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The Beast of the East š
Plus: NBA is back, wild college hoops, and Tiger spotlight
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NBA 2nd half preview šØ
Wild college hoops games š„
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Credit: Dave Brandt/AP
The NBA is BACK on Thursday! The long stretch of 23 games is here and itās going to be one wild ride!
Thereās a ton of storylines to watch down the stretch with a bunch of teams, hereās a few to watch š
Do the Denver Nuggets hang onto the #1 seed in West? The West is full of teams vying for the top, but the Nuggets have a decent lead on it right now and can cement it too if they keep playing well.
What happens with the Phoenix Suns? The Suns made the biggest splash with a trade to get Kevin Durant. Theyāre all-in this year and next, and they have the makings for something special if none of their star players get injured.
Can the Lakers make a run? The Lakers are in 13th in the West right now, but went through a big makeover at the deadline and got better. These next 23 games are going to be crucial, the question is if LeBron can help carry this team to where they need to be?
Whatās up with the Warriors? The Warriors are .500 right now as defending champions. They havenāt been able to escape the injury bug, especially with Steph Curry being out for a long time twice. Yet, they still have the talent to make a run!
Can the Mavericks find some defense? The Mavericks made a huge trade to get Kyrie Irving to help Luka Doncic, but they havenāt won yet with both of them on the court. Doncic and Irving arenāt great defenders and while Dallas has a few decent defenders, the question is if they can be consistent enough?
Whoās the Beast of the East? The East might have the best teams in the NBA. Boston, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia all have the ability to win the whole thing. Boston is the more complete team, but the Bucks and the 76ers have the two players in the East that can takeover games in Giannis and Embiid.
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College Hoops Heating Up š„
Credit: Houston Chronicle
The last two days have been CRAZY for college basketball.
Kansas edged out TCU on the road on Monday, despite TCU getting their best player, Mike Miles Jr. back from an injury. It was revenge for TCU beating Kansas on the road by 20 points.
Villanova showed up and beat a good Xavier team on the road by 1-point. It was easily the best win that the Wildcats had this year, with Justin Moore leading the way for them.
Tennessee fell once again to a team on the road in Texas A&M. It was close throughout, but A&M made more plays down the stretch on both offense and defense to pull away late and stay in the hunt for an SEC Title.
Kansas State beat a reeling Baylor team after the way they blew a big lead to Kansas. Kansas State pulled away at home and beat Baylor by double digits.
Marquette shocked Creighton on the road and beat them by two, thanks to a last second shot which lead to a wild finish.
Texas destroyed Iowa State at home and further cemented themselves as Kansasā best challenger to the Big 12 throne, which will get really interesting down the stretch of the regular season.
Finally, Michigan State beat Indiana at home in an emotional win. It was Michigan Stateās first win since the tragedy that struck their campus last week, so the emotions were high, especially with Tom Izzo getting emotional too.
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Spotlight on Tiger š
Credit: Icon Sportswire
When you say the name Tiger Woods, the best word that comes to mind is dominant. No one has dominated golf like he has, not even Jack Nicklaus. However, now, the question is if Tiger will ever be his dominant self again?
The short answer is no. Tiger isnāt the same, mainly because of injuries and a number of surgeries heās had to go through in recent years.
Tiger was at the pinnacle of the sports mountain and tumbled down, BUT the 2019 Masters might be his best accomplishment.
Tiger was thought to be done winning tournaments, and especially the majors and didnāt win one since 2008!
The first day of the 2019 tournament he was playing well. He played well enough to be tied with a handful of players at 11th place.
The second day he struggled early-on, but rebounded well enough to be tied for 6th place with three other players.
On the third day, Tiger separated himself from much of the field and finished tied for second!
Then, on the last day, the pressure of winning the Masters took over for much of the players Tiger was playing against and it gave him a clear path to winning it!
Itās such a big accomplishment and such a great redemption story for an athlete like him that went through the ringer with injuries and his personal life and it was his way of saying that heās back and still the best golfer there is.
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