Month: January 2020

Bills quarterback Josh Allen took Saturday’s wild-card loss to the Texans personally, saying, “Teams go how their quarterbacks usually go, and I’ve got to be better for this team.”

Kevin Love reportedly directed an “emotional verbal outburst” toward GM Koby Altman after shootaround Saturday afternoon.

Cleveland Cavaliers big man Kevin Love directed an “emotional verbal outburst” toward general manager Koby Altman after shootaround Saturday, according to The Athletic‘s Shams Charania and Joe Vardon. 

In addition to Altman, Love reportedly screamed in front of teammates, coaches and other front-office members, stating there was “no feel here.” Love posted a picture from “The Joker,” captioned “Mood.,” later that afternoon. 

The occurrence comes days after Love was reportedly fined $1,000 for an incident on Dec. 31, in which he hit chairs on Cleveland’s bench during the third quarter of a blowout loss. Love reportedly was heated due to the selfish play of the unit and asked to be subbed out of the game to “cool down.” Love was also reportedly displeased with the fine. 

Tensions continued to grow between Love and the Cavaliers during the team’s game Saturday night against the Thunder. Before halftime, Love and coach John Beilein appeared to be frustrated with each other during a play. Love then demanded the ball from teammate Collin Sexton and whipped a pass towards the sideline.

Beilein took Love off the floor after the incident. Later in the fourth quarter, Love went on to show disinterest in the game after not making an effort to cover a driving layup. 

Prior to Saturday’s outburst, Love and Altman have had reported incidents of frustration. Love reportedly raised his voice toward Altman at the end of the 2018-19 season, to which the general manager threatened to fine him. Love reportedly replied, “Go ahead. I have plenty of money.” 

The 31-year-old Love is in the first year of a four-year, $120 million contract extension with the Cavaliers, which Altman offered to him after LeBron James left for free agency in 2018. Cleveland fell to 10-25 on the season after suffering a 121-106 loss to the Thunder. 

The Cavaliers have reportedly been open to trading their All-Star big man. Love has averaged 16.6 points and 10.5 rebounds in 29 games for Cleveland this season. 

Kyrie Irving was diagnosed with a shoulder impingement in November.

Kyrie Irving hopes to return to the court for the Nets this season but admitted that he may need shoulder surgery.

Irving spoke to reporters for the first time on Saturday since injuring his right shoulder in mid-November. He last played on Nov. 14 against the Nuggets and the team later diagnosed him with a shoulder impingement. Irving said he chose to get a cortisone shot on Dec. 24 instead of having arthroscopic surgery.

“I am in a better place now that it has been a significant amount of time,” Irving said, per ESPN. “The next step in any progression was to either get a cortisone shot or to get surgery. That was the ultimatum I was fixed with. Now, I’m just doing the best I can to live off this cortisone and move forward if I need surgery in the future.”

Irving added that he and Brooklyn’s medical team will reevaluate in a month or two whether he needs surgery. He said that the thought of having surgery this season “definitely crossed my mind,” but he would rather work towards returning to play.

“I want to go out and play,” Irving said, according to the Associated Press. “So just continue to rehab and live the results of me going out there and giving it an actual shot, going out there, being with the guys, seeing where we can land and then move forward after the season.”

Irving said he started to feel pain on Nov. 4 when the Nets faced the Pelicans. He continued to play during Brooklyn’s five-game road trip until he was struggling to lift his shoulder due to the pain.

“It really is disheartening when you’re working your tail off to be a certain level and then your shooting shoulder just starts to give out on you a little bit,” Irving said.

The Nets have not provided a timetable for the six-time All-Star’s return.

With his team trailing 16-0 in the third quarter, Deshaun Watson put the Texans on his back in the second half and overtime to lead them past Buffalo 22-19 for their first playoff victory since he was drafted in 2017.

After an embarrassing 140-114 loss to the Grizzlies on Saturday that elicited boos from the home crowd, Montrezl Harrell said the Clippers are “not a great team” and need to “wake up.”

Deshaun Watson, Texans overcome a 16–0 deficit to beat the Bills in overtime of the AFC Wild-Card round. Watson’s huge play sets up the game-winning field goal.

The Texans beat the Bills 22–19 in overtime on Saturday night in an AFC Wild-Card Game that’s sure to become an instant classic.

Houston stormed back from a 16-point second-half deficit to win on Ka’imi Fairbairn’s 28-yard field goal in the extra session. Quarterback Deshaun Watson set up the play by magically escaping two defenders and throwing a short pass to Taiwan Jones on second-and-6.

The Texans started their incredible second half when Watson scored a touchdown on a 20-yard run late in the third quarter. Watson added a two-point conversion when he ran and reached out with the ball over the goal line before being knocked out of bounds.

On the Bills’ next possession, the Texans recovered a key fumble caused by Whitney Mercilus. Houston capitalized by kicking a field goal to narrow Buffalo’s lead, 16–11.

The Texans later added a touchdown with Watson’s five-yard pass to Carlos Hyde and then a two-point conversion to take a three-point lead.

On their next possession, the Bills reached Houston’s 42-yard line and had a chance to kick a game-tying field goal. However, on fourth-and-27, they decided to go for it, leading to quarterback Josh Allen getting sacked.

Buffalo redeemed itself with five seconds remaining in regulation by capping off an 11-play, 41-yard drive with Stephen Hauschka’s 47-yard game-tying field goal to force overtime.

Houston entered the matchup with a two-game postseason losing streak after most recently falling to the Colts in last year’s wild-card round. The franchise has a 4–5 playoff record and has never advanced past the AFC Divisional Round.

The Bills’ playoff record drops to 14–17 and they’ve lost six straight playoff games since beating Miami in the 1995 wild-card game. Jim Kelly and Co. fell to the Steelers the following week in the divisional round. Buffalo’s playoff drought is the third-longest in the NFL.

Coach Rick Carlisle on Saturday spoke out against how teams have been defending Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic, saying that level of aggressiveness is not “in the spirit of what the game should look like.”

Wu Lei scored late to give Espanyol a 2-2 draw against 10-man Barcelona in Saturday’s Catalan capital derby between the best and worst teams in the Spanish league.

BARCELONA, Spain — China forward Wu Lei scored late to give Espanyol a 2-2 draw against 10-man Barcelona in Saturday’s Catalan capital derby between the best and worst teams in the Spanish league.

Barcelona’s third draw in four rounds left it level on points midway through the season with second-place Real Madrid, which beat Getafe 3-0 hours before. Barcelona kept the league lead on goal difference – and Espanyol remained last – after 19 of 38 games.

The Spanish league said Wu is the first Chinese player to score against Barcelona. The substitute got the equalizer for Espanyol with two minutes remaining after Luis Suárez had played a key role in putting Barcelona 2-1 ahead. Espanyol was helped when Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong was sent off for a second yellow card with 15 minutes remaining.

“The hardest thing to do is to turn a game around when playing on the road,” Suárez said. “I leave feeling we let these points slip away. Of course, when a rival plays with an extra man, it gets a boost. But that can’t be an excuse.”

Suárez canceled out David López’s first-half goal by scoring in the 50th with a precise touch of the tip of his right boot to steer Jordi Alba’s lobbed pass between goalkeeper Diego López and his near post.

Suárez’s assist for substitute Arturo Vidal to give Barcelona the lead nine minutes later was just as impressive. Suárez first dribbled around a defender before using the outside of his right boot to flip a pass across the box for Vidal to head home.

Barcelona was heading for a comeback win until Wu broke free down the right side of the area to receive a pass from Matías Vargas and drove an angled shot past goalkeeper Neto.

The gutsy performance by Espanyol came in the debut of coach Espanyol coach Abelardo Fernández, a former Barcelona defender, who became the club’s third coach of the season last week during the league’s winter break.

Espanyol remained winless in 10 home league matches this season, but its players and fans treated the draw as a great victory over its fiercest rival.

“(It’s) a turning point for these players who have suffered so much,” Abelardo said. “They gave it their all against a great team. The expulsion of De Jong helped us, but my team was never out of the match and deserved the point. If we compete like this, we will be hard to beat.”

Abelardo has a reputation for taking over troubled teams without star talent and making them competitive from his previous stints at Sporting Gijón and Alavés.

Neto made his second start of the season for Barcelona in place of injured goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who is expected to be sidelined for around a week with a tendon problem.

Neto could do nothing to stop David López from putting the hosts in front in the 23rd when he sent a glancing header of Marc Roca’s free kick just inside the far post.

Barcelona didn’t threaten to score until just before halftime, when Suárez hit the goalframe.

Suárez pulled the visitors level with his 11th league goal this season when he was left unmarked in Espanyol’s only mistake of the match.

Vidal, sent on at halftime by coach Ernesto Valverde, scored his sixth goal for Barcelona – most as a substitute – this season.

Suárez went close to scoring after Lionel Messi coasted past four defenders before setting him up, only for Diego López to save the Uruguayan’s shot in the 65th.

Barcelona, Madrid, Atlético and Valencia will travel to Saudi Arabia to contest the new-look Spanish Super Cup next week.