MLSsoccer.com’s Russ Thaler and former MLS Striker Calen Carr discuss the importance of Alejandro Bedoya and Jordan Morris to their respective teams.

Philadelphia Sixers vs Miami Heat – 1st Qtr Highlights Game 3 April 19, 2018 NBA Playoffs

Philadelphia Sixers vs Miami Heat – 1st Qtr Highlights Game 4 April 21, 2018 NBA Playoffs

The Philadelphia Eagles are 7-7.
They are currently on the outside looking in at the NFC playoff picture.
Business Insider reports there are ways for the defending champs to make it back to the postseason.
However, they would need a little help from around the league.
The easiest path is to win out.
They may still be alive even if they lose on Sunday.
One ticket to the playoffs if the Eagles have to win both remaining games and the Viking have to lose at least once.

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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.

“In the playoffs,” Nash said, “you need your best players to be your best players.”
Both Nash and McDonagh are stalwarts of Rangers teams
that have reached the playoffs year after year, and both had watched as they sputtered at home in the playoffs — six straight losses, outscored by 21-4, since a Game 1 victory against Tampa Bay in the 2015 Eastern Conference finals.
The Rangers’ 2-1 victory Tuesday night against the Montreal Canadiens, which evened their best-of-seven series at two games apiece before the series returns to Montreal for Game 5 on Thursday, turned on a sequence in the second period
that began with understated brilliance and ended, four seconds later, in unadulterated joy.
Long before Henrik Lundqvist earned a rousing ovation for preserving a one-goal lead over the final 35 minutes 32 seconds, and long before the Rangers turned back a frantic Montreal push
that included a rocket from Shea Weber that struck the goal post, Ryan McDonagh caught a puck with his hand.
The Rangers Finally Win a Playoff Game at Home –
By BEN SHPIGELAPRIL 18, 2017
The pivotal moment in a hockey game, that cumulative impact of all those goals
and saves and subtleties, can sometimes be ascertained only after the teams have left the ice.
Hours earlier, standing in front of his locker, McDonagh said that there would be no continuation from the Rangers’ listless Game 3 on Sunday.

Four regular-season weeks to go, and the top of the AFC playoff standings have come to be neck in neck.
Two weeks ago, it seemed apparent that the AFC belonged to the New England Patriots, and that everyone else was simply trying their best for second place. Yet, the Patriots didn’t do so hot against the Philadelphia Eagles, making things get quite interesting in the process. Up and coming are the Pittsburgh Steelers.
They were spectacular Sunday night in a 45-10 obliteration of the Indianapolis Colts. They were forget-the-record good, outgaining the Colts 522 yards to 240 in a display that reminded everyone that the Steelers are ready to do anything to win.