Good morning! Here are the plays everybody will be talking about Friday.
LeBron James and the Cavs are now 10-0. The Cavs thumped the Raptors in Game 2, winning 108-89 for their tenth straight win in the playoffs and to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the series. LeBron led the way with a triple-double, with 23 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists. Once again, after living beyond the 3-point arc in the regular season and the first two rounds of the playoffs, this series has been all about dunks and layups for the Cavs. James is shooting 18-26 this series which is great, but also makes sense when so many of his shots are coming so close to the rim and uncontested.
Chris Sale's pitches are so filthy. With the other-worldly performances of Jake Arrieta and Clayton Kershaw in the National League, it is easy to overlook how great Chris Sale has been as he is running away with the American League Cy Young Award. On Thursday, he threw a complete game 4-hitter as the White Sox beat the Astros 2-1 and Sale had his breaking balls working. Watch where this slider is released and where the catcher catches it. It is like the pitch was thrown from first base. Good luck trying to hit this.
Tomas Hertl was the star of the night but oh my, that pass from Joe Thornton. Hertl scored twice for the Sharks as they beat the Blues 3-0 to take a 2-1 lead in their series. The second goal came on a nifty pass from Thornton that somehow finds Hertl behind the net and allowed him to swing around to the other side and slam home the goal. Even on the replay it seems like Thornton used some black magic to get the puck to Hertl (0:22 mark of this video).