WATERCOOLER CHAT: BULLS EVEN SERIES, JR SMITH BEST SIXTH MAN, JETS FUTURE PLUMMETS IN VEGAS

BASKETBALL

In the NBA, the playoffs resumed, as it was Game 2 between the Chicago Bulls and the Brooklyn Nets.  The Bulls came into Game 1 with absolutely no energy, and their coach called them out.  So they did everything they could to prepare for and bring the correct enthusiasm to Game 2.  Carlos Boozer grabbed rebounds all over the place, and Luol Deng turned into a leader on the court with 15 points and 10 rebounds.  Meanwhile, Deron Williams played an awful game for the Nets.  Brook Lopez and Joe Johnson had a solid game for Brooklyn, but it just wasn’t enough, and the Bulls evened up the series at a game a piece heading back to Chicago.  Chicago 90, Brooklyn 82.
Elsewhere in basketball, it’s awards season, and the major awards are starting to role in.  The first one:  Best Sixth Man.  This award is given to the guy who comes off the bench and gives the team the best spark.  Usually his team uses him to over match and overpower the other team’s bench.  He’s the guy who’s basically a reliable game changer.  This award has gone to James Harden in the past considering he’s an all-star coming off the bench, but with Harden now a starting star on the Rockets, the award was up for grabs.  This year, it was awarded to the Knicks J.R. Smith. Smith was fantastic this season as the first man off the bench for the Knicks.  He’s deadly from three-point land, and can also cut through the lane with dangerous precision.  In other words, he was a serious threat, and a huge contributor to the Knicks.  Congratulations to J.R. Smith.

FOOTBALL

And in the NFL, an interesting impact in Las Vegas.  Most trades don’t affect the NFL Futures odds much.  For example, when the Kansas City Chiefs got a proven starting quarterback in Alex Smith and a proven winning coach in Andy Reid, it didn’t affect their Super Bowl Odds.  However, when Darrelle Revis was traded to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it affected everything. Suddenly, the Bucs Super Bowl odds improved from 50 to 1 to 40 to 1, while Rex Ryan’s Jets saw Vegas’ lack of confidence.  After losing their only star player in Revis, the Jets Super Bowl odds plummeted from 50 to 1 to 100 to 1.  That’s basically saying that the Jets definitely won’t win the Super Bowl.  Can the Jets use this ‘nobody believes in us’ energy to shock the world next season?

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