Sports
Will the Lakers vs Hawks history of Jan 7 1972 repeat itself
Will the Lakers vs Hawks history of Jan 7 1972 repeat itself
Since the NBA is in its 75th season, the league scheduled certain games between specific teams at specific times to honor what happened on those days in the past.
The Lakers will feature in an NBA 75 classic matchup against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday, Jan. 7 at 10:00 p.m. EST on ESPN.
On that day in 1972, Los Angeles drubbed the Hawks, 134-90. It marked L.A.’s 33rd win in a row, which is the longest winning streak to this day in the league’s history.
Now, it’ll be LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook taking on a fiery young core in Atlanta comprising Trae Young, John Collins, Kevin Huerter, De’Andre Hunter and plenty of other notable talents.
First part of the history here on this link
Later that night, the Lakers squeaked by Baltimore, 110-106, as Gail Goodrich scored 31 points and Chamberlain grabbed 25 rebounds. The team’s record was 7-3, but it came after a 4-0 start. If the Lakers kept playing without effort, Sharman threatened, there would be fines for everyone.
“Me, too,” he told the Times. “If I can’t get the message across, I’m failing, too.” The year before, Sharman had fined himself $100 while coaching the ABA’s Utah Stars.
Though the streak began on a nondescript November evening, Sharman says its foundation was established the previous summer when he decided he wanted to initiate a morning shootaround.
“Management told me that Wilt might not go for it,” Sharman recalls. “So before the season began I took him to lunch and he said, ‘Bill, I’ve known you a long time. I don’t like getting up early in the morning, but if you think it’ll help the team, then I’ll do it.'”
The shootaround had worked wonders for Sharman. As a player with the Celtics, Sharman had noticed his free-throw percentage jump after he began practicing in the mornings. He won seven NBA free-throw titles, but only after he began morning workouts did he shoot 90 percent for a season – which he did three times. He thought early practices increased his muscle memory and confidence for each evening’s game (Sharman employed the same routine in coaching the American Basketball League’s Cleveland Pipers, a team owned by George Steinbrenner, to the ABL championship in 1962).
The Lakers’ starting five averaged 98.4 points per game during that 1971-72 season, thanks to the one-two punch of West and Goodrich. The two combined for 51.7 points per game, the most ever by a backcourt tandem. The split was essentially democratic – 25.9 points per game for Goodrich and 25.8 for West.
“It was easy to play with Gail,” West explains. “I knew where he was going to be. He was very clever. He knew how to get open and how to make people foul him. He knew how to make jump shots and get in the lane.”
Playing with a high-scoring guard for the first time, West won the assists title with 9.7 per game.
“At that time guards shared one and two,” Goodrich says. “I would go 7-for-10 and then go 1-for-8 and [assistant coach] K.C. Jones would say, ‘Keep shooting.’ It was the saturation method – just keep firing.
“Also, we viewed film, and I had never looked at film before. We were concerned about who we were going to play – our execution. … We were putting the ball in Jerry’s hands a lot. In crunch time he was the best. I wasn’t fighting him for the ball. He was such a great team player. If I got open he would get me the ball. He helped me out defensively.”
Says West: “We knew where everyone was, and if someone made a mistake everyone was there to help you. On defense, we would not let teams reverse the ball, and we would keep it on the sideline, and we had Wilt back there so people weren’t going to get any layups.”
Close games were the exception.
“We just started killing people,” West says.
Substitutes Flynn Robinson, Pat Riley, John Q. Trapp and LeRoy Ellis could expect increased minutes during blowouts. The team played Sharman’s up-tempo style, averaging 123.3 points during the streak.
“That team emitted so much confidence, man,” said former Knicks guard Walt Frazier, who guarded West. “They methodically overwhelmed you. Chamberlain was doing his thing. The backcourt was dynamic. As time went on, it was uncanny just how easily they were winning games.”
Los Angeles chalked up New York as victim No. 3, 103-96. The streak climbed to five in Philadelphia, 143-103. Seattle was 12th on the list, 139-115. The 13th in a row came against Detroit, 132-113, as Chamberlain contributed 31 points, 31 rebounds and six blocks.
“The players are taking pride in the winning streak,” Sharman told the Times afterward. “Wilt is saying, ‘C’mon, let’s keep it going.'”
The first gut check came against Phoenix while going for 20 straight to tie Milwaukee’s record, set the previous season. It was L.A.’s third game in three nights. The game went to overtime, but “Stumpy,” – a name given to the 6-foot-1 Goodrich by Baylor – sealed the deal, racking up seven of the Lakers’ 15 points in overtime in a 126-117 win.
“We had a very tiring travel day yesterday,” Sharman explained afterward, noting a bad plane connection from Houston to Oakland. “We had to go almost an entire game with our regulars because it was so close.”
The record breaker came two nights later on Dec. 12 against Atlanta. It was the Lakers’ fourth game in five nights. They led 96-95 with 61 seconds left. Shortly after that, with the 24-second clock winding down, Goodrich couldn’t find a shot. Then he whipped a pass to Chamberlain for a dunk with 39 seconds left. They ended up winning 104-95.
The game bore an imprint of Laker versatility. Wilt had 24 boards – 11 in the fourth quarter – as the Hawks led 77-75 entering the last period. Goodrich scored 32 points, and West added 26. Atlanta’s Walt Bellamy battled Chamberlain – with each playing all 48 minutes – and posted 22 points, 12 rebounds and six assists.
“The players really wanted it badly,” Sharman told the Times, “and that’s why they were so tight in their shooting. As a consequence, we never got our running game going. So we had to grind it out the hard way. All the teams we’ve played lately have been loose, and they’ve been up for us. … A lot of teams have won championships in the history of the NBA, but nobody has done this.”
But without a title in the end, the streak would be all for naught.
Los Angeles reeled off 12 more to reach 33 in a row. The team’s record loomed at 39-3 when the Lakers traveled to Milwaukee. The Bucks were the defending champions, having won 66 regular-season games the previous season.
“They could match up pretty well with us,” Goodrich remembered. “Kareem was the MVP. We were seeing the changing of the guard. They had Oscar [Robertson] and Lucius Allen.”
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Mick Schumacher coming to America. Mercedes F1 reserve linked with exciting new project
With the door seemingly closing for Mick Schumacher to join the F1 2025 grid, the Mercedes reserve is being linked with a move across the pond.
Schumacher spent two years on the Formula 1 grid with Haas off the back of winning the Formula 2 title, but was dropped at the end of 2022 as Haas opted to bring in veteran presence Nico Hulkenberg.
Schumacher has looked outside of Formula 1 as part of his 2024 racing programme, balancing his Mercedes reserve duties with the World Endurance Championship as part of the Alpine team, but now he is being linked with a new project over in the United States.
Prema Racing, a team which has achieved vast success in the junior categories – including Schumacher’s F2 title which was claimed with the Italian team – has announced that it will join the IndyCar series in 2025, with speculation now swirling that a Schumacher reunion is on the cards.
Auto Hebdo’s Gonzalo Forbes is widely reported to have made the claim that Schumacher could join Prema’s IndyCar charge, the French publication stating that Prema wants an experienced IndyCar racer and a fresh face from the European scene to form their line-up.
“He has never hidden his ambition to return to single-seaters,” Gonzalo Forbes reported. “The German could unite with the [team boss Rene] Rosin clan again for a possible return to service in IndyCar in 2025.”
For Schumacher, the ambitions to race in F1 again have not fizzled out, but his former team boss at Haas Guenther Steiner feels that if Schumacher does not land a seat for 2025, then his chances of a comeback are likely over.
He told German publication BILD: “If it doesn’t work out next year, it will probably never work out again.
“He has to perform well in the WEC this season – then it can be a stepping stone.
“If he doesn’t race in Formula 1 next year, it will be three years without a cockpit.
“Sure, he was there for two years and is part of the new generation – but what use is that then? It would be extremely difficult if he was completely out for three years.”
Mercedes do have an F1 2025 seat up for grabs with Lewis Hamilton heading for Ferrari, though Schumacher has not been name-dropped among contenders such as Max Verstappen, Carlos Sainz and Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
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“We use it as a tool” – Bubba Wallace joins owner Denny Hamlin in NASCAR latest rational decision
“We use it as a tool” – Bubba Wallace joins owner Denny Hamlin in NASCAR latest rational decision
Ahead of the qualifying in Talladega, Bubba Wallace reacted to NASCAR’s divisive decision to take down the old pylon board. The reason why the governing body decided to take it down was because it was old, so fans could focus more on the big screens facing the grandstand to be informed.
However, Wallace believes that the pylon board served a bigger purpose than just giving information. When asked about his thoughts on this decision from NASCAR, the #23 driver said that even though he didn’t find himself looking for the board last weekend, it’s still important for them and the fans.
“I mean, we use it as a tool to see what we’re running, how many laps we’ve left and gives fans something to … you see qualifying, that number, your favorite driver’s number jumps to the top. I think it’s exciting,” Wallace said.
Before Wallace, it was his boss Denny Hamlin who took to his social media account to react to NASCAR deciding to take away the scoring pylon board at Talladega.
Reacting to a post by journalist Bob Pockrass, Hamlin wrote:
“Well upgrade it then, like every other sporting facility in the world is doing. No-one is taking visual displays away.”
Being one of the most unpredictable racetracks in NASCAR where a driver’s fortunes can change within seconds, Talladega poses a interesting challenge for drivers in terms of how they approach the
race.
For Bubba Wallace, who has won on this racetrack, it’s wise to not get too excited.
“It’s more so just coming in with a calm mindset, just how chaotic it can get, right? Not trying to overdo it, not trying to overstep it, not trying to be a hero. Like I’ve wrecked on lap 10 with a fast car back at the #43. So I know how it feels to be too confident,” Wallace said.
He insisted that for Sunday’s race, he’s trying to come in and not get “too excited.” Previously Wallace has, apart from his historic first win in 2021, zero finishes inside the top-10 and six inside the top-20 at Talladega.
However, despite his past record on the racetrack, Wallace could be a contender to win the upcoming race. The start to the 2024 season has been the best he has ever had in his Cup career, with three finishes inside the top-five and four inside the top-10. He stands ninth on the
points tally.
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Mercedes boss “guilty of talking Kimi Antonelli up too much” after a poor start for the potential Lewis Hamilton replacement
Mercedes boss “guilty of talking Kimi Antonelli up too much” after a poor start for the potential Lewis Hamilton replacement
Toto Wolff feels ‘guilty’ about hyping up Mercedes junior Kimi Antonelli after the latter’s poor F2 debut. The Mercedes team principal has also stated that he is in no hurry to find Lewis Hamilton’s replacement.
Antonelli recently started his F2 career with PREMA, alongside Ferrari junior Oliver Bearman. Unfortunately, they suffered badly during both the Sprint and Feature races at Sakhir. Though Antonelli finished ahead of Bearman in both races, he was still far below expectations, especially considering the team’s prowess in the feeder series.
Speaking to the media, including Sportskeeda, the Mercedes team boss stated that a top F2 team like PREMA should not be finishing in the second half of the grid.
“Yeah, a championship-winning team 17th and 18th in Formula 2, that’s not at all where they should be. I think you can look against a Toto Wolff later admitted feeling guilty for heavily ‘talking up’ Kimi
Antonelli as a potential Lewis Hamilton replacement.
He also declared that he is in no hurry to find a new driver for Mercedes team-mate as one of the comparisons. I think Ollie Bearman is a top driver,” Wolff said
“But I think, like I’ve always said, I’m almost guilty of talking [Antonelli] up too much. We’ll see how the next few races pan out. I’m in no hurry for us to take a decision on drivers. I’ve been rushed in a hurry by Lewis, so this time around I’m going to take it easy and evaluating the market.”
After Lewis Hamilton’s shocking move to Ferrari was announced, many drivers has emerged as his replacement, including Kimi Antonelli.
F1 pundit Alex Jacques dismissed suggestions that Kimi Antonelli could replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes after the latter moves to Ferrari in 2025.
Speaking on the Feeder Series podcast, Jacques stated that the Italian youngster would have to dominate the F2 Championship in 2024 to have a small chance of making it to F1 with Mercedes.
“Antonelli would have to completely dominate the [F2] championship to have a chance of starting the 2025 season in that Mercedes team. I just don’t see Wolff putting someone, no matter how good they are, in that situation,” said the F1 pundit.
“You need something to lift that team. That’s either going to have to be a massive name of huge calibre or a mega talent, but I still don’t see Antonelli starting [the season with Mercedes],” added Jacques.
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Mick Schumacher coming to America. Mercedes F1 reserve linked with exciting new project
“We use it as a tool” – Bubba Wallace joins owner Denny Hamlin in NASCAR latest rational decision
