Play-In Tournament Archives - uSports.org

DeMar DeRozan’s Daughter Revealed As Screaming Bulls Fan

Patrick Moquin — Mon, 17 Apr 2023 22:46:07 +0000

A Bulls fan screaming during Raptors players’ free throws Wednesday night caught many people’s attention after Toronto missed 18 shots at the line and lost after a dramatic comeback by Chicago. The unsung hero of the Bulls’ play-in tournament game was later revealed to be Diar DeRozan, daughter of star shooting guard DeMar DeRozan.

At first, it was just the noise that many fans noticed, an extremely distinctive scream that was repeatedly picked up my broadcast mics around the court. When it became clear that the scream was affecting the Raptors, who shot horrendously from the charity stripe, DeRozan began to look around and realized who it was.

“I kept hearing something during the game during free throws,” DeRozan said after the game. “I looked back like … dang, that’s my daughter screaming.”

DeRozan went on to explain that his daughter talked her way out of school to go to the game. Aided slightly by her heckling antics, the Bulls mounted a dramatic 19-point comeback in the late stages to win 109-105. DeRozan scored 23 points in the contest.

“My daughter called me the other day when she was getting out of school and she just said, ‘Dad, can I come to the Toronto game?'” DeRozan said. “I remember her going to all the Toronto games when she was a kid and I almost said no because she’s in school back home. But she kept asking. She was just adamant about coming to support and I said, ‘All right, you can miss one day of school and come to a game.’ I’m glad I did. I owe her some money for sure.”

With the victory, the Bulls will advance to the next stage of the play-in tournament and play the Miami Heat for the right to enter the playoffs as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference. DeRozan said that Diar will be in school for the team’s next start, regardless of her impact on the floor.

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Animal Rights Activist Superglues Herself To Court During Timberwolves-Clippers Game

Andrew Corselli — Wed, 13 Apr 2022 23:06:53 +0000

Alicia Santurio doesn’t like the NBA’s play-in tournament—and she’s sticking to her feelings. Or at least she tried to.

She attempted to superglue herself to the court in the second quarter of the Clippers-Timberwolves play-in game Tuesday night and was removed shortly thereafter.

Stadium officials say the lady glued her wrists to the floor and refused to lift them up. Soon after the incident, Direct Action Everywhere, an animal rights group, claimed responsibility; an alleged animal rights issue at T’wolves owner Glen Taylor’s egg farm was the catalyst.

Minnesota won the game 109-104.

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Explaining The NBA’s New Play-In Tournament

Richie McCarthy — Mon, 10 May 2021 19:00:06 +0000

The NBA Playoffs begin later this month, and with their arrival comes the second consecutive year of the much beleaguered play-in tournament. With the tourney come new and unexpected rules, so here’s everything you need to know about the tourney.

It started last year, during the 2020 NBA playoffs, and was only applicable to the loaded Western Conference. In the league’s first ever play-in game, Damian Lillard and the Portland Trail Blazers took down Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies. This year’s play-in tourney should be even more fun and could feature stars like LeBron James, Lillard, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis and Luka Doncic.

The play-in tourney is scheduled to start on May 18 and conclude on May 21. As fans, we’re fortunate enough to view six total games, three in each conference. There will be eight teams participating in this tilt. The rules are fairly straight forward. Teams in both the West and East who finish in the range of the No. 1 seed through the No. 6 seed are guaranteed a playoff spot and don’t have to fight for the ability to continue playing. Teams that finish seventh through 10th will be featured in the play-in tourney. The seven and eight seeds have the largest advantage, as they only need to win a single game to advance, while the nine and ten seeds need to win two games to make the official playoffs.

In the first game of the tourney, the seventh seed plays the eight seed. The winner clinches the seventh seed in the playoffs and will prepare to face the two seed in a best-of-seven series. The loser of this games is still alive, and we’ll get back to them in a moment. In game two of the playoff tourney, the ninth seed and the tenth seed face off, with the winner advancing to game three to face the loser of game one. The loser of the game is headed for the offseason and the draft lottery. In game three, the most high-stakes game of them all, the winner of game two faces the loser of game one. The winner of this game, clinches the eight seed, and the loser clinches a trip home to watch the playoffs.

This new format is fascinating and should shape up for an amazing playoffs this season.

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