Carmelo Anthony calls it a career

cbssports.com

23 May 2023

Happy Tuesday, everyone! It's Austin Nivison filling in for Zach as the week rolls on.

Let's get right into it.

Good morning to everyone but especially to...

The Denver Nuggets are headed to the NBA Finals after a 113-111 win over theLos Angeles Lakers in Game 4. Once again, Nikola Jokic led the way for the Nuggets, and he was named the Western Conference Finals MVP. Do you think the regular-season MVP voters would like their ballots back now?

With 30 points, 14 rebounds, and 13 assists, Jokic recorded his eighth triple-double of this playoff run.
That surpassed Wilt Chamberlain's record for the most triple-doubles in a single postseason.
As great as Jokic was, he didn't win this game alone. Jamal Murray recorded 25 points and five assists, and Aaron Gordon knocked down three of his five three-point attempts in the process of scoring 22 points.

This win might have been the hardest of the series for the Nuggets, because they faced a 15-point deficit at halftime. They ate into it quickly once the third quarter began.

It took Denver less than eight minutes to storm back and take its first lead of the game.

The Nuggets are now set to make their first appearance in the NBA Finals, and they will take on either the Miami Heat or Boston Celtics. Miami leads that series, 3-0, and will try to end it tonight with a Game 4 win.

Honorable mentions

And not such a good morning for...

THE LOS ANGELES LAKERS

Sweeps are always tough pills to swallow, but this one was even more frustrating for Los Angeles. The Lakers lost the four games in this series by a combined 24 points... and to make matters worse, they held a 15-point lead to start the second half of Game 4.

To his credit, LeBron James did everything in his power to prevent a sweep. He finished the game with 40 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists. It was a heroic performance by James, but the issue was that he didn't get much help from anyone else.

Anthony Davis shot just 40.0% from the floor and scored 21 points.
Rui Hachimura had a rough shooting night, sinking just three of his 12 attempts from the field.
Outside of James, the Lakers shot just 41.0% from the floor and 30.8% from three-point range.

This offseason, the Lakers will have some big decisions to make. James will be 39 years old in December, and several key players are set to hit free agency. It'll be interesting to see what this team looks like at the start of the 2023-24 season.

Not so honorable mentions

Carmelo Anthony, who did everything but win a title, calls it a career ��

NBA legend Carmelo Anthonyannounced his retirement after 19 seasons on Monday. Throughout his lengthy career, Anthony established himself as one of the best players in league history, and he did about as much as any basketball player can do without winning an NBA championship.

Anthony won a national championship as a freshman at Syracuse while scoring 778 points.
He was a 10-time NBA All-Star and is 11th on the all-time scoring list with 28,289 points.
Anthony won three Olympic gold medals as a member of Team USA.

Anthony did plenty to prove that he was one of the best players of his generation, but the lack of an NBA title on Anthony's resume will be used by some to knock his legacy. However, as our Sam Quinn points out, it takes more than one player to win a championship in the NBA.

Quinn:"Only one team gets to win the championship at the end of the season, and no single player has ever done it on his own. It's rarely an indictment of their own shortcomings. Anthony won as a superstar at Syracuse with a championship-level coach and supporting cast. He won as a role player on the Team USA juggernaut. He just never quite found a similar set of circumstances at the NBA level, even if that was partially his own doing."

Without that title, Anthony joins the likes of Grant Hill, Charles Barkley, and Karl Malone as the best players without a ring. There are probably worse clubs to join.

Bob robs Hurricanes as Panthers take 3-0 series lead ��

Sergei Bobrovsky committed grand larceny at FLA Live Arena on Monday night. He made 32 saves in a 1-0 shutout win over the Carolina Hurricanes to put the Florida Panthersone win away from the Stanley Cup Final.

Carolina generated 2.62 expected goals at five-on-five while allowing just 0.75 expected goals, but that didn't matter. Once again, Bobrovsky stood on his head and stole a win for Florida. He has been nothing short of spectacular throughout the Panthers' run, especially of late.

Over the last two games, Bobrovsky has stopped 69 of the 70 shots he has faced
Bobrovsky now leads all playoff goaltenders with 13.95 GSAA, per Natural Stat Trick

Bobrovsky didn't need much run support. Sam Reinhart provided the bare minimum with a power play goal in the second period. Matthew Tkachuk tallied his 19th postseason point with an assist on the play as well.

Since falling behind 3-1 in their first-round series with the Boston Bruins, the Panthers are 10-1 in their last 11 games. If they can make it 11-1 after Game 4 on Wednesday night, they will be the first team to punch its Stanley Cup Final ticket.

NFL investigating more possible gambling violations ��

The NFL remains determined to punish its players for participating in sports gambling outside of established league policies. Under the league's current gambling policy, players are forbidden from betting on the NFL. While they are allowed to wager on other leagues, players cannot do so at team facilities or while traveling with the team.

Detroit Lions wide receivers Jameson Williams and Stanley Berryhill III have already been suspended six games for placing non-NFL wagers at the team's practice facility, and .

According to a new report, the NFL is now working with third parties to use geolocation to flag bets placed at prohibited locations.
On top of that, the league is working with companies trying to develop a program that tracks bets by players or coaches.
The NFL would provide sportsbooks with a list of "prohibited bettors," and the gambling companies could alert the league when a potential violation has occurred.