Marcus Morris, moved into the Celtics’ starting lineup for Game 1 against the Cavaliers after eyebrow-raising boasts, was indeed effective at limiting the output of LeBron James.
The NBA’s best teams have reinvented themselves and turned popular ideas into myths.
Washington Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom was ruled out for the third straight playoff game because of an injury to his right hand and missed Game 2 of the East finals against Tampa Bay.
Nothing went right for Cleveland in its loss to Boston, but LeBron James has been here before. The question is, can he climb out again?
SportsPulse: USA TODAY Sports’ Jeff Zillgitt breaks down Boston’s dominant showing in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals and what Cleveland must do to bounce back in Game 2. BOSTON – Boston forward Marcus Morris not only wanted the challenge of guarding Cleveland superstar LeBron James,
Here are nine tidbits from the final round of the THE PLAYERS Championship that gamers can use tomorrow, this weekend or down the road. THE PLAYERS Stadium Course TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, has been the host since 1982 and plays 7,189 yards to a Par-72. Winner Webb For the first time in 107 starts on TOUR Webb Simpson is back in the winner’s circle. His final round 73 saw him post 18-under-par 270 to defeat a trio of chasers by four shots. The 2012 U.S. Open champion becomes the ninth player to win THE PLAYERS Championship and the national championship. Simpson’s record-setting seven-shot lead after 54 holes was never sliced to less than four as he meticulously navigated Pete Dye’s house of horrors. His worst golf of the day came on a three-hole stretch (Nos. 8-10) that saw him square two bogeys and give the field hope that a collapse just might be on the cards. Nope. He birdied both of the Par-5 holes on the back and not even a water ball on the last could make this interesting for the peloton. Simpson played the Par-5 holes in 13-under for the week and led the field in driving accuracy (46 of 56) and SG: putting. He holed just over 455 feet of putts on the week to claim his first top-10 in nine PLAYERS starts. His previous best finish was T16 last year so to say he’s figuring it out here is a huge understatement. In 11 starts in 2018 he’s now cashed T5 or better in five of them, including three of his last six. He held the 54-hole lead at Colonial last year, collected T8 at the Travelers and hit the podium at the Wyndham Championship in third alone. One of his daughter’s names is Wyndham in case you’re wondering where you might use him next. PGA TOUR Fantasy Game presented by SERVPRO top selections: Gamers watched in horror in the final round as Stenson couldn’t keep up, Spieth closed with a quad and Johnson couldn’t break par on a course with four Par-5 holes playing 7,013 yards. Nobody said this would be easy and this week never is. PGA TOUR One & Done presented by SERVPRO top selections: The only thing worse in this game besides a MC is burning a guy in a big event and he doesn’t fire. The brilliant front-runner Day continues to reinforce that winning fuels his fire instead of satisfying the need. He closed with bogey-free 68 and those who piled on this week were rewarded and will move up. Wrong Newcomer There wasn’t any argument that Bryson DeChambeau entered the week on fire with three top-four finishes in his last four starts and should have commanded attention in his maiden voyage. Instead it was Xander Schauffele who took home the honor, and major cash payment, as the best newcomer this week (T2). He’s collected top-10 finishes at Erin Hills, TPC Old White, East Lake GC, Riviera and now TPC Sawgrass in not even two full years on TOUR. He led the field in SG: tee to green and sand saves. Dy-No-Mite Gamers were leery entering the 2017-18 season as they saw Jimmy Walker deal with Lyme disease last year. The season-long and weekly investors have both been rewarded for their patience as he’s now rattled off nine of his last 10 weekends. On top of that he’s cashed four top-25 checks in a row with a pair of top 10’s. His T2 included a bogey-free 68 in the final round is his best finish at THE PLAYERS. #Play72 All eyes were on Tiger Woods-Jordan Spieth pairing Sunday after they both shot 65 in Round 3 to break into the top 10. Woods played his first 13 holes on Saturday in eight-under. He played his first 13 holes on Sunday six-under and was on the prowl. For the second round in a row he bogeyed No. 14 and the momentum died. He fell out of the top 10 with a double on No. 17, his first ball in the water in his last 13 events on that hole. There were plenty of positives to take but he’s not the finished article. … Charl Schwartzel rebounded from a tough 73 in Round 3 as he stormed home in 32 to T2. He only made six bogeys on the week and that play as resulted in three top-10 finishes on the bounce. Noted. Not yet. But it’s coming. New No. 1 Justin Thomas posted 68-66 on the weekend with the only blemish on the card to finish T11 and take over the No. 1 spot in the OWGR. He’ll never be happy with T11 but not too many guys have been No. 1 in the world so I think he’ll survive. Thomas will be bummed this event is moving to March as eight of his 15 rounds have been in red figures and his stroke average is 70.73. Johnson, who needed to beat Thomas and end up in the top 10, achieved neither as he ended T17. This season Johnson has a win, two seconds and two other top-10 paydays and is NO LONGER NO. 1?!?!?!?! Defending Champ Curse For the 36th time at TPC Sawgrass the defending champ went quietly into the good night. Only Adam Scott (T8, 2005) posted a top-10 finish in defending this century. Si Woo Kim opened with the best score of a defender with 67 on Thursday but faded playing his final three rounds three-over for T63. Sunday Silence I could have stuck Jordan Spieth in #Play72 above since his quad on the final hole knocked him from T17 to T41. I’m not sure which rounds I’ll remember most from the week, the 75 to open and 74 to close or 68-65 in the middle two rounds. … World No. 14 Tommy Fleetwood stuck all four rounds under-par for the week and finished T7. I don’t think I saw one shot of his on Sunday as he crept up the leaderboard while others faded away. Study Hall The final round scoring average was the lowest of the week at 70.014 as TPC Sawgrass played just 7,013 yards. The scoring average for the week was 71.275, almost a full shot under-par for the last May event, as the course was in all-time best condition according to many of the pros. … Brooks Koepka tied the course record (63) but couldn’t crack the top 10 (T11). His bogey-free round was one of four on Sunday. … Charles Howell III collected T17 for his first top 25 in 16 tries. … Bubba Watson’s form couldn’t carry through four rounds this week. His 68-71 was followed by 73-73 for T57.
BOSTON (AP) – LeBron James has made Boston’s TD Garden his personal playground during the playoffs in recent years. The Cleveland Cavaliers entered the Eastern Conference finals with a 9-3 record against the Celtics in games played at the Garden over the last four years, including six straight wins
Washington Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom was ruled out for the third straight playoff game because of an injury to his right hand and will miss Game 2 of the East finals against Tampa Bay.
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Rarely has a tie for 11th place provided such riveting theater. Showing flashes of the man who won THE PLAYERS Championship in 2001 and 2013, Tiger Woods made six birdies in his first 13 holes to get within four shots of front-runner Webb Simpson at TPC Sawgrass on Sunday. Alas, Woods went 3-over the rest of the way for a final-round 69 (T11) that he said was another giant leap forward in his continuing comeback. “I hit it so good,â€� Woods said. “It was nice. I had control of it from tee to green; I made some putts; I felt good on basically every facet of the game, and it’s weird; not to really mishit a shot today and only shoot 3-under par is just weird, because I played much better than that.â€� Woods went out in 32 and got to 14-under with his birdie at the 12th hole. He was in second, breathing down the neck of the leader Simpson. Could it be? In retrospect, there were several problems with this comeback scenario. Woods was too far back to start the day (11 shots), he was playing with Jordan Spieth (74, T41) and not Simpson, and he would have needed to make zero mistakes the entire day. That didn’t happen. Still, he was hugely encouraged after scores of 72-71-65-69. “It was just a matter of time,â€� Woods said, “and this weekend was it.â€� In retrospect, Woods would have needed to go 4-under for his last six holes to tie Simpson (73). Instead, Woods went the other way, dropping three strokes coming in. He spun his approach shot off the front of the 14th green and bogeyed the hole, which has vexed him for years. After a par at 15, he failed to birdie the par-5 16th hole, one of the easiest on the course. Woods finished with a double-bogey 5 at the 17th, where he misjudged the wind and hit his tee shot short in the water, and made par at the last. He hit 11 of 14 fairways for the second straight day, was 12 for 18 in greens in regulation, and took 27 putts. He ended the week T19 in strokes gained: putting, and was 14th in strokes gained: around-the-green. “He looks like the old Tiger,â€� said Tom Lehman, who was on hand for this PLAYERS and who played against Woods when the 79-time PGA TOUR winner was in his prime. Woods had finished second at the Valspar Championship earlier this season, but still considered his T11 performance at TPC Sawgrass a massive step in the right direction. “There’s no way I would have predicted I would be at this point the beginning of the year,â€� he said. “The way I was just coming back and just trying to get a feel for it and then hopefully have a schedule. Didn’t know. But now I feel like I’ve got my playing feels and I’m playing tournament golf and I’ve got it — I’m not that far off from winning golf tournaments.â€� As for where he goes from here, Woods said he’s aiming to try to qualify for the next World Golf Championships tournament, the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone South, Aug. 2-5. “This summer is — there are some big events to be played,â€� he said, “and one of my goals is to get into Akron, one last time, before we leave there. I’ve won there eight times and I would like to get there with one more chance. But I got to do some work between now and then, hopefully put together one good event.â€�
He has been sidelined since Game 5 of the second round.
