chenyan94: Rockets lead 2-0. Game 3,
Rockets lead 2-0. Game 3,
Brady answered most of the concerns about whether the hand injury would hinder him with a strong performance in New England’s AFC championship game victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Gronkowski, meanwhile, will likely spend at least part of this week going through the concussion protocol. He suffered the injury on a helmet-to-helmet hit from Jacksonville safety Barry Church.
The game-changing tight end is Brady’s favorite target, and he missed last season’s Super Bowl run after undergoing season-ending back surgery.
There was no update from the Patriots on Gronk’s status Monday, but he was at the facility for team meetings.
”He was in pretty good spirits today when I spoke to him,” special teams captain Matt Slater said.
Recently, New England has fared well when Gronkowski has been sidelined. But that hasn’t always been the case.
The Patriots had plenty of time to adjust to his absence in 2016, when he played just eight games before the surgery. They also had Martellus Bennett to pick up the slack.
Since the start of last season, New England is 12-1 without Gronk. In those games, the Patriots’ points per game actually increased from 28.6 to 28.8, although their yards per play declined from 8.1 to 7.6.
The offense was also better without him on third down and in the red zone. Over the past two seasons it converted on 49.3 percent of its chances on third down and scored touchdowns on 66 percent of its red zone trips without him, compared to 45 percent on third down and scoring touchdowns on 62.6 percent of red zone trips when he played.
From his rookie season in 2010 through 2015, his absence had a much greater impact.
The Patriots were 12-7 without Gronkowski over that span [url=www.bengalsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-jessie-bates-iii-jersey]http://www.bengalsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-jessie-bates-iii-jersey[/url] , averaging 31.5 points per game with him and 26.3 without him. The offense’s average yards per pass attempt also fell from 7.8 with him to 6.6 without him.
Before he was injured, Gronkowski passed Dallas Clark to become the NFL’s career leader for postseason yards at the position. And if the concussion were to sideline him for the Super Bowl, there’s not much depth behind him. The only tight ends on New England’s roster are Dwayne Allen and Jacob Hollister.
Allen has 10 receptions for 86 yards and a touchdown this season. Hollister has four catches for 42 yards and was inactive against Jacksonville.
Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said there is always a plan to adapt to injuries.
”You have to make some adjustments. We always go into the game with a certain idea of how we want to try to play it,” he said. ”It certainly doesn’t always play out the way that you wanted it to or that you had hoped to or designed it to, but that happens in every game.
”So, everybody understands that that’s part of the game and when that happens, you just have to embrace whatever role you need to take on to help the team win.”
Brady still has stitches in his right thumb. He hopes to have them removed sometime this week, and he doesn’t expect the injury to be an issue once Super Bowl week arrives.
”And then I can just get out there and get normal treatment like I always do and be ready to go,” Brady said.
”This was a little injury at the end of the day. … I mean, I’ve had a lot worse injuries than this. If this was on my left hand, I could care less, but just based on where it was, we had to deal with it.”
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The first taste of the NBA playoffs for Timberwolves All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns has been rather bitter [url=www.authenticsclevelandbrowns.com/cheap-baker-mayfield-jersey]Cheap Baker Mayfield Jersey[/url] , thanks to the 3-point-happy Houston Rockets.
The two-game totals tell a frustrating story for the 22-year-old: just 13 points, 5 for 18 shooting and a 2-0 deficit in the series against the Rockets. Towns has found himself the subject of pointed criticism from analysts, fans and even his own team.
The switch-heavy Rockets have double-teamed Towns to a stifling effect, and the Timberwolves sure haven’t helped their 7-footer out by getting him the ball in favorable situations in the post.
”They’re coming to double. He knows that. He has to face up, be strong with the ball, make quick moves,” point guard Jeff Teague said. ”But we have to figure out how to get him running, get him some easy buckets.”
The team’s struggles have taken a little luster off Minnesota’s first postseason home game in 14 years, but the fans who remember the Timberwolves reaching the Western Conference finals in 2004 will surely be eager to witness the playoffs in person no matter the daunting challenge in this first round.
”This organization, all of our fans, they deserve this moment,” Towns said.
And they want a win.
The Timberwolves host the Rockets on Saturday night in Game 3. Earlier in the day, Miami takes on Philadelphia in the Eastern Conference and New Orleans hosts Portland [url=www.seattlemarinersteamshop.com/authentic-denard-span-jersey]Denard Span Seattle Mariners Jersey[/url] , both in Game 4. Later, Utah visits Oklahoma City in Game 3.
Towns tried his best to shrug off the bad vibes and stinging rebukes when speaking with reporters on Friday.
”You dwell too much on the past, you forget that you’ve got to take care of the present,” Towns said.
The chatter on TV and Twitter, he said, has escaped him.
”I live my life very Amish-like,” Towns said. ”Other than video games, I don’t think I have a reason for electronics. It’s a life that I’ve always loved.”
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76ERS AT HEAT
76ers lead 2-1. Game 4, 2:30 p.m. EDT, TNT
NEED TO KNOW: It’s simple: The team that has imposed its will is 3-0 in this series. Philadelphia took the pace where it wanted it in Games 1 and 3. Miami out-toughed the 76ers in Game 2. The Heat have to find a way to keep Philadelphia’s 3-point shooting in check; the 76ers made 18 shots from beyond the arc in Game 3. Joel Embiid is back from a concussion and a broken bone around his eye, and an already-confident Philadelphia bunch seems to have even more swagger now.
KEEP AN EYE ON: 76ers guard Marco Belinelli. The 76ers are 25-6 when he plays and 14-1 when he scores at least 15 points. In this series, he’s 13 for 27 on shots from 20 feet and deeper, and many of those makes have been daggers for Miami.
PRESSURE IS ON: Heat center Hassan Whiteside . Backups Kelly Olynyk and Bam Adebayo have played a combined 145 minutes in this series [url=www.authenticskansascitychiefs.com/cheap-armani-watts-jersey]Armani Watts Color Rush Jersey[/url] , while Whiteside has played only 41, with 11 points, nine fouls, seven turnovers and three field goals in the three games. There’s no room for error now for Miami, so either Whiteside will figure it out fast in Game 4 or the Heat will get someone else into his spot.
HISTORY LESSON: This is the fourth time in Dwyane Wade’s career that the Heat have trailed an Eastern Conference opponent 2-1. In the three previous Game 4s in that scenario, Miami has won all three with Wade averaging 26.7 points in those second-round games against Indiana (2004 and 2012) and Toronto (2016).
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TRAIL BLAZERS AT PELICANS
Pelicans lead 3-0. Game 4, 5 p.m. EDT, TNT.
NEED TO KNOW: The sixth-seeded Pelicans are on the cusp of a surprising sweep of the third-seeded Blazers, and their margin of victory has grown in each game. They dominated Game 3, leading by as many as 20 points in the first half and 33 in the second. Veteran guard Rajon Rondo has masterfully run the offense, and the Pelicans have played unselfishly with a different scoring leader in each game: Anthony Davis with 35 in Game 1, Jrue Holiday with 33 in Game 2 and Nikola Mirotic with 30 in Game 3.
KEEP AN EYE ON: Portland’s body language, intensity and aggressiveness. Guard Damian Lillard challenged the Blazers to ramp up those aspects of their game [url=www.baltimoreravensteamauthentic.com/lamar-jackson-jersey]Authentic Lamar Jackson Jersey[/url] , stressing that the Pelicans were ”a lot more aggressive than we were and we didn’t dish it back out. I think in the playoffs and in a situation like this, when a team is coming for you like that, you’ve got to maybe go out of your way to do it back, even if that means foul trouble or some altercations happen out there.”
PRESSURE IS ON: Lillard. The Pelicans have sold out to stop the Portland star, who missed nine of 14 shots in Game 3. ”It’s either going to be a tough shot, or I’ve got to give the ball up,” Lillard said. ”I’ve got to trust making the right play, and when it comes time I’ve got to take my chances and I’ve got to take those tough shots.”
INJURY UPDATE: Blazers starting forward Evan Turner missed Game 3 because of a toe injury in Game 2. The team did not update his status on Friday.
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ROCKETS AT TIMBERWOLVES
Rockets lead 2-0. Game 3, 7:30 p.m. EDT, ESPN.
NEED TO KNOW: The Rockets cruised to a 20-point victory in Game 2 despite only 12 points on a staggering 2-for-18 shooting performance by James Harden. After squandering their chance to steal Game 1 on the road in a three-point loss, the Wolves are back home in a big hole against the team with the best record in the NBA. They’ll need a big boost from a home crowd celebrating the team’s return to the postseason to send the series back to Houston for a Game 5.
KEEP AN EYE ON: Ger.
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