The Miami Heat vs. the Toronto Raptors - Game 6

What a crazy series! This game has allowed the Heat to bring in a 7th game against the Raptors due to their most recent win of 103-91. This does bring an awesome series into the world of NBA but we also have to consider that whoever comes up on top in this series alone will be very tired. As a result the Cavaliers may have an easy game coming back onto the court since there will be a long rest period for them. Funnily enough, this makes the Cavaliers the real winners in the end. Who knows, maybe we'll also see an 8th game coming up through some crazy turn of events.

Both reams played great but I should mention Toronto's offense was lacking just a bit throughout this game. With nothing really exciting happening, we even find Joseph taking a nap in the middle of the play. In my opinion, he hasn't been playing to his full potential lately with some questionable plays pushing the game into overtime and losing in the end. Maybe the Raptors could've taken the game if it weren't for these small mistakes? In the end, I can't imagine how frustrating it could be to be a Raptors fan and witness this game.

Watch some of the highlights below.

Image source: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/S9AfewyCE1E/maxresdefault.jpg

Could Westbrook and Durant be the best duo in the NBA?

Without a doubt Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are both outstanding players who are feared by most of the league. Kevin Durant's size, stamina and ability to shoot the ball make him a big man with skill whilst Russell Westbrook's speed, power and finesse makes him one of the best guard's in today's league. With incredible basketball IQ, combined they're an unstoppable force, breaking and shattering the oppositions defence. So could it be that these two that we are witnessing are the best duo in the league today?

From today's game (Game 5) of the OKC Thunder vs. the SA Spurs we saw Russell Westbrook gave it his all whilst clutching it in the final moments of the game to break away from this nail bitter to give the OKC the W and a lead on the games won (3-2). Westbrook dropped 35 points and 9 assists, unquestionable from the season leader in assists, whilst KD dropped 23 points and 6 rebounds to secure the game.

What sets them apart from all else duos in the league is their chemistry, with their 7th consecutive season playing together, you could say that they're used to each other, they know the ins and outs of each playing style and use it to their advantage every game whilst utilising their teammates to secure every win as possible.

Image from: http://www.foxsports.com/nba/story/oklahoma-city-thunder-russell-westbrook-kevin-durant-mock-super-bowl-020816

The way these two play today is reminiscent of the reign and terror of the vintage Chicago Bulls Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. It's unquestionable that this pair is one of the best duos in the NBA today, if not THE best.

The Miami Heat vs. the Toronto Raptors - Game 4

With an ending score of 94-87 in favour of the Heat, you would definitely expect a nail-biting experience to ensue when watching this game. However, these are one of those game where it wasn't the case. Both sides put in all their effort but we did not see the game we were hoping to see. From a vanilla looking offense by Toronto to little ball movement by both sides. And to top this all off, we witnessed one of the most anticlimactic shots of all time with a jump-ball. Mind you, I actually found that rare shot to be quite amazing. Have a look below and you'll see why.

Derozan's performance

Definitely a player which I can easily identify for their questionable performance. One of the biggest drop-offs in performance was witnessed by many viewers this game. From the bad decision-making to terrible plays, Derozan had it all. I don't want to put the complete blame on him but his plays definitely contributed to the loss.


Based on the overall game, it was not one of the best series for my entertainment but regardless, these games are always entertaining to watch as everything is very unexpected, whereby you'll never what could happen.

Check out the highlights below.

The Cleveland Cavaliers vs. The Atlanta Hawks

Just an incredibly close match to watch in game 4, ending on 100-99 in favour of the Cavaliers and with only one point that made all the difference. As a result this gives the Cavaliers much time to rest up before the bigger games in the Eastern Conference finals. The Cavaliers gave an excellent performance these playoff, which have allowed them to succeed for straight wins.

Lebron James' performance was also incredible and should be pointed out. Scoring 21 points he gave the team significant leverage in making it into the winning side of the game. One interesting point in the game for me, was when James had a video review overturn a call that Cleveland had knocked the ball out of bounds. Soon after, James was on the wind against Millsap. Amazingly, James was able to score which allowed the Cavaliers to surpass the Hawks once again, pushing them to 100-97.

This was a turning point that gave the Cavaliers the motivation to gain stronger defense - which allowed them to take the series and wipe out the Hawks.

Kevin Love's playoff performance

Just wanted to give mention to Kevin Love for his exceptional performance. Apart from scoring 27 points in this game. During the playoffs, Love can only be described as an undefeated man. Not only has he been giving a consistent performance throughout the playoffs but he remains to be undefeated in the fact that he has never lost a game within the playoffs. Here's a simple breakdown of his career performance thus far:

• 4-0 against the Celtics in 2015
• 4-0 against the Pistons in 2016
• 4-0 against the Hawks most recently in 2016

Check out some highlights below:

Image source: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/b3IyGA0XHuY/hqdefault.jpg

The Portland Trail Blazers defeat The Golden State Warriors

The Portland Trail Blazers vs. The Golden State Warriors - Game 3

Going into this game, I had high hopes for the Golden State Warriors to take this one home especially with a star player such as Stephen Curry. Unfortunately for me and fortunately for many others, I was wrong. The Portland Trail Blazers, took this one in the bag scoring 120-108 in their favour.

From the start I was definitely expecting a strong match from both teams, there's no doubt about that. In the previous games, we've seen a strong contestant in the Portland team - Dame Lillard, who has consistently played to his best. One notable trend to point out is that Lillard has amazingly scored over 40 points for all of the three games at home against the Golden State Warrirors. To add further to Lillard's strong game ability, he is definitely someone you would not want to face on the opposing team to you, as every time there was a glimmer of hope for the Golden State Warriors when Klay or Green take the ball, we just find it to shattered soon after Lillard gets his hands on the ball.

Overall, a great performance by Dame Lillard, with another honourable mention to Draymond Green for his showcase of talent as well, which definitely helped out with keeping the scores high for the Golden State Warriors. His efforts should not go unnoticed as I was simply blown away.

Please find some awesome highlights of the game below.

Sources

Image: http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1054920/TeamMatchupsWarriors.jpg

Cleveland Cavaliers defeat Atlanta Hawks

Lebron's crash

One memorable moment to take away from this game is simply Lebron's amazing ability to manage his team but to also check on his fans. We can witness him crashing into fans at one point, however he quickly got up and made sure his fans were okay before going straight back into the game again.

Cleveland Cavaliers vs Atlanta Hawks - Game 3

Again, it was just great to witness a good game of basketball in the NBA after a long week. Such a relaxing way to just spend the weekend by witnessing some amazing shots by such talented players. Especially to see such a well-known player such as Lebron James giving it his best. Honestly, I was expecting a good game from the beginning, as this was the third game and we'd expect teams to get a rough idea of how things should be playing out by the opposing team.

Straight from the beginning we see a good start by both teams with the Hawks making the first 2 point score. With amazing plays by both teams it was expected that the game would be quite close or at least very neck-and-neck. This was exactly what we were witnessing, along with tremendous plays by the talented bunch.

I's like to point out that Kevin Love definitely put in a great effort this game by having such a strong defensive game. With his defensive skills almost lacking for the majority of the playoff, we got to see a significant improvement this game, and this was clear within the second half of the game. It was great to see!

In the end the final score was 121-108 with The Cavaliers taking home the win. After all, it was a well deserve win based on the teams cohesiveness and sheer talent-pool.

Check out the game below!

Kyle Lowry goes for the unthinkable

One of Lowry's last plays sent the game into overtime with less than a second to spare on the timer, unfortunately the same can be said for his most recent game but for all the wrong reasons. With only moments to go of the game, you'd think there would be a pretty high chance of an overtime but with Lowry in possession of the ball, it was all hopes and dreams for him to make an amazing play and make it an easy win for the Raptors. However, this wasn't what we saw at all. What we saw was Lowry taking his time to make his way up the court and attempting to make a 3-pointer to win the game. Unfortunately this resulted in just an airball - causing the game into overtime. In my opinion he could've simply went for a 2 and guaranteed a win there and then instead of extending the game further. 

It's quite obvious the Lowry simply wanted to play the hero and make an amazing shot, but at the same time this placed his whole team in danger of losing. Thankfully for Lowry, the Raptors ended up winning, but by only a small amount with 96-92.

Based on the recent games of this series, we can almost expect there to be 7 games due to the plays witnessed after overtime.

The Toronto Raptors vs. The Miami Heat - Game 2

This game was just another great one to witness, with an amazingly close performance by both teams. At the beginning we find the Heat starting off strong with the Raptors only a few points behind trying to catch up. Only moments later into the game we find the Raptors catching their way up and surpassing the Heat with 13-12 with a soon to be 23-15 lead. 

One great play by the Heat was the deny by Richardson on Lowry, simply amazing to see the tables turn so quickly in this fast paced game. Overall, the regular time finishing of this game was great with so many amazing plays, but we can find that this was quite the opposite after overtime with some pretty anticlimactic plays.

Watch some of the highlights below to see what I mean.

Kyle Lowry sends it into overtime

Miami Heat vs. Toronto Raptors - Game 1

What can I say? This game was simply an amazing one to witness. The majority of the game was neck and neck with Heat in the lead by only a few points. Even though I'm only a new viewer I could definitely appreciate this quality display of sports. Just watching the video above you will witness Lowry sending the game into overtime when he throws the ball straight into the hoop with less than a second left on the buzzer, not only that but from the half-way point! Making an extremely difficult shot is one thing, but to make such a critical shot of the game is another. It is no secret the Lowry is considered to be an NBA player receiving a lot of backlash for his skill. But this shot has proved many fans wrong in his favour.

Unfortunately for Lowry the game ended with The Heat beating The Raptors with 102-96. But overall, it was a very intense game where the points were constantly close to each other by only a few points. However, in the end, the main highlight is definitely that crucial shot by Lowry making it into the hoop.

Please find some highlights of the game below for your own entertainment if you had happen to miss such an amazing game.

San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma City Thunder

Sorry for this blog post being so delayed! I've been quite busy with other things in life which has also caused a delay in when I'm able to watch the game. This was actually one of the first games I've watched from the NBA, and I gotta say it is very intense to watch whilst keeping me on the edge of my seat at all times (and I didn't even watch it live). Therefore it should be noted that I just wanted to make this post as a way of sharing my first experience with you guys.

The Game - San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma City Thunder (Game 1)

Going into the game, I had no idea who was going to win or who the team really were, but that didn't deter me from getting more and more into the game. I'm glad that this was my first time witnessing a game because I did indeed recognise a few players such as Durant, Aldridge, and Leonard.

From the beginning of the game it was already filled with excitement as the Spurs took possession and went straight for the first dunk by Kawhi Leonard. Other notable plays that really caught my eye was a shot that Aldridge was still able to make even though he fell over, simply incredible. Within only 30 minutes or so it was obvious that the Spurs were a relentless force with 38 points on the scoreboard.

Overall, it was amazing effort from both teams but definitely an unexpected result with the Spurs striking out the Thunder (horrible pun intended). If you missed out on action, watch the highlights below for the entertainment.

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