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 Geplaatst: 23-08-2018 02:18:53 Onderwerp: tears to my eyes because |
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The Philadelphia 76ers have a long Lamar Jackson Ravens Jersey , proud history.
They’ve been around since the NBA’s very first season, starting out as the Syracuse Nationals. Their resume includes three championships. The list of franchise greats runs from Dolph Schayes to Wilt Chamberlain, from Julius Erving to Allen Iverson.
They’ve never done anything like this.
As if to put an emphatic stamp on their staggering turnaround from a 10-72 debacle just two seasons ago , the Sixers set a team record with their 15th consecutive victory, holding off the Atlanta Hawks 121-113 on Tuesday night in the penultimate game of the regular season.
Coach Brett Brown marveled at the accomplishment.
”It’s not like we’re a young club,” he said. ”We are an old club, with a tremendous amount of culture and a tremendous amount of history. Taking that type of momentum into the playoffs, it’s important. It doesn’t guarantee anything, but it certainly lets you feel like you’ve been doing the right things. The team has been fantastic.”
The Sixers can wrap up the third seed in the Eastern Conference with a home victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night, which could pay big dividends in the postseason.
Finishing No. 3 could possibly lead to a second-round meeting with the Boston Celtics, who have lost four of five and are limping into the playoffs without Kyrie Irving, who is out for the season. If the 76ers slip to fourth behind Cleveland in the East, they could get top-seeded Toronto in the second round, a potentially much tougher matchup considering the Raptors have won 25 of their last 31 games.
”We have a real opportunity that we don’t want to let slip,” Brown said. ”We can control our own destiny. We’re not a prisoner to other people’s events. That, in and of itself, is rare and not to be taken for granted.”
Of course, the way the Sixers are playing , they have no reason to fear anyone. They’re the only team in the East hotter than the Raptors Isaiah Oliver Jersey Elite , having won 26 of their last 31 games.
What makes it even more amazing: Philadelphia kept right on winning after losing young All-Star Joel Embiid , who is expected to miss at least the first couple of weeks of the playoffs after undergoing surgery to repair a fractured orbital bone around his left eye.
He leads the team in scoring (22.9 points per game) and rebounding (11.0).
”The strength of this team is so deep,” Robert Covington said. ”We’re doing it without Joel, so imagine once we get the head honcho back. He’s definitely going to be ecstatic. There wasn’t really much of a drop-off. We just played a little bit differently. We’ll be glad once he gets back. We just have to hold it down until he gets back.”
The Sixers showed off their depth against the Hawks – including a couple of guys who began the season in Atlanta. Ersan Ilyasova scored 26 points off the bench. Marco Belinelli added 20. Together, they hit nine 3-pointers.
JJ Redick led the way with 28 points, knocking down 6 of 9 beyond the arc . That allowed Philadelphia to extend its winning streak even on a day when rookie star Ben Simmons missed the morning shootaround because of a stomach bug, and looked a bit out of sorts during the game. He did finish with 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists before fouling out in the closing seconds.
Simmons can’t wait for the regular-season finale against the Bucks, a possible preview of the opening-round playoff series.
”It’s going to be a packed house against a great team in the East,” he said. ”I think the way we’re playing right now, we have a little momentum.”
That’s a bit of an understatement.
For a few hours, at least, the Sixers could savor something this team has never done.
Win 15 games in a row.
”I think it’s very significant,” Redick said, ”if you look at the history of the franchise.”
A franchise with a long, proud history just added another chapter.
—
Teddy Bridgewater remembers some of his teammates crying. They were on their knees and praying.
For him.
The New York Jets quarterback was with the Minnesota Vikings in 2016 when he went down in a heap of agonizing pain. Bridgewater had twisted his left knee badly on a non-contact play, and the severity of the injury was only beginning to surface.
Bridgewater knew from the looks of his teammates' faces that the situation was dire. And somehow, he stayed calm.
"As gruesome as it may have seemed, I feel like I did a great job of remaining poised Youth Indianapolis Colts Jerseys ," Bridgewater recalled Tuesday as the Jets opened their three-day minicamp.
Coming off his first Pro Bowl appearance, Bridgewater had torn the anterior cruciate ligament and had other structural damage, including a dislocated knee joint.
"There were guys throwing helmets, guys on knees and I didn't cry and I didn't worry," Bridgewater said. "I just knew that it was in God's hands. I think I was impressed with the way I kept my faith, but I got to see how much I meant to the guys 鈥?not only as a football player, but also as a person. It could've went totally south."
His career was in jeopardy, and at one point, saving his mangled left leg was the only thing that mattered.
"It was scary," Bridgewater said while managing a smile. "But at the end of the day, I was still breathing. That was my biggest takeaway from it. ... When there's someone out there whose situation is worse than yours, that's the first thing that came into my mind. Like, 'Man, I don't know what just happened, but I know there's someone out there who's going through something worse than I am, so I just have to keep my faith and believe that everything's going to be all right.'"
Bridgewater gets his perseverance and never-quit attitude from his mother, Rose Murphy, who raised him and his three siblings in the Miami area. She's a breast cancer survivor who has been in remission for several years, something that is a source of pride for Bridgewater. He also counts her as his biggest supporter.
"She was a fighter http://www.cowboysauthorizedshops.com/authentic-mike-white-jersey , so I witnessed her fight with her battle with breast cancer," Bridgewater said. "I took away those traits and attitude. Whenever she was down 鈥?well, she was never really down because she would always say, 'There's someone out there whose situation is way worse than mine, so I can't be down, plus the cancer feeds off negativity, so I have to be positive.'
"So that's why I feel like I'm just this positive guy. Watching her continue to smile and stay upbeat throughout her toughest times in life had a huge impact on me."
Bridgewater has needed every bit of that positivity during the last two years of often grueling rehabilitation. Now 25, the former Louisville star is still a youngster in NFL years. But the injury was enough to make some teams wary of giving him a chance after the Vikings allowed him to become a free agent during the offseason.
The Jets, looking for quarterback depth, signed him for $500,000 in March and drafted Sam Darnold with the No. 3 overall pick a month later. Josh McCown, who turns 39 on July 4, remains the favorite to win the starting job, but Bridgewater could have as much of a shot at winning the three-man competition as anyone 鈥?especially if he continues progressing. He won't discuss details of his health or his status, other than saying he's getting better every day.
"To be able to just stand here right now, I'm thankful for the guys who supported me through the injury," Bridgewater said, "and the guys still there today."
He's wearing a brace around the left knee, which is covered by a sleeve. But he doesn't appear to be hampered by any of it. Bridgewater has thrown some of the prettiest passes in the practice sessions open to the media http://www.jaguarsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-taven-bryan-jersey , including several throws on the run.
"Having not been injured like that, I can't even relate to someone being injured like that," coach Todd Bowles said. "But just knowing Teddy's personality and the drive he has, it doesn't surprise me."
There were plenty of people who doubted he'd get to this point. Bridgewater isn't here to prove them wrong.
"Not at all," he insisted. "I do it for the ones who believed in me because that small ounce of faith and belief got me over the hump."
Bridgewater made it back onto the field late last season for a few plays, but the moment he knew the comeback was on track happened when he rejoined his teammates on the Vikings sideline again 鈥?in full uniform 鈥?in November.
It was then that he allowed his emotions get to him.
Finally.
"This game means a lot to me," Bridgewater said. "I've been playing football since I was 5 years old, and it brought tears to my eyes because it showed me that you're never out of it. You're never out of the fight. There were dark days throughout my rehab process, so when you're rehabbing, the light seems so far at the end of the tunnel. But to be able to see that light, and make it to the light 鈥?which is being active and standing on that sideline with my gear on 鈥?it kind of hit me a little.
"I joked around with my agent, my adviser, told them, 'Man, I'm a tough guy. I won't cry.' But reality set in. It was truly a blessing to be back out there and, you know, continue to live your dream."
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