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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Market: Both teams to score and over 2.5 goals
Odds:
Two of Europe s heavyweights meet in Saint Petersburg as France and Belgium go head to head for a place in the World Cup final.
Starting with Didier Deschamps France side, although they may have started this summers World Cup finals slowly, the 2016 European finalists have improved with each round and after putting two past a Uruguay side who had only conceded one in their last eight, Les Bleus find their confidence at a high. While France have scored six in their last two and have kept three clean sheets in their last four, The Bleus did ship three against Argentina and backing both teams to score and over 2.5 goals seems like the most logical bet here. One man to watch for France is 19-year-old sensation K…
According to Mundo Deportivo, Chelsea have set a huge asking price for as continue their pursuit of the Brazilian. The 29-year-old attacking midfielder has been one of the Blues stand-out players over the course of his five-year tenure with the club, and now, he s attracting the attention of arguably one of the biggest clubs in world football.
Alas, it s a deal that may not end up coming to fruition, with Chelsea deciding to place an €80 million price tag on his shoulders. The report suggests that Barca aren t willing to pay that kind of fee for a player approaching his 30th birthday, which could wind up being the key to Willian staying put for at least another season.
Chelsea, who are in the midst of a managerial dilemma that could go on for at least another few we…
Rusty Ivory Coast face angry Algeria at Chiazi Stadium on Sunday with an Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals place at stake.
An Ivorian Elephants squad boasting stars like Didier Drogba and brothers Kolo and Yara Toure are fancied to defeat the star-less Algerian Desert Foxes in the second quarter-final of the biennial African football showpiece.
Tradition also tilts toward the west Africans, who have won four of five matches at this stage while Algeria have lost all three, ahead of a game that sees two of the five African qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup square off.
Ivory Coast also shade previous clashes between the countries, winning two, losing one while the 1988 clash was drawn 1-1 in Morocco where Ivory Coast suffered the agony of being ousted by a draw of …
Franck Ribery has been ruled out of France s World Cup qualifying matches against Austria and the Faroe Islands due to tendinitis in his left knee, the country s coaching set-up announced on Monday.
The Bayern Munich winger was ruled out of both matches after being seen by a specialist. No replacement has yet been named.
Ribery played from the start for Bayern against Cologne in the Bundesliga on Saturday but failed to shine in a drab 0-0 draw.
It was his second consecutive league start for the Bavarian giants after an injury-disrupted start to the season but he felt pain in his knee following s the club s goalless draw at home to Juventus in the Champions League last Wednesday.
Having been strongly linked with a move to Real Madrid in the summer, Ribery…
David Moyes has paid tribute to Howard Kendall after the Everton great died at the age of 69.
Kendall starred as a player at Goodison Park, winning the First Division title in 1970 as part of an acclaimed line-up featuring Colin Harvey and Alan Ball.
He surpassed those feats during the first of three spells as Everton manager between 1981 and 1987, when he won the league title twice and guided them to glory in the FA Cup and European Cup Winners Cup – achievements that Moyes believes establish him as the Merseyside club s greatest tactician.
Real Sociedad coach Moyes managed Everton between 2002 and 2013 and revealed that Kendall served as a mentoring figure to him throughout his time in charge.
I’m really saddened to learn of the death of Howa…
Stoke City have signed Wales international Ashley Williams on a season-long loan from Everton.
Williams, 33, joined Everton from Swansea City for a reported fee of £12million in 2016, having helped Wales reach the semi-finals of Euro 2016.
The centre-back, rumoured to be a long-term target for Arsenal during his time with the Swans, will be tasked with helping Stoke return to the top flight after their relegation from the Premier League last season.
The arrival of Williams follows the permanent signing of Oghenekaro Etebo, Tom Ince, Adam Federici and James McClean, while Benik Afobe has also moved to Stoke on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers.
We have two very good senior central defenders in Ryan Shawcross and Bruno Martins Indi but I felt it was impo…
Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson has been named Vanarama National League manager of the season.
But Wrexham striker Paul Mullin, who scored 47 goals in all competitions, lost out on the player of the season award to Macaulay Langstaff.
Notts County striker Langstaff scored 42 National League goals – four more than Mullin – as Luke Williams’ side finished four points short of champions Wrexham’s record total of 111.
Parkinson steered Wrexham over the line amid the fierce spotlight on the Welsh club because of their Hollywood star owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.
Phil Parkinson scoops the Manager of the Season award with Macaulay Langstaff named Player of the Season |
— The National League (@TheVanaramaNL)
Wrexham missed out…
Market: Atletico Madrid win
Odds: 4/11 @
Looking to extend on what has been a real domestic romp, Atletico Madrid will make the trip to an already-relegated Elche on Sunday afternoon.
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Manchester City travel to Newcastle United on Sunday eyeing a win that would move them to the top of the Premier League.
City, who sit second ahead of Saturday s fixtures, have an outstanding record against Newcastle in recent times, their last defeat coming in 2005 at St James Park when a goal from Michael Owen gave the Tyneside club a 1-0 win.
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Manuel Pellegrini got his reign at the Etihad Stadium off to a flying start with a 4-0 home victory over Alan Pardew s side in his first game in charge, although the 2011-12 Premier League champions were made to work harder for a 2-0 League Cup triumph at Newc…
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One of those forwards, Rickie Lambert, as failed to impress at Anfield and is now set to be used as a makeweight in a potential deal for Benteke.
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