Day: March 16, 2018

LeBron James Snatched a Soul Last Night

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Via @MeredithFrost

Last night, the Cleveland Cavaliers were in Portland to take on the Trailblazers in a matchup between playoff hopefuls. Portland won the game 113-105, pouring further misery on this Cavs’ season and likely pushing LeBron James closer to leaving the team in free agency this offseason.

We are not here to focus on the outcome of the game, however. What I gathered you all here for was what LeBron did to Jusuf Nurkic in the first quarter.

If you have a weak stomach you may want to shield your eyes:

That was the greatest basketball player of his generation (arguably ever) stealing the soul of poor Mr. Nurkic. You can see the moment Nurkic regrets his feeble attempt at stopping James and in the process surrendering his soul to the GOAT.

Nurkic must now return to Bosnia and Herzegovina where he will live in a small cabin the woods where this highlight will replay in his head until the end of time. Sorry, them’s the rules.

Here is another angle of the destruction:

The sound created by the ball hitting the net with such force likely caused a great many Blazers’ fans to visit their local Otolaryngologist to get examined for hearing aids.

While the dunk was amazing in itself, the reactions it generated should be framed and hung in the Louvre for all to enjoy.

Few sporting feats are as great as a true soul snatching dunk and LeBron has produced quite a few during his 15 seasons in the NBA. This may be the best he’s ever done. At 33 years old, LeBron continues to play at a level most can dream of ever reaching for a single game of their careers. Enjoy it while it lasts because there may never be another one like him.

This may be a lost season for the Cavs and there is a very real possibility LeBron will leave for greener pastures in the offseason. Wherever he ends up playing, you can guarantee highlights like this one will keep coming for all of us to enjoy.

Loyola-Chicago Gave Us Our First March Madness Buzzer Beater

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Via @LoyolaChicago

On the ropes in their first round game of the 2018 NCAA tournament, the 11th seeded Loyola-Chicago Ramblers gave us the perfect example of what makes this time of year so great.

Trailing the 6th seeded Miami Hurricanes 62-61 with 9.3 seconds to go, the Ramblers grabbed a rebound off a missed free throw and rushed back up the court. All the Ramblers needed to advance was a two point bucket but Donte Ingram had a different idea.

With seconds bleeding off the clock, Ingram received a pass and pulled up from Mars to take a shot for the win.

Here’s what happened:

Nothing. But. Net.

Ingram took the pass in stride and hit the shot from the dang logo to give his side the dramatic come from behind victory and a spot in the second round.

With the Ramblers’ victory, it marked the 14th straight year that an 11 seed knocked off a 6 seed in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

This is just a small sample of what makes this tournament so great. While it may be fun to watch the really good teams rewarded for their excellence, there is just something so satisfying about seeing an underdog pull off an upset. It doesn’t hurt when they do it in dramatic fashion such as this either.

Loyola-Chicago will look to pull another upset on Saturday when they take on the No. 3 seed Tennessee Volunteers in the Round of 32.

We almost had another 6/11 upset later in the evening when the Houston Cougars were taken down to the wire by the San Diego State Aztecs.

The Aztecs rallied from a 10 point halftime deficit to knot the game at 65-65 but Rob Gray was not going to be denied for Houston. Holding on for the final shot, Gray let the clock tick down before driving hard into the lane and finishing off an athletic lay in with just a second remaining to give the Cougars the win.

The win was the first NCAA Tournament victory for Houston since 1984 and they move on to face Michigan in the Round of 32 on Saturday