Page 15 - Florida Sentinel 12-27-16 Online Edition

Sports
LeBron James, Kyrie Irving Save Christmas In Cleveland
Cavs-Warriors
BEAUTY UNLIMITED
CHARLIE
This week, we bring you Charlie as our Spotlight feature. This young lady loves modeling, being in front of the camera and is a very outgoing and fun person. She has a unique exotic look that is sure to gain the attention of those at the top of the industry. Congratulations to Charlie as this week’s Spotlight feature.
One hundred eighty-nine days had passed since the Cleveland Cavaliers completed the most historic comeback in NBA Finals history, climbing out of a 3-1 hole to knock off the defending champion Golden State Warriors in dra- matic fashion.
At Quicken Loans Arena on Christmas Day, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving picked up right where they left off.
Forget that the Cavaliers were without starting shooting guard J.R. Smith, who is ex- pected to miss the next 12-14 weeks with a thumb injury. And forget the fact that the Warriors' newest addition, Kevin Durant, put on an MVP-type performance, fin- ishing the game with 36 points and 15 rebounds. James and
The NBA
Finals re-
match be-
tween the
Cleveland
Cavaliers
and Golden
State War-
riors
matched the
highest-rated Christmas Day NBA game in 12 years.
The Cavs defeated the War- riors 109-108 after a thrilling fourth-quarter comeback, deliv- ering a 5.9 overnight rating on ABC. The New York Knicks-Los Angeles Lakers matchup in 2012 also generated a 5.9 overnight rating.
According to Nielsen, the broadcast peaked with a 6.8 rat- ing at 5 p.m. ET. The game, which tipped off at 2:30 p.m., drew its four best quarter hours between 4:15 p.m. and 5:15 p.m. The broadcast was up 44 per- cent compared to the same win- dow last year when the Chicago Bulls-Oklahoma City Thunder game drew a 4.1.
The Cleveland local market had an 18.4 overnight rating with the San Francisco area get- ting a 15.1.
The Cavaliers-Warriors showdown also was the most- streamed NBA Christmas game ever. It generated 14.8 million total minutes, 359,000 unique viewers and an average minute audience of 87,000.
LeBron Delivers $1.3M To Winner Of His New Game Show
LeBron James delivers $1.3M in cash to the winners of his new game show.
LeBron James made a spe- cial delivery, just in time for the holidays. The Cleveland Cava- liers star dropped off $1.3 mil- lion to the winners of his new NBC game show, The Wall, on Friday (Dec. 23).
James serves as executive producer on The Wall alongside business partner Maverick Carter, Andrew Glassman, and the show’s host Christ Hardwick.
With more than $12 million on the line every episode, the trivia show, which premiered on Monday (Dec. 19) aims to “change people’s lives” by “offer- ing a pair of teammates “life-al- tering cash prizes.”
James surprised the winning couple — John and Angel Whorton of Akron, Ohio — at their home with two duffle bags full of cash.
The Wall returns to NBC on Monday, Jan. 2 at 10 p.m.
Slump, But He 'Can Make Better Decisions'
Stephen Curry didn't play up to MVP-standards on Christmas Day against their cross-country rival Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Golden State Warriors' point guard registered only 15 points on 4-of-11 shooting to go with three turnovers. His first field goal didn't come until there was 4:14 left in the first half.
But his head coach Steve Kerr said he wasn't focused on Curry's shooting woes. His issues were with his floor general's carelessness with the ball.
"I think he can be a little smarter, I think he can make better decisions and that'll help against anybody," Kerr said after his team had blown a 14-point fourth-quarter lead to lose 109-108. "But I'm not worried about him missing
STEPHEN CURRY
shots; I'm more worried about just decision making and making sure that we're where we need to be as a group."
As a team, the Warriors coughed the ball up 20 times, resulting in 21 points for the Cavaliers. Curry is known for risk-taking with his off-hand, one-handed passes and he will routinely pull off the behind- the-back jaw-dropping assists.
Sometimes he converts, and other times he doesn't. He didn't tonight.
LEBRON JAMES
Irving weren't going to let the Warriors steal Christmas in Cleveland.
Irving, who caught fire in the fourth quarter after strug- gling offensively for the major- ity of the game, hit the eventual game-winning jumper over Klay Thomp- son with 3.4 seconds left — a brutal reminder to Dub Nation of the last-minute go-ahead three he hit 189 days ago.
Rematch Delivers
Christmas Day Rating
KYRIE IRVING
Steve Kerr Not Concerned With Steph Curry's
Russell Westbrook Denies Yelling
'Thank You, Kyrie' During Warmups
Because The Cavs Beat The Warriors
RUSSELL WESTBROOK
Breakups are almost al- ways ugly, and that rings true in the NBA, too. One of the more well-documented NBA divorces happened over the summer, when Kevin Du- rant left Oklahoma City — and his co-star Russell Westbrook — for the Golden State Warriors, the same team that eliminated
the Thunder in the playoffs. After Westbrook knocks down a deep corner three, he darts off to the locker room before screaming what sounds like “Thank you, Kyrie.” If that interpretation of his comment holds true, Westbrook was referring to the same Kyrie Irving who drilled a game-winner over Klay Thompson in Cleve- land’s NBA Finals rematch against the Warriors on
Christmas.
Westbrook denies saying
anything of the sort, however, claiming he was talking to his trainer’s daughter named Jayme. Upon re-listening, an argument can be made for both sides.
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