MVP Curry Wins for Warriors in Over time

Steph Curry - Getty Images

Stephen Curry nailed a three-pointer in overtime and gestured to the crowd, exclaiming over and over: “I’m back! I’m back!”

Curry returned from a sprained right knee to score an NBA-record 17 points in overtime, finishing with 40 as the Warriors rallied to take a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference semi-finals with a 132-125 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night.

And then on Tuesday, to no one’s great surprise, he was named the NBA MVP for a second year running. Curry swept all 131 first-place votes, including 130 from a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters and one from the fan vote. Curry is the 11th player to win back-to-back MVP awards.

“I love this game, I love playing and love competing. And really, really missed being out there with my team-mates,” Curry said. “To help our team get a win tonight and in that fashion, that was a good feeling in that moment to be back on the floor and playing.”

Playing for the first time since he was injured in Game 4 of the first-round series against Houston, Curry was rusty for three quarters and sensational down the stretch after the Warriors trailed by as much as 16 points.

Originally expected to play about 25 minutes off the bench, Curry picked up a heavier workload in the second half after Shaun Livingston, who had been starting in his absence, was ejected in the second quarter after arguing a call and picking up two technical fouls.

The Warriors can win the series Wednesday night at home in Game 5. A news conference announcing Curry’s award is scheduled for 5pm ET in Oakland on Tuesday.

Canada is mad as hell at Dwyane Wade, America, and we might not take it anymore

Curry was followed in the vote by Kawhi Leonard of San Antonio, LeBron James of Cleveland and Oklahoma City pair Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant. Curry’s Warriors team-mate Draymond Green was seventh.

Damian Lillard finished with 36 points and 10 assists for Portland.

Curry’s fast-break lay-up gave the defending NBA champions a 120-118 lead with 2:21 left in the extra period. He followed with a three-pointer, strutting and pumping his fist in celebration.

“You knew he’d catch his rhythm eventually,” Klay Thompson said. “He’s probably the best player in the world, the best shooter of all-time. He was getting good looks. We’ll take those all day.”

Harrison Barnes’ layup extended the lead to 125-118 and Portland couldn’t catch up. Thompson finished with 23 for the Warriors.

Curry finally made his first three of the game to give the Warriors a 103-100 lead with 4:35 left in regulation, but Portland was ahead in the final minute before Barnes tied it at 111-all with a three-pointer with 51 seconds left. Both Lillard and Curry missed to force the OT.

Curry led the Warriors to an NBA-record 73 wins in the regular season, a year after leading the team to its first NBA championship in 40 years. He averaged just over 30 points per game this season.

“Remarkable,” Blazers coach Terry Stotts said. “I mean, he looked fresh. He had his rhythm. He made tough shots, he made nice passes, he fought through screens. Obviously 17 points in overtime. It was a hell of a performance.”

The Trail Blazers narrowed the series to 2-1 on Saturday night when Lillard scored 40 points in a 120-108 Portland victory while Golden State was still without its star guard. The Blazers became the only team to defeat the Warriors twice this season.

Curry came off the bench with 5:56 left in the first quarter and Portland up 16-2. His only points in the quarter came off a pair of jumpers before he went back to the bench.

Livingston felt he was fouled just before halftime and was thrown out after arguing with referee Scott Foster. The 12-year veteran guard was averaging 12.1 points and 5.5 assists in the playoffs. He had started six of the eight playoff games while Curry nursed his knee injury.

Portland led 67-57 at the half, scoring a franchise playoff-record 41 points in the second quarter alone. Lillard led all scorers with 17 points.

Curry said his legs were sore after the game.

“To be expected,” he said. “I pride myself in the work I put in in the offseason to get through the 82-game schedule and be fresh for the playoffs. I was off my feet for a week and some change. You obviously lose a little bit but deep down when I got the work the last four days and broke a sweat and put the time in, that helped me get through these 38 minutes.”

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Mayor Believes its Viva Las Vegas for Raiders

Carolyn Goodman, the mayor of Las Vegas, is confident that the Oakland Raiders will move to her city – providing the prospective relocation is handled properly.

The Raiders inched closer to a move to Las Vegas last month, after owner Mark Davis met Nevada officials and pledged $500m towards the construction of a new $1.4bn, 65,000-seat domed stadium. He said the Raiders would give Las Vegas and the NFL “an offer they can’t refuse” and would turn “the Silver State into the Silver-and-Black State”.

“Mark Davis has assured us that Las Vegas is not getting played in a Raiders stadium deal,” Goodman said on Tuesday. “I think they from what I understand, if truth is truth, they will come if Nevada can go ahead and do this properly. I know we will have a team.” She said that the stadium site could also host an MLS team and UNLV football.

Davis, who inherited the Raiders after the death of his father Al in 2011, wants the team to leave the Coliseum for a football-specific stadium, and is open to staying in the Bay Area, but has not been able to strike a deal with Oakland officials. The Raiders have two one-year leases at the Coliseum that take them through 2018.

Goodman said she told Sheldon Adelson, the CEO of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation and one of the stadium project’s major backers, “to get us a team two years ago.” She said it seemed more likely at the time that Vegas would look to court the Chargers, because of the city’s connection with the Spanos family, which owns the team.

The Chargers, however, are more inclined to stay in San Diego if a deal can’t be struck to move the team to Los Angeles.

Goodman said she doesn’t see funding for the stadium as a major issue. “We are getting calls from outside the region offering to help with funding for stadium in Las Vegas,” she said.

“I think we’re certainly mature enough and ready enough for a major league any sport and have been for some years – because we’ve grown to over 2.1 million in resident population and have over 42 million visitors,” she said.

Goodman also said Las Vegas would be a destination for fans from the Bay Area, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and all over the west.

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Portand Blaze Trail Over Warriors

Getty Images

Damian Lillard had a playoff-best 40 points and the Portland Trail Blazers avoided a fourth-quarter slump to beat Golden State 120-108 on Saturday night, cutting the Warriors’ advantage in the Western Conference semifinal to 2-1.

The defending NBA champion Warriors were still without reigning MVP Steph Curry, who sprained his right knee in Game 4 of the team’s first-round series against Houston.

Al-Farouq Aminu had 23 points and 10 rebounds, and CJ McCollum added 22 points for Portland. The Trail Blazers led 58-46 at the half and stretched the lead to as many as 20 points in the fourth quarter.

Draymond Green had 37 points, and Klay Thompson added 35 for the Warriors, They had had won four straight against the Blazers. Game 4 is Monday night in Portland.

Harrison Barnes’ three-pointer and Leandro Barbosa’s long jumper closed the gap to 105-92 for the Warriors with six minutes left. Lillard’s three-pointer with 2:47 made it 114-97, but Green answered with his own three. McCollum’s three-pointer pushed Portland’s lead to 120-106 with 1:22 left and the Warriors couldn’t catch up.

Avoiding a fourth quarter letdown was key for Portland. The Blazers led 87-76 going into the fourth quarter of Game 2, but were outscored 34-12 in the fourth quarter by the Warriors. Portland managed just six points in the final 5:21. Lillard, who finished with 25 points including 17 in the third quarter, was held scoreless in the fourth.

Lillard battled a chest cold in the first game of the series then was held scoreless in the final quarter of the second. But Lillard tends to respond to adversity: After he was snubbed for an All-Star bid this season he scored 51 points, including nine three-pointers, in a 137-105 victory over the Warriors in February. It was one of just nine losses for the Warriors in a record-setting 73-win season.

The Blazers came back from a 2-0 deficit in the opening round against the Los Angeles Clippers, who were hurt when both Chris Paul and Blake Griffin went down with injuries.

Thompson, who averaged 32 points in the first two games, had three three-pointers as Golden State built an early 16-9 lead despite four turnovers. Another three pushed the lead to 22-16 and Thompson led all scorers after the first quarter with 18 points. He also had 18 points in the first quarter of Game 1 against the Blazers.

Al-Farouq Aminu and Lillard each made three-pointers in the final minute and Portland went up 58-46 at the break. Lillard finished off the half with 25 and Thompson had 24 for Golden State.

The Blazers stretched the lead to 63-48 early in the second half, and Golden State’s Andrew Bogut got into foul trouble with five. Draymond Green hit consecutive three-pointers to close the gap to 63-56. Gerald Henderson’s wide open corner three-pointer put Portland up 75-60.

Curry returned to practice on Friday with a brace on his knee. The team did not scrimmage, but Curry ran through an extensive post-practice shooting routine.

Curry, who averaged over 30 points per game in the regular season, worked in a 2-on-2 drill on Saturday before Game 3. Coach Steve Kerr said he expected him to go 3-on-3 on Sunday, but would not speculate on his availability for Game 4.

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Tiger Woods Plays First Texas Scramble

Tiger Woods - Getty Images

Tiger Woods played his first stretch of holes since last August at the opening of a course he helped design.

The former world number one hit a ceremonial tee shot then played a few holes with his friend Mark O'Meara at Bluejack National in Texas.

The 40-year-old had two back operations last autumn but has registered for the US Open in June, suggesting a return may be imminent.

"We're just trying to progress - and I'm doing that," he said.

The American last competed at the Wyndham Championship in North Carolina, after which he had surgery to remove a small disc fragment that was pinching a nerve.

His world ranking has fallen to 499 and earlier this month he missed the Masters for only the second time since his tournament debut in 1995.

Videos of the 14-time major champion hitting balls in practice have appeared in the past few weeks and Monday's short round demonstrated further progress with his rehabilitation.

"This is actually the first time I've played holes since Wyndham," he added.

"You saw how I was going at it today, nice and smooth. That's harder than I have been going at it the last month. Just gradually progressing."

The Golf Channel said Woods could compete at the Wells Fargo Championship early next month, but his team maintain there is no planned return date.

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Byron Scott Fired by LA Lakers

Byron Scott will not return to coach the Los Angeles Lakers next season, the team announced late Sunday night.

Scott coached the Lakers for the two worst seasons in the 16-time NBA champion franchise’s history, going 38-126. The Lakers are making another break from the Kobe Bryant era by firing the coach who shepherded the superstar guard’s farewell season, but couldn’t coax many wins out of an otherwise dismal roster.

Los Angeles finished with the NBA’s second-worst record at 17-65 this season, losing four more games than in its previous franchise-worst season in 2014-15.

“We would like to thank Byron for his hard work, dedication and loyalty over the last two years, but have decided it is in the best interest of the organization to make a change at this time,” general manager Mitch Kupchak said in a statement.

Scott understood that his job was in jeopardy last week. He won three NBA titles as the shooting guard for the Showtime Lakers of the 1980s, playing alongside Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy on some of the greatest teams in league history.

“This is my dream job, and obviously you want the opportunity to turn it all around,” Scott said. “But I understand the business of basketball, and it’s all about wins and losses.”

Scott received praise from Kupchak last week for his handling of the final months for Bryant, who was Scott’s teammate during his rookie season with the Lakers 20 years ago. Bryant scored 60 points in his final game April 13, a win over Utah.

But the Lakers struggled to play competent defense or to put together coherent game plans over the past two seasons with a roster of youngsters and unimpressive veterans.

Scott also didn’t seem to connect with the Lakers’ young players. His old-school mentality generated little positive effect in Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson or D’Angelo Russell, the second overall pick whose playing time was curiously limited by Scott early in the season.

Although the Lakers acknowledged that Bryant’s season-long showcase took precedence over winning this season, Kupchak and owner Jim Buss still apparently expected more than Scott provided.

“Guys that know me know I’m not happy with the way we played as a basketball team,” Scott said last week. “I think we could have been a lot better if we had really honed in on some of the things we needed to hone in on early. But that’s kind of the price you’ve got to pay with young guys, too. It takes some young guys a bit longer to develop, but the bottom line is the record, and that’s what you judge guys by.”

Scott had two seasons with team options left on his contract.

The Lakers are now looking for their fifth head coach since Phil Jackson left in 2011. Mike Brown and Mike D’Antoni were fired before Scott, with interim coach Bernie Bickerstaff also getting a short run.

Scott is a veteran head coach with previous tenures at New Jersey, New Orleans and Cleveland. He led the Nets to two NBA Finals in his first head job, and he won the NBA’s Coach of the Year award with the Hornets in 2008.

The Lakers waited to fire Scott while two top candidates for head coaching positions took other jobs. Tom Thibodeau landed in Minnesota, and Scott Brooks was hired by Washington.

Lakers fans have been intrigued for months by the prospect of hiring Luke Walton, the championship-winning Lakers forward who is an assistant coach on Steve Kerr’s staff at Golden State. The 36-year-old Walton, who played nine seasons in Los Angeles, coached Golden State to a 39-4 start to the season while Kerr was sidelined by a back injury.

The Lakers’ new coach will inherit a young, patchwork roster with a core of intriguing talent. Russell, Randle and Clarkson are all solid players, and the Lakers will keep their high draft pick if they finish in the top three of the NBA draft lottery next month.

The Lakers also will have more than $40 million in salary cap room to offer free agents, and Scott’s absence could help there as well.

The once-glamorous franchise has been incredibly unsuccessful in attracting or keeping marquee free agents over the past four seasons, even losing Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol to other teams for relatively modest contracts. But the departures of Bryant and Scott with the installation of a credible head coach could prove more enticing to stars interested in the added benefits of playing in the Hollywood spotlight.

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David Mirra 1974 - 2016

Police in North Carolina say one of the most celebrated names in X Games, Dave Mirra, has died in North Carolina at the age of 41.

Greenville police confirmed on Thursday night that Mirra’s body had been found earlier in the day. Authorities responded to reports of an apparent suicide and discovered Mirra’s body in a truck.

“We mourn the loss today of a great friend and wonderful human being who touched the lives of so many around the world with his gift. He called Greenville, North Carolina home and was as humble a guy talking with kids on a street corner about bikes as he was in his element on the world stage. A young life with so much to offer was taken too soon,” said the Greenville mayor, Allen Thomas.

Mirra was a brilliant BMX rider and won 14 gold medals at X Games, despite the fact that his career was nearly ended in 1993 after he was hit by a drunk driver. But Mirra recovered and he won X Games honors at an astonishing rate between 1995 and 2008, his record of 24 medals over a career was only broken in 2013 by Bob Burnquist.

He was also a rally driver and competed in ironman and triathlons. “Ironman competitions are an entirely different ballgame. The level of competition is much higher, and there are way more athletes,” Mirra told Sports Illustrated. 

ESPN, the broadcaster of X Games, released a statement paying tribute to Mirra. “Dave Mirra, your courage, determination and natural skill in everything you pursued pushed the world of action sports to become a better place. From all of us at X Games and ESPN, we salute your contributions,” read the statement. “Our sincere condolences go out to Dave’s wife, Lauren, his daughters Mackenzie and Madison, the BMX community and friends of Dave Mirra.”

Mirra’s friend and fellow BMX rider TJ Lavin expressed his sorrow at the news. “I just wish he would have called me,” he told TMZ. “I would have jumped on a plane in a second. There’s always another way. If anyone needs help, just please get it. I feel sick about this.”

#RIP 

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Hamburg Olympics Nein Danke

Residents of the German city of Hamburg have voted against hosting the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Hamburg was one of five cities left in the running, alongside Rome, Paris, Budapest and Los Angeles.

But 51.6% of residents of the city voted no in a referendum on Sunday. The No camp argued that money earmarked for the Olympics could be better spent.

German Olympics officials had picked Hamburg as their preferred candidate city ahead of Berlin.

Germany has not hosted the Games since 1972 in Munich. Voters there turned down the chance to host the 2022 Winter Olympics two years ago.

Almost two-thirds of voters in nearby Kiel, where sailing events would have been held, backed the Olympic proposal in Sunday's referendum. But turnout in the relatively small city of Kiel was under 32%, while 651,000 voters in Hamburg took part - half of the electorate.

Hamburg's mayor Olaf Scholz was disappointed with the result: "That's a decision that we didn't want, but it's clear."

The remaining cities vying for the chance to stage the 2024 Games include Budapest, Paris, Los Angeles and Rome.

Critics of the Hamburg plan said it was wasteful, at a cost of €11.2bn ($11.9bn; £7.9bn).

Hamburg's city authorities had promised €1.2bn for the event, but the lion's share would have been contributed by the national government.

Florian Kasiske from the No campaign NOlympia said people could see that the money could be better spent. He saw a change in mood in Hamburg, suggesting that the vote was linked to the large numbers of migrants and refugees arriving in the city.

"It's really about city politics. Many people are just arriving in this city and have to sleep in tents - and there has to be money for that," he said.

Stefan Kretzschmar with his silver handball medal at the Athens 2004 OlympicsImage copyrightGetty Images

The result was a setback for German sport. The chairman head of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB), Michael Vesper, said it was clear that "now it'll be impossible to hold the Olympics in Germany for decades".

He believed that the recent Paris attacks as well as the migrant crisis had played a part in the no vote. And he said that the continuing corruption scandal involving Fifa and the doping row in world athletics had also been key factors.

Others feared the negative effects on German sport. Olympic handball medallist Stefan Kretzschmar tweeted that "the gateway to the Olympic (sports)world has been closed forever. This No doesn't deserve any medals".

A spokesman for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said that "a great opportunity for the city, the country and sport in Germany is lost".

"The city also misses the investment of the IOC of about $1.7bn to the success of the Games, which compares to the €1.2bn Hamburg wanted to invest," he added.

"Now there will be a strong competition with four excellent candidate cities. With these strong competitors we all can look forward to [an] exciting Olympic Games 2024, whoever the winner will be."

In July, the city of Boston decided to withdraw from the race to be host for 2024 amid a lack of public support.

The winning city will be selected in September 2017.

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A Bridge Too Far

A high court judge has been asked to decide whether bridge is a sport after it was refused recognition by Sport England.

Mr Justice Dove is expected to analyse arguments over the next two days at a hearing in London.

The English Bridge Union (EBU) took legal action after Sport England, the public body responsible for increasing participation in sport, refused to recognise the card game.

Union officials say recognition that bridge is a sport will be beneficial for the game and that Sport England’s ruling is “inconsistent with both the wishes of parliament and the opinion of significant international sporting organisations”.

An EBU spokesman said: “When ruling on what constituted a sport in the 2011 Charities Act, parliament specifically included ‘mind sports’, stating that sport comprised ‘activities which promote health involving physical or mental skill or exertion’.”

He said bridge required “undoubted levels of mental skill” and had “known health benefits”.

The EBU was granted permission in April to seek a judicial review. Judge Mr Justice Mostyn, who plays bridge, said at the time: “You are doing more physical activity playing bridge, with all that dealing and playing, than in rifle shooting.”

Lawyers for the EBU said officials want a judicial review to determine whether Sport England, the government body that distributes lottery funding, had acted lawfully in “adopting a policy that prevents it recognising sports that it does not consider to be ‘physical’.”

“The EBU is hoping that the judicial review will pave the way for bridge and similar sports to receive the recognition that they deserve,” said a spokesman for law firm Irwin Mitchell, which is representing the EBU. Recognition by Sport England is important because lack of recognition impacts upon EBU’s ability to take part in European and international competitions.

He added: “Chess has already been recognised as a sport by the International Olympic Committee and was demonstrated at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. It was also included in the 2006 and 2010 Asian Games and is being considered for the Pan-American Games.

“Organisers of the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo have invited both chess and bridge to apply for inclusion in the games, which, if accepted, will be the first time players have competed in the Olympics.

If bridge were to be recognised as a sport in England then EBU would be able to invest in a number of projects to teach bridge to people of all ages and to ensure that facilities are improved.”

Lawyer Alex Peebles said: “We will argue that a sport does not need to be physical to be regarded as a sport as a matter of law. We hope our legal challenge will result in Sport England reconsidering its decision not to recognise bridge as a sport, which will help the EBU to access the essential support they need to continue growing and attracting new players.”

Jeremy Dhondy, an international bridge player and chairman of the EBU, said: “We hope that this hearing will allow bridge to be recognised in the way that it should.”

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