team resting most everyone (although that hasn’t guaranteed opponents wins this season), Boston took a double-digit first half lead and never looked back in a blowout win over the Grizzlies.

As such, the Eastern Conference playoff picture is now set and we know two of the first round series, with this week’s play-in tournament determining the rest.

1. Miami Heat vs. 8. Winner of Friday’s play-in game (loser of CLE/BKN vs. winner of CHA/ATL)
2. Boston Celtics vs. 7. Brooklyn Nets OR Cleveland Cavaliers
3. Milwaukee Bucks vs. 6. Chicago Bulls
4. Philadelphia 76ers vs. 5. Toronto Raptors

The Sixers and Raptors squaring off is particularly interesting, given Matisse Thybulle apparently won’t be available for road games in Toronto due to Canada’s vaccine requirement, as is the potential for a Celtics-Nets series if Brooklyn gets by Cleveland on Tuesday. We’ll know the full schedule on Friday after the final play-in game, but at least for now Milwaukee, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Toronto can begin their full preparations for the first round.

Steve Schmidt is over the Trump family’s bullshit. On Saturday, as Raw Story reports, the one-time Republican strategist-turned-Lincoln Project co-founder, took to Twitter to share his reaction to the recent bombshell that even as the votes were still being counted following the 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump Jr. was texting his daddy’s chief of staff about ways to overturn the results of the election if it didn’t go in dear old dad’s favor.

“It’s very simple,” Trump Jr.—who had no official role in his father’s administration—told Meadows. “We have multiple paths. We control them all.” It was this last line in particular that really set Schmidt off, as evidenced by his ALL-CAPS reaction:

“Today, we recognize ALL MEN are CREATED EQUAL as ALL PEOPLE are CREATED EQUAL. A Presidents SON has no standing in this land. He hold no TITLE and no HONORS . He is simply a citizen. NO MORE and NO LESS than any other CITIZEN He has no authority, no special privilege. HE CONTROLS NOTHING. The FACT that @DonaldJTrumpJr jr speaks like that shows his malice and autocratic heart. He speaks in the language of political violence. It is the language of PUTIN. American Presidents and their sons control nothing.”

It’s hardly the first time that Schmidt has unleashed a firestorm of criticism upon a member of the Republican party and its enablers. Back in January, be described an interview in which Cruz ‘groveled’ to Tucker Carlson as “pathetic.” You can read his entire thread below.

(Via Raw Story)

TNT had a rare Sunday night doubleheader for the final night of the NBA regular season, which was supposed to mean the return of the Inside the NBA crew for the first time all together since before the NCAA Tournament began.

However, as they came on the broadcast, Shaq was in Kenny Smith’s customary seat on the set and Ernie Johnson announced that Smith was out with what they were told was food poisoning. Charles Barkley was not buying Kenny’s excuse, saying he just wanted a couple extra off days before the playoffs, and stated his case by noting that Kenny Smith is a vegetarian and insisting vegetarians cannot get food poisoning.

“First of all, I’m gonna tell you why he’s lying. He just wanted an extra couple days at home,” Barkley said. “First of all, Kenny’s a vegetarian. Nobody gets sick eating that crap. I can get sick eating chitlins, neck bones, burgers, and pizza. Nobody gets that broccolini crap, asparagus, he eat those black bean burgers, there’s no way that crap can make you sick.”

Shaq was all in on Barkley’s line of thinking, but Ernie was trying to give Smith the benefit of the doubt, noting maybe it was some bad tofu, which led Chuck to deliver his hottest take of them all, which is that tofu doesn’t actually exist. In any case, Smith will undoubtedly hear it from his cohorts when he does return from the playoffs and will need to explain how a vegetarian ends up getting food poisoning to Chuck and Shaq.

Rory McIlroy entered Sunday’s final round at Augusta National a full 10 shots back of Scottie Scheffler, as his quest for the career grand slam seemed all but assured to last at least one more year.

However, for a tournament that lacked an awful lot of drama, Rory provided some in the final round as he went out in a 4-under 32 and continued to make noise on the back with an unbelievable chip-in birdie on 10 to inch ever closer to Scheffler.

After an eagle at 13, McIlroy had moved to 6-under for the tournament and was tied with Cam Smith, at the very least giving Scheffler something to think about on the back nine as he passed the big leaderboards around Augusta National. Unfortunately for McIlroy, he couldn’t apply additional pressure from 14-17, making four straight pars, and after going from bunker to bunker on 18, it appeared he would post 6-under at best. However, the four-time major winner created an all-time moment when he threw the ball up the slope and let it feed back to the hole beautifully, sending a massive roar ripping through the Georgia pines.

It’s an incredible shot and equally funny celebration, as Rory seems to not know what to do with his hands as he shoves the club away from him and jumps up and down in the sand. Playing with McIlroy was Collin Morikawa, who was also in the bunker, a bit more in line with the hole, and after the patrons gathered around the 18th green finally settled back down, he gave them another reason to leap out of their seats by holing a birdie of his own.

The two of them embracing is a great moment and while neither appear on their way to a Masters win thanks to the continued sensational play of Scheffler, they vaulted themselves into second and third, respectively, with those bogeys, which will make for a nice pay day on top of a special memory.

For the second straight year, the NBA will feature a play-in tournament for the final two playoff spots in each conference.

The format remains the same as last year, as the 7-seed and 8-seed teams will play on Tuesday, April 12, with the winner earning the 7-seed and a first round series with the 2-seed in their conference and the loser moving on to a second play-in game on Friday. The 9-seed and 10-seed will meet on Wednesday, April 13, with the loser being eliminated and the winner playing again on Friday, April 15, against the loser of the 7/8 matchup.

The Western Conference play-in seeds were set prior to Sunday’s final day of the regular season, with the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 7-seed, Los Angeles Clippers in the 8-seed, New Orleans Pelicans in the 9-seed, and San Antonio Spurs in the 10-seed. However the East play-in field remained a mystery, as the Cavs, Nets, Hawks, and Hornets were all in action with the chance to maneuver up and down the standings.

It became clear early on that Cleveland was headed to a win against the shorthanded Bucks, while the Nets nearly blew a big lead against the Pacers but ultimately held on to win, meaning Brooklyn would host the Cavs in the first play in game on Tuesday. Atlanta rolled past the Rockets, while Charlotte came back from a first half deficit to beat the Wizards, meaning the Hawks took the 9-seed and will host their win-or-go-home matchup.

The two 7-seeds both being in central time means the start times for the games on Tuesday and Wednesday will be earlier, while the times for Friday’s games are TBD, depending on whether the Clippers are hosting the late game or not.

Here is the full TV schedule for the play-in tournament:

Tuesday, April 12
Cleveland Cavaliers at Brooklyn Nets, 7:00 p.m. ET (TNT)
Los Angeles Clippers at Minnesota Timberwolves, 9:30 p.m. ET (TNT)

Wednesday, April 13
Charlotte Hornets at Atlanta Hawks, 7:00 p.m. ET (ESPN)
San Antonio Spurs at New Orleans Pelicans, 9:30 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Friday, April 15
Winner Of CHA/ATL at Loser Of CLE/BKN, TBD (ESPN)
Winner Of SAS/NOP at Loser Of LAC/MIN, TBD (ESPN)