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Sports
Lightning Come Back From Early
LeBron: I’m Blessed To Be Playing With J. R. Smith
Deficit Against Rangers In OT Win
Tampa Bay Lightning cap- tain Steve Stamkos believes that the true test of a team's NHL championship potential rests on its ability to win when it is not at its best.
"That's what you need in these playoffs -- you can't play unbelievable, perfect hockey every game," he said.
The Lightning passed the Stamkos test Wednesday when Nikita Kucherov scored at 3:33 of overtime to give Tampa Bay a 6-5 win against the New York Rangers and a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Confer- ence final.
"Wedidfindaway–and that is a good characteristic to have," Stamkos said. "We've seen many times when this team seems down and out, whether it is in a series or a
Tampa Bay Lightning Players Celebrate.
game, and we've found a way."
The Lightning rallied from a 2-0 deficit, claimed a 4-2 lead, allowed the Rangers to tie 4-4, regained the lead and then allowed Rangers de- fenseman Dan Boyle to tie the game 5-5 with 1:56 left in regulation.
"It was a pretty crazy night," said Stamkos, who scored Tampa Bay's first goal to get their comeback started.
After a franchise-record equaling eight threes in a playoff match, Cleveland Cavaliers' J.R. Smith was praised by teammate Le- Bron James.
LeBron James said J.R. Smith's confidence is sky high, after the latter's three- point clinic in game one of the NBA's Eastern Confer- ence Finals.
Smith was eight-for-12 from three-point range, tally- ing 28 points to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 97- 89 victory over the Atlanta Hawks in Georgia.
James said Smith was
LEBRON JAMES And J. R. SMITH
up there as one of the best shooters from range that he has played with, including “Ray Allen, Mike Miller and Shane Battier.”
"I've been blessed to play with guys like that, and when you have guys like that, you
have to utilize it when they're on the floor."
While full of praise for Smith, James was not con- tent with his 31-point, eight- rebound game, claiming he cost his team valuable shoot- ing chances down the stretch.
"We can't worry about how many points we're up, or how many points we're down," James said of Cleveland's final quarter, which saw their late lead of 18 points cut to four.
"We have to continue to play our game, and it starts with me. I take all responsi- bility of it.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Floyd Mayweather Gambles, Wins, Pays IRS
Win #1 Pick In NBA Draft
Floyd Mayweather is truly a money man, and not only in boxing. He earned at least $180 million for his boxing win over Manny Pacquiao, and reportedly could break $400 million when the take is final.
A mere two weeks after the bout, he raked in nice gam- bling winnings. Some reports say his winnings from a few sports bets placed over 4 days were over $800,000. Other sources suggest that May-
His bets were on boxers
Gennady Golovkin vs. Willie Monroe Jr. (to fin- ish in under 5.5 rounds) as well as on NBA games. For someone in Mayweather’s tax bracket, this may sound like pocket change. At the same time, the IRS will ex- pect its cut, since gambling winnings are taxable no mat- ter what. In contrast, losses are often nondeductible, which hardly seems fair.
Lottery; Lakers #2
The Minnesota Timber- wolves won the 2015 NBA draft lottery on Tuesday night, earning the right to make the first overall selec- tion in the NBA draft for the first time in franchise history.
The Timberwolves, who finished last season with a league-worst 16-66 record, entered the lottery with a 25 percent chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick.
Observers expect the Wolves to look for size at No. 1 overall. Kentucky's Karl- Anthony Towns and Duke's Jahlil Okafor pro- file as the top two big-man prospects in the draft.
The Los Angeles Lakers, who came into the lottery with an 11.9 percent chance of picking first, moved up from their fourth-place spot into the No. 2 slot in June's draft.
Big men, Karl-Anthony Towns or Jahlil Okafor may end up the #1 draft pick.
In so doing, they will hang onto their 2015 pick, which could have gone to the Philadelphia 76ers, by virtue of a pair of past trades involv- ing L.A.'s '15 first-rounder.
This result clearly pleased Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, who was none too thrilled about having to suffer through an injury-plagued season and watch his once- proud franchise flounder.
FLOYD MAYWEATHER
weather put down $350,000 and turned in a profit of $477,000.
(1) Atlanta vs. (2) Cleveland
Cavaliers lead series 1-0
Game 1 -- Cleveland-97; Hawks-89 Game 2 -- Fri. May 22, Cleveland at
Atlanta, 8:30 p.m., TNT
Game 3 -- Sun. May 24, Atlanta at Cleveland, 8:30 p.m., TNT
Game 4 -- Tue. May 26, Atlanta at Cleveland, 8:30 p.m., TNT
Game 5 * -- Thu. May 28, Cleveland at Atlanta, 8:30 p.m., TNT
Game 6 * -- Sat. May 30, Atlanta at Cleveland, 8:30 p.m., TNT
Game 7 * -- Mon. June 1, Cleveland at Atlanta, 8:30 p.m., TNT
(1) Golden State vs. (2) Houston
Warriors lead series 1-0
Game 1 -- Warriors-110; Rockets-106
Game 2 -- Thu. May 21, Houston at Golden State, 9 p.m., ESPN
Game 3 -- Sat. May 23, Golden State at Houston, 9 p.m., ESPN
Game 4 -- Mon. May 25, Golden State at Houston, 9 p.m., ESPN
Game 5 * -- Wed. May 27, Houston at Golden State 9 p.m., ESPN
Game 6 * -- Fri. May 29, Golden State at Houston, 9 p.m., ESPN
Game 7 * -- Sun. May 31 Houston at Golden State, 9 p.m., ESPN
* if necessary
FRIDAY, MAY 22, 2015 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY PAGE 15-A