Spend a weekend in The Pioneer Woman’s stomping grounds.

At a press conference Thursday in Nashville, Colin Reed, the CEO of Ryman Hospitality Properties announced that with the help of country music star Blake Shelton, two new bar venues will open up in Tennessee and Oklahoma. Although Shelton isn’t an owner, he will be the face of the properties, which will be named Ole Red Nashville and Ole Red Tishomingo. The name’s of the bars are based on the song “Ol’ Red,” a tune Shelton recorded on his self-titled debut album back in 2002.

DISCLAIMER – All clips property of the NBA. No copyright infringement is intended, all videos are edited to follow the “Free Use” guideline of YouTube.

Link original song: https://youtu.be/9V0wKfxER-c

Golden State Warriors beat Oklahoma City Thunder to return to NBA finals

The Golden State Warriors came from behind to topple the Oklahoma City Thunder 96-88 in Monday’s Game 7 of the Western Conference finals, completing a rally from a 3-1 series deficit to seal a place in the NBA finals for the second year in a row.

Stephen Curry scored a game-high 36 points to spark the Warriors, who trailed by as many as 13 during the first half but used a 29-12 run in the third quarter to open an 11-point lead entering the fourth. His Golden State team-mate Klay Thompson added 21 points and six three-pointers to follow up his record-breaking performance in Game 6 on Saturday, when the Warriors needed a furious rally to force Monday’s winner-take-all finale.

Golden State becomes the 10th team in NBA history to rally from a three-games-to-one deficit in seven-game postseason series and win it.

— NBA (@NBA) May 31, 2016
Steph & KD embrace after an incredible Western Conference Finals series! #ThisIsWhyWePlay https://t.co/v2fDeWY5cZ

“This may be the greatest team in the history of the NBA,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said afterward. “They do things like make big shots and do some of those things. We were right there every step of the way with them, and this was a record-setting team and world champions. We’ve got to give them credit.”

The series outcome evoked the glass-half-full expression: Were the Warriors are the only team good enough to pull off such a comeback – or were the Thunder the only team combustable enough to lose from such a winning position?

It might be that it was a little bit of both.

The history was not in the Thunder’s favor. Top-seeded teams were 28-3 in home Game 7s, according to ESPN. There have been 36 teams to lose Game 6 at home with a 3-2 series lead. Of those, less than half came back to win Game 7.

But more than that, Russell Westbrook was off his game, shooting for 7-for-21 from the floor on Monday night. Kevin Durant shot 10-for-19 for a total of 27 points, his lowest-scoring Game 7 performance ever.

“We laid it all out there,” a somber Durant said. “Everybody left their soul out on the court. We have no regrets.”

Warriors coach Steve Kerr said beforehand he was going to make “11 alterations to the game plan”, one of which was starting Andre Iguodala after a strong showing in Game 6 instead of Harrison Barnes. Iguodala added seven points and was aggressive on defense.

Saturday’s Game 6 appeared to be the beginning of the end for the Thunder’s charmed postseason as Oklahoma City blew yet another lead in the fourth quarter. The Thunder were notorious for squandering leads in the final minutes of regular-season games. At one point their number of fourth-quarter collapses were worse than the Philadelphia 76ers, one of the worst teams in the league this year.

Bay Area natives Andy Samberg and E-40 were seen in the Oracle Arena crowd, as was Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who arrived at half-time after campaigning in northern California.

Now the Cleveland Cavaliers will head to California for a much anticipated rematch of last year’s NBA finals, which the Warriors won in six games.

Game 1 is Thursday in Oakland.

Paul George, Joel Embiid and 1 other Highlights from Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Philadelphia 76ers

The 29-15 Memphis Grizzlies will travel to play the 34-11 Oklahoma City Thunder in an NBA pro basketball game on Thursday night. Tip off time from Oklahoma City is scheduled for 8PM Eastern Time with national television coverage provided by TNT.

The NBA odds in this pro basketball game has the home team Oklahoma City Thunder favored by -8 ½ points with an over under line of 191 ½ points. There has been a ½ point move on the Thunder as OKC opened as a -8 point favorite when the lines came out a few hours ago.

The teams met way back on November 14th and it was Memphis with the 107-97 road upset win against the Oklahoma City Thunder as a +5 ½ point underdog. The total came in at over 195 points.

Memphis has a road record this season of 12-8. The team has won three of four games following a 103-100 road victory on Monday to the Philadelphia 76ers as a -1 point betting favorite. The total came in at over 177 ½ points. The Grizzlies overcomes a 33-20 first quarter deficit. The team shot just under 55% in the win and connects on 8 of 13 from three. They crushed the 76ers on the glass by 11 rebounds. Good thing Memphis shot well and rebounded as they allowed the 76ers over 54% shooting. Marc Gasol had 27 points and 7 assists on 10 of 15 shooting. Memphis is the top scoring defense in the NBA this season by allowing 89 points a game.

The Thunder is 19-3 on their home court. They return home off a six game road trip and nine road games over their past ten games. They come off the 105-96 forgivable loss to the LA Lakers as a -3 point road betting favorite. The game landed under 208 points. The Thunder shot 44.4% from the floor and as expected struggled from three in this fatigue spot making just 4 of 16 from beyond the arc. They allowed a rested Lakers team over 55% shooting. Kevin Durant led OKC with 35 points on 10 of 26 shooting. Oklahoma City is a top three offense in the four most critical categories which are points scored per game, field goal, three point and free throw shooting.

Oklahoma City Thunder vs Philadelphia 76ers 103-97
Oklahoma City Thunder vs Philadelphia 76ers [ Full Highlights | Oct 26, 2016 | 2016-17 NBA Season ]

Philadelphia 76ers vs Oklahoma City Thunder 97-103
Philadelphia 76ers vs Oklahoma City Thunder [ Full Highlights | Oct 26, 2016 | 2016-17 NBA Season ]

The 25-7 Oklahoma City Thunder will travel to face the 12-21 Toronto Raptors in an NBA pro basketball game on Sunday afternoon. Tip off time from Toronto is scheduled for 1PM Eastern Time with national television coverage provided by the NBA League Pass Channel.

The point spread from this NBA game has the road team Oklahoma City Thunder favored by -7 ½ points with an over under line of 197 points. When the odds came out in this game a few hours ago it was OKC favored by -7 points and the total of 197 points. There has been no movement on the total and a ½ point move on the Thunder.

The teams met back on November 6th and it was the Thunder with the 108-88 home win against the Raptors as a -9 point betting favorite. The total came in at under 198 points.

The Thunder is 8-4 on the road this season. They are winners of four of their past five games. OKC bounces back from a bad 17 point home loss to Brooklyn with the 109-85 home victory on Friday night to the Philadelphia 76ers as a -10 ½ point betting favorite. The total landed under 196 ½ points. The team had a good shooting night making 52% of their shots with 10 of 17 from three. Philadelphia is an opponent who struggles offensively so a good shooting night easily put away the 76ers. OKC is the number two ranked scoring offense in the league as the push across over 105 points a game. They defend well giving up less than 43% shooting good for 3rd in the NBA in opponents field goal percentage.

The Raptors are 8-6 on their home court. They have played good basketball of late winning eight of their past ten games. They suffer a bit of a setback on Friday night in a 105-96 home defeat to the Sacramento Kings as a -7 point betting favorite. The total landed over 196 points. Toronto had a bad third quarter as they get outscored by the Kings 28-10. The Raptors shot poorly with just 38% from the floor and allowed Sacramento to connect on over 52% of their shots. Toronto sits in the lower third of the league in two major defensive categories as they allow 99 points a game and 46% shooting to their opponents per game.