Sabres Outlast Ducks

March 17th, 2017

It took a 10 round shootout, but the Sabres outlasted the Ducks in Anaheim on Friday night 2-1. Zemgus Girgensons scored the decisive goal in the 10th round of the shootout to give Buffalo the win.

Ryan O’Reilly and Rasmus Ristolainen scored in the shootout as well, which helped the Sabres end a 7-game losing skid in Southern California. The last time the Sabres won in SoCal was in February of 2012.

O’Reilly scored his 17th goal of the season for Buffalo. The Ducks goal was scored by Rickard Rakell. Jonathan Bernier made 30 saves for Anaheim, while Anders Nilsson stopped 39 for the Sabres.

Rakell scored on a rebound at 8:12 of the 1st period, which was his 31st goal, and put Anaheim ahead 1-0. However, Buffalo would tie it on O’Reilly’s goal 5 minutes into the 2nd period.

The Ducks were hoping for their first 3-game win streak in over two months, but they were unable to capitalize.

This is the first of back-to-back games for the Ducks, who will be visiting San Jose tomorrow night.

Clippers In Disarray After Loss To Nuggets

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March 17th, 2017

The Clippers troubles continued on Thursday night in Denver with a 129-114 loss to the Nuggets. It was the 3rd straight loss for LA, and their 8th in the last 13 games.

The Clips played without both Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, who were resting back in LA. However, Nuggets power forward Nikola Jokic took advantage of their absence by dominating in the paint. Jokic scored 17 points, pulled down 14 rebounds, and dished out 11 assists for his 5th triple- double of the season. Will Barton also scored a career-high 35 points for Denver.

Chris Paul had 18 points and 14 assists, J.J. Redick scored a team-high 22 points and Austin Rivers had 17 for the Clippers. Defense was the issue again though. Denver shot both 53% from 3-point land, and 53% from the field.

“That’s on us,” Chris Paul said. “We’ve got to give more effort, be better all around.” Paul also questioned what the Clippers identity was at this point in the season. “Yeah, you would hope to not be trying to figure that out at this point of the season,” he said.

The Nuggets didn’t give the Clippers much of a chance to make a run. Denver built a 103-80 lead heading into the fourth. The advantage grew to as much as 25 and the Clippers never threatened. Barton’s seventh 3-pointer, which tied a career high, capped a 20-point half for the guard.

J.J. Redick doesn’t like where things are going either. “I don’t know what to expect from this team anymore,” he said. “It’s just — we’re in a bad place right now. We’re losing games. We’ve been [a mess] since the All-Star break.”

To make matters worse, the Clippers are losing ground in the Western Conference playoff race. They are now 3 games back of the Jazz for 4th place in the conference. They also have Oklahoma City and Memphis right behind them in the standings, so they could find themselves in 7th place in no time.

Things won’t get much easier for them. They’ll return home on Saturday to take on the defending NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers.

Kings Keep Hope Alive With Win Over Sabres

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March 17th, 2017

The Kings kept their fading playoff hopes alive on Thursday night at Staples Center with a 2-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres.

The game was scoreless until the 3rd period when Jerome Iginla got the Kings on the board 36 seconds into the final frame. It was Iginla’s 3rd goal since being traded to the Kings, which was set up by the hard work of Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown.

About 14 minutes later, rookie Adrian Kempe scored his second goal as King with a beautiful wrist shot from the right circle. Brown earned his second assist of the game on the play.

Jonathan Quick would slam the door after that. The Kings netminder made 26 saves and earned his 1st shutout of the season.

The win helped the Kings keep pace with the St. Louis Blues, who defeated the Sharks on Thursday to remain 4 points ahead of LA in the race for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Both teams have 12 games left.

“We need to win every game,” forward Tyler Toffoli said earlier this week. “We need to get rolling here and find a way to get two points in all these games coming up.”

LA finished their 7 game home stand with a 4-2-1 record, which sounds good, but not under the circumstances. The Kings started the homestand just 2 points out of a playoff spot, and now they are 4 points back after critical losses to the Blues and Coyotes.

Now the Kings hit the road for two more critical games. The first comes Sunday night at Calgary, followed by Monday night in Edmonton. Perhaps one of the few bright spots for LA in their chase for the final playoff spot is that they have a total of 6 games remaining against the Flames and Oilers, who can still be caught before the season is over.

Trojans Rally Past Providence To Advance

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March 16th, 2017

USC came back from a 17 point deficit in Dayton on Wednesday night to defeat Providence 75-71, in a First Four game and advance in the NCAA tournament.

Bennie Boatwright scored a career-high 24 points and the Trojans got some payback for losing to Providence at the buzzer in last year’s opening round of the tournament.

The Friars used a 15-0 run and a stifling zone defense in the 1st half to jump out to a 44-29 lead at halftime.

However, USC would put together a furious comeback and close the deficit to five points by the 10-minute mark. Chimezie Metu finally gave the Trojans the lead with under 7 minutes left after making a jump shot. Metu finished the game with 15 points and 8 rebounds.

The big surprise of the night was freshman Nick Rakocevic, the 6’11 forward scored 9 points off the bench in 19 minutes, but provided a great deal of energy for USC to feed off of and get back in the game. He also had the best plus-minus in the game, finishing with a +10.

“This win’s probably his,” guard Elijah Stewart said. “Honestly, we should be at the crib right now.”

After digging themselves a whole in the first half, USC coach Andy Enfield fired up his players, but was also displeased according to several of them.

“I think it’s just — give Coach a heart attack or something,” Rakocevic said. “I don’t really know why we do it.” According to Elijah Stewart, Enfield said “What are you scared of?”

It turns out in the 2nd half they weren’t scared of anything. The Trojans will now face #6 SMU in the opening round of the tournament on Friday in Tulsa, Oklahoma. USC defeated SMU earlier in the season, but they’ll be facing a much improved team since then.

Lakers Take Another Beating

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March 16th, 2017

The Lakers are taking this whole tanking thing to a new level. This time they lost to Houston 139-100 on Wednesday in Texas. It was their 2nd 39-point loss to the Rockets this season.

Corey Brewer blamed it on the Lakers youth. “We’re young, we’re young,” Brewer said. “We don’t know what it takes yet. I’ve been in it for a long time, we don’t know what it takes. No matter what’s happening, in an NBA game, you can get back in it. I’ve been down 25, 30 points and got back in games and won games like that. You gotta understand you always have a chance if you’re playing hard and doing the right things.”

James Harden had 18 points, 13 assists, and 12 rebounds for Houston, and Lou Williams scored 30 points against his former team. The Lakers lost for the 11th time in 12 games.

Julius Randle had a career-high 32 points, to go along with eight rebounds and two assists. Brandon Ingram scored 18 points, and Jordan Clarkson also scored 18. Clarkson again started in place of D’Angelo Russell at point guard. He added two steals, three assists and three turnovers.

It was a rough night for Russell, who is adjusting to his new role. He fouled out for the first time in his career after playing 25 minute. He made two of 10 shots, missing all five of his three-point attempts. He finished with five points and committed seven turnovers.

Russell didn’t sound very confident about his new role. “Still trying to figure it out,” he said. “Different role and stuff like that. It’s whatever.”

The Lakers still have the 2nd worst record in the league with 14 games left, and they are two games worse than the 3rd worst Phoenix Suns. That’s important to watch because the Lakers only keep their 1st round pick if it ends up in the top 3.

The Lakers will return home on Friday to take on the Bucks at Staples Center.

Rakell Get’s 30th Goal In Ducks Win Over Blues

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March 16th, 2017

Rickard Rakell scored his 30th goal of the season as the Ducks defeated the Blues 2-1 on Tuesday night at the Honda Center.

Ryan Getzlaf added a goal and Jonathan Bernier made 26 saves as the Ducks have regained 2nd place in the Pacific Division.

As many hockey players are, Rakell sounded very selfless. “It’s fun to score to goals. I always wanted to score goals as much as I could. But as long as we win, I just want to help the team in any way,” he said.

Rakell scored 6 minutes into the game after the Ducks took advantage of a turnover by the Blues. Getzlaf got the puck to him to help make it happen.

At the 6:37 mark of the 2nd period, Getzlaf made it 2-0 with a wrist shot that beat Jake Allen. It was his 14th of the season, and turned out to be the game winner.

The Blues got on the board at 9:52 of the 3rd period on Ivan Barbashev’s goal but they wouldn’t come any closer.

The Ducks return to action on Friday at home against the Sabres.

Griffin & Clips Fall Short At The Buzzer

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March 16th, 2017

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton had 16 points apiece, and the Bucks hung on for a 97-96 victory against the Clippers on Wednesday night at Staples Center.

DeAndre Jordan had 22 points and 17 rebounds, and Blake Griffin added 18, but missed a shot at buzzer that would have won the game. Griffin drove the lane and put up a shot that just rolled off the rim.

The Bucks led by seven with less than three minutes to play, but Jordan scored to bring the Clippers within a point. Then with 5.1 seconds left, LA called timeout and ran a play for Griffin moments later.

“It was a decent look,” Griffin said. “Wish we had two more seconds to let it develop.”

It was an off-night for Chris Paul, who shot just 2-10 from the field, while scoring six points and turning it over six times.

Milwaukee scored 30 points in the fourth quarter, giving the Clippers their second consecutive loss.

The Clippers are just 5-6 in their last 11 games, but head Coach Doc Rivers isn’t too worried. “It’s just a point in the season. Cleveland’s lost four of five, but if won then it’s a different (reaction). Maybe because they won a world championship. I have a lot of confidence in where we’re headed,” he said.

The Clippers will travel to Denver tomorrow night to take on the Nuggets. They plan on leaving Griffin and Jordan home to rest.

Kings Dealt Another Crushing Loss

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March 14, 2017

For the 2nd night in a row, the Kings were dealt another devastating blow to their playoff hopes. This time, a 3-2 loss to Arizona in shootout at Staples Center. The shootout took 11 rounds, but the Coyotes prevailed on a goal by Anthony DeAngelo.

Even though the Kings got 1 point in the standings, it’s not nearly enough with just 13 games left in the season, and 4 points out of a playoff spot. LA would need to win 10 of their final 13 games, and that’s if St. Louis or Edmonton play .500 hockey the rest of the way.

The Kings actually had the lead twice in this one. After a scoreless 1st period, Tyler Toffoli scored his 1st of two goals on the night at the 5:03 mark of the 2nd period. The Coyotes would tie things up in the 3rd period on Max Domi’s 8th goal of the season. It looked like the Kings we’re going to come away with 2 points when Toffoli struck again on the power play with 1:36 left. His 14th of the season. However, the Coyotes would answer. Domi would take advantage of a broken play in front of Kings goalie Ben Bishop, to tie the game with 45 seconds left.

In overtime, both teams had their chances, but Bishop and Coyotes goalie Louis Domingue made some big saves. Arizona even had a 4-on-3 power play in the final seconds of OT, but the Kings managed to get the game to a shootout.

That set the stage for the drama in shootout. Jeff Carter got things started off nicely for the Kings with a goal on a beautiful wrist shot that beat Domingue. Brandon Perlini answered for the Coyotes with a goal of his own. 10 rounds later, Bishop and Domingue continued to make save after save, until DeAngelo won it for Arizona in the 11th round.

Bishop made 30 saves and played a strong game, but he’s still winless since being traded to the Kings. Once again, the LA dominated on the stat sheet, but not on the scoresheet. The Kings outshot the Coyotes 46-32, and dominated the faceoff circle 49-29.

Kings Playoff Hopes On Thin Ice After Loss To Blues

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March 13th, 2017

Well at least there’s good news for Bob Miller. The Kings last two games of the season probably won’t be stressful when he’s calling the final two games of his career, because the games will likely be meaningless. After the Kings lost 3-1 to the Blues on Monday at Staples Center, their playoff hopes are fading fast.

Magnus Paajarvi scored a power-play goal, and Jake Allen made 38 big saves as the Blues extended their lead over the Kings to 5 points for the final playoff spot in the West. There are 14 games left to play, and that means that even if the Blues win half of their remaining games, the Kings would have to win 10 of their final 14 just to pass them in the standings. LA hasn’t won 10 of 14 games during this entire season.

The game was scoreless after the 1st period, in a very cautious twenty minutes from both teams. Then in the 2nd, David Perron dug the puck out from underneath Jonathan Quick, and pushed the puck into the net after the Kings goaltender made the initial save.

The Blues made it 2-0 just 1:10 into the 3rd period, when Paajarvi deflected in a shot from Patrick Berglund, after Quick once again made the initial save on the play. It was a power play goal for St. Louis, which was just the 4th time the Kings have given up a power play goal in the last 55 penalty-kill opportunities.

Dustin Brown got the Kings on the board with just over 3 minutes left, putting home a rebound after a big scramble of bodies in front of the Blues net.

However, the Kings would get no closer. Jake Allen continued to respond with big save after big save, and Alexander Steen closed the scoring with an empty-netter. So how do the Kings approach the next 14 games?

“Just not pay attention to standings, not pay attention to what other the other teams did. And just worry about us and win every single game for the rest of the season,” defenseman Drew Doughty said.

The Kings face another must win game on Tuesday night against Phoenix at Staples Center. LA is 5-5-2 in back-to-back games this season.

Nuggets Too Much For Lakers

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March 13th, 2017

The Lakers shuffled their starting lineup on Monday against the Nuggets, but it didn’t matter. Denver dominated LA 129-101, despite moving D’Angelo Russell to the bench and starting Jordan Clarkson in his place.

Will Barton and Jamal Murray scored 22 points apiece. Danilo Gallinari and Nikola Jokic each added 18 points for the Nuggets, who now have a 2 game lead over Portland for the final playoff spot in the West with 15 games remaining.

Ivica Zubac was the lone bright spot for LA, scoring a career-high 25 points to go along with 11 rebounds. Jordan Clakrson had 19, and Brandon Ingram scored 14, as the Lakers lost for the 10th time in the last 11 games.

Russell scored 10 points and had 3 assist on 4-14 shooting in 27 minutes. However, Walton said the move was made more for evaluation purposes. “D’Angelo has been playing great when you look at his numbers, but we’re 1-7 after the break and I want to see some other looks,” coach Luke Walton said before the game.

The Lakers trailed by as many as 32 points early on in the 3rd quarter. They managed to cut the lead to 93-76 after 3 quarters, but couldn’t get much closer. However, Denver went on an 11-0 run in the 4th to build a 28 point lead.

With 15 games left, the Lakers have the 2nd worst record in the league. They’ll take on the Rockets on Wednesday in Houston.

“We’re gonna continue to look for opportunities to look at new things so we can gain as much information as possible going into the off-season,” Walton said.