LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Jamal Murray sat down in his Jesus Shuttlesworth shorts, with a paper cup in hand and the Los Angeles Clippers in his pocket. Murray did not eliminate the favored Clippers by himself, but it sure felt that way. The Nuggets star is not a freak athlete. But he is a 6-foot-4 true point guard who can make shots from anywhere on the floor—and, as we have discovered in these playoffs, at any moment of the season.
Murray scored 40 points on 26 shots in Game 7. Clippers stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George combined for 24 points on 38 shots. These are not advanced stats, but they are how-you-advance stats.
The Nuggets came back from down 3–1 for the second straight series to make the Western Conference finals. They won Game 7, 104–89. The Clippers lost in the second round again. People will say they Clippers are failures (let’s go with “disappointment”) or mercenaries (who isn’t?), but they can still represent Los Angeles by doing what Los Angeles residents do: Watch the Lakers in the playoffs.
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
The difference in this series?
Murray: “A lot of times it’s about trust. Coach (Michael Malone) has given us a lot more trust to run the offense. As long as we play defense, we can do whatever we want on offense. It’s all about trust.”
Clippers coach Doc Rivers: “We start missing shots and you can see us trusting less and less and less.”
Clippers guard Lou Williams: “A lot of the issues that we ran into, talent bailed us out. Chemistry didn’t.”
Murray: “It’s fun to silence everyone talking negative about us.”
Paul George: (Checks Damian Lillard’s Twitter feed, weeps.)
For Murray, this was not a hot night or a hot series; it is how he plays. Murray played at least as well in the epic seven-gamer against the Jazz in the first round. He is a star, a foundational player, the kind every team seeks. The Clippers put George, one of the great wing defenders in the league, on Murray, and he kept hitting shots. The Clippers then started doubling Murray off every ball screen, to force the ball out of his hands; it worked, in the sense that they got the ball out of his hands, but there is a risk to doing that. Other players were open, and the Nuggets took advantage.
The Clippers appeared to have the most talented team in the league, they were title favorites, and they lost in the second round. Also, they are the Clippers. Together, this makes them an easy punchline. George lost early again. Rivers lost in the second round again. All true. They will hear it. They have no choice.
But their failure is not as simple as people will make it out to be. Look, if there was one thing everybody could agree on with the Clippers, it’s that Leonard is a clutch superstar. This is the guy who led two franchises to championships, who won Finals MVP against LeBron James’s Heat and the dynasty Warriors. As Rivers said Monday: There is never a guarantee somebody will play well, but with Kawhi, you know the moment will not be too big for him.
Well, with his season on the line, Kawhi Leonard shot 6-for 22, scored 14 points and was minus-21—the worst mark of anybody on the floor.
Did Leonard become a choker now as soon as he put on Clippers gear? Of course not.
The Clippers were never right. They never peaked. Before the pandemic, there was not much urgency. After the pandemic, there was chaos. Williams left the bubble for a funeral, which became a story when he got caught getting chicken wings at a strip club. Paul George admitted the bubble was wearing him down mentally (he isn’t alone there) and it took him a while to play like the star he is.
“Our guys missed a lot of the bubble,” Rivers said “(Montrezl Harrell) missed 30 days, Lou 14, Pat (Beverley) 16. Some of that came back and haunted us.”
To understand how wild this series was—and, really, how wild the bubble playoffs are—consider this: Murray said when the Nuggets trailed the series 3–1, he still felt they had the better team. Rivers said when the Clippers led 3–1, he knew his team wasn’t right.
“I was never comfortable,” Rivers said. “I just wasn’t. I just knew, conditioning-wise we had guys that just couldn’t play minutes, and that’s hard. Two and three times a night, we start getting it going and guys had to come out. So no, I was never comfortable. I can tell you that up front.”
In Game 7, Rivers had to take guys out because they were tired. As he said, “That’s not typical for Game 7.” But they asked out. What could he do?
Yes, every team had to deal with the bubble, and the Nuggets lost guard Will Barton to an injured knee. But the Clippers only signed Leonard and traded for George last summer. They had no foundation.
We often overstate our ability to read athletes’ minds, but it’s easier in basketball than in most sports. You could see it in the second half of this game: The Clippers didn’t really believe in the way a team needs to believe to win a Game 7. Everything was a little off. JaMychal Green drove in for a monster dunk, the kind that usually brings a crowd to its feet. But there was no crowd. He missed. George fetched the long rebound but then he passed into the stands. Williams drove in for a layup. He looked like he was bracing for a taller player to fly in and block it. Nobody did. The shot bounced around the rim and away. Then Murray hit a three-pointer.
Beverley turned around when a fast break didn’t develop and passed to George, who fired up an open three-pointer that rimmed out.
They looked like they had installed their offense that morning. Some of that was probably just fatigue. Some was that they just didn’t have the time together that they needed. It is weird to say that the more experienced team won this series, but that was how it looked. Murray is only 23, but he has been training for this his whole life, and he has been playing with fellow star Nikola Jokic for four seasons. When they barely missed the playoffs at the end of the 2018 season, Leonard was a San Antonio Spur. George had completed his first season with Oklahoma City.
With more than a minute left, Nuggets president Tim Connelly left his seat to head toward his team’s locker room. “Tim!” somebody called from behind. It was Clippers president Lawrence Frank, stopping Connelly to congratulate him. It was a nice gesture. Frank put together a great roster. Connelly put together a great team.
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Lamar Jackson threw for 281 yards and five touchdowns, helping the Baltimore Ravens overcome an early double-digit deficit and extend their National Football League winning streak to five games with a 41-31 victory Monday night over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who lost their top two receivers to injuries.
The two-time NFL MVP improved to 23-1 against NFC teams, the best mark by a quarterback against an opposing conference in NFL history. He’s 3-0 against the Bucs (4-3), who faded after taking a 10-0 lead with help from the 100th TD reception of Mike Evans’ career.
Evans departed with a hamstring injury after Baker Mayfield tried to connect with him in the end zone again, and late in the fourth quarter with the game out of reach, leading Bucs receiver Chris Godwin was carted off the field with a left ankle injury. ESPN declined to show replays of Godwin’s injury, which appeared to be severe.
Jackson completed 17 of 22 passes without an interception, including TD throws of nine and four yards to Mark Andrews. He also tossed scoring passes of 49 yards to Rashod Bateman, 18 yards to Justice Hill and 11 yards to Derrick Henry, who rushed for 169 yards on 15 carries. Bateman had four catches for 121 yards.
The Ravens (5-2) rebounded from a slow start on defence, with cornerback Marlon Humphrey turning the game around with a pair of second-quarter interceptions — one of them in the Baltimore end zone. Jackson led a four-play, 80-yard TD drive after the first pick, and the second interception set up Justin Tucker’s 28-yard field goal for a 17-10 halftime lead.
Elsewhere in the NFL:
—
CARDINALS 17 CHARGERS 15
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Kyler Murray ran for a 44-yard touchdown and led the Cardinals on a drive that set up Chad Ryland’s 32-yard field goal as time expired, and Arizona rallied for a win over Los Angeles.
Cameron Dicker kicked his fifth field goal of the night — this one from 40 yards — to give the Chargers a 15-14 lead with 1:54 left. But the Cardinals (3-4) quickly moved into field goal range, aided by an unnecessary roughness call on Cam Hart that cost Los Angeles (3-3) 15 yards.
Arizona followed that with a bruising 33-yard run by James Conner, who finished with 101 yards on the ground. That eventually set up Ryland’s short field goal and a Cardinals celebration.
It was a frustrating night for the Chargers’ offence, which gained 395 yards but couldn’t find the end zone. Justin Herbert completed 27 of 39 passes for 349 yards.
Dicker booted field goals of 59, 50, 28, 47 and 40 yards, the first of which tied a franchise record for distance.
Murray ran for a spectacular touchdown early in the fourth quarter, rolling to his left before turning on the jets, beating safety Junior Colston to the sideline and then coasting into the end zone for a 14-9 lead.
It was Murray’s second long touchdown run in three weeks after he scored on a 50-yard sprint against San Francisco. It was also Murray’s 20th career game with a touchdown pass and run.
Murray completed 14 of 26 passes for 145 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Whitecaps have been here before — literally and figuratively.
With the season hanging in the balance, the ‘Caps were dealt a blow last week when the club learned it wouldn’t be able to play a post-season wild-card game in its home stadium, B.C. Place, due to a scheduling conflict.
The Whitecaps ceded home field advantage to their regional rival, the Portland Timbers. The two clubs will battle for the final playoff spot in Major League Soccer’s Western Conference in Oregon on Wednesday.
The winner will face No. 1-seed Los Angeles FC in a best-of-three first-round series, starting Sunday.
An unforeseen hurdle like a change of venues is nothing new for the ‘Caps, said defender Ranko Veselinovic, who was part of the team that was forced to relocate first to Portland, then Utah during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It feels that always something happens for us, but it is what it is. So far, we’ve managed to always find solutions for those situations,” said the Serbian centre back. “But I hope this team can find it one more time, because we need it this time. And it will be a really nice feeling in those circumstances to go in, win and go face L.A. in the next round.”
Vancouver (13-13-8) heads into the post-season winless in its last seven MLS games and with losses in four straight after dropping a 2-1 road decision to Real Salt Lake on Saturday.
The skid followed a run that saw the club go 4-1-3 across all competitions between late August and late September.
There’s just one way to return to that level, said Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini.
“The work is the only way to do it. Try to put the work in and try to put the team in a way that they’re going to regain the form and the way that they were in the past,” he said.
Despite the final score, Sartini has seen positives in the way his team played in its two most recent losses.
“I think already we turned the corner,” he said. “And we start from there to build and build and build.”
Facing challenges together can help a team build, whether it’s a winless skid or an unexpected hurdle, said Vancouver’s captain Ryan Gauld.
“When you’re going through adversity, that’s when people start to raise their voice a little bit. You get good when the problems arise, you get a lot of people coming together to make sure we get out of it,” said the Scottish attacking midfielder.
“And we’ve had a tough time the last few games, but everyone’s aware of the fact that we’re a much better team than we’ve shown, and we need to find a way to get back to doing what we’re good at.”
The ‘Caps face a familiar foe in the Timbers (12-11-11).
The two sides have already met three times this season, with each coming out of the series with a win, a loss and a draw.
Portland has also struggled in recent weeks and are winless in their last five MLS outings (0-1-4).
The Timbers boast one of the league’s top offensive units, though, with threats such as Evander. The Brazilian midfielder notched 15 goals and 19 assists during the regular season.
To earn a win on Wednesday, the Whitecaps must be solid defensively, Gauld said.
“They must be one of the best attacks in the league. They have a lot of good players, and they can hurt you if you switch off,” he said. “So just being concentrated from the first whistle, and just being hard to beat, being stuffy. Just being on it for the full 90 minutes.”
A victory in the wild-card match would guarantee Vancouver at least one home playoff game, a factor that Sartini said would be a big reward for his group.
The entire team relished the experience of playing post-season soccer in front of more than 30,000 fans last year, the coach said, and the desire to repeat the feat is high as the club heads to Portland.
“Everyone is happy to be in the playoffs. So we don’t have to be moody to be in the playoff. And we go in there, we’re play one of our rivals. So it’s gonna be a nice game to show up and to play our best game possible.”
VANCOUVER WHITECAPS (13-13-8) AT PORTLAND TIMBERS (12-11-11)
Wednesday, Providence Park
HISTORY BOOKS: This will mark the seventh all-time post-season meeting between the Timbers and ‘Caps, dating back to 1975. The last time the two clubs squared off in a playoff game was during the Western Conference semifinal in 2015. Portland won the two-game aggregate series and went on to hoist the MLS Cup.
ROAD WARRIORS: The ‘Caps boasted a 7-6-4 record on the road during regular-season play — better than the 6-7-4 showing they posted at B.C. Place.
POST-SEASON PARTY: Wednesday will mark the first time the Timbers have hosted a post-season game since 2021.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.
GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Scotland conceived rugby sevens in the 1880s yet it will not feature in the scaled-back 2026 Commonwealth Games hosted by Glasgow.
Other sports that have also been dropped include field hockey, triathlon, badminton, Twenty20 cricket, squash, and diving.
The Games will have a 10-sport program in four venues. Athletics and swimming are compulsory while there will also be track cycling, gymnastics, netball, weightlifting, boxing, judo, bowls and 3×3 basketball.
There will also be integrated para events in six of those sports: Athletics, swimming, track cycling, weightlifting, bowls and basketball.
The Games will take place from July 23-Aug. 2 after Glasgow stepped in when the Australian state of Victoria withdrew last year because of rising costs.
It was not easy to decide which sports to include, Commonwealth Games Scotland chairman Ian Reid told the BBC on Tuesday.
“I think everybody recognises that these events need to be more affordable, lighter and we would have loved to have all of our sports and all of our athletes competing but unfortunately it’s just not deliverable or affordable for this time frame,” Reid said.
Athletes and support staff will be housed in hotels. Around 3,000 athletes are expected to compete from up to 74 Commonwealth nations and territories representing a combined total of 2.5 billion people, a third of the world’s entire population.
More than 500,000 tickets made available for spectators.
The Commonwealth Games Federation chief executive Katie Sadleir said: “The 2026 Games will be a bridge to the Commonwealth Games of tomorrow, an exciting first step in our journey to reset and redefine the Games as a truly collaborative, flexible and sustainable model for the future that minimises costs, reduces the environmental footprint, and enhances social impact. In doing so, increasing the scope of countries capable of hosting.”
Glasgow hosted the event in 2014 at a cost of more than 540 million pounds.
