The National Basketball Association‘s 2013 season recently wrapped with two resounding victories by the best team in the league, putting a ribbon on a very interesting year. Major League Baseball is in full swing as the calendar turns to the summer. Here’s a quick look back at the highlights of both sports and a look ahead at some high-stakes matchups that sports fans will want to tune into.
After the Miami Heat fell to the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5 and trailed the series 3 – 2, many fans of the defending champions began to worry. When they found themselves down five points with less than a minute left in Game 6, some in attendance at South Beach actually began to head for the exits. Amazingly, the Heat were able to make up a five-point deficit in just a few seconds before winning in overtime, thus forcing a pivotal Game 7. Miami Heat centerpiece LeBron James took over down the stretch, connecting on a collection of outside jumpers to ultimately lead Miami to their second straight championship.
The NBA draft unfolded recently, and the Kentucky Wildcat who was expected to go #1 overall actually fell to #6, creating ripples and waves of shock throughout the league. Many experts took the time to note that the Sacramento Kings did well from the #7 slot by selecting former Kansas Jayhawk scoring machine Ben McLemore. LeBron James even took the time to tweet how surprised he was that McLemore fell all the way down the board and ended up in Sacramento, where he will be expected to make an immediate difference for a franchise in need of a boost.
Pro baseball is but a few weeks away from its annual All-Star Game, and the fan voting process is nearing its culmination. Some familiar names will certainly be in the fold, but the 2013 MLB season has presented a number of new faces that are worthy of national attention. Yasiel Puig has been laying waste to National League pitching ever since he put on a Dodgers uniform about a month ago, and a recent three-game sweep of the San Francisco Giants has the boys in blue hoping for a successful summer run. An upcoming road trip will send the Dodgers through Colorado, San Francisco and Arizona for a total of nine games that will likely tell the tale of whether or not Los Angeles will be able to compete in what is expected to be a very tight division race.