The last week in sports has been action-packed. Crashes & crashing out, a single move that cost one team an entire championship, and runs most people couldn’t make if they tried. Let’s dive into the highlights that made headlines.
LOCAL SPORTS:
The Vegas Golden Knights are currently in the pre-season, facing off against the Colorado Avalanche in two games, and one against the San Jose Sharks. The Knights won a single game against the Colorado Avalanche and lost 6-5 against the Sharks.
Former goalie, Robin Lehner, was placed on leave in 2022 after a career-ending hip surgery. Fortunately, the Golden Knights will no longer have to drop Lehner to avoid extra costs after the NHL and NHLPA allowed the remaining $4.5 million on Lehner’s contract to not count against the salary cap for the Golden Knights. The 2024-25 season was expected to be Lehner’s third consecutive season that he would have to miss, however, he won’t be as much of a burden on the team now.
The Las Vegas Aces, unfortunately, lost game number four in the WNBA Playoffs against the New York Liberty and have been eliminated from the championship hunt. They lost their first two games against the Liberty 77-87 and 84-88. Their third game against the Liberty was a narrow win for the Aces, only scoring 14 more points than New York.
The Las Vegas Raiders took on the Denver Broncos yesterday, losing 18-34. The Raiders opened the game with a dominant 57-yard drive by Brock Bowers running a jump ball in the first quarter. The Raiders held a lead of 10-3 until midway through the second quarter when Denver scored a touchdown with Pat Surtain. The tie was held all the way up until the beginning of the third quarter when the Broncos brought the score to 10-13 after a field goal.
NFL:
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers took on the Atlanta Falcons last Thursday, losing 30-36. Atlanta’s multiple fumbles played a significant part in their loss, particularly during the fourth quarter where they missed a fourth down long-shot and a field goal in the same drive.
Current AFC East leaders, the Buffalo Bills, played against the Houston Texans last night in a game that ended with the Bills’ second loss of the season. The game finished 20-23 after Buffalo went scoreless in the second quarter. Both teams scored a field goal in the fourth quarter, but because of the Texans’ second quarter field goa,l they took the win by three points.
The Chicago Bears currently sit third in the NFC North, tied with the Packers on wins and losses after yesterday’s game. The Bears took a surprisingly dominant win against the Carolina Panthers, winning 10-36.
NBA
The Golden State Warriors played the LA Clippers last Saturday and took a very narrow win at 91-90. With three minutes to go in the first quarter, James Harden (Clippers) made a late deep three-point shot to bring the score to 17-23 with the Clippers leading. At halftime, the Warriors led with a score of 53-49, with Stephen Curry and Ivica Zubac being the top performers for their respective teams. The game was at 88-90 with the Clippers leading until Lindy Waters scored a three-pointer to win the game at 00:00 for the Bay Area team against their in-state rivals in southern California.
NASCAR:
Ricky Stenhouse Jr. won the YellaWood 500 at the Talladega Superspeedway yesterday, closely followed by William Byron and Brad Keselowski who provided stiff competition. The pole position award was taken by Michael McDowell with a 183.063 mph average lap, snatching the award from Austin Cindric who narrowly missed out by under two-tenths of a second.
Reigning Cup Series champion, Ryan Blaney, crashed out of the YellaWood 500 after contact with Alex Bowman while fighting for the stage two win. The wreck collected Ross Chastain, who had been leading for multiple laps until the last few within the stage. However, that wreck wouldn’t be the last one in this race. With five laps to go in the race, Austin Cindric lost control of his #2 Ford Penske and got into the rest of the pack behind him. The wreck initially collected Joey Logano, Chase Briscoe, and Corey LaJoie before reaching the back of the pack and calming down. Both wrecks had major implications for the playoff standings as Briscoe, Logano, and Cindric are now in the bottom four, while Tyler Reddick was able to escape the drop zone.
The race wasn’t the only major news that came out of the series last week. Michael Jordan and his jointly-owned team, 23XI Racing, announced in a joint statement with Front Row Motorsports that they would be suing NASCAR and its CEO Jim France, over its “anti-competitive practices to prevent fair competition in the sport.”
NASCAR have yet to comment on the lawsuit but are expected to fight the lawsuit instead of settling with either team or changing regulations regarding the next-gen car.
THIS WEEK:
In the next seven days, we look forward to our Vegas Golden Knights facing off against the Colorado Avalanche in their first regular-season game on Wednesday the 9th of October. The Knights will play two more games throughout the week against the Blues and the Anaheim Ducks at T-Mobile Arena.
The Las Vegas Raiders will face off against the Pittsburgh Steelers on the 13th of October at home amidst the heavy rumors that Davante Adams may leave Vegas for the Steelers. Though he’s been connected to four separate teams, at the moment it appears that he will most likely be traded to Pittsburgh.
To cap off the week, NASCAR will yet again race this Sunday at the Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Bank of America Roval 400. This race will end the round of twelve and will lead into the South Point 400 at our own Las Vegas Motor Speedway on the 20th.
