This past weekend was as entertaining as it could get.
1. UFC
Sean “The Real OC” O’Connell made his 4th appearance in the UFC as he made is way “Down Under” to Adelaide, Australia as he faced local product Anthony “Hippo” Perosh. OC came into this bout off of his first win in the UFC against Matt Van Buren on January 18th. Perosh came into the fight with a 15-8 professional MMA record, while OC came in with a 16-6 record in his MMA career. OC started the fight in the center of the octagon by really pressuring Perosh and landed some solid good punches to the head and body. OC then put his back against the fence and continued throwing heavy punches, but the referee stopped the fight having only fought for 57 seconds!
2. RSL
RSL came into their matchup with Chicago on Saturday without scoring a goal in over a month. It didn’t take long for Claret and Cobalt to stop that streak as Jordan Allen crossed a ball to Saborio, and he put the ball in the back of the net in the 13th minute. RSL would strike again as Luke Mulholland would put RSL up 2-0 in the 56th minute from another cross into the box but Devon Sandoval was on the other end of the pass to Luke. RSL would give up a penalty kick to Jeff Larentowicz in the 88th minute. RSL would hold on to the 2-1 win on the road against the Chicago Fire. Up next for RSL will be a trip up north where they will face the Montreal Impact this Saturday. You can listen to that game on ESPN 700; pregame coverage gets underway at 1pm with kickoff at 2pm.
3. NBA Playoffs
The NBA Playoffs over the weekend were one of the best so far this postseason. On Saturday, it was Game 3 between the Atlanta Hawks and the Washington Wizards from the Verizon Center in DC. The Hawks trailed by as much as 20 points with about 7 minutes to go in the game when Hawks Coach Mike Budenholzer put in his bench and they led the Hawks comeback to tie the game with just second remaining. Paul Pierce would hit the game winning buzzer beater bank shot from 20 feet out to lift the Wizards to a 103-101 win over the Hawks and lead the series 2-1. Pierce was asked by ESPN’s Chris Broussard if he “called bank” and Pierce responded with, “I called game.” Nene, Bradley Beal and Otto Porter each led the Wizards with 17 points apiece. Game 4 is Monday from the Nation’s Capitol.
The second game on Saturday was Game 3 between the Golden State Warriors and the Memphis Grizzlies from the FedEx Forum, also known as “The Grind House,” in Memphis. The Grizzlies led almost the entire game, led by their big men Zach Randolph (22 points and 8 rebounds) and Marc Gasol (21 points and 15 rebounds). For the Warriors, the MVP Steph Curry struggled shooting as he went 8-21 from the field and 2-10 from the 3 point line, but ended up with 23 points. The Grizzlies would take Game 3 and a 2-1 series lead with a 99-89 win over the Warriors. Game 4 will be on Monday from Memphis.
Sunday was a tale of two games: the first game on Sunday was Game 4 between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls are coming off a buzzer beating three-point bank shot from Derrick Rose in Game 3, but the Bulls would be without big man Pau Gasol who was sidelined with a hamstring injury. This game stayed pretty close throughout but as the Bulls were down by 2 points, Derrick Rose would take matters into his own hands and drive in for the game-tying layup. The Cavaliers were out of timeouts but I guess the message wasn’t received by Head Coach David Blatt as he was trying to call a timeout. Luckily, Assistant Coach Tyronn Lue would let Blatt know about that. It was also lucky that the officials didn’t see Blatt trying to call a timeout. LeBron James would get the ball in the corner and hit a jumpshot at the buzzer to lift the Cavs over the Bulls, 86-84 and tie the series at 2-2. James led the way with 25 points, 14 rebounds and 8 assists. Derrick Rose led the Bulls with 31 points. Game 5 will be on Tuesday in Cleveland.
The night cap on Sunday was a blowout. It wasn’t all that entertaining either to be honest. The first half, the Rockets would send DeAndre Jordan to the free throw line 28 times in the first half. Then the veteran leadership for the Rockets as the Clippers scored 43 points in the 3rd quarter alone. That would lift the Clippers to a 128-95 win and take a commanding 3-1 series lead. Jordan would lead the Clippers with 26 points and 17 rebounds and 14-34 from the foul line. Harden led the Rockets with 21 points. Game 5 will be Tuesday in Houston.
