JVSportsTalk Recap: 5/12/22

Heat Move on Past Sixers; Mavericks Force Game 7

• The Miami Heat are moving on to the Eastern Conference Finals following a 99-90 road win over the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 6 on Thursday night.
• Jimmy Butler had 32 points to lead the Heat, and even waved goodbye to the Sixers crowd had the Wells Fargo Center.
  
• The Heat are going on to the conference finals for the second time in three seasons, as they fell to the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2020 NBA Finals.
  
• Butler had 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting in the second half, as the Heat went on a 16-2 run in the second half to pull away for good.
• Joel Embiid was held to just 20 points and 12 rebounds, shooting just 7-of-24 from the floor.
  
• James Harden was even worse with 11 points, all in the first half, while putting up just two shots in the second half.
• Miami will take on either the Boston Celtics or Milwaukee Bucks up next.
  
• The Dallas Mavericks forced a Game 7 in blowout fashion on Thursday, earning a 113-86 victory at home over the Phoenix Suns on Thursday.
  
• Luka Doncic had 33 points for the Mavs, who will look to take the series in Game 7 on Sunday.
• The home team has won all six games in the series, with none of those contests having a closer margin than seven points.
  
• The Mavericks earned their first win in three tries when facing elimination with Doncic.
• Devin Booker was held to 19 points on 6-of-17 shooting, as he went 0-for-4 from three-point range.
  
• Deandre Ayton posted a double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Chris Paul had 13 points of his own.
  
• The Suns were held to a season low in points, shooting a playoff-low 40% with 22 turnovers.
  

Blues Advance Past Wild; Lightning Force Game 7 in OT

• The St. Louis Blues are moving on from the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs following a 5-1 rout of the Minnesota Wild in Game 6 on Thursday night.
• Jordan Binnington made 25 saves in the clinching victory.
  
• The goalie moves to 5-1 in potential series-clinching contests.
  
• Ryan O'Reilly, Tyler Bozak, and Vladimir Tarasenko all scored in the decisive second period.
  
• The Blues outshot the Wild, 22-5, in those 20 minutes to take control. 
  
• Nick Leddy and Colton Parayko also scored, while David Perron had two assists.
  
• It is the Blues' first series win since the 2019 Stanley Cup Final against the Boston Bruins.
  
• The Tampa Bay Lightning got a thrilling Game 6 victory at home, avoiding elimination with a 4-3 overtime win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
  
• Brayden Point scored with 1:56 left in the first overtime period, sending the series back to Toronto.
  
• Ondrej Palat, Anthony Cirelli, and Nikita Kucherov all scored for Tampa Bay.
  
• The Lightning blew a two-goal lead for a second straight game, and had to come back in the third period.
  
• Tampa Bay is looking to become the first team to win three straight Stanley Cup titles, and they'll need one more road win to keep those hopes alive.
  
• The Leafs have been knocked out in the first round in each of the past five seasons, and are looking for their first series win since 2004.
  

Other key Game 6's saw Connor McDavid post a goal and two assists as the Edmonton Oilers forced a Game 7 with a 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings. And Brad Marchand and Charlie Coyle each had a goal and an assist in the Boston Bruins' 5-2 rout of the Carolina Hurricanes to force a Game 7.

Astros Win 10th Straight; Stanton Powers Yankees Past White Sox

• The Houston Astros are keeping pace with the surprising Los Angeles Angeles, moving their winning streak to 10 straight games with a 5-0 shutout of the Minnesota Twins.
• Yordan Alvarez went deep twice, as the Astros moved past the Angels for first place in the AL West.
  
• Jeremy Pena had three hits of his own, helping the Astros complete a three-game sweep of the AL Central leaders.
  
• The Astros have given up just 11 runs over this winning streak, with five shutouts and a 0.90 ERA during this stretch.
  
• Luis Garcia gave up five hits and two walks over five innings, but struck out nine.
  
• Garcia earned his third win of the season and second in a row.
• The Twins have scored just 10 runs over six games since losing Carlos Correa to a finger injury.
  
• The Astros also completed a suspended game from Wednesday night, 11-3, earlier in the afternoon.
  
• Giancarlo Stanton powered the New York Yankees on the road Thursday night with a 15-7 blowout of the Chicago White Sox.
  
• Stanton went deep twice, as the Yankees pulled away in the eighth inning.
  
• The Yankees scored seven times in the eighth with RBIs from Aaron Judge, Stanton, and a three-run blast from Josh Donaldson.
  
• Judge also went deep earlier in the game and had four RBIs for the Yankees, who won to open their eight-game road trip.
  
• Donaldson had three runs driven in himself, as the Yankees won for the 16th time in 18 games.
  
• The Yankees are off to their best start at 23-8 since the 2003 season, which had an identical record through 31 games.
  

Other key scores saw the Philadelphia Phillies score twice in the ninth to rally past the Los Angeles Dodgers, 9-7. Taijuan Walker threw seven innings of shutout baseball in the New York Mets' 4-1 win over the Washington Nationals. And Jorge Mateo and Anthony Bemboom both went deep as the Baltimore Orioles took down the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-2.

Phillies' Bryce Harper Has Tear in UCL

• The Philadelphia Phillies are struggling to stay over .500 this season, and now they are down their star, as outfielder Bryce Harper is dealing with a small tear in his UCL.
• The injury is to his right UCL, and he will receive a PRP injection.
• Harper is not expected to throw a baseball for four weeks, according to manager Joe Girardi.
• ​He most recently hit a home run in the first inning of the Phillies' win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday.
• So far this season, he has hit .269 with six home runs, 19 RBIs, and an .847 OPS. 
• Harper is expected to miss games Sunday and potentially Tuesday after the injection.
• Until then, he is expected to be the designated hitter when in the lineup.

Broncos' Jerry Jeudy Arrested in Domestic Dispute

• The Denver Broncos got the unfortunate news that wide receiver Jerry Jeudy was arrested and charged with criminal tampering with a domestic violence enhancer.
• The news comes out of the Arapahoe County Sherriff's Office, as he was charged at the second degree with a misdemeanor.
• Jeudy was reportedly in a dispute with the mother of his one month old daughter, but no physical contact was made.
• The domestic violence enhancer was added to the charge because of his relationship with the woman.
• Reports say he prevented the woman from getting several items, including her wallet and a car seat.
• She claimed that this started on Wednesday, and that Jeudy was hiding her stuff in his car.
• The call to the deputies took place at 10:15am Thursday morning, and Jeudy was taken in to custody.
• The wideout has been a regular attendee at the Broncos offseason program.

Patriots Trade Jarrett Stidham to Raiders

• The New England Patriots dealt backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham to the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday.
• The deal sees the Raiders also receive a 2023 seventh round draft pick, while sending a sixth round pick the other way.
  
• Stidham was once the top candidate to replace Tom Brady in New England before Mac Jones came around.
  
• He will now compete with Nick Mullens to be Derek Carr's backup in Vegas.
  
• The former Auburn Tiger was a fourth round pick in the 2019 draft.
  
• The likes of Cam Newton, Brian Hoyer, and Jones all got in the way of Stidham becoming a starter.
  
• He has appeared in eight games over three NFL seasons, completing 48 of 124 passes for 270 yards, two touchdowns, and four interceptions.
  

Travon Walker Signs Rookie Deal With Jaguars

• The Jacksonville Jaguars have officially signed top overall pick Travon Walker his rookie contract, doing so Thursday, just two weeks after choosing him.
• The two sides agreed on a four-year contract worth just over $37 million, which is fully guaranteed.
  
• The defensive end joins Aidan Hutchinson, Ahmad Gardner, Ikem Ekonwu, and Drake London as rookies to sign their contracts.
  
• His best college football season came in 2021, as 10 of his 29 quarterback pressures came over two games.
  
• That included a season-high seven in Georgia's College Football Playoff Title Game against Alabama.
  
• Walker posted a career-high six sacks in 2021, this after having just 3.5 of them over the previous two seasons combined.