NBA games, U.S. Open tennis relief to the soul

By Al S. Mendoza

 

I continue to feel strongly for a Laker-Heat finals showdown happening soon in this year’s 45th NBA (National Basketball Association) season that’s been rolling along so well since its restart on July 31 after a four-month lull caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Let’s pray the good fortune holds on for the league till The Finals set in October.

Amazingly—thanks to dear God’s grace as always—not one single player, coach, league staff, sportscaster and TV crew has been infected at the Walt Disney World complex in Lake Buena Vista near Orlando, Florida.

One participant tested positive in the just-ended U.S. Open tennis tournament won by Dominic Thiem and Naomi Osaka in the men’s and women’s sides, respectively.

But before the unranked player could spread the virus, he was quickly whizzed off the Flushing Meadows bubble—saving the tournament from getting canceled even as Novak Djokovic, the No. 1 seed, got kicked out for hitting a ball into the throat of a lady lines official.

Although it was unintentional, Djokovic’s reckless swatting of the ball directed out of the court shoved him to banishment, a punishment he so remorsefully accepted.

The Serbian, whose indiscretion was a result of unrestrained frustration, profusely apologized to the lady official, who, fortunately, did not suffer a serious injury.

Djokovic’s ouster did not only deprive him of another potential Grand Slam crown as two of his fellow Big Three comrades, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, did not compete—Nadal on virus issues and Federer on a knee injury.

But the bigger (biggest?) loss for Djokovic getting sacked was the thought of losing the men’s top prize:  $3 million!

A costly lesson in anger management.

Anyway, Djokovic can try to recoup his losses as the French Open, the year’s third tennis major after the Aussie Open and the U.S. Open, is now on at the Roland Garros clay courts in Paris.

But he’s got company as Nadal is back.

And, by way of a reminder, Nadal is the King of Clay for the longest time—the winningest ever at the French Open.

Anyway, back to the NBA.

As deadline tyranny rules all the time, I have submitted this column days ahead of the scheduled games in both the NBA Western and Eastern Finals.

But as the standings showed as we went to press, the Los Angeles Lakers were leading the Denver Nuggets 2-1 in the West title playoffs.

And in the East side, the Miami Heat were up by a commanding 3-1 lead over the Boston Celtics.

Miami and Boston played Game 4 on Thursday, with the Heat stealing a 112-109 win behind the 37 points of a 20-year-old rookie named Tyler Herro.

Thus, the Celtics had their backs against the wall with a 3-1 deficit when they faced the Heat on Saturday, needing the first of three successive wins to complete an improbable 4-3 East conquest.

As for the Lakers, they battle the Nuggets in today’s  (Sunday) Game 5.

Did Denver win Friday’s Game 4 to tie the West series at 2-2?

If not, the Lakers might yet close it out today for a 4-1 series triumph and a return to the NBA Finals and hope to end a 10-year title drought.

Sports has always been a surefire balm to a soul seared by calamitous events like the COVID-19.

Share your Comments or Reactions

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments