Can you believe it’s the last week of April? We can’t either, but this means that we’re one step closer to the end of the playoffs, so enjoy them while you can! What did we enjoy this past week? Everything about Steph Curry’s game last Thursday was pretty much the best.

 

QUIPS FOR THIS WEEK

NBA

The NBA Playoffs…where do we begin? Let’s start with the East. The Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Boston Celtics on Sunday afternoon to move on to the next round, but there was plenty of drama along the way. The game was quite physical and resulted in Kevin Love dislocating his shoulder and JR Smith getting involved in an altercation on the court. We hope that both will be back on the court soon. For those of you worried about what this means for the Cavs, remember that they have LeBron James, and that counts for a lot. As for the rest of the East? The Washington Wizards swept the Toronto Raptors, the Chicago Bulls  have a chance to finish their series with the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night, and the Atlanta Hawks are up 2-1 on the Brooklyn Nets going into their next game.

Now onto the wild, wild West. The Golden State Warriors  completed a 4-game sweep of the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday night to advance to the western conference semis. Spoiler alert: The Dubs look good and seem ready to take on whoever comes their way.The LA Clippers and the San Antonio Spurs are all-tied up at 2-2  after a very competitive series thus far, and the Memphis Grizzlies are 1 game away from sweeping the Portland Trail Blazers and moving onward to the next round. However, there’s been some bad news for the Grizzlies, as star guard Mike Conley will need to have surgery  after suffering a facial fracture. Oh, and the Houston Rockets swept the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday night to advance to the next round — meaning we have probably seen the last of Rajon Rondo  in a Mav’s uniform.

What happens now? More games! See the schedule here. Important ones to know about now include:

• Bucks vs. Bulls – Monday night
• Grizzlies vs. Trail Blazers – Monday night
• Spurs vs. Clippers – Tuesday night

MLB

Adam Wainwright of the St. Louis Cardinals is expected to be out for the season  after suffering an Achilles injury.

New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez hit his 659th home run on Sunday night.  He’s now one home run behind Willie Mays for 4th all-time. A-Rod has had a strong start to the season thus far after sitting out last season on a suspension from the league.

For the first time in his young career, Yasiel Puig of the LA Dodgers has been placed on the DL. Puig has been suffering from a hamstring injury and is hopeful to be back in 15 days.

NHL

The NFL playoffs are on (ice) and popping. On Sunday, the Minnesota Wild defeated the St. Louis Blues to move onto the next round. The Montreal Canadiens closed out the Ottawa Senators on the same day as well. Earlier this weekend, the Calgary Flames ended their series with the Vancouver Canucks and the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Nashville Predators to advance. Teams that have already advanced to the next round include the New York Rangers and the Anaheim Ducks.

Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins announced that he will compete for Canada at the hockey world championships.

Games to watch this week include:

• Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Detroit Red Wings – Monday
• NY Islanders vs. Washington Capitals – Monday

Other

The NFL Draft  kicks off this Thursday, April 30th and will continue through Saturday, May 2nd.

JUST FOR FUN

Full Court Shot
You might’ve seen LeBron’s – here’s Dwight Howard’s!

STORIES FOR INSIGHTS, COOL FACTOR + DEBATE

A study in introspection
Danny Shelton’s story
How Washington’s NFL draft prospect recovered from tragedy and channeled his energy towards football

Deep dive
They’re always on the field, but don’t seem to get much credit
What’s it like to be a NCAA Division I cheerleader?

Obscurity
Joe Linta finds phenomenal players that would’ve otherwise remained hidden
The agent scouts football players that nobody in the NFL noticed… yet

You better shape up
1 in 4 Americans didn’t exercise at all this year (not even once)
Exercise is trending down among younger Americans, and our culture is getting more and more sedentary