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10	August 2018

e record for wins that was s

LeBron James is friends with Draymond Green Sam Darnold Jersey Jets , has worked out with Kevin Durant, speaks with great reverence for Stephen Curry and Steve Kerr.

They all do like each other.

And, to those watching the NBA Finals, that might be easy to forget at times.

Turns out, when the same franchises meet for the fourth consecutive year to decide the NBA championship, familiarity indeed does breed contempt. Tensions have been high at times in the first two games of this series, emotions have started to boil over on a couple of occasions, and that trend will likely be continuing until someone hoists the Larry O�Brien Trophy.

�Even with turnover from players, you have a continuity of management, continuity of culture in organizations,� NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said. �There�s the institutional memory there of the wins and the losses. And so, I think it is very meaningful and when you have the same teams that are meeting for the fourth time Justin Reid Color Rush Jersey , it�s part of a larger storyline. It�s not just a one-off game or a one-off series.�

Translated: Everyone should have seen this coming.

There was the dustup at the end of Game 1 when Cleveland�s Tristan Thompson was angered by the Warriors� Shaun Livingston trying a jumper with the outcome already decided. There was Klay Thompson angered by the recklessness of J.R. Smith crashing into his leg early in the series opener. There was Kendrick Perkins jawing at Stephen Curry after the third quarter of Game 2.

The Warriors and the Cavaliers are certainly not lacking for intensity in these finals.

�Much ado about nothing,� Curry said Sunday night, likely not the most completely honest statement of his career since it couldn�t have been just a coincidence that he made all five of his 3-pointers in the next 8:33 to turn the game into a blowout.

Game 3 is in Cleveland on Wednesday night, with the Warriors up 2-0. Emotions will simmer until then.

�It�s just basketball,� Tristan Thompson said. �It�s just a competitive sport. Of course we�re going to get irritated with each other, just because we�re both competitors and we both want it all. But it never goes off the court. Maybe for some guys it does, but not for me.�

Rivalries are what make the sport great.

There was the Celtics-Lakers hatred of eras gone past. Michael Jordan�s Chicago Bulls and the Detroit Pistons otherwise known as the Bad Boys. Pat Riley, back in the day, used to forbid his Knicks and Heat teams from helping up opponents when they knocked them over and discouraged fraternizing with the enemy � ever, including the offseason.

Times have changed. Guys vacation together now. It�s a new era.

�We�re not holding hands and singing songs as friends,� Curry said. �We�re enjoying the competitive environment. I think that�s the consistent thing between our two teams. Obviously we see each other twice a year during the regular season and then you wait until June. � It�s just about winning a championship. You don�t want to let anything distract us from that on the floor.�

Sometimes, the ribbing goes off the court.

James raised eyebrows when he showed up with a suit jacket and matching shorts for Game 1 http://www.bearsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-james-daniels-jersey , then arrived at Game 2 with a similar look. Never missing a chance to get under someone�s collar, Green showed up at Game 2 also in the jacket-shorts mode.

�Fun,� Green said.

There�s basketball beefs, and then there�s real-world beefs. Someone tried to get Green to draw a parallel between the Warriors-Cavs animus and the recent musical rivalry between Pusha T and Drake.

He didn�t bite.

�This is nothing like that, nothing at all like that,� Green said.

Everything is fun for the Warriors right now, since they�ve won the first two games. Understandably, not much seems like fun to the Cavaliers. But no matter how this series ends, whenever it ends, there will be hugs and handshakes.

Until then, it�s just all part of the game.

That�s why things, while often heated http://www.bearsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-anthony-miller-jersey , never seem to get overheated.

�They�re a championship team, we�re a championship team, and we both have experience,� the Warriors� Kevon Looney said. �So it�s going to get a little chippy out there.�

The commissioner is fine with that, provided things stay within reason.

�The game ends, they take their proverbial cold shower and then they put it behind them,� Silver said. �Until the next game.�

�

Gabriel Landeskog sat at his locker stall, his skates still laced and most of his gear still on.

The only thing missing was his jersey, which was given to a lucky fan.

Quick, get the captain a new one � the Colorado Avalanche are going to need it where they�re going.

Nathan MacKinnon scored his first goal in 10 games, Jonathan Bernier stopped 32 shots and the Avalanche earned the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with a 5-2 win over the St. Louis Blues on Saturday night.

Defensemen Samuel Girard and Tyson Barrie scored, while Landeskog and Matt Nieto added empty-netters for the Avalanche http://www.billsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-tremaine-edmunds-jersey , who won the West�s second wild card and head to the postseason for the first time since 2013-14. They will face top-seeded Nashville in the opening round a season after recording a league-low 48 points.

�It�s an unbelievable accomplishment,� MacKinnon said. �It�s got to be one of the best accomplishments in modern sports history.�

Landeskog already has a start on his playoff beard.

Game No. 82 for these two boiled down to a winner-take-all scenario. Although, there was one caveat � the Avalanche couldn�t allow the game to go to overtime since the Blues held the tiebreaker. St. Louis pulled out all the stops late in the third: Taking out goalie Jake Allen with around 4:35 remaining. Landeskog and Nieto sealed the win with empty-net tallies that sent the raucous crowd into full celebration mode.

�Credit to Colorado they�ve improved immensely over the last couple of years,� Allen said. �They played well again tonight.�

Colorado finished with 95 points to become first NHL team to post a 40-point gain over an 82-game season since the Pittsburgh Penguins jumped 47 from 2005-06 (58) to 2006-07 (105).

Next up, rest. That�s Landeskog�s plan anyway � lay on the couch with his dog and watch the Masters on Sunday. Then, get ready for Nashville.

�If we play the way we played tonight, we have a good chance,� Bernier said.

Jaden Schwartz had a power-play goal and Brayden Schenn scored with 38.4 seconds remaining for the Blues, who saw their playoff appearance streak halted at six straight seasons.

The Blues arrived in town late following a 4-1 win in Chicago on Friday night. They sent Allen to the Mile High City early so he would be better rested for the big game. Allen made one diving save after another to keep things close. He even played through a tweaked hamstring he suffered in the game.

�Any other game I probably would have went out but this a game we needed to win,� Allen said.

St. Louis was dealt a blow midway through the first period when leading goal-scorer Vladimir Tarasenko left with an upper-body injury. He didn�t return.

�He was very disappointed,� Blues coach Mike Yeo said.

Leading 2-1 late in the third, MacKinnon beat Allen with a shot over the goaltender�s shoulder. MacKinnon had been held without a goal since March 18 when he had two against Detroit. He finished with 97 points � the most by an Avalanche player since Joe Sakic had 100 in 2006-07.

Barrie gave Colorado a 2-0 lead in the second on a goal from the blue line that led to a challenge by St. Louis Daryl Worley Color Rush Jersey , which felt the puck left the zone. The officials took a long look before ruling it a good goal and determined �there were no definitive replays which showed that the puck left the attacking zone,� according to NHL situation room.

�I�m not going to blame the season on a bad call,� Yeo said.

Girard scored his first goal since Feb. 22 on a slap shot through traffic with 46 seconds left in the first period to give the Avs a 1-0 advantage. He was acquired by Colorado from Nashville in the three-team deal that sent Matt Duchene to Ottawa in November.

The last time two teams met in their final game of the season while contending for the last available playoff spot in the conference was 2010. In that contest, Philadelphia beat the New York Rangers in a shootout.

�What a night,� Landeskog said.

NOTES: Blues D Alex Pietrangelo played in his 617th career NHL game. He surpassed Bob Plager for second on the team�s all-time list for defensemen. � Colorado was without D Erik Johnson and G Semyon Varlamov, who are both sidelined by knee injuries. Varlamov won�t have a chance to play in the first round, coach Jared Bednar said. � Colorado had 28 home wins, matching a franchise record for wins that was set in 2000-01, when the team hoisted the Stanley Cup.

UP NEXT

Blues: Offseason.

Avalanche: Face Nashville in the first round of the playoffs. The Avs were 0-3-1 against the Predators this season.

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