Page 24 - Florida Sentinel 5-31-19

Sports
Warriors Open As Heavy Favorites Over Raptors In Finals
Steph Curry Favored
The Golden State Warriors are heading to the NBA Fi- nals for the fifth straight year, and they are unsurprisingly favored to beat the Toronto Raptors.
Golden State is coming off a four-game sweep of the Portland Trail Blazers in the Western Conference Finals and have won three of the last four NBA titles. With Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Dray- mond Green leading the way, they have a dangerous squad regardless of whether Kevin Durant returns from his calf strain.
On the other hand, they have a new type of competi- tion in the Raptors—com- pared to the Cleveland Cavaliers of the past four years.
NBA Finals MVP
STEPH CURRY AND KAWHI LEONARD
Golden State Warriors su- perstar Stephen Curry is the betting favorite to be named NBA Finals MVP -- an honor that has eluded the two-time MVP and three- time champion.
Caesars Sportsbook opened Curry as a -150 fa- vorite, but the odds have since lowered to -125, follow- ing wagers from respected bettors on Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, each at 9-1 odds. Toronto Raptors star Kawhi Leonard (+275) is the No. 2
STEPH CURRY
favorite.
On Monday, Curry said
earning Finals MVP honors is "secondary" to winning the title.
Toronto is a quality defen- sive team—ranked fifth in the league in efficiency by Bas- ketball Reference—with a deep lineup full of players who can make big contribu- tions on both ends. Kawhi Leonard is also playing as well as anyone in basketball, coming off a huge effort in
Game 6 on Saturday with 27 points, 17 rebounds and seven assists in the clinching win over the Milwaukee Bucks.
With the Raptors a +260 (bet $100 to win $260) going into the finals, bettors could get some quality value in the underdogs.
Cavs Owner Gilbert Awake After Stroke
DAN GILBERT
Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert is "awake, re- sponsive and resting comfort- ably" after suffering a stroke Sunday, according to Jay Farner, the CEO of Quicken Loans, the company Gilbert founded and chairs.
Farner said in a statement that Gilbert, 57, felt ill on Sun- day and a friend took him to a Detroit-area hospital, where he suffered the stroke. Farner said Gilbert was taken in for a catheter-based procedure and was moved to recovery in the ICU.
Monday's update to Gilbert's condition came after a statement Sunday said he had been hospitalized because of "stroke-like symptoms."
"Dan is awake, responsive and resting comfortably. Dan and his family are immensely grateful to the doctors and nurses whose early interven- tion is already paying divi- dends toward his recovery," Farner said. "We will update the public as additional details become known."
Kevin Durant Boards
To Win Elusive
University Of Wisconsin Assistant Basketball Coach’s Wife And Daughter Killed In Head-On Collision
University of Wisconsin's assistant coach, Howard Moore (cen- ter), 46, and his family were involved in a three-car crash Saturday morning that killed his wife, Jennifer (left), 46, and their nine-year- old daughter, Jaidyn (center left). Moore’s thirteen-year-old son, Jerell (right), survived the crash with non-life threatening injuries.
Plane To Travel With
Warriors To Toronto
Though Kevin Durant has already been ruled out for Game 1 of the NBA Finals between his Golden State Warriors and the Toronto Raptors, no determination has been made publicly yet about his status for Game 2. There was a positive sign on Tuesday regarding his status.
Durant was seen board- ing the Warriors’ plane to travel with the team to Toronto for the first two games of the series.
Game 1 will be on Thurs- day and Game 2 on Sunday. Durant has not yet been cleared to work out with his teammates, but Sunday is a ways off, so the Warriors
KEVIN DURANT
want to have him there in case he is ready to play by then. At the least, having him make the trip forces the Rap- tors to consider him playing as a possibility for Sunday.
Warriors owner Joe Lacob did say last week that Durant would be back for the Finals.
A fatal car crash on Satur- day took the lives of the wife and daughter of University of Wisconsin assistant basketball coach Howard Moore, leav- ing the school in mourning.
Jennifer Moore, 46, and daughter Jaidyn, 9, were killed in the head-on crash with a vehicle driving the wrong way at about 2 a.m., near Ann Arbor, Mich., about 40 minutes west of Detroit, ac- cording to the Michigan State Police.
The family was headed to the city, which is Moore’s hometown, for the holiday weekend.
The vehicle that struck the Moore family car was travel-
ing westbound in the east- bound of a major highway. Jaidyn was reported dead at the scene while her mother was transported to University of Michigan Hospital, but was taken off life support Saturday afternoon.
Moore, 46, and son Jerell, 13, survived the crash with non-life threatening in- juries, and were also treated at U-M Hospital, according to The Detroit News.
According to authorities, 23-year-old Samantha Win- chester, was driving the vehi- cle that struck the Moore family’s car. Winchester was also killed and a toxicology re- port is pending.
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