Case of the Mondays: LeBron Puts Blatt on Blast

by Ricky Dimon - 5/11/2015

Cleveland Cavaliers Head Coach David Blatt

LeBron James took-and made-the big shot in the Cleveland Cavaliers last-second win over the Chicago Bulls on Sunday. Then he took a borderline cheap shot during the postgame press conference at head coach David Blatt, who allegedly called for LeBron to inbound the ball on the final play before LeBron "scratched" it and demanded to take the last shot. The rest, of course, is history.

All odds provided by Bovada Sportsbook.

David Blatt . With Cleveland trailing by one point in the final two seconds of Game 4 and in danger of falling behind Chicago 3-1 in their Eastern Conference semifinal series, Blatt apparently did not want to give the ball to one of the best players in NBA history. In fact, he apparently did not even want to use that player as a decoy. But LeBron would have none of it, half-joking that if he was forced to inbound the basketball he would throw it over the backboard and into the basket for the tying points. Instead, LeBron nailed a game-winning three-pointer to tie the Cavaliers-Bulls showdown at 2-2. Blatt is taking even more criticism than usual, but hey, at least his team is not one game away from elimination. Cleveland is a +350 third choice to win it all.

Dwight Howard . The Houston Rockets have officially lost their cool. Their loss of a Western Conference semifinal series against the Los Angeles Clippers is not yet official-but it's close. Houston is trailing 3-1 after becoming the first team since the 2001 San Antonio Spurs (vs. the Los Angeles Lakers) to drop consecutive playoff games by at least 25 points. Howard scored only 14 points in Game 3 then got ejected from Sunday's contest (a 128-95 humiliation) early in the fourth quarter after incurring a second technical foul for throwing the ball at or in the direction of a referee. He had a mere seven points on 3-for-7 shooting (1-for-6 from the free-throw line, too) at the time. Houston is a +3300 long shot to win the West.

Washington Capitals . Alex Ovechkin is guaranteeing that the Capitals win Game 7 at the New York Rangers on Wednesday. That will be easier said than done, because to say New York has all the momentum right now would be a massive understatement. Washington once led 3-1 and was fewer than two minutes away from finishing off the Eastern Conference semifinal series in five games. Instead, the Rangers scored a desperation goal to force overtime in Game 5, won it in the extra frame, and then prevailed on the road 4-3 in Sunday's Game 6. New York is a +160 favorite to win the East.

Oakland Athletics . Oakland was a respectable 8-8 through 17 games; now the team is 12-21 and in last place in the American League West. The A's have lost five in a row and after being swept this past weekend by the division rival Seattle Mariners. Adding insult to injury, or vice versa, pitcher Jarrod Parker suffered a broken elbow during a minor-league appearance over the weekend. Parker pitched well for Oakland in 2012 and 2013 before undergoing Tommy John surgery in March of last year. The A's are +2000 to win the AL Pennant; Kansas City is a +325 favorite.

Bayern Munich . Bayern is up against the wall after losing the first leg of its Champions League semifinal against FC Barcelona 3-0 last week. It was just about as disastrous of a result as possible for the Reds, who must win 3-0 at home on Tuesday to force a shootout or prevail by at least four goals to win the two-leg series outright. Even a three-goal loss in the form of something like 4-1 or 5-2 would send Barcelona through to the final on away goals. In other words, this thing is basically over for Bayern. Both clubs are +155 to win the match and a draw is +275.

Tony Stewart . Tony Stewart's disastrous 2015 Sprint Cup campaign continued last Saturday evening with a 39^th-place performance in Kansas. It was Stewart's sixth finish of the season in 30^th position or worse. He has only one top 10 (Bristol in mid-April) and is still without a top-five showing. The No. 14 car was already running near the back of the pack in Kansas when it was struck by Brett Moffitt. Stewart was able to continue with a significantly-damaged vehicle but never got into any kind of contention.

Kevin Kisner . Looking for his first win on the PGA Tour, Kisner did nothing wrong on Sunday at The Players Championship. He was simply outlasted by an on-fire Rickie Fowler. After Fowler played his last six holes in six-under par, Kisner needed to make a nine-foot birdie putt on 18 to prevent a playoff with Fowler and Sergio Garcia. The former UGA Bulldog missed it, then barely missed a chip on 18 that would have won a three-hole playoff. After Garcia was eliminated, Fowler birdied the 17^th hole-again-to beat Kisner and cap off a spectacular day of golf. Kisner essentially came within one inch of what would have been a life-changing event, but if he continues that king of play he will get one soon enough. Kisner is +3500 to win this week's Wells Fargo Championship; Rory McIlroy is a +350 favorite.

Start:	November 23, 2024 @ 2:30 PM
Expert:	Tony George
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