Before this series, if you’d asked most people who would advance to the NBA Finals between the Lakers and their nameless opponents, they would have responded with a rhetorical question. “Do you know who they’re playing?” Not literally. The Denver Nuggets aren’t in witness protection, but just a few days ago the hubris of picking them over LeBron and Anthony Davis in the Conference Finals would have been astounding. It’s never wise to doubt LeBron James, especially when his opponents are lambs for slaughter. To the outside world, the Denver Nuggets are the same team L.A. swept in The Bubble. Since then, they’ve been swept in the postseason by Phoenix and manhandled by the Warriors in six. The Lakers, however, were the real apple of everyone’s playoff eye. They just dismantled the defending champions in six games through an authoritative performance by Davis. A Celtics and Lakers Finals was written in the stars. LeBron James has been tormented and been the tormentor of the Celtics for 15 years. Boston ended his first Cleveland reign. LeBron James ended the Celtics run in a 2012 series that was so profound, it birthed the LeBron death stare. A week later, the storyline is still about the disbelief over Denver sonning LeBron, and Company like it’s 2007 all over again. One second, L.A. was the hottest story in the West, AD was sentencing the Warriors to six games in Alcatraz, and the Nuggets were perceived to be shrinking violets. A week later, Denver has those Lakers buried in an 0-3 hole. Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. From Ferris Bueller’s lips to God’s ears. The Nuggets are the extinction-level event nobody saw coming — at least before the season. Despite losing one of the league’s top talent evaluators to Minnesota, the Nuggets lineup made some upholstery changes and returned Michael Porter Jr., Jamal Murray, and a spoonful of role players, which gave Jokic the room to decide which version best fit what the Nuggets needed on a nightly basis. If you still doubted them after they tore the Phoenix Suns to shreds, that’s on you. Nobody was a more invisible force within the NBA’s attention economy than Denver and Murray as the inconspicuous hand helping Jokic lift their transcendent offense. Murray is a fireball when he gets going, but the jury was still out on whether a fringe All-Star would swing the odds dramatically for Denver. Small market, big team In Game 3, Murray might as well have been invisible as he exploded for 30 at the half before anyone noticed the pyromaniac lighting up the Crypto Arena scoreboard. How did the number one defense in the NBA allow the Nuggets to beat them? Sacramento had the best offensive rating in league history and all the focus on Denver centered on the MVP race and which boxers he was wearing on a nightly basis. But the Nuggets’ has translated as the NBA’s best in the postseason by a significant margin. It’s easy to overlook the Nuggets. Being neglected by the media is the Western Conference No. 1 seed’s primary personality trait. The only glimpse of Jokic off a basketball court we’ve ever seen was the horse stable he was staying on when he was presented with his second MVP. He rarely emotes in front of the media and his visibility in terms of shoe deals and endorsements is practically nil. Being overlooked so ingrained in Nuggets culture, it spreads through osmosis, and I was distracted by a more compelling discussion about the Lakers’ shortcomings a couple grafs up. Throughout this series, the leading storylines have been LeBron’s foot giving out on him often enough that the Lakers should look into securing him a LifeAlert sponsorship as a precaution, Austin Reaves’ Court Cobain swag, or Rui Hachimura switching onto Jokic being what decides the series for Los Angeles — after they lost Game 1. The Nuggets might as well have been the camera crew shooting the game. Porter’s low assist rate has always been a pockmark, but in Game 3, he set a new career-high in assists. As a result of the media blackout surrounding Denver, the NBA is just now discovering the brilliance that is Swiss knife Bruce Brown. The 6-4 Brown has periodically roamed between point guard and power forward. He’s the inverse of Denver’s point guard in an amorphous center’s body. Brown is a pure point guard with a 90s power forward’s tenacity. He’s just as likely to be the roll man in pick-and-rolls as he is to be the ball-handler. Last season in Brooklyn, Brown scored 68 percent of his shots in the paint, and 15 percent from beyond the arc. In Denver, Brown’s seen an uptick in his perimeter usage, taking 22 percent of his shots behind the arc, and shooting 58 percent in the paint. In Game 3, he became the first bench player with 15/5/5 points, rebounds, and assist splits coming off the bench since Andre Iguodala in the 2015 Finals. Originally thought to be a 3-and-D wing, Brown took most of the minutes the diminutive Monte Morris left behind, and has fleshed out their defensive circulatory system. We probably should have seen this coming. It doesn’t take extensive deep dives to notice the Lakers were a surging play-in team while the Nuggets won 53 games. That would only be good enough for fourth in the East though, but the Nuggets have few flaws. Their defense was below championship-caliber standards for much of the season In the first 27 games of the season, they were third-worst in points allowed per 100 possessions. Through the final two-thirds of the season they ranked sixth, but never shook the perception of being a raggedy defensive team. Armed with potent offensive artillery and a dethroned MVP, the Nuggets are on the verge of finally seizing the narrative. Follow DJ Dunson on Twitter: @ cerebralsportex Relatedtop football betting sitestop nfl betting sitescollege football wagersbetting sites for nbalegal mlb betting sitesbetting on nhl gamesbest ufc sportsbooksbetting soccer onlinecopa america betting
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Two sides who have endured a somewhat rollercoaster season so far this season go head-to-head on Sunday as Arsenal and Everton clash at the Emirates Stadium.
Both teams have changed managerthroughout the course of the campaign and have enjoyed slight recoveries under Mikel Arteta and Carlo Ancelotti. As a result, they are now on the coat tails of the European places so a victory could be a huge morale boost.
Arsenal
Whilst the Gunners are still yet to totally to convince under their former midfielder, they are in good form as of late. They have not actually lost a game in any competition since their 2-1 reverse at the hands of Chelsea in December. As a matter of fact, following their 4-…
How much will it take to retain the services of Kylian Mbappe?
Paris Saint-Germain are desperate to ward off Real Madrid, who want to bring Mbappe to the Santiago Bernabeu.
A huge contract offer is reportedly on the horizon in Paris.
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Paris Saint-Germain have offered superstar Kylian Mbappe a five-year contract worth €32million per year amid interest from Real Madrid, according to journalist Nicolo Schira.
LaLiga giants Madrid are reportedly ready to go all out for Mbappe at the end of the season – head coach Zinedine Zidane desperate to work with his fellow Frenchman.
Amid doubts over Neymar s future in Paris as LaLiga champions Barcelona continue to be linked with a re…
Kalvin Phillips has revealed his loan move to West Ham ends a near two-year long pursuit by manager David Moyes.
The England midfielder has joined the Hammers for the remainder of the season after struggling for game time at Manchester City.
The 28-year-old has made just two Premier League starts for Pep Guardiola’s side since moving to the Etihad Stadium from Leeds in a £42million deal in the summer of 2022.
Phillips completed the move on Friday after West Ham rekindled an interest they first showed when he left Leeds.
Phillips told the club’s Iron Cast podcast: “I’m delighted. I was in Abu Dhabi with City, a warm-weather training camp, and all I could think about was getting a loan sorted.
“I spoke to ‘Moyesy’ over the phone while…
Mauricio Pochettino insisted the best team lost in the Trophee des Champions as Jocelyn Gourvennec dealt the first psychological blow of the 2021-22 campaign to collect Lille s first ever triumph in the competition.
Pochettino s men failed to secure a third domestic trophy of his tenure as they succumbed to a second straight 1-0 defeat against Lille, a result which ended PSG s eight-year reign in the Trophee des Champions.
PSG have enjoyed a productive transfer window, bringing in Gianluigi Donnarumma, Sergio Ramos, Achraf Hakimi and Georginio Wijnaldum, though only the latter two were able to feature on Sunday.
I think we were the best team on the pitch tonight, Pochettino said after the final loss. But we failed to realize our opportunities, and to win in foot…
According to a recent report from Tuttosport, Gonzalo Higuain is set to meet with Chelsea representatives regarding securing a deal that would bring him to Stamford Bridge. The Argentine forward is currently in Saudi Arabia preparing for the Italian Supercoppa, and the general belief is that the Blues’ representatives will meet him in Jeddah prior to the game. The rumours surrounding Higuain moving to Chelsea have been ongoing since the summer, but courtesy of his loan move to AC Milan, it seemed as if it was off the table.
The 31 year old, who has been playing for the Argentina national team since way back in 2009, has been with Milan since 2018 when he joined on loan from Juventus. Alas, while he’s had success over in Italy, many have wondered what would happen if he did …
New Crystal Palace boss Oliver Glasner warned he was “no magician” as he prepares for his first game in charge of the relegation-threatened side.
While there will no doubt be changes coming at Selhurst Park, the Austrian’s message in his first press conference at times echoed his predecessor Roy Hodgson who, in the weeks leading up to his departure last Thursday, liked to remind critics that he did not have a “magic wand.”
Glasner, who led Eintracht Frankfurt to Europa League glory in 2022, takes over a Palace side five points clear of the relegation zone and 12 ahead of Saturday’s opponents Burnley, still missing a trio of their most influential players, and in recent weeks playing in front of an increasingly disillusioned fanbase.
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Inter have named the same starting XI that thrashed Shakhtar Donetsk for Friday s Europa League final with Sevilla, who have rewarded Luuk de Jong with a start after his late heroics in the semi-finals.
Antonio Conte s men crushed Shakhtar 5-0 on Monday to secure their passage to the final in emphatic fashion.
Lautaro Martinez and Romelu Lukaku – who scored four of the five goals between them last time – lead the line, while Danilo D Ambrosio lines up on the right having netted the other goal on Monday.
Victory for Inter will see them claim their first title since 2011.
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Here s your Nerazzurri team for the !
— Inter (@Inter_en)
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A defiant Massimiliano Allegri defended his record with Juventus after again failing to deliver Champions League glory.
Ajax s sparkling 2-1 win in Turin on Tuesday ended Juve s campaign at the quarter-final stage for the second straight season.
Cristiano Ronaldo opened the scoring, but goals either side of half-time from Donny van de Beek and Matthijs de Ligt inflicted a shock 3-2 aggregate defeat on the Bianconeri and extended the Serie A side s 23-year wait for a third European crown.
Former AC Milan boss Allegri has now had five unsuccessful attempts at ending the drought, the latest having been billed as a major opportunity following the recruitment of Ronaldo from reigning champions Real Madrid.
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Barcelona are interested in signing Joao Pedro from Brighton and Hove Albion in the summer transfer window, according to . The report has claimed that Barcelona, who won the La Liga title last season, have been in touch with the entourage of the winger and are keen on bringing him to the club for next season and beyond.
Pedro has been on the books of Brighton since the summer of 2023 when he joined from Watford. The 22-year-old Brazil international winger has been superb for the Seagulls so far this season. He has made 12 starts and 11 substitute appearances in the Premier League this campaign, scoring eight goals and providing two assists in those games.
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Mesut Ozil has completed a move to Fenerbahce after negotiating his departure from Arsenal.
World Cup winner Ozil, once Arsenal s record signing, had been excluded from Mikel Arteta s first-team plans this season and departs after seven and a half years with the Premier League club.
The former Germany midfielder was under contract until the end of the current campaign but reached an agreement for an early termination, clearing him to sign elsewhere.
Fener have now confirmed the arrival of Ozil, with Arsenal announcing the playmaker s departure on their official website.
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