Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.
— Oscar Wilde.
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Lakers edge out Clippers in Battle for LA
The Lakers defeated the Clippers in a convincing win on Sunday for the first time this season.
Debate over which is the superior Los Angeles NBA team has dominated the league for much of this season. The Lakers currently hold the top overall seed in the West with the Clippers in second place.
A 112-103 Lakers win widened the gap between the two teams, though.
To no one’s surprise, Anthony Davis, LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George led their teams in scoring. The two dominant duos each combined for 58 points (James scored 28, Davis scored 30, Leonard scored 27 and George scored 31).
The Clippers had won their past six games heading into the contest on Sunday. The Lakers had just knocked off the top team in the NBA on Friday in the Milwaukee Bucks and the reigning MVP in Giannis Antetokounmpo and with the win over the Clippers, they defeated their two primary competitors for the Larry O’Brien Trophy in June.
It’s expected for the Lakers to lean on Davis and James for the bulk of their offense, but Avery Bradley delivered a surprise 24 points, thanks to six three-pointers. The Clippers hit just seven threes in the entire game and were held below 40% shooting from the field in the loss.
The Clippers are widely recognized as having one of the deepest teams in the league, and that showed with their bench contributing 37 points, led by Montrezl Harrell’s 20 points. The Lakers’ bench had just 25 points, but the production from the starters and Bradley’s hot shooting night was enough to down the Clippers. Lou Williams, who averages 18.8 points per game, had just seven in the contest.
The Clippers still lead the season series 2-1. The Lakers can ensure that the series is split even when the teams meet again on April 9, or the Clippers can take the season series.
Either way, a postseason matchup between the two LA teams is looking more and more likely.
Game Preview for Portland Trailblazers vs. New Orleans Pelicans.
Portland has a slightly extended All-Star Break that will benefit the injured Damian Lillard.
Lillard, who was named to his fifth All-Star game, did not participate in the weekend festivities, besides performing as Dame D.O.L.L.A. in Chicago.
The eighth-year guard has a right groin strain and is expected to miss 1-2 weeks, Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes reports, which means he could be good to go when the Trailblazers host the Pelicans Friday at home at 7:30 PST on national television.
Portland (25-31) is currently four games out of eighth place in the West and is No. 9 seed. The Memphis Grizzlies hold that final playoff spot as of now. New Orleans (23-32), on the other hand, is in 11th place but has been surging since Zion Williamson joined the team a few weeks ago. The rookie forward is averaging 22.1 points on 58 percent shooting to go with 7.5 rebounds per game.
New Orleans is 6-5 since Williamson joined the young core of Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and Lonzo Ball that the team got in return for Anthony Davis in a blockbuster summer trade. Ingram’s 24.9 points per game leads the team, while Lonzo Ball’s 6.7 assists per game also top the Pelicans.
If Lillard is to miss significant time with his groin injury, it would sideline the player with the most momentum heading into the All-Star Game. He is averaging nearly 38 points per game over his last 12 games. Portland is 7-5 in that stretch, which has seen Lillard explode for 50 or more points three times.
His return will be important for Portland’s second-half campaign. The Trailblazers have made six straight playoff appearances, but that streak is currently in doubt.
Portland will be forced to lean on guard C.J. McCollum (21.3 points per game) in Lillard’s potential absence.
(Photo via Bleacher Report)
Trailblazers upcoming schedule:
- 2/21 vs. New Orleans at 7:30 p.m. PST
- 2/23 vs. Detroit at 6 p.m PST
- 2/25 vs. Boston 7 p.m. PST
- 2/27 @ Atlanta 5 p.m. PST
- 2/29 @ Indiana 4:30 p.m. PST
From Coral Springs to Tallahassee: Levy’s passion for basketball has never faded
Julian Levy found peace in the solidarity that basketball sometimes offered. Though it’s a team sport, he appreciated the fact that he could practice it by himself and took to it early in life. He tried other sports that his brothers played as well, such as swimming and football, but they didn’t stick.
Basketball did.
Now a junior studying to do social work at Florida State University, Levy is a former four-year starter for the Coral Glades varsity basketball team and referees the game he so fervently played.
Levy said basketball came naturally for him when he was younger and he was often the best player on his teams.
“I would say that my knowledge of the game came pretty naturally,” he said. “I feel like I just have a feel for the game that you can’t really teach, that was just kind of innate, as far as decision making.”
However, as he grew older, he said his frame didn’t necessarily match up with those of his teammates and competitors. Because of this, he had to work harder in the gym to still compete at a high level.
“Physically, I definitely had to grind,” Levy said.
With a full-time course load, he doesn’t have the time to play the game as often as he did in the past. However, he still relishes how freeing it was to work on his craft with no one watching.
“When I would work out alone, I wasn’t afraid of messing up and I feel like that’s a big thing,” he said. “When you’re working out with other people you might be afraid to try a dribble move because you might dribble it out of bounds and think, ‘Ahh these guys think I suck,’ or you might airball a shot you haven’t taken yet. But when you’re alone, there’s just no fear.”
He wasn’t always playing alone, though.
At Coral Glades, he etched his name into the record books as the school’s all-time leading scorer, cracking the 1,000-point mark in his senior year.
A few weeks after that milestone, Levy was celebrated by his school at Senior Night. But what he remembers more than screaming fans is the reaction of his mom.
“After they called my name and I walked out with my mom and my brothers and we went over to the other side of the court, just hugging my mom I burst out into tears which doesn’t usually happen often,” he said. “But just that moment, she didn’t even say anything, but I just felt how proud she was of me, like beyond basketball but especially with basketball, just like how hard I worked, how much I went through and how I just stayed the course and never gave up on it.”
He said she was always his biggest fan and prides himself in resembling her resilience in his play on the court and his approach to all things in life.
Introduce Yourself (Example Post)
This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.
You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.
Why do this?
- Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
- Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.
The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.
To help you get started, here are a few questions:
- Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
- What topics do you think you’ll write about?
- Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
- If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?
You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.
Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.
When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.
Kyle's Sports Communication Blog 