Page 14 - Florida Sentinel 5-8-18

Sports
LeBron James Has Every Basketball Superpower Imaginable
Warriors Coast To
One of the many, many incredible facets of LeBron James’ excellence is that there are so many damn facets of his excellence. It isn’t that LeBron can beat you in so many different ways: it’s that he will beat you any which way circumstances require.
This has been one of the revelations of his second Cav- aliers run, which of course came with the crowning achievement of the 2016 NBA championship (and Finals MVP). The most famous Le- Bron play from that title run wasn’t a game-winning shot: it was The Block, a magical chasedown rejection of Andre Iguodala burned into our minds and the War- riors’ souls.
LeBron’s amazing week capped off with the Game 3 buzzer beater against the Raptors on Saturday reminds us that he can win games in a more traditional fashion too, if there is anything traditional about a one-legged running floater off the glass facing the wrong direction.
That shot — and moreso,
screens, defensive stands, drawn fouls, play calls (as in the other game on Saturday night). But nothing in this sport is as iconic as a difficult shot.
LeBron has no shortage of those over the years, but he’s added a few more just in the past couple of weeks. There was the Game 5 buzzer beater over the Pacers, the stunning overtime-forcing fadeaway in Game 1 against to Toronto, and Saturday’s magical runner. The high- light reels of LeBron’s clutch playoff moments were already long. This year, Le- Bron is turning them into feature-length movies, and we aren’t even halfway through the postseason yet.
Tyronn Lue Cautions Cavs Against Overconfidence In Game 4
TYRONN LUE
The Cleveland Cavaliers might lead the Toronto Rap- tors 3-0 in the Eastern Con- ference semifinals, but two of those wins came by a com- bined three points.
As overwhelming an ad- vantage as the Cavs might seem to be taking into Mon- day's Game 4, Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue is cau- tioning his team against over- confidence.
"I don't know who the pressure is on," Lue said Sun- day after the Cavs convened for a brief film session, "but it's a tough game because it's either win or go home for the team down 3-0.
"They're going to come out swinging like they did [Satur- day] night, and when you have a team with a lot of pride that's well-coached, they're not just going to give in. They're going to do everything they can to try to win the game and get back to Toronto. We understand that, and we just have to come out with the right mindset and match their intensity early and try to close it out if we can."
Lead Over Pelicans
LEBRON JAMES
that method of winning a game — was more traditional than The Block in this sense: this is what kids grow up thinking it takes to win games.
LeBron even acknowl- edged this in his press con- ference: as kids on the asphalt, we count down the imaginary clock under our breath while firing up some difficult shot we hope to see go in. This is the legacy of Bird, of Jordan, of Kobe. The most iconic moments in NBA history are difficult shots dripping with drama that go in. There have been critical steals, blocks, passes,
The Golden State War- riors played the kind of bas- ketball that has defined their championship reign: total domination.
Golden State cruised to a 118-92 rout of the New Or- leans Pelicans on Sunday af- ternoon in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifi- nals to take a 3-1 series lead.
After a porous effort in a Game 3 defeat, the Warriors knew they had to set a better tone against a Pelicans group that came in brimming with confidence.
Mission accomplished for the defending champs.
Kevin Durant domi- nated offensively to the tune
Kevin Durant (L) leads charge as Warriors rout Peli- cans in Game 4.
of 38 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists while Stephen Curry added 23 points of his own, but it was the Warriors' engaged defense -- absent throughout Game 3 -- that made the biggest difference.
Game 4 Win, 3-1 Series
Raptors President
Putting Woes Continue As Tiger Woods Fails To Birdie At Quail Hollow
TIGER WOODS
Masai Ujiri Fined $25K
For Walking Onto Court
Toronto Raptors presi- dent Masai Ujiri has been fined $25,000 for walking onto the playing court at halftime of Saturday's Game 3 to verbally confront game officials, NBA president of league operations Byron Spruell announced Sunday.
The incident apparently was triggered by a call that went against the Raptors to- ward the end of the first half in Cleveland.
A basket by Serge Ibaka was originally counted and then waved off by the refer- ees after they consulted. The call led to DeMar DeRozan, coach Dwane Casey and his assistants screaming at the officials, and Ujiri also joined in.
The reversal was doubly painful as Kevin Love buried a 3-pointer on the next play.
When the half ended, an incensed Casey, his suit coat
MASAI UJIRI
flying open and his tie jump- ing off his chest, stormed off the floor.
"I thought there were some bad calls down the stretch that all went against us," DeRozan said. "It still came down to a running, bank-shot, game winner by LeBron."
Game 4 is Monday night in Cleveland. Toronto, which is trailing in the series 3-0, needs a win to stay alive in the Eastern Conference semifinal.
The best thing Tiger Woods could say about his final round at the Wells Fargo Championship on Sun- day was that it was over and that another tournament awaits this week.
Woods failed to make a birdie in a round for just the 11th time as a pro and the first time since the final round of the tournament at Doral in 2014. A few weeks after that, Woods had the first of four back surgeries.
There were no back issues to speak of this week at Quail Hollow, just a frustrating in- ability to find any comfort on the greens and just enough wayward shots that he made just 10 birdies for the week. His final-round 74 was his first score over par in 12
weekend rounds this year. Aside from his missed cut at the Genesis Open, this will be Woods' worst finish of the year. His previous was the tie for 32nd last month at the Masters. He was tied for 24th at the Farmers Insur- ance Open, missed the cut at the Genesis, finished 12th at the Honda Classic, tied for second at the Valspar Cham- pionship and tied for fifth at the Arnold Palmer Invita-
tional.
"I hit the ball halfway de-
cent today,'' he said. "Hit some good drives that just ended up off the fairway, some landed in the fairway, so I wasn't disappointed with that. Again, just not putting well and didn't make a birdie today. I got shut out.''
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