A wild Heat-Raptors Game 1, a Warriors fourth-quarter comeback, and Jake Arrieta continuing his mind-blowing run. Let’s get to all of that and much more (such as a giant balloon pop), here at the Wednesday Cheat Sheet…
The Heat beat the Raptors in overtime, despite Kyle Lowry hitting a half-court shot at the end of the regulation
The Heat went into Toronto and got a 102-96 win over the Raptors in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinals. It looked like Miami was going to get the win in regulation, but Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry nailed a half-court shot at the regulation buzzer to tie the game 90-90.
But the Heat were able to overcome that momentum change and win the overtime period 12-6. Guards Goran Dragic (26 points) and Dwyane Wade (24 points) led the way for Miami.
And it was Wade’s defense that put the game away in overtime:
The Warriors entered the fourth quarter trailing the Blazers by 11 points, and won the game by 11 points
The Portland Trail Blazers appeared on the verge of stealing one at Oracle Arena. Damian Lillard had just hit a buzzer-beating three to cap off a ridiculous third quarter in which he scored 17 points:
And then the Warriors started to play like the Warriors (though minus Steph). Golden State outscored the Blazers 34-12 in the fourth quarter, to come away with a 110-99 victory and take a 2-0 series lead.
Y’all boys up to something! Big time win tonight. @KlayThompson @hbarnes @Money23Green @andrewbogut @ShaunLivingston @andre @TheBlurBarbo…
— Stephen Curry (@StephenCurry30) May 4, 2016
Warriors closed the game on a 16-4 run after trailing 95-94 with 5:20 left to play. pic.twitter.com/OVElJNC68Z
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) May 4, 2016
Seriously tho Warriors = real-life human version of NFL Blitz 64 comeback code that gets you 20 points in seconds after going down too much.
— Rob Perez (@World_Wide_Wob) May 4, 2016
Warriors 22-point 4th quarter advantage (34-12) is biggest in any playoff quarter since May 10, 1987 (41-19 4th)–Sleepy Floyd had 29 points — WarriorsPR (@WarriorsPR) May 4, 2016
Steph’s status for Game 3 is still up in the air, but the urgency shouldn’t be there quite as much with the Warriors getting the Game 2 win. Of course, they’d surely like Steph to get some playing time under his belt before the upcoming series vs the Spurs or Thunder, and this series vs the Blazers could end in four games.
Jake Arrieta keeps doing ridiculous things
I wrote about Jake Arrieta’s mind-blowing run after his second career no-hitter a couple weeks ago, and the Chicago Cubs’ ace has only continued to keep making the numbers/stats/facts even more ridiculous.
On Tuesday night, Arrieta faced a Pittsburgh Pirates lineup that he shut out in the 2015 NL Wild Card Game, and continued his dominance vs them. Arrieta tossed seven scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and two walks to a Pirates team that leads the majors in on-base percentage. He also hit an RBI single in the Cubs’ 7-1 win.
Arrieta now has an 0.84 ERA, is 6-0, and the Cubs haven’t lost one of his road starts in a year (I hate pitcher wins… but there’s nothing fluky about them on this Arrieta run):
Jake Arrieta: 15 straight road wins 3rd pitcher to do that over the last 20 seasons (Johan Santana, 15 straight; Greg Maddux, 16 straight) — ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 4, 2016
Jake Arrieta will go over a full calendar year without a road loss. May 7 in St.Louis was last one — Jesse Rogers (@ESPNChiCubs) May 4, 2016
Jake Arrieta has a 0.66 ERA over his last 19 starts. The #Cubs are 19-0 in those starts.
— Ace of MLB Stats (@theaceofspaeder) May 4, 2016
Jake Arrieta ERA (regular season): 1.62 in 2015-16 0.85 in last 26 starts 0.55 in last 18 starts 1.46 on road in 2015-16 0.84 in 2016#Cubs — Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) May 4, 2016
Over Arrieta’s last 3 starts: 5 Hits allowed, 3 Hits at the plate #Cubs — Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) May 4, 2016
Just insane. Also, the Cubs are an MLB-best 19-6, and are in historically special territory with their run differential right now:
Best Run Differential Through 25 Games (since 1900)
97: 1902 Pirates
94: 1905 Giants
89: 2016 Cubs
86: 1939 Yankees pic.twitter.com/Dcw6ubRdFN— ESPN (@espn) May 4, 2016
Quick Hits
– The Lightning got an overtime victory over the Islanders on a Brian Boyle goal. The win gives Tampa Bay a 2-1 lead in the second-round series.
– Bryce Harper signed a record-breaking 10-year extension with Under Armour. He’ll be signing a record-breaking contract with an MLB team in a few years (after the 2018 season) too.
– So… it turns out that Houston Texans offensive tackle Duane Brown’s positive PED test last year came from contaminated meat. This is going to be the hot PED excuse now.
– In light of Leicester City’s English Premier League title, Phillip Bupp examines sports’ most unlikely champions and how Leicester City’s story connects with each one.
– Leicester City captain Wes Morgan was honored with a custom Captain Morgan bottle.
– Villanova hero Kris Jenkins withdrew from the NBA Draft and will return to the Wildcats for his senior season.
– Wichita State is interested in joining the Mountain West, and may bring football back.
– Jordan Spieth has the right attitude following his Masters collapse: “My dog didn’t die.”
– Klay Thompson’s brother Trayce hit a home run that literally never came down. But Klay a gave an estimated distance on Trayce’s bomb:
Cool moment: Klay Thompson ends post-game presser w/shoutout to his brother: “Anybody see that Trayce Thompson HR tonight? It went 550 feet” — Bill Reiter (@sportsreiter) May 4, 2016
– It’s never too early to look ahead: Eric Galko takes a look at 10 players who could go No. 1 overall in the 2017 NFL Draft.
– Joe Lucia writes how Pablo Sandoval’s long-term contract is another ill-advised third baseman signing.
– Angels rookie Ji-Man Choi claims he felt a ghost at the team’s hotel in Milwaukee.
– Someone built a real-life Batmobile and used it at the Gumball 3000 race.
– Failed candidate Ted Cruz elbows wife in face.
– Another Cosmo Kramer/Jackie Chiles-esque story: Starbucks is being sued for putting too much ice in drinks.
One last breath of gratuitous procrastination
Now this is how you make an entrance (or I guess an exit in terms of the balloon).