BRAVE HEARTS PREVAILED IN EPIC AND STUNNING WINS IN THE NBA AND 2020 US TENNIS OPEN
Denver’s brave hearts and dynamic duo of Jamal Murray and Serbian giant Nikola Jokic led another stunning turnaround as the Nuggets advanced to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2009.
Murray scored 40 points, Jokic had a triple-double by the third quarter and Denver again overcame a double-digit deficit to shock the heavily favored Los Angeles Clippers 104-89 in Game 7 on Tuesday night.
Denver became the first team in NBA history to rally from a 3-1 series deficit twice in the same postseason. The team beat Utah in Game 7 in the first round.
At the same time Tuesday in Game 1 of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals, Jimmy Butler’s three-point play with 12 seconds left put Miami up for good, Bam Adebayo blocked Jayson Tatum’s dunk attempt in the final seconds and the Heat rallied time and again to beat the Boston Celtics 117-114. Adebayo’s block on Tatum was billed as the block of all-ages. Celtic’s Kemba Walker’s basket with 23.2 seconds left in overtime put Boston up by one, before Butler muscled his way to the rim for a score while getting fouled by Tatum. The Celtics went to Tatum on the ensuing possession, only to watch him get denied by Adebayo.
And the Heat’s brave hearts showed once more — down by 13 in the first quarter, down by 14 in the fourth — struck first, ending Boston’s seven-game streak of Game 1 wins.
Meanwhile, the day before that in the Flushing Meadows in New York, Sunday, at the U.S. Open unlike any other finished unlike any other match— with an unprecedented fifth-set tiebreaker as Dominic Thiem became the first man in 71 years to win the tournament final after dropping the opening two sets.
So close to defeat but Thiem;s brave heart prevailed in a nearly empty Arthur Ashe Stadium — fans were banned because of the coronavirus pandemic — Thiem slowly but surely turned things around against a faltering Alexander Zverev and surged to a 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (6) victory to earn his first Grand Slam title.
At the distaff side, after one errant forehand in the first set of the U.S. Open final, Naomi Osaka looked at her coach in the mostly empty Arthur Ashe Stadium stands with palms up, as if to say, “What the heck is happening?”
In response to another wayward forehand against Victoria Azarenka seconds later, Osaka chucked her racket. It spun a bit and rattled against the court.
Surprisingly off-kilter in the early going Saturday, Osaka kept missing shots and digging herself a deficit. Until, suddenly, she lifted her game, and Azarenka couldn’t sustain her start. By the end, Osaka pulled away to a 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 comeback victory for her second U.S. Open championship and third Grand Slam title overall.