BASKETBALL

In the NBA, it was Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Dallas Mavericks.  The Thunder knew it was a do-or-die game, as they’re trailing 2-1 in the series, so they came out with a vengeance.  The Mavericks didn’t know what to do with them — they were scoring from all over the court.  Kevin Durant led the way with a huge night (29 points and 15 rebounds).  They kept this commanding lead… until late in the 4th quarter, when oddly, the Mavs started coming back.  Dirk turned into SuperDirk, and seemingly couldn’t miss.  He was hitting shots so off-balance it made your head spin just watching it.  Then, suddenly, the Mavs found themselves trailing by only 2 to go with under a minute left, and the Thunder’s Nick Collison fouled Nowitzki to send him to the line.  Boom, he hit them both, and we’re tied.  The Thunder had 3.5 seconds to do something with it, but Durant just launched it from 35 feet out AND got blocked. The Mavs had all the momentum going into overtime, and wrapped up the game with ease.  Dirk finished with 40, and the Mavs now take a commanding 3-1 lead back to Dallas for Game 5.  The Thunder will have to quickly regroup from this loss if they even want to stay competitive in the next game.  Dallas 112, OKC 105.

Elsewhere in the NBA, Joakim Noah is being fined by the NBA for using anti-gay slurs at a Miami fan.  He will have to pay-up $50,000 for snapping at a Heat crowd member.  Yesterday, Noah apologized for the remark, but his teammate, Luol Deng, said that he could empathize with the situation.  Deng said that players are humans too and it’s really difficult to just brush everything off.  Deng continued by saying that he understood why Noah responded to that fan, that what the fan uttered was despicable.  Luol mentioned that sometimes he feels like storming into the stands and punching someone.  Carlos Boozer also defended Noah’s actions. 

FOOTBALL

Finally, in the NFL, we still may be in the middle of a lockout, but that won’t stop some Tampa Bay Buccaneers players from working out.  The Bucs surprisingly finished last season with a 10-6 record.  They barely missed the playoffs, and are now looking to improve in the off-season.  Now, their starting QB, Josh Freeman, is holding work-outs for any player that wants to come.  It’s all about conditioning and getting ready for the season.  Freeman said that as the team leader, he felt it was his responsibility to take charge and ensure that his team was ready.  This is definitely one of the NFL’s up-and-coming teams and it’s actions like these that hint… this team will be ready for the best of them next season.