Parker's Heroics Lead Spurs To NBA Finals Game 1 Victory

The long-awaited NBA Finals matchup between the Miami Heat and San Antonio Spurs finally launched Thursday night at the American Airlines Arena.  Both teams had spectacular seasons in the 2011-2012 campaign and were expected to meet in last season's NBA Finals, but fans had to wait another year for the star-filled championship round between San Antonio's experienced Big 3 (Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili) and Miami's Big Money Big 3 (Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh).  Both teams are deserving of winning this year's Larry O'Brien trophy because they were two of the league's top teams this season and a Game 1 victory would be a great first step in accomplishing that achievement.

It took heroics to earn the imperative victory in the very competitive Game 1.  Tony Parker stepped up with 10 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter and nailed a memorable game-winning shot with 5.2 seconds remaining.  His shot will go down as one of the greatest clutch plays in NBA Finals history because he beat the shot clock by milliseconds to put the Spurs up 92-88 after nearly losing possession of the ball seconds earlier.  Tim Duncan also had an impressive individual performance, totalling 20 points and 14 rebounds in becoming only the second player in NBA Finals history to accomplish that feat at age 37.

The Spurs were down for most of the game, including a nine-point deficit in the second quarter, but fought hard in the second half to steal the victory in Miami.  They attacked the basket, forced turnovers and limited mistakes in the game's final two quarters.  Normally a great shooting team, the Spurs recognized early that their normal shots were not falling but relied on great ball control throughout the game to tie the NBA Finals' record for fewest turnovers in a game (4-tying the mark set by the Detroit Pistons in 2005).  The Spurs' defense was spectacular against the Heat's top shooters in the second half, forcing a dismal shooting perfomance in the fourth quarter and six turnovers.

LeBron James has become the leader of the Heat during this year's playoff run and played well in Thursday's loss.  He tallied his third career NBA Finals triple double with 18 points, 18 rebounds and 10 assists in 42 minutes of play.  Dwyane Wade, bothered with a nagging knee injury, added 17 points for Miami.

The San Antonio Spurs stole both Game 1 and home court advantage from the Miami Heat and now hold a 1-0 series lead in the NBA Finals.  Coach Gregg Popovich is 20-3 in series with a Game 1 victory and the Spurs are 5-0 all-time in NBA Finals' Game 1's, so Miami could be in trouble as it enters Sunday's Game 2 because it doesn't want to go down 2-0 in the best-of-seven series that they once held home court advantage.

LeBron & Wade Lead Heat To 3rd Consecutive NBA Finals

The Miami Heat were outplayed and embarrassed at times throughout the Eastern Conference Finals, but were at their best during the most opportune time of the series, tonight's Game 7 against the Indiana Pacers.  After a competitive first quarter, the Heat outscored the Pacers 33-16 in the second quarter, took control of the game and never looked back.  LeBron's 32 points led the Miami Heat to a third consecutive NBA Finals as the game's leading scorer.  Dwayne Wade's knee injury plagued him throughout the series, but had a series-high 21 points alongside LeBron's impressive performance.  The Heat won the game's two key statistical battles this evening, free throws and turnovers.  Miami nailed 33/38 free throws tonight compared to Indiana's 14/20.  Indiana struggled offensively throughout the game, as many of the shots that they relied on throughout the series did not fall for them tonight.  They finished with 21 turnovers (9 in the first quarter and 15 by halftime), while Miami totaled 11 in the game.  Miami closed out the Eastern Conference Finals with a 99-76 victory and will face the 5-time Western Conference Champion San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals beginning Thursday in Game 1.

The NBA Finals will feature a veteran Big 3, San Antonio's Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, vs. a Big Money Big 3, Miami's Dwayne Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh.  It will be a fascinating and extended series because so much drama occurred when these two teams met on the court earlier this season.         NBA Commissioner David Stern fined Spurs' coach Gregg Popovich $250K for resting starters Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Danny Green for a nationally televised matchup against the Heat on November 29th.  Heat coach Erik Spoelstra returned the favor on March 31st when Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Mario Chalmers were benched for the final regular season meeting, but was not fined.  Although there's not been a true meeting this season, I am not expecting this discrepancy to play the biggest role in the NBA Finals.  Will San Antonio's extended rest or Miami's battle-tested series be the best preparation for the upcoming championship round?  The Big 3 that steps up and carries the load for their team in the series will decide this year's NBA Champion.

Bruins & Luna Help Longhorns Eliminate Gators, Advance in WCWS

After yesterday's disastrous outing against Big 12 rival Oklahoma Sooners, the Texas Longhorns responded with an impressive victory in the Women's College World Series this afternoon.  The nation's #4 team shutout and eliminated the #2 Florida Gators 3-0 to advance to play the #7 Tennessee Volunteers this evening in Oklahoma City.  Texas only had five hits in the game, but were very efficient with runners in scoring position.  Kim Bruins' three-run home run in the top of the third inning put a stamp on the game and they never looked back.  Starting pitcher Blaire Luna had her 13th shutout of the season and struck out fourteen batters in her complete game, one-hit outing.  She was clutch in the most difficult situations of the game, including bases loaded in the bottom of the third and runners on first and second in the fourth.  Florida batters struggled mightily against the dominant Luna with runners in scoring position, as they did throughout this year's Women's College World Series.  They stranded eight base runners in today's game and thirty-five in their three games against Tennessee, Nebraska and Texas in the Women's College World Series.

Longhorns Advance To Winner's Bracket With Late Rally

The nation's #4 Texas Longhorns and #5 Arizona State Sun Devils were involved in a bitter fight in tonight's opening round matchup of the 2013 Women's College World Series.  The two teams previously met on March 14th in the season's only previous meeting and the Sun Devils shutout the Longhorns 3-0 in the Judi Garman Classic.  This time around, the Longhorns looked for a revenge outing.  Both starting pitchers, Texas' Blaire Luna and Arizona State's Dallas Escobedo, led the way with no-hitters in the early innings, but the Sun Devils broke open the game with the game's first hits and runs in the top half of the 5th inning.  Elizabeth Caporuscio's first hit of the game started a big inning for both teams.  After Bailey Wigness added another hit, Alix Johnson drove in both baserunners with only one out.  Luna escaped the inning after two earned runs and her teammates played the offensive role in the bottom half of the inning.

Stephanie Ceo's single to third base was the Longhorns' first hit of the evening and the start of an explosive inning.  After a walk by Brejae Washington with two outs, Taylor Thom's bloop hit in shallow right field drove in Ceo and a throwing error allowed Washington to tie up the game.  The following batter, Kim Bruins, homered to left as the Longhorns added two runs and took a 4-2 lead.  Bruins was snagged of a home run earlier in the game by leftfielder Caporuscio, but earned every inch of this home run as the ball bounced off the same fielder's glove and jumped over the wall.

Haley Steele opened the 6th inning with a solo home run for the Sun Devils, but the Longhorns struck with the game's final two runs in the bottom half of the inning.  Torie Schmidt and Karina Scott reached base via a hit up the middle and walk, and scored via RBIs by Stephanie Ceo and Taylor Hoagland.

The Texas Longhorns advanced to the winner's bracket with a 6-4 victory over the Arizona State Sun Devils tonight.  Kim Bruins closed out the game for Texas because starting pitcher Blaire Luna's pitches were stolen by an Arizona State coach, but had no issue retiring the side with two strikeouts in the top of the 7th.  The Longhorns ended a seven-year scoreless streak in College World Series games with a program record-six runs in a College World Series game.  The Longhorns will play the nation's top team Oklahoma tomorrow night in the winner's bracket, while Arizona State plays #8 ranked Michigan in the loser's bracket on Saturday.

Pacers Finish Off Knicks & Advance to 1st ECF in 9 Years

The Indiana Pacers found themselves in a comfortable situation when they hosted a potential-closeout Game 6 against the New York Knicks tonight.  There was much uncertainty when Pacers' star George Hill went down in Game 5 on Thursday with a concussion, but his clearing prior to tonight's tipoff energized the hometown fans at Bankers Life Fieldhouse.  It was a slugfest between the longtime rivals, but a hot start by the Pacers put them ahead early.  They expanded their lead in the second quarter and led by eight at halftime.  The Knicks were physical in the first half, but had no answer stopping the deep roster of Indiana until the third quarter.  The Knicks had lived and died by the three point shot all season and were effective behind the three point arc in the second half tonight.  They converted on four consecutive threes in the third quarter and erased a ten point deficit with a 12-2 run in a minute and a half.  The Knicks and Pacers fought for every basket and control of the game.  The Knicks continued to nail threes in the fourth quarter and finished with nine in the second half, but the Pacers' defensive stops became the deciding factor.  The Pacers made defensive plays throughout the game, including nine forced turnovers and seven blocked shots, but the most important play of the game came with five minutes remaining.  The Knicks were leading 92-90 when Roy Hibbert rejected what looked like an easy shot attempt for Carmelo Anthony.  The Pacers scored seven unanswered points after Hibbert's key defensive stop and knocked out the Knicks with a 16-7 run in the game's final 4:50.  George Hill's four clutch free throws in the final minute was the final dagger, as the Pacers eliminated the Knicks with a 106-99 victory in Indianapolis tonight.

Indiana advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in nine years with Lance Stephenson leading the charge with 25 points and 10 rebounds tonight.  Paul George added 23 points and Roy Hibbert finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds.  They finished off the Knicks in six games and will face the Miami Heat beginning Wednesday night.  The Knicks, on the other hand, begin the offseason earlier than expected after a great season.  Carmelo Anthony finished with 39 points and 7 rebounds, Iman Shumpert nailed 5/6 threes and finished with 19 points, and J.R. Smith totaled 15 points off the bench.

2013 College Basketball Invitational 1st Round Preview: Texas at Houston

Match-Up: Texas Longhorns at Houston Cougars

Venue: Hofheinz Pavillion

TV/Time: AXS TV/8pm CT

Renewing an old instate rivalry: Texas leads all-time series 32-31 (Last meeting: Texas 71, Houston 60 in 2001)

About the Teams-

Texas (16-17, 7-11 Big 12)

Season Recap: The Longhorns struggled throughout the season with Myck Kabongo's 23 game suspension to begin the season.  Texas stormed to six wins in the final ten games, but missed the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1998.  This will be their first appearance in the CBI in program history.

Key players: G Myck Kabongo, G Julien Lewis & G Sheldon McClellan

Quality Wins: North Carolina, Oklahoma, Iowa State

Houston (19-12, 7-9 C-USA)

Season Recap: The Cougars finished with a winning record in their final season in Conference USA, but many of their victories came against below-average teams.  Houston missed third consecutive NCAA Tournament, but it's their third trip to the CBI since 2008.

Key players: G Joseph Young, F TaShawn Thomas

Quality Wins: Tulane, UTEP, TCU

Prediction: No one wants to face the storming Longhorns right now.  The Cougars will host Wednesday night's game but will struggle with Myck Kabongo and Co., who are on a mission to finish the season on a high note.  Their motivation will result in numerous tournament victories, and possibly a tournament championship, before their season is over.

Super Bowl XLVII Preview

(AFC) Baltimore vs. (NFC) San Francisco (Sunday 5:30pm CT): It has been a controversial start to Super Bowl Week involving President Obama, Deer Antler Spray, and Chris Culliver, but now it's time for a smash mouth Super Bowl between two very physical teams.  Ray Lewis' farewell tour has inspired the Ravens to play at a high level this postseason.  Joe Flacco has stepped up immensely throughout the playoffs with the NFL's best quarterback rating this postseason (114.7).  In three playoff games, he has 853 passing yards, 8 touchdowns and 0 interceptions.  Numerous other teammates have also played inspired football and lead the NFL this postseason, including Ray Rice's 247 rushing yards, Anquan Boldin's 276 receiving yards, Ray Lewis's 44 tackles, & Corey Graham and Cary Williams' 2 interceptions each.

The 49ers did not begin either playoff game well with sloppy first half performances and falling behind early.  The team can't expect to win tomorrow's big game if the defense gives up too many first half points.  Quarterback Colin Kaepernick has taken the hearts of many with his first two career playoff starts (496 passing yards and 202 rushing yards) and will be a handful for the Ravens' defense on Sunday.  This love could carry into the offseason and Kaepernicking could become the new worldwide trend with a 49er victory on Sunday.

These are very evenly matched teams and the game will come down to the final possession because both teams have shown throughout the playoffs that they perform best in the second half.  I'm expecting the Ravens to hang on for a four point victory on Sunday Night down in New Orleans.  The great three-some of Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and Terrell Suggs will make an important play late in the game to capture the Ravens' second title since 2001.

2013 NFL Pick Em Record (Through Conference Championships): 6-4