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Chicago Bulls 107 New Orleans Pelicans 99

Posted: January 14, 2017 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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Jimmy Butler returned from illness and Dwayne Wade scored 17 points in the 4th quarter as the Chicago Bulls beat the New Orleans Pelicans 107-99. The win ended Chicago’s three game losing streak and improved there record to 20-21 on the season. The loss ended the Pelicans two game winning streak and dropped them to 16-25 for the season.

Chicago got out to an early eight point lead at 14-6. The Pelicans got the lead down to four points at one time, but with 2:45 left in the quarter they found themselves back down by eight points at 21-13. New Orleans went on a 9-0 run to end the 1st quarter and when Tyreke Evans hit a lay up with :12 seconds left the Pelicans had a 22-21 at the end of the quarter.

Chicago went right back to the lead in the 2nd quarter and then started to build one. After a 20 to 8 run to start the quarter the Bulls had a 11 point lead at 41-30. The Pelicans where only able to cut the lead to seven points and they did that on two different occasions, but the Bulls where able to push the lead right back to double digits. The Bulls took a 10 point lead at the half 55-45.

The Bulls built the lead to 15 points at 66-51 with 6:30 left in the quarter. The Pelicans went on a 9-0 run to cut the lead to six points at 66-60. The Bulls where able to push the lead back to double digits at 73-62 before New Orleans made another run. New Orleans finished the quarter on a 9 to 4 run to make it a 77-71 game heading into the final quarter.

New Orleans continued cutting into the Bulls lead at the start of the 4th quarter. By scoring seven of the first eight points in the quarter the Pelicans where down by  just one point at 79-78. The teams traded hoops before the Bulls went on a 11 to 2 run to take a 91-82 lead. The closet New Orleans got after that was five points as the Bulls where able to hold them off for a 107-99 win.

In his return Jimmy Butler led the Bulls in scoring with 28 points and assists with 6. Dwayne Wade had 22 points while Taj Gibson scored 15 points and grabbed a game high 16 rebounds. Michael Carter-Williams had 11 points and Robin Lopez also pitched in 10 rebounds.

Anthony Davis was the games high scorer with 36 points and also grabbed 14 rebounds for the Pelicans. Solomon Hill was the only other New Orleans starter to score in double figures with 10 points. Former Bull E’Twaun Moore scored 16 points off the New Orleans bench. Moore went 4 of 5 from behind the 3-point line in the game. Tyreke Evans also scored double figures off the Pelicans bench with 14 points.

This was the first game of another back to back for the Bulls. They’re on the road tomorrow night against the 25-17 Memphis Grizzlies. New Orleans gets a day off before heading to Indiana to play the 20-19 Pacers in a Monday afternoon game.

 

How was your week

Posted: January 14, 2017 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, football, hockey, sports
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The Divisional round of the NFL playoffs kicks off today with two games. The other two games are Sunday. Just like last week I’m going to put your Saturday picks in here to keep us honest. Mr. Fantasy and I will let you know who we’re all going with on Sunday’s podcast. The first game has the Seattle Seahawks at the Atlanta Falcons. We are split on this game as Mr. Fantasy and Schaumburg Stu are going with the Falcons and Dan the Man and I are taking the Seahawks. The second game today has the Houston Texans at the New England Patriots. This was the only game this weekend we all agreed on and no surprise we all picked the Patriots to win this one.

Because of the weather in the Kansas City area the NFL adjusted the Sunday schedule to try and make travel safer for everyone getting to and from the game. The Pittsburgh Steelers at the Kansas City Chiefs game was originally scheduled to kickoff at 12:05 p.m. but with the weather situation in the area the game has been moved to a 7:20 p.m. kickoff time. The other game on Sunday hasn’t been moved. It’s still a 3:40 p.m. kickoff time for the Green Bay Packers at the Dallas Cowboys.

Back in Week 6 the Seahawks beat the Falcons 26-24 in Seattle. Atlanta was driving at the end of the game and with the clock running down Matt Ryan tried to hit Julio Jones with a long pass down the middle of the field. It appeared as though Richard Sherman interfered with Jones on the play, but there was no penalty called. What I’m trying to figure out is why everyone thinks that if pass interference would’ve been called on that play that Atlanta would’ve won it. Even if the penalty had been called the football would’ve been at the Seattle 35 yard line. Now that means it would’ve been a 52 yard field goal that Matt Bryant would’ve needed to make for the Falcons to win the game. What I’m not understanding is why everyone thinks that a 52 yard field goal is a gimme and that Atlanta would win. Bryant is a very good kicker. He made 34 of 37 field goal attempts with a long of 59 yards, but two of his three misses on the season where from 50+ yards. Bryant also missed one extra point this season. Apparently the first game between these two teams featured the only missed call by a referee in the NFL this season and then a guarantee that a kicker would make a 52 yard field goal. I can’t be the only one who thinks this is ridiculous.

The Patriots/Texans game is also a rematch from the regular season. In Week 3 the Patriots beat the Texans 27-0 in New England. Since this game was back in Week 3 Tom Brady was suspended and Jimmy Garoppolo was injured; so that means Jacoby Brissett was the Patriots quarterback for the game. Now neither team is the same as they where back in Week 3, but New England is favorite by 15 1/2 to 17 points in the betting lines. That’s a very big point spread for a playoff game. Brock Osweiler started the game in Week 3 and he’ll be under center for Houston tonight. Osweiler went 24 of 41 for 196 yards with an interception in Week 3. Lamar Miller ran for 80 yards on 21 carries in that game and Ryan Griffin caught 8 passes for the Texans. Houston is also coming into this game with the #1 ranked defense in the NFL. Now back in Week 14 the Patriots faced the #1 defense of the Baltimore Ravens. Tom Brady threw for 406 yards against that defense as New England won 30-23. We’ll have to see if we get a good game or if we get the big win that the odds are predicting.

There was a marquee match up in the NHL last night as the Washington capitals hosted the Chicago Blackhawks. Both teams had 59 points coming into the game, but you wouldn’t know that by the way the game went. Washington totally embarrassed Chicago skating to a very easy 6-0 win. The Capitals put the game away very early as they scored three goals in the 1st period. Jay Beagle started the scoring for Washington with his 7th goal of the year. :13 seconds later Nicholas Backstrom made it 2-0 with his 12th goal of the season. Brett Connolly picked up his 6th goal of the season to make to score 3-0 with just under three minutes left in the 1st period. The Blackhawks managed to hold the Capitals to just one goal in the 2nd period. Tom Wilson scored for Washington with three minutes left in the period. It was Wilson 3rd goal of the season putting Washington up 4-0 after two periods. T.J. Oshie scored his 12th goal of the game just about eight minutes in to the 3rd period to make the score 5-0. Beagle then picked up his 2nd goal of the night and his 8th on the season with about 1:30 left to play.

Braden Holtby made 24 saves to post his league leading 6th shutout. With the shoutout Holtby’s Goals Against Average dropped to 1.85 for the season. All-Star Corey Crawford was a joke in goal for the Blackhawks as he allowed 5 goals on 30 shots. Even the Blackhawks back up goaltender Scott Darling found a way to give up a goal as he was beaten 1 time out of the 4 shots he faced.

It would be great if Blackhawks fans could say that the team was just looking ahead to there game against the Minnesota Wild on Sunday, but I don’t think that was the case. Now Minnesota is just two points behind the Blackhawks in the Central division standings of the Western Conference and if Minnesota wins there game tonight against the Dallas Stars the teams each have 59 points when they met on Sunday.

The NBA regular season is just about halfway over and Russell Westbrook just picked up his 19th triple-double of the season. Westbrook had 21 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds, but also had 10 turnovers as the Oklahoma City Thunder lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves 96-86 last night. Westbrook had a rough shooting night going 7 of 23 in the game and just 1 of 10 from behind the 3-point line.

According to records; Westbrook is the only player since 1973-74 to record multiple triple-doubles with at least 10 turnovers in a single season.

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com but you can also listen to the podcast any time you want at TuneIn.com

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

New York Knicks 104 Chicago Bulls 89

Posted: January 13, 2017 by Sports Time Radio in sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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While Dwayne Wade did return to the Chicago Bulls for Thursday nights game against the New York Knicks the Bulls where still very short handed. Leading scorer Jimmy Butler and top bench player or 6th man Nikola Mirotic missed there 2nd game in a row due to illness. Neither Butler or Mirotic is traveling with the team. With a couple of there top players out the Bulls suffered another double digit 104-89 to the Knicks. This was the Bulls 3rd loss in a row and dropped there record to 19-21 on the season. With the win the Knicks ended there three game losing streak and improved there record to 18-22 this season.

The Knicks scored the first eight points of the game; taking an 8-0 lead. The Bulls came back to cut the lead to one point at 13-12, but the Knicks scored the next seven points to push the lead back to seven points at 19-12. The Bulls cut the lead to one point again at 22-21 with 1:02 left in the quarter, but the Knicks scored the last two of the last three points in the quarter to take a 24-22 lead after one quarter.

Cristiano Felicio started the 2nd quarter with a dunk for the Bulls to tie the game at 24 all. The Knicks then went on a 10-2 run to take an eight point lead at 34-26. The short handed Bulls responded and when Paul Zipser made two free throws to complete a 10-0 Bulls run; Chicago had there first lead of the game at 36-34. The game was tied two more times in the quarter at 36 all and 42 all. The teams traded the lead seven times in the final 3:40 of the quarter, but going into the halftime it was the Knicks that took a 54-51 lead headed into the locker room.

With this being the second game of a back to back for New York and Chicago being short handed the teams struggled to score in the 3rd quarter. The Bulls managed just 14 points. While New York didn’t do much better just scoring 22 points in the quarter. Of course by outscoring the Bulls in the quarter the Knicks where able to add to there lead and at the end of three quarters New York was ahead by 12 points 76-65.

The closet the Bulls could get in the 4th quarter was 10 points and they did that five different times. The last time the Bulls cut the lead to 10 points was with 1:36 left in the game. The Knicks outscored the Bulls in the 4th quarter as well 28 to 24. The Knicks scored the final five points of the game capped off by a Mindaugas Kuzminskas 3-pointer with :20 seconds left in the game. That final 3-pointer got the game to it’s 104-89 final score.

Carmelo Anthony was the Knicks and the games high scorer with 23 points. Anthony also handed out a team high 6 assists. Mindaugas Kuzminskas came of the New York bench to score 19 points while Derrick Rose had 17 points against his former team. Kyle O’Quinn (off the bench) and another former Bull Joakim Noah each scored 12 points while Noah grabbed a game high 15 rebounds while O’Quinn grabbed 11 rebounds.

Dwayne Wade was the Bulls leading scorer with 22 points. Jerian Grant had 14 points off the Bulls bench while Cristiano Felicio also hit double digits off the Bulls bench with 13 points. Taj Gibson had 12 points and a team high 9 rebounds while Robin Lopez added 10 points. Rajon Rondo was the games leader in assists with 8.

The Bulls return home to try and break there three game losing streak Saturday afternoon against the 16-24 New Orleans Pelicans. Anthony Davis missed Thursday nights Pelicans game with a hip injury. Davis’s status for Saturday’s game is still unknown. After back to back games the Knicks get a couple of days off. They head to Toronto on Sunday afternoon to face the Atlantic leading 25-13 Raptors.

Washington Wizards 101 Chicago Bulls 99

Posted: January 11, 2017 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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John Wall hit a jumper with :05.9 seconds left to lift the Washington Wizards to a 101-99 victory over the short handed Chicago Bulls. The Bulls went into the game without there top two scorers and one of their top bench players. Jimmy Butler and Nikola Mirotic both missed the game because of an illness and Dwayne Wade sat out because this was the second game of a back to back. The win was the Wizards 3rd in a row and got them over the .500 mark at 19-18. The loss drops the Bulls a game under .500 at 19-20.

Chicago went out to a quick five point lead at 10-5, but Washington went on a 14-2 run to take the lead at 19-12. The Bulls really dominated the rest of the quarter as they scored 24 more points in the quarter while holding the Wizards to just 7 more points. The Bulls took a 10 point lead 36-26 after one quarter.

The Bulls scored the first eight points of the 2nd quarter and where out to a 18 point lead at 44-26. The best the Wizards could do in the quarter was cut the Bulls lead to 10 points; which they did twice. The Bulls pushed the lead back to 16 points, but the Wizards scored the last four points of the quarter to cut the Bulls lead to 12 at 61-49 headed into halftime.

The Wizards started to get back into the game and cut the Bulls lead to five points at 65-60, but the Bulls where able to rebuild the lead to double digits at 71-60. It was the Wizards turn to make a run again and this time they came all the way back. The Wizards went on a 17-4 run that game them a 77-75 lead with 1:40 left in the quarter. After the teams traded buckets Marcin Gortat put back a missed shot to give the Wizards a 81-77 lead after three quarters.

It was a tight 4th quarter as the teams traded the lead three times. The biggest lead the Wizards could build was a five point lead early in the quarter. The Bulls did build a seven point lead at 92-85 with 7:27 left in the game after Denzel Valentine hit a 3-pointer. Washington then scored the next 10 points in the game to take a three point lead 95-92. The game was tied three more times in the final 2:08 minutes of the game. It was 99 all with :05 seconds left when John Wall hit a jump shot to give the Wizards a 101-99 win.

All the Wizards starters scored in double figures; led by John Wall who had a game high 26 points. Wall also handed out a game high 14 assists. Bradley Beal and Markieff Morris each had 19 points. Otto Porter Jr. had 11 points while Marcin Gortat scored 10 points and tied for the game high in rebounds with 12.

Denzel Valentine came off the Bulls bench to lead them in scoring with 19 points. Michael Carter-Williams and Robin Lopez each scored 14 points. Bobby Portis had 13 points off the bench while Rajon Rondo came off the Bulls bench for his first game action for the first time since December 30th and scored 12 points. Taj Gibson had a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds. Rondo and Jerian Grant tied for the team lead in assists with 6.

This game was the first of a back to back for the Wizards as they have to travel to Boston to put there three game winning streak on the line against the 25-15 Celtics. This was the Bulls second loss in a row. Chicago will get a day off before they play there third game in four days as the stay on the road to play the 17-21 New York Knicks on Thursday night.

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: January 11, 2017 by Sports Time Radio in Auto Racing, baseball, football, sports
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The NFL is into the playoffs and they started last Saturday with wild card weekend. So since there where games we made picks. Schaumburg Stu and I went 4-0 for the first weekend of the playoffs while Dan the Man and Mr. Fantasy went 3-1. Dan the Man thought the Oakland raiders would get a win with 3rd string quarterback Connor Cook under center while Mr. Fantasy’s loss was the Miami Dolphins.

Now we’re into the divisional round. There again are 4 games. Two on Saturday and two on Sunday. Saturday starts with the Seattle Seahawks at the Atlanta Falcons. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:35 p.m. The second game has the Houston Texans at the New England Patriots. The scheduled kickoff for this one is 7:15 p.m. On Sunday the first game is scheduled to kickoff at 12:05 p.m. as the Pittsburgh Steelers are at the Kansas City Chiefs. The second game features the Green Bay Packers at the Dallas Cowboys. The scheduled kickoff for this game is 3:40 p.m.

There where no upset in the wild card round and let’s face it the games where pretty boring. All the home teams won and the closest game was 27-14 between the won by the Houston Texans over the Oakland Raiders. Now the match ups look a little better this week; so we’ll see a higher seed lose?

It came as a little bit of a surprise yesterday when the Oakland Raiders announced that they wouldn’t be retaining offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave. The Raiders offense was ranked 6th in the league in total offense and they scored the 7th most points in the NFL. With quarterback Derek Carr becoming an M.V.P. candidate before breaking his fibula in Week 16. It was reported that Oakland’s head coach Jack Del Rio told the rest of the staff Tuesday afternoon of the move. Musgrave was the Jacksonville Jaquars offensive coordinator in 2003 and 04 when Del Rio was the head coach there. Quarterback coach Todd Downing will take over the offensive coordinator duties. There where reports that Downing had a very good chance of getting an offensive coordinator job with one of the teams hiring a new head coach and there are people wondering if this facilitated this move. Musgrave did have his critics. They pointed out how the Raiders offense seemed to be slow starting and then when they got a lead Musgrave would get too conservative.  Now the Raiders defense finished ranked 26th on the season, but reports are that defensive coordinator Ken Norton’s job is safe.

I was stunned yesterday when I saw the headline that Carl Edwards was walking away from the Joe Gibbs Racing and the #19 car. It was announced that Edwards was retiring from NASCAR immediately. Joe Gibbs Racing has called a news conference Wednesday where Edwards is apparently going to example why he’s walking away from NASCAR. Edwards is 37 years old and showed no sign of injury after an accident, yet he is stepping away from the sport. Certainly any team would want him if he ever decides to return. The timing of the decision certainly leads to speculation of a variety of reasons Edwards could want to stop racing. Maybe Edwards was just mentally spent after another near miss at the championship. Maybe the Joe Gibbs Racing driving corps isn’t as tight as it’s portrayed. Maybe he really is a Ford guy who has a plan in the back of his mind to return to that stable in the future. Maybe he has another job lined up in television? Edwards has done some commentary before and is very good in the booth calling the races. Edwards does have 28 career wins, but never did win a Cup title. He does have two 2nd place finishes on his record. 2016 Xfinity champion Daniel Suarez is expected to take over the #19 car. Suarez, who helped bring the Arris sponsorship to Joe Gibbs Racing makes the jump, but it might of happened a year or two early. Joe Gibbs Racing seemed to have quite a stable of drivers and you had to wonder down the line which driver might lose there ride. Matt Kenseth signed a contract extension last season. It’s being reported that Denny Hamlin has signed a contract extension as well. Kyle Busch is one of the top drivers in NASCAR and Eric Jones has been set up with Furniture Row Racing for the 2017 season, but is expected to return to Joe Gibbs Racing in either 2018 or 2019. Maybe Edwards felt like the odd man out and just decided to walk away. It looks like the question now is; will we ever see Carl Edwards in a full time NASCAR ride again?

We had a couple of more free agents sign in the last couple of days. Outfielder Colby Rasmus agreed to a one year $5 million dollar deal with the Tampa Bay Rays. Rasmus is coming off his worse season batting average wise. Rasmus hit .206 in 107 games with the Houston Astros. Rasmus did have 15 home runs and drove in 54 runs. Rasmus has played all three outfield positions, but it looks as though he’ll spend the majority of his time with the Rays as a corner outfielder.

The other signing has Trevor Plouffe going to the Oakland A’s on a one year $5 million dollar deal. Plouffe has spent his entire seven year career with the Minnesota Twins. Plouffe was limited to just 84 games last season do to injury. Plouffe is a career .247 with 96 career home runs. Plouffe spent time at 1st and 3rd base last season, but it appears as though the A’s will use him at 3rd and Ryon Healy will shift to 1st base and spend time at Designated Hitter.

While slowly, but surely players sign with new teams you have to wonder how much longer it will be before players like Mark Trumbo, Jose Bautista and Matt Wieters sign new deals. It seems as just about every team in baseball has “checked in” on Trumbo and you have to wonder why he isn’t signed yet. Apparently the Texas Rangers are the team with the most interest in Trumbo right now. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have shown some interest in Wieters, but there seems to be very little interest in Bautista. Is Bautista the guy in this free agent market that’s going to have to take a one year prove it type of deal and then try the free agent market again next season.

You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com but you can listen to the podcast any time you want at TuneIn.com

You can find me o Twitter @Burketime

Oklahoma City Thunder 109 Chicago Bulls 94

Posted: January 10, 2017 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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The Chicago Bulls came into the game on a three game winning streak, but that came to an end when the Oklahoma City Thunder beat them 109-94. Jimmy Butler was sent home after being taken out of the game in the 3rd quarter. Butler was ill coming into the game and there was a chance he wouldn’t play at all. This was the first of  a back to back for the Bulls and it looks as though Butler won’t play Tuesday night and Dwayne Wade will also miss that game. Wade normally skips one game in a back to back set to rest.

Believe it or not the Bulls only lead of the game came when Taj Gibson hit a jump shot for the first points of the game and the Bulls lead 2-0. Chicago did manage to come back and tie the game at 10 all. Oklahoma City finished the quarter on a 16-10 run to take a 26-20 after one quarter.

The 2nd quarter saw Oklahoma City build a 17 point lead 39-22. The Bulls did score the next eight points as part of an 18-4 run that cut the Thunder’s lead to three points. The Bulls couldn’t keep the run going though as they scored just six points the remainder of the quarter as Oklahoma City built it’s lead to 15 points going into halftime ahead 61-46.

The Bulls mad a 11-6 run to cut the Thunder’s lead to 10 points (67-57) with 6:50 left in the quarter, but that was the closet Chicago could get. The rest of the quarter belonged to Oklahoma City. The Thunder went on a 27 to 7 run to build there biggest lead of the game (25 points) 89-64. The Bulls did manage to score the final three points of the quarter to make the score 89-67 at the end of three quarters.

With the result of the game appearing to be taken care of Oklahoma City was able to get there starters some rest. Chicago did outscored Oklahoma City 27 to 20 in the final quarter, but it wasn’t close to enough for a comeback win. By knocking seven points of the Oklahoma City lead just meant the Bulls lost by 15 points 109-94.

Steven Adams was the Thunder’s leading scorer with 22 points. Russell Westbrook had a double-double with 21 points and a game high 14 assists. Westbrook missed a triple-double by 1 rebound. Enes Kanter had 20 points and his 11 rebounds tied for the game high coming off the Oklahoma City bench. Victor Oladipo also tallied 13 points for the Thunder.

Chicago was led by Dwayne Wade with 22 points. Michael Carter-Williams had 15 points while Jerian Grant and Cristiano Felicio came off the Bulls bench to score 11 points. Felicio also grabbed 11 rebounds to tie for the game high. Jimmy Butler did hand out 7 assists to lead the team before exiting the game.

The win improves Oklahoma City’s record to 23-16. The Thunder will get a day off before they return home to host the 24-16 Memphis Grizzlies Wednesday night. The loss drops Chicago back to .500 at 19-19. This was the first of back to back games for the Bulls as they must play tonight in Washington against the 18-18 Wizards.

Chicago Bulls 123 Toronto Raptors 118.

Posted: January 7, 2017 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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The Chicago Bulls made up a 19 point second half deficit to get the game into overtime and found a way to get their third win in a row 123-118 over the Toronto Raptors. With the win the Bulls go back over the .500 mark at 19-18. Toronto dropped to 24-12 with the loss.

The teams played a very even first quarter. The biggest lead the Raptors could build in the quarter was four points while the biggest lead the Bulls could get was three points. Jerian Grant hit the last basket of the quarter with .31 seconds left to give the Bulls a one point lead at 29-28.

The 2nd quarter started off very even as well with the teams trading the lead three times. With Toronto holding a one point lead at 39-38 they went on a 11-0 run to take there first double digit lead of the game at 50-38. The Bulls never got closer than eight points the rest of the quarter and the Raptors where able to keep a double digit lead heading into half time at 61-48.

The 3rd quarter saw the Raptors post there biggest lead of the game at 19 points at 82-63 with 3:42 left in the quarter after a DeMar DeRozan hit a pair of free throws. The Bulls did finish the quarter on a 11-4 run, but that cut the Toronto lead to 12 points at 86-74 heading into the 4th quarter.

With a double digit deficit to make up the Bulls didn’t so themselves any favors early in the quarter as Toronto held a 13 point lead 96-83 with 8:40 left in the game. It took a 16-3 run by the Bulls to get the game even at 99 all with 3:33 left to play. It looked as though the Bulls would win the game in regulation when Doug McDermott hit a 3-pointer with :39 seconds left to put the Bulls ahead 107-105. Then  Dwayne Wade fouled DeMar DeRozan with :31 seconds left and after DeRozan hit both free throws the game was headed to overtime tied at 107 all.

The Bulls got out to a five point lead 116-111, but the Raptors where able to get right back in the game and cut the lead to two points at 116-114. That was as close as the Raptors could get as the Bulls scored five of the game final seven points to pull away to a 123-118 victory.

Jimmy Butler was the Bulls and the games high scorer with 42 points. Dwayne Wade added 20 points and had a team high 7 assists. Doug McDermott (17 points) and Nikola Mirotic (12 points) came off the Bulls bench to score in double figures. McDermott and Butler tied for the game high in rebounds as they each grabbed 10 boards. As a team the Bulls made 36 of the 39 free throws they shot.

DeMar DeRozan was the Raptors high scorer with 36 points. Kyle Lowry just missed a triple-double scoring 27 points handed out a game high 12 assists and grabbing a team high 9 rebounds. Jonas Valanciunas and Cory Joseph each scored 14 points for the Raptors.

The Bulls will get a day off before they put there three game wining streak on the line Monday night as they host the 22-16 Oklahoma City Thunder. Tonight was the first of a back to back for the Raptors. Toronto returns home tomorrow to face the 29-9 Houston Rockets.

How was your week

Posted: January 7, 2017 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, football, sports
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The NFL playoffs kick off today with wild card weekend. The first game we’ll see today has the (12-4) Oakland Raiders at the (9-7) Houston Texans.

Both of these teams are dealing with what you could call interesting quarterback situations. The Raiders where 12-3 with Derek Carr as there starting quarterback, but in Week 16 Carr went down with a broken leg and is done for the season. Oakland turned to back up Matt McGloin for the final game of the season and then hopefully into the playoffs. Then in what has to be looked at as just bad luck McGloin got hurt in the Week 17 game against the Denver Broncos. McGloin has been limited in practice all week and is listed as “Questionable” on the injury report. While most reports are saying McGloin won’t play we won’t actually know until inactive list for the game is released. So the Raiders are down to there 3rd string quarterback. That is Connor Cook who was the Raiders 2016 4th round draft pick. Cook will actually ne the first quarterback in NFL history to make his first career start in a playoff game. Cook did go 14 of 21 for 150 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception in relief of McGloin against the Broncos. The Raiders did sign Garrett Gilbert to the practice squad to serve as a back up quarterback.

The Texans quarterback situation was affected by injury in Week 17 as well. Tom Savage had taken over as the Texans starting quarterback when he replaced Brock Osweiler in Week 15’s game against the Jacksonville Jaquars. Savage made starts in Week 16 and Week 17, but Savage suffered a concussion in Week 17 against the Tennessee Titans and has not cleared the NFL’s concussion protocol. That means Osweiler gets the job back as Houston’s starting quarterback for today’s playoff game. Osweiler was 8-6 as the Texans starter this season. He completed 59% of his passes and threw 15 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. After taking over for Savage against the Titans Osweiler went 21 for 40 for 253 yards and a touchdown. It was the most passing yards Osweiler had thrown for sine Week 6. The other injury the Texans are dealing with is to leading rusher Lamar Miller. Miller has been inactive the last two weeks, but wasn’t on the Texans final injury report for the playoff game. Miller ran for 104 yards in the Texans 27-20 loss to the Raiders in Week 11.

Here’s how we’re picking this game. Schaumburg Stu, Mr. Fantasy and I are all going with the Houston Texans. That means Dan the Man is the only one picking the Raiders.

The second playoff game today has the (9-7) Detroit Lions at the (10-5-1) Seattle Seahawks. The injury situation isn’t as bad for either of these teams entering the playoffs, but there is some concern with the way they both played down the stretch. The Lions come into this game on a 3-game losing streak that dropped into a wild card spot. Now the Seahawks did win there final regular season game of the season, but it was just a 2-point (25-23) win over the 2-14 San Francisco 49ers. Luckily for the Seahawks they are the home team and they’ve never lost a playoff game at CenturyLink Field. The Lions have also never won a game in Seattle. Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford will still be wearing a glove on his throwing hand to protect his injured finger. Detroit has made only two playoff appearances since 1999 and has not won a postseason game since 1991. The Lions have also trailed in the fourth quarter of every game during the regular season, and they overcame nine fourth quarter deficits while getting out to a 9-4 record before falling back to earth in December and early January. The Seahawks ate just 2-2 since Pro Bowl safety Earl Thomas was injured and some sideline squabbles only added to the idea that Seattle is a team in turmoil. The Seahawks are also missing wide receiver/return man Tyler Lockett who broke his leg in the game against the Arizona Cardinals on December 24th. To fill the void Lockett leaves in the return game Seattle signed veteran return man Devin Hester. Hester has an NFL record 20 returns for touchdowns, including a record 14 on punts, 5 on kickoffs and 1 on a missed field goal attempt return. Hester played in 12 games for the Baltimore Ravens this season. Hester returned 25 punts averaging 7.2 yards per return. He also returned 19 kickoffs averaging 24.5 yards per return.

We’re all in agreement with our pick for this game as we all have the Seahawks getting the win.

You can kind of add this to the list of it happens to everybody. Last night the Golden State Warriors blew a 24 point lead and ended up losing to the Memphis Grizzlies 128-119 in overtime. The loss took place at Oracle Arena where Golden State was 16-2 coming into last nights game. Golden State entered the 4th quarter up by 19 points which normally leads to victory. The Warriors came out “lethargically” at the start of the 4th quarter and Memphis went on a 23-6 run. It took the Warriors offense 7 minutes to score those 6 points. Down the stretch the Warriors used there “Super Death Line Up” of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala and it looked as though they would hang on for a win. Then, the end of regulation was ugliest of all for Golden State. Tony Allen muscled home a follow-up to a key offensive rebound. With the Warriors up two, the Warriors delivered what might have been their most awkward sequence of the season. As Curry dribbled it appeared that Durant did not know where to be, as Green gesticulated. The play led to a Curry miss, salvaged by a Thompson rebound. From there Durant and Curry deliberated over what was supposed to happen, until Curry finally gave up the rock. Then Curry set a less than forceful screen and Durant, facing Zach Randolph’s closeout, missed an off the dribble 3. Green sauntered to the bench looking less than pleased, before exchanging heated words with Durant. The Warriors continued their struggles into overtime and after Troy Daniels hit a 3-pointer the Grizzlies where up 6 points. It looked as though Durant had a chance to pull the Warriors within three as it appeared he scored and was fouled, but after a review of the play the called was changed and a foul was called on Durant. It seemed as though the Warriors couldn’t get back on track and after Mike Conley hit a step back jumper Memphis had the game in hand. After the game Draymond Green had some pointed comments, but pretty much blamed everyone for the loss. This is the kind of loss that doesn’t happen to a team like Golden State. In the end it won’t affect much as they’re still looked at as the best team in the Western Conference and any issue they might be having; they’ll have 45 regular season games to work out.

You can listen to the Sports Time radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com but you can listen to the podcast any time you want at TuneIn.com

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

Chicago Bulls 106 Cleveland Cavaliers 94

Posted: January 5, 2017 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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The Cleveland Cavaliers went into Wednesday night game against the Chicago Bulls missing two of their “big” three for this game. Kevin Love sat out with an illness from a sea bass dinner he had and Kyrie Irving missed the game with a hamstring injury. LeBron James was also sick coming into the game, but he played. With the Cavaliers missing bodies the Bulls where able to get a big road win 106-94.

Even without Love and Irving the game started off like the Cavaliers would be just fine as they scored 15 of the games first 17 points. The Bulls managed just 16 points in the 1st quarter. The Cavaliers ended up with a 7 point lead at 23-16 after one quarter.

Maybe the Bulls needed a quarter to warm up from the cold January weather as they scored the first 9 points of the quarter to take there first lead of the game 25-23. The teams traded the lead a couple of times until the Bulls where able to build a five point lead at 39-34 with 4:26 left in the quarter. The Bulls where able to add a point to there lead going into halftime ahead 52-46.

The Bulls used a 12-7 run to take there first double digit lead of the game at 64-53. It took the Cavaliers the rest of the quarter to get the Bulls lead under double digits. The Cavaliers scored the last six points of the quarter and when  Jordan McRae hit a lay up with 0.27 seconds left in the quarter Cleveland was down 9 points 83-74 after three quarters.

Cleveland did get a little closer as they scored the first four points of the 4th quarter to cut the Bulls lead to five points. The Bulls pushed the lead to eight points, but the Cavaliers came right back and got the lead down to two points 86-84 after Kay Felder hit a jump shot with 9:18 left in the quarter. After Jimmy Butler split a pair of free throws LeBron James hit a lay up and the Bulls lead was down to one at 89-88. The rest of the game pretty much belonged to the Bulls as they finished on a 17 to 6 run and pulled away for a 106-94 victory.

The Bulls where led by Jimmy Butler with 20 points. Butler also handed out a game high 8 assists. Taj Gibson scored 18 points and a team high 7 rebounds, Michael Carter-Williams added 13 points and Dwayne Wade scored 10 points. Wade did his damage from behind the 3-point line where he was 3 of 4 in the game. Doug McDermott had 17 points off the Bulls bench and was also 3 of 4 from behind the 3-point line. Nikola Mirotic also scored double digits off the Bulls bench with 16 points.

LeBron James was the Cavaliers and the games high scorer with 31 points. Jordan McRae moved into the starting line for the Cavaliers and scored 21 points. Channing Frye also got a start for Cleveland and scored 15 points. Tristan Thompson was the games leading rebounder with 11.

The win gets the Bulls back to .500 at 18-18. Chicago will get a couple of days off before they return home to host the 23-11 Toronto Raptors Saturday night. The loss was just the Cavaliers 3rd at home this season and their 8th loss on the season. The Cavaliers get a day off before they go on the road to face the 8-25 Brooklyn Nets Friday night.

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: January 4, 2017 by Sports Time Radio in sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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The NFL regular season wrapped up last weekend and so did our pick contest. It took me all year, but I finally won a week outright as I went 13-3. Dan the Man finished 2nd for the week at 12-4. Schaumburg Stu and Mr. Fantasy tied at 9-7. Overall it was Schaumburg Stu who won with a record of 167-89. Dan the Man moved into 2nd place with an overall record of 159-97. Mr. Fantasy took the 3rd spot with a record of 157-99 and even though I managed to win the final week I still finished in the cellar with a record of 155-101. Will wipe the slate clean and see how we do with our playoff picks.

Speaking of the NFL playoffs the days and match ups are all set. The AFC gets things started at 3:35 p.m. on Saturday as the Houston Texans host the Oakland Raiders. The Raiders did have a better regular season record than the Texans did, but Houston won a very weak AFC South while the Raiders finished 2nd in the AFC West to the Kansas City Chiefs. The second Saturday game with a scheduled 7:15 p.m. start times has the Detroit Lions at Seattle Seahawks. The AFC again starts the Sunday playoff schedule off as the Pittsburgh Steelers host the Miami Dolphins. The game has a listed 12:05 p.m. start time. The final game to wrap up the 1st round of the playoffs has the New York Giants as the Green Bay Packers. The scheduled start time for this game is 3:40 p.m. This is another situation where the wild card team has the better record, but they play on the road because they’re facing a division winner. In the AFC the New England Patriots and the Kansas City Chiefs have the 1st round byes while in the NFC it’s the Dallas Cowboys and the Atlanta Falcons who get the opening week off.

What are your feeling about having a wild card team with a better record than a division winner hosting the playoff game. I’ve heard both sides of this argument and if you’re a Raiders or a Giants fan I can see your point, but I believe you have to get some type of reward for winning your division. It’s just kind of how the NFL goes. Some divisions are better than others and this season the AFC West and the NFC East had top team with good records. People may forget that the Dolphins where a in team, but since they play in the  win team this season, but since they play in the AFC East with the Patriots there name doesn’t really come up. I’m not sure if there needs to be a change here, but if someone had a good idea about how the NFL could handle this I’d be willing to listen to it. Feel free to let me know where you stand on this. Are you on the side of the better record getting the home game or would you like to keep it as it is with the division winners getting to host the opening round playoff games?

Are fantasy football season came to an end with the end of the NFL regular season. We have a couple of leagues that go all the way through Week 17. I know a lot of leagues end after Week 16 because of the fear of players sitting out the final week of the season, but to me it just makes it all the more challenging. We always talk about the two main leagues we play in. We have a snake league style draft and then we do and auction style draft. Both leagues are 20 team leagues and 8 teams make the playoffs. It’s the 4 division winners and then the next best 4 records regardless of how many could be in one division. In the snake league I didn’t make the playoffs. Mr. Fantasy and Dan the Man did make it, but sadly they both went out in the 1st round. In our auction league I was the only one who managed to get into the playoffs and I just made it as the 8th seed. They always say you just want to get in and I did. It worked out for me as my team ended up winning the Super Bowl.

I can still remember going into our draft Mr. Fantasy telling me how running backs where devalued. Oddly 8 of the Top 10 scorers in our snake style draft league where running backs. The other two spots in the Top 10 went to quarterbacks. Wide receiver was the hot position going into the draft, but the top scoring wide receiver in our league finished 13th overall in scoring. Going into the draft wide receivers where the Top 3 ranked players. Arizona Cardinals running back David Johnson was the top scorer in our league. Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers was the top scoring quarterback. Antonio Brown of the Pittsburgh Steelers was the top scoring wide receiver. Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs was the top scoring tight end. The top scoring Defense/Special Teams was the Kansas City Chiefs while the top scoring kicker was Justin Tucker of the Baltimore Ravens. We actually use defensive players in our leagues. The highest scoring defensive player in our league was Seattle Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner.

While you have your high scorers in fantasy you also have the players who don’t quite do as well as expected. Injuries aside here as there’s nothing you can do about that here are a few guys who didn’t do as well as projected. Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks was the 3rd quarterback pre-draft. Wilson finished as the 16th ranked quarterback. Todd Gurley of the Los Angeles Rams was projected as the 2nd best running back pre-draft. Gurley finished as the 13th ranked running back. At wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins of the Houston Texans was the 4th ranked wide receiver pre-draft. Hopkins ended up being one of the biggest fantasy bust as he finished the season as the 30th ranked wide receiver. Colby Fleener of the New Orleans Saints was projected as the 6th best tight end pre-draft. Fleener end up as the 15 ranked tight end. Again I stayed away from players who missed time with injuries this season.

You can listen the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com but you can also listen to the podcast any time you want at TuneIn.com

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

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