OKC Thunder Bench Combined For 58 Points To Help Defeat The Pelicans (109-104)

OKC Thunder Bench Combined For 58 Points To Help Defeat The Pelicans (109-104)

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by | Nov 30, 2019 | Featured, NBA

The Thunder and Pelicans have already played each other this season. This time the Pelicans would be without Lonzo Ball, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Zion Williamson. Since the last time, they played the Thunder have been able to gel as a unit. The Pelicans were able to find out first-hand tonight how well the Thunder have played together. OKC hasn’t been known for their bench in the past but this season they’re putting people on notice. One of the bright spots for the OKC Thunder bench this season has been Dennis Schröder. The way that Schröder has played this season has been NBA Sixth Man worthy. On the season coming into tonight’s matchup against the Pelicans, he’s averaging 15.4 ppg. Tonight that continued as he started off with a slow first quarter with only 2 points. After the first quarter, Dennis changed into his Nike KD12 that he’s played in the majority of the season and finished the game with 25 points. The 25 points that Dennis Schröder had tonight was enough to lead the Thunder in scoring. It didn’t matter who the Pelicans put on Schröder as he was able to score inside and out tonight. The Pelicans had no answer for Dennis Schröder as he was hitting on his shots and getting his teammates involved early.

 

Another big piece to the OKC Thunder bench as of late has been Abdel Nader. The past two games Nader has been lights out as he’s scored 42 points in the last two games including his (19 points) from tonight. The confidence that Nader has been playing with the last couple of games has earned him more time in the rotation. He’s been able to knock down the open 3 pointers and has been able to show that he can score off the dribble as well. The growth in this bench unit has been special to watch and the Thunder needed every single point that they got from them tonight. Tonight wasn’t the best night for the Thunder starters but they stepped up when needed. Chris Paul and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander have been true leaders and even when they’re not the leading scorers they still make an impact. This Thunder team is scrappy and they fight until the very end of every game. The defense has been able to hold teams in the last couple of games in the crunch time moments. The Thunder are finally realizing their identity and this unit has gained the total confidence that was on display tonight.

 

 

The Pelicans had a long night trying to defense Dennis Schröder and Steven Adams. Overall the Pelicans have been hit with the injury bug but they continued to fight throughout the season. Brandon Ingram has been the player that has stepped up all season for the Pelicans and it continued tonight. It seemed as though Brandon Ingram was unstoppable as he finished with 26 points. The growth in Ingram’s game has been on display and he has improved on his attacking the paint and jumper. Jaxson Hayes had 11 points on the night and battled all night against Steven Adams. The other players that really helped out for the Pelicans Josh Hart and JJ Redick. Both Redick and Hart were making it tough on the Thunder on the perimeter but the defense from OKC helped them prevail in this game. The Pelicans are in a prime spot coming up knowing that Zion is about a week away and they will be getting Lonzo back. So keep an eye on this New Orleans Pelican team as they can look to make a push.

 

Nov 30, 2019 No Comments
Thanksgiving Football Preview (Week 13)

Thanksgiving Football Preview (Week 13)

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by | Nov 28, 2019 | Featured, NFL

Hello and happy Thanksgiving football fans! Usually, Thursday nights provide us with one game to start off the impending weekend of football. However, this holiday is different for the NFL. Instead of just one Thursday game, we get a triple header, Let’s preview all three games that are on today’s menu.

12:30 PM EST

Chicago Bears vs. Detroit Lions

To date, the 2019 season has been a disappointment for both of these teams. The Chicago Bears we’re attempting to build off of the double-digit wins they produced a year ago and returned a lot of parts from what had been the best defense in football last season. However, with just four games left, Khalil Mack and co. are barely hanging on in the chase for a Wild Card spot. For the Lions, they came out of the gate on fire winning two of their first three games—the other being a Week 1 tie. Now, with just three wins for the season and starting quarterback Matthew Stafford missing another game with an ailing back their focus should be squarely on 2020.

David Blough, an undrafted rookie, will get the start for Detroit as Jeff Driskel is banged up as well. Putting the Purdue graduate across the line of scrimmage from the defense this talented spells doom for the Lions. Yet, all hope may not be lost. In his second season as a head coach, Matt Nagy has seen his Andy Reid-lite offense grind down to an unrecognizable unit. Mitchell Trubisky has been a shell of what he brought in 2018. For as well as the Bears defense has played at times, their offense has done them no favors most weeks.

PREDICTION: BEARS 24 , LIONS 9

4:30 PM EST

Buffalo Bills vs. Dallas Cowboys

If we expand the Thanksgiving connection to these slate of games than this one would be the main course for the day. The Buffalo Bills have quietly put together a very good case to be taken seriously as a threat in the AFC. On the back of the stellar defense, Josh Allen’s arm and legs, and the newly minted third all-time rushing yards leader (Frank Gore) this team have piled up wins. When looking at their schedule though, the New England Patriots are the only elite team they’ve played to date. The Dallas Cowboys want to be perceived as elite but at 6-5–and barely hanging onto the lead in the NFC East—they have failed to separate themselves from the pack. Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott, and Amari Cooper have all been great throughout the season but wins keep slipping away from this team.

Following Sunday’s 13-9 loss in Foxboro, Dallas owner Jerry Jones didn’t hold his tongue as he called out the coaching staff for what was in his opinion an unsatisfactory performance. Rumors are rampant that Cowboys’ head coach is on the Super Bowl or bust plan this season and back-to-back losses will only heighten that noise around the franchise. Meanwhile, Buffalo is likely to face four consecutive teams with winning records. To bring in a tried and true food analogy, they hit the meat and potatoes portion of their season. A few bad plays and poor decisions could easily see this team drop from a sure thing in the postseason standings to dropping back towards the middle of the pack. With both teams needing a win and the game is on national television we will see who handles the pressure best.

PREDICTION: COWBOYS 27 , BILLS 24

8:20 PM EST

New Orleans Saints vs. Atlanta Falcons

These teams just faced each other 18 days ago. At that time, the New Orleans Saints looked like a juggernaut on their way to Super Bowl contention and the Atlanta Falcons looked like a team in dire need of changes on the coaching staff. This also would be the first game Drew Brees, Alvin Kamara, and Michael Thomas would share the field for since Week 2. A blowout was expected and a blowout we got. The Falcons manhandled the Saints on their way to winning 26-9 and likely saving Dan Quinn’s job. Even sweeter for Atlanta was that they were able to thoroughly dominate their opponent on their home field. At times, the Superdome has been kryptonite to the Falcons but it wasn’t on that day.

Once again the teams meet and the narratives aren’t too different. After securing consecutive wins against New Orleans and the Carolina Panthers, the Falcons we’re embarrassed at home by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ending any talk about possibly sneaking into the playoff hunt. New Orleans has won two straight and once again looks like the cream of the crop within the NFL. Sean Payton’s team is out for revenge as they are one poorly played game back of sitting atop the NFC standings alongside the San Francisco 49ers. Like most desserts, revenge is a dish best served cold.

PREDICTION: Saints 30 , Falcons 17

Nov 28, 2019 No Comments
SR – NBA Primetime Preview: Los Angeles Lakers VS. New Orleans Pelicans

SR – NBA Primetime Preview: Los Angeles Lakers VS. New Orleans Pelicans

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by | Nov 28, 2019 | Featured, NBA

The second game of this pre-Thanksgiving ESPN doubleheader features Anthony Davis’ anticipated return to the Smoothie King Center for the first time as a Laker as the 6-11 Pelicans face off against the league-best 15-2 Lakers in a primetime duel.

If there’s one thing that both LeBron and Anthony Davis are going to have similar experiences in at the end of the night, it’s going to be returning as a villain to the franchise that birthed them as homegrown talent. Aside from the theatrics of the former first overall pick by the franchise back in 2012 returning home since his trade back in July, this is a relatively normal game on a Wednesday night. But then again, those cinematics in tonight’s plot can’t really be erased from the script.

It’s obvious, and not even worth the mention that Davis is the greatest Pelican to ever wear their jersey. His decision to leave New Orleans was a painless one, and wasn’t surprising to say the least.

But just to stay on that topic, that whole sequence of AD leaving for LA was pretty weird. It started in January, where news burst out of Davis requesting a trade from David Griffin from every outlet like wildfire. After those announcements were broadcast throughout the New Orleans media, Davis was frivolously booed whenever he came near the basketball during home games.

And then to cap things off, during the Pels’ season finale and Davis’ final game with the organization, he wore a “That’s All, Folks” t-shirt to symbolize the conclusion of the AD era, and in such a petty way.

Tonight will mark the first time in his seven-year NBA career that he’ll play in a truly hostile environment, and it’s more than likely he’s to be prepared to play through it. After all, he is in the best starting five since his days at Kentucky right now as the Lakers star stretch five.

Starting Pelicans guard Lonzo Ball was sent home with a stomach virus and will miss the reunion of all the former Lakers facing off against their old team. Injury and absences have been a big problem for Alvin Gentry’s team, and unfortunately his young roster has been awash with them.

Brandon Ingram is at full health luckily, and he’s really come into his own this year for the first time since he wore Duke blue. Currently, he is averaging 26.1 points per game on 50.6% shooting from the field, including 45.9% from behind the arc on 5.7 attempts per game.

Lakers and Pelicans tip off at 9:30 p.m. ET/8:30 p.m. CT on ESPN.

Nov 28, 2019 No Comments
SR – NBA Primetime Preview: Brooklyn Nets Vs. Boston Celtics

SR – NBA Primetime Preview: Brooklyn Nets Vs. Boston Celtics

Featured

by | Nov 27, 2019 | Featured, NBA

Just outside of the TD Garden, rain-stained printed black and white designs of former Celtics guard Kyrie Irving with blood-red lettering of “Coward” lie on his face. These posters, plastered around whatever traffic light or telephone pole disgruntled C’s fans could find, tell you just how disappointed they have been (and still are) in their former franchise guard who opted to the lesser pressurized pastures of Brooklyn, a destination destitute of the overzealous media personalities that criticized his every breath whilst in Celtic green, regardless of a win or loss.

Aside from embracing the elephant in the room this Wednesday night, and Thanksgiving Eve, the Boston Celtics still have a game to play and a chance to reassert themselves as the East’s most-dominant team with a premiere battle between them and their Atlantic Division rivals, the Brooklyn Nets.

To the Chagrin of Celtics fans who undoubtedly wanted to wish all of the on-court schadenfreude on Irving if he was to play, that energy will have to be conserved for a later date, as he is still dealing with what Nets officials deem a “shoulder impingement”.

However, ask any fan of the 17-time champions, and you’ll probably draw an emotional response of the one-time champ and six-time All Star displaying cowardice to the one team he failed in molding into a championship contender as a “focal point” when he announced his desire for a trade in the summer of 2017. Expect a flurry of boos and chants of discontent regarding Irving, who in his short two-years as a Celtic only won five playoff games before his departure.

Looking at this matchup, Irving isn’t the only impinged Net that won’t be present on the Parquet tonight. DeAndre Jordan is out, leaving the nine-win Nets with very little efficacy in their shot-blocking efforts. Jarrett Allen has stepped up tremendously and finally looks as if he’s living up to the expectations of the organization who drafted him.

Allen is averaging around 1.4 blocks per game, and he has shown during the eclipse of the new year that he can provide offense, and not just in the screen-setting sense. 11.5 points per contest and 10.1 rebounds a game are no discernable numbers on a scouting report. It’s just his inability to confidently put up more shots from deep is what limits a considerably important part of Kenny Atkinson’s offense.

As for the Celtics, they went 2-3 during their road trip, and were inches close to losing their Kyrie replacement in Kemba Walker for a lengthy period of time, as the former Charlotte Hornet suffered from concussion-like symptoms and a sprained neck from accidentally tripping and lunging the crown of his head into Semi Ojeleye’s sternum during Friday’s 96-92 loss to the Denver Nuggets.

Luckily, he’s back tonight and though it is yet to be determined regarding his minutes, the Celtics feel more than lucky to have 4/5 of their starting five on the floor tonight against an injured Nets team that’s barely got its head above the .500 mark.

The cinematic effect of this game has certainly been extinguished due to Irving’s absence on the floor, and in Boston, Massachusetts for that matter, since he decided not to fly with the team during their one-game road exploration.

The Celtics, however, have an opportunity to exact revenge against Irving and his new look Nets in back-to-back games, the second coming only two nights later on Friday.

For now, tune into the tip-off between the Nets and Celtics in their first of four games against each other at 7:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. CT on ESPN.

Nov 27, 2019 No Comments
Beyoncé Releases Holiday-Themed Merch Collection

Beyoncé Releases Holiday-Themed Merch Collection

Celebs

by | Nov 27, 2019 | Celebs

Christmas has come early for the Beyhive, as Beyoncé has released a Holiday-Themed Merch Collection. The 90’s inspired collection includes a blanket, an eyemask, crewneck sweatshirts and more.

Beyoncé is anything but predictable, this latest fashion launch comes over a year after when she released Valentine’s Day-themed capsule collection in February 2018.

According to the press release, the jewel-toned pieces are meant to be “over-the-top fab” and are “inspired by the art of dressing up for the holidays to celebrate with family in the living and dining room,” and perfect to wear to upcoming holiday festivities,

Check out the full collection below, and purchase it here.

Nov 27, 2019 No Comments