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Posts tagged as “Playoffs”

WNBA to change Game Format of Playoffs and Finals of 2025 Season

October 12, 2024

WNBA just announcedx that they will change the game format of First Round of the WNBA Playoffs and the WNBA Finals.

The league said “the WNBA Board of Governors has approved a new, best-of-seven format for the WNBA Finals presented by YouTube TV, effective with the 2025 season, replacing the best-of-five format. The Board has also approved a 1-1-1 setup for the best-of-three First Round of the WNBA Playoffs presented by Google, with the higher seed hosting Games 1 and 3 and its opponent hosting Game 2 – a change from the higher seed hosting Games 1 and 2 and its opponent hosting Game 3.”

Currently, the First Round of the WNBA Playoffs is 2-1. From a financial perspective, the current 2-1 format benefits the higher-seeded team. This is because they host the entire first round, assuming they sweep the series. This gives them an advantage in ticket sales, broadcast revenue, and other game-related income.

A good example, is the first round series between the Connecticut Sun and the Indiana Fever. The Fever got swept in the series, since the first two games was hosted by the Sun, both games got an attendance of total of 17,820. If there was at least 1 game being played in Indiana, them being the most popular team because of Caitlin Clark, we can assume that the attendance will be similar to their last home game in the regular season, with an attendance of 17,274.

The WNBA announced an increase in regular-season games to 44 per team starting next season, up from 40 games in the past two seasons. This is to accommodate the addition of the Golden State Valkyries as the league’s 13th franchise. Each WNBA Teams have played 40 regular-season games in each of the last two seasons.

“We are seeing an incredible demand for WNBA basketball, as reflected in the number of cities pursuing expansion franchises, fans attending games and engaging with our social and digital platforms in record fashion, and game broadcasts and streams being consumed like never before,” said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. “The incredible demand for WNBA basketball makes this the ideal time to increase the regular season to 44 games per team and expand the WNBA Finals presented by YouTube TV to a best-of-seven series,” said WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert. “These changes will create more opportunities to watch the best players in the world compete at the highest level and give our fans a championship series format that they are accustomed to seeing in other sports.”

Lakers takes series lead 3 – 1, behind 4th Qtr Career Game from Lonnie Walker IV

May 9, 2023

The Los Angeles Lakers are in full control of the series putting the Golden State Warriors on the brink of elimination and spoiling Curry’s triple-double, this is his third career in the postseason.

It was a close game even in the closing minutes and despite a monster game from Anthony Davis and Lebron James, the LA Lakers needed a career 4th qtr game from Lonnie Walker IV, who took control of the 4th qtr. The Warriors did not have any answer to Walker’s drives and jumpers, he even made a 3-pts at one point in the 4th. Walker scored all his 15 points in the 4th quarter, he also made grabbed 3 rebs and dished 2 assists.

Anthony Davis contributed scored 23 pts, 15 rebs and 3 steals. Lebron chipped in 27 points, 9 rebs and 6 assists but was -8 in the plus/minus column. James did made 2 crucial free throws that gave the Lakers a 3 point lead with just 1 mins 19 seconds remaining in the game.

On the Golden State side, it was just Curry against the whole Lakers roster, after scoring 31 pts, 10 rebs and 14 assists, and the second leading scorer for the Warriors is Andrew Wiggins who scored 17 points but was limited to just 4 rebs and 2 for 6 from beyond the arc. Klay Thompson, the hero of game 2, is also a non-factor in the game and only scored 9 points with 5 rebs even though he played for the 41 minutes.

With this win the Lakers will just need to win 1 game in order to advance to the Conference Finals while the Warriors needs to defeat the Lakers 3 games in a row and the series in game 7.

Game 5 will be this Wednesday night at the Chase Center, San Francisco.

Complete picture of the 2nd Round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs

May 1, 2023

Now that the Warriors will advance to the 2nd round of the NBA Playoffs we now have a complete pictures of the 2nd Round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs. A number of games have already been played and here’s a roundup as of this date.

Western Conference

  • Los Angeles Lakers will face the Golden State Warriors. The Lakers dispatched the Grizzlies in 6 games and have been waiting for winner of the the Warriors-Kings series.
  • Denver Nuggets versus the Phoenix Suns. Nuggets already won game 1 in a convincing win against the Suns. It was Jamal Murray who carried the load for the Nuggets scoring 34 pts and 9 assists. MVP candidate Nikola Jovic contributed 24 points, 19 rebs and 5 assists.

    Game 2 will on Monday, at the Ball Arena, in Denver.

Eastern Conference

  • Boston Celtics versus Philadelphia 76ers. Game 1 will this Tuesday at the TD Garden. Joel Embiid is doubtful for game 1 against the Celtics 76ers.
  • Miami Heat versus New York Knicks. Miami Heat already took game 1 even though Jimmy Butler is nursing an ankle injury. Jimmy Butler lead the Heat with 25 points and 11 rebounds.

    Game 2 will be this Tuesday, at the Madison Square Garden, New York.

Golden State Warriors wins epic Game 7 against Sacramento Kings (120 – 100)

May 1, 2023

It was a game for the record books, as Golden State Warriors routs the Sacramento Kings in the Game 7 of the 1st round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs.

It was a close game early in the 3rd quarter until Steph Curry single-handedly carry the Warriors’ offensive load. Curry score a team-high of 50 points on a 52.6% shooting, this is the most scored in a Game 7 in NBA history. Steph is the first player in Warriors history to score 40-plus points in a Game 7. Curry also dished-out 6 assists and 8 rebounds.

Aside from Curry, Kevon Looney continued to be a force on boards as he grabbed a total 21 rebounds, 11 on the offensive end, with his 11 points and 4 assists. Looney’s rebounding helped the Warriors control the pace of the game.

Steph and the Warriors will now face the Lebron and Lakers in the 2nd round, Lakers dispatched the Grizzlies in just 6 games. Game 1 of the 2nd round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs will this Tuesday at San Francisco’s Chase Center.

Game Highlights

Lakers routs Grizzlies, advances to the 2nd round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs (125 – 85)

April 30, 2023

The Los Angeles Lakers will advance to the 2nd round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs after dismantling a resilient Memphis Grizzlies. It was a block party for the Lakers with a team total of 15 blocks against Grizzlies’ 2 blocks.

Lakers leading scorer for the game is D’Angelo Russell scored a career playoff-high 31 points with five 3-pts made. LeBron James made 22 points and 6 assists, while Anthony Davis chipped in 16 points, 14 rebs with 5 blocks.

As for the Grizzlies, their top scorer for the game is the seldom used Santi Aldama scoring 16 points with two 3-points made. Ja Morant and Desmond Bane scored a combined 25 points, while Jaren Jackson Jr. had 14 on a 25% shooting.

Lakers will face in the 2nd round of the 2023 NBA Playoff the winner of the Game 7 between the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings.


Atlanta Hawks upsets Miami Heat to secure East 7th seed

April 12, 2023

The Miami Heat and the Atlanta Hawks faced off in a thrilling play-in game on Tuesday night, with a spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs on the line. The Hawks, led by their new coach Quin Snyder, who took over the team last February, showed their resilience and determination as they defeated the Miami Heat to secure a 116-105 victory.

The Heat, who were the defending conference champions, struggled to contain the Hawks’ dynamic duo of Trae Young and Clint Capela. Young, who averaged 26.2 points and 10.2 assists per game in the regular season, scored 25 points and dished out 7 assists in the win. Capela, who is top 7 in rebounding with 11.0 per game, dominated the paint with 21 rebounds, two blocks and 4 points.

The Hawks also got contributions from their supporting cast, as Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 14 points, John Collins added 10 points and four rebounds, and Dejounte Murray chipped in with 18 points, 6 assists and five rebounds. The Hawks shot 46% from the field and 24.4% from three-point range, while holding the Heat to 42.9% and 32.4%, respectively.

The Heat were led by Jimmy Butler, who had 21 points, four rebounds and 9 assists. Bam Adebayo contributed with 12 points and 9 rebounds, while Tyler Herro scored 26 points and two steals. The Heat were missing Victor Oladipo, who only played for just 9 mins and made just one assist.

The Hawks will now face the No. 2 seed Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs, starting on Saturday. The Heat will face the loser between the Toronto and Chicago game this Thursday.