Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. Two teams that looked like a toast last week suddenly have a new life.
In today’s SI: AM:
😲 Problem for two title candidates
‘The ‘radius of the explosion’ of Deshaun Watson’s signing
🕵️ Juicy baseball conspiracy theory
James Harden finally stepped up
When the Sixers acquired James Harden in February, they hoped to have plenty of games like the one he played last night against the Heat.
Philadelphia did quite well in the first half of the season with Joel Embiid leading a stand-alone show in absentia I’m Simmons but the addition of Harden should have given the team another player capable of taking over the game. However, that did not happen before last night. Harden has not scored more than 22 points in any of the Sixers playoff games this year. When Embiid missed the first two games in a row against the Heat, Miami pressed Harden in a defensive position and kept him at 16 and 20 points as the Sixers fell into the 0-2 hole.
But Harden passed last night in the fourth game, scoring 31 points (in a shot 8 out of 18) with nine assists and seven rebounds. He had 16 points in the fourth quarter alone. It was his first 30-point game since scoring 32 against the Bucks on March 29 and his first 30-point playoff game after a triple-double 34 points in the Nets ’5th game of the Nets in the first round against the Celtics last year.
Here’s what Harden said after the game:
“We’re getting safer as the series goes on,” Harden said. “Those first two games [were] blurring. But obviously, with Joel and the full team, we know what to expect.
“We know where to perform on both sides of the ball. It just makes the job a lot easier. Think about it: we’re still a pretty new team. We’re damn close to two months. So when we finally catch the rhythm and finally find something that works, Joel goes for a few games.
“So we finally fit into the series and we had some great things that worked tonight that we can use in Game 5.”
CP3 and Suns look lost
The results were similar to the second game of the evening, as it is The Mavs knocked out the Suns equalize that series to two games per piece. But the story of the game was far different. While the Sixers ’victory was about the reappearance of a key player, Phoenix’s defeat was due to the star’s disappearance. Chris Paul was in trouble with fouls the entire game, picked up his fourth just before halftime, and played just 23 minutes. He fouled three minutes in the fourth quarter and scored just five points.
As Paul goes, so do the Suns. “Paul is not Phoenix’s top scorer, but he is the maestro of his attack,” Rohan Nadkarni wrote after the fourth game. “It’s no coincidence that the Suns struggled when he either turned the ball around or wasn’t on the floor.”
(Paul was also upset after the incident with his family. ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reported that a Dallas fan put his hands on Paul’s wife and mother. The Mavericks said the fan was kicked out.)
And for you hockey fans out there: While we’re already on the topic of 2-2 draws, in all four NHL games played yesterday, the team that was 2-1 behind won and tied the series. The playoffs are going very interesting.
Best of Sports Illustrated
When the Browns swapped for Deshaun Watson, it reopened the old wounds of sexual assault survivors, writes Alex Prewitt in today’s story for the Daily Cover:
“That response is even sharper locally, where the Cleveland Crisis Center received 106 calls to its own hotline on Saturday and Sunday after the Watson store, an increase of 152% over a typical weekend. This included 69 contacts per day [Raymond] Brown’s protest, an increase of 138% over its average daily total in 2022. Even three weeks later, calls were still nearly 30% higher than before the trade. Sarah Trimble, the centre’s chief foreign affairs officer, says: “It was very shocking for the survivors in our community.”
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Howard Beck weighs in on the unwritten rules of basketball after Ja Morant’s injury. … Ben Pickman weighed in on his first WNBA weekend. … Last week’s comments by Ryan Tannehill that he is not interested in Malik Willis ’mentorship have led many people the wrong way, but Michael Rosenberg claims Tannehill is absolutely right. … Saturday’s Kentucky Derby was another example of how horse racing “occasionally interrupts raging controversies to throw romantic stories out of the sky,” writes Pat Forde. … At the first Formula 1 Grand Prix in Miami, Max Verstappen was first, but not all drivers were completely satisfied with the condition of the new track, reports Madeline Coleman.
Around the world of sports
Nikola Jokić reportedly won his second consecutive NBA MVP award. … I Morant will “probably” miss tonight’s fourth game against the Grizzlies, says coach Taylor Jenkins. … The Kings are reportedly hiring current Warriors assistant and former Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown as their new coach. … Mets coach Eric Chavez has a conspiracy theory that MLB uses different baseballs in matches that are broadcast on national television. … WNBA keeper Diamond DeShields revealed that she nearly withdrew before winning the championship with Sky in 2021 after undergoing surgery to remove a tumor near her spine.
The first five …
… things I saw yesterday:
5. This photo by Tony Ferguson kick in the face at UFC 276
4. Anthony Rizz’s impressive recovery after the ground ball bounced off the first base
3. Oregon Base Runner scoring from another on the victim
2. This almost indescribable sequence in the game Kings-Oilers
1. Sky Sports reporter Martin Brundle awkward walking on the net code Miami Grand Prix
SIQ
Who became the first player in MLB history to hit home runs on both sides of the board on 1987?
- Chili Davis
- Bobby Bonilla
- Ruben Sierra
- Eddie Murray
SIQ on Friday: Who made the finale of Dallas Braden’s perfect play on May 9 (Mother’s Day) 2010?
Answer: Gabe Kapler. He hit a routine midfielder to Cliff Pennington of Oakland, who clearly threw him in and made the first throw for the out.
Braden lost his mother to cancer when he was in high school, and was then raised by his grandmother, Peggy Lindsey, who was present in Oakland at the game. He discovered in 2020 that he was hungover when he took the hill after drinking the night before while contemplating losing his mother.
“There are things you don’t do [before a start]He said San Francisco Chronicleis Susan Slusser. “Participating in libations or adult drinks is something I’ve never done before a daily game. But the night before Mother’s Day I did. We kind of went for it. ”
“Until that day, I never treated the start or the day before the start the way I did that day,” Braden added. “It’s not like I’m saying to myself, ‘Let’s break down, and tomorrow will be great.’ It was more like, “Let’s forget about tomorrow.”
Braden threw another complete break in the game later that season (coming out with four goals on August 28), but his career quickly unfolded. He made three starts in 2011 before injuring his shoulder. After multiple operations to resolve the injury, Braden retired without another game.
From the treasury: 09.05.2005
David Bergman / Sports Illustrated
The Pistons ’mid-2000s are among my favorite NBA teams ever. Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, Rasheed Wallace and Ben Wallace were a pleasure to watch, combining elite athletics with unparalleled perseverance. Their defense led them to the ’04 championship, and they wanted to start it back in ’05.
Four-time defensive player of the year Ben Wallace was the key to their success, but as Jack McCallum wrote in his headline, all the best teams in the playoffs had a defensive stopper (“disruptor”) who could squeeze the opposing team of stars:
“Something changes when the phrase best of seven appears in the air. The last six weeks of the regular season are – apart from a stray team or two trying to snatch the eighth seed – walking in their sleep to the finish line. But when the playoffs start, the feet become lighter, the elbows sharper, the shoulders stronger. In-the-paint bangers, loose-ball retrievers, back-screen setters and pick-and-roll thwarters make their presence felt. ”
The Spurs had their distractor that year – Bruce Bowen – and San Antonio, who allowed the fewest points per game in the regular season, advanced to the final against Detroit. That series contained some ugly results, including the finish of the first game 84-69. But in the seventh game, the Spurs denied the Pistons a chance to repeat, winning 81-74. You won’t see games like those this year in the NBA League where a three-point shot dominates.
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