THE HANGOVER: DRAFTSTARS WEEKLY WRAP
Well, ladies and germs, the Toronto Raptors are the NBA Champions. Before the season started they were paying around $20 to win the title and were outsiders to win the Finals even once they eventually made it. This was almost as incredible as Leicester winning the premier league or the Cubs taking their first world series since in 99 years.
The Raptors and the NBA dominated the headlines this week, and rightfully so (despite Anthony Davis and the Lakers stealing a heap of the limelight). But the AFL produced a solid week, especially considering it was a bye round, the NRL prepared itself for the second origin game, the cricket World Cup kept being affected by rain and the US Open opened its $12.5-million-dollar purse.
Congratulations to Gary Woodland (-13) who won his first career major championship, denying Brooks Koepka (-10) another one for his mantel piece.
Round 13 of the AFL season was blighted by neither of the two best sides playing. That being said, Saturday proved to be a mid-season marvel with each of the three games keeping viewers on the edge of their seats.
NRL week 14 saw the Storm surge while the Rabbitohs faltered again with a loss to the surging Panthers, but maintained second spot on the ladder despite a Rooster win. And it was one of the tightest rounds of the season with four games decided by a total of eight points, including two one point thrillers.
The Cricket World Cup? Well, at least we managed to get a few games out, and fortunately one of those was Australia’s victory against Sri Lanka where big Aaron Finch went off for 153 from 132 balls. But basically every other game was affected by rain, resulting in some dubious Duckworth Lewis results.
NBA CHAMPIONS- TORONTO RAPTORS
I repeat, the Toronto Raptors are champions. It still does not feel real. It does not really make and sense, but it is the truth.
It might have taken KD rupturing his Achilles and Klay Thompson doing his ACL but they have done it. And to be fair, before Klay was injured they were still on top.
As it was, game six proved to be a triumphant silencing of the Oracle Arena and, probably, the Warrior dynasty,
The Raptors looked winners from the start buoyed by a white hot start from Kyle Lowry who made his haters eat their words, going off for 15 in the first quarter on five of six from the field. He got the Raptors rolling and accumulated 58 DS points to be the best value selection for the game six contest.
He as followed closely by Most Improved Player in waiting, Pascal Siakam, who snared 49 DS points for his all round game. Under-priced at $10,460, Siakam scored 26, snatched 10 boards, recorded three assists and a steal and a block to be a match winner.
Despite the loss, Draymond Green finished his astonishing series with another triple double (his third of the finals and sixth of the post season). And not just any triple double, he totalled 11 points, 13 assists and 19 boards on his way to a contest high 63.5 DS points.
The game six contest had five entries tie for first place through their selections of Green, Lowry and Siakam.
AFL ROUND THIRTEEN
In a contest worth $75k, Adelaide consigned Richmond to their panic stations. And if you did not have Reilly O’Brien you messed up. He was always going to be the top scoring player and priced at $12,270 he was a steal. 146 DS points rammed home the fact.
And Eddie did it again. Pure poetry.
The Bombers gave their fans something to be happy about with a grinding victory over the Hawks. With $100k on offer in this one, you needed to look to the losing side for DS points. Ricky Henderson was the pick with 140 DS points as he continued his incredible season and he was joined by seven other teammates to make up eight of the top 10 scorers.
Gold Coast had it. It was right there. And again the Saints pinched it from them. Jack Billings kicked two goals in the last quarter, including the match winner, and racked up 33 disposals, 11 tackles and 170 DS points.
In the most impressive performance of the round, Fremantle staked their claims as an almost guaranteed finalist. The victory was thanks, almost entirely, to Michael Walters who had a career day with 25 touches and six majors. But the match winners were Jesse Hogan and Griffin Logue (both 100 DS points) who contributed at low value.
What a game it was between the Blues and Dogs?! The Dogs killed them, then the Blues charged home, then the Dogs wrapped it up and then the Blues almost pinched it. What a roller coaster. Josh Dunkley continued his impressive season with 41 touches and 158 DS points while Patrick Lipinski was great value with 129 DS points.
How about Charlie Curnow?
Finally, the most uninspiring standalone Sunday game played itself out in Tasmania in front of 7,832 fans. The Giants kicked away in the second half to run out 23-point winners thanks to another huge effort from their star midfielders Tim Taranto (156 DS points), Josh Kelly (148 DS points), Jacob Hopper (118) and Stephen Coniglio (116). Stopping all of them is impossible and other teams are worried.
CRICKET WORLD CUP
A game a day keeps the critics away, but England cannot even manage to grant us with that! Five of the last nine games were affected in some way by the dreary English weather.
Thankfully, the Australian games against Pakistan and Sri lanka game played themselves out entirely. Against Pakistan, it was David Warner with a top of the order century and then Aaron Finch took the mantle against Sri Lanka with a huge 153.
Across both games with the ball, Mitch Starc snared 6/98 and Kane Richardson provided a lower price option with 2/62 against Pakistan and an impressive 3/47 against Sri Lanka.
But Mohammad Amir provided the best figures of the week with an incredible 5/30 that kept Pakistan in the game against Australia. He may well end up being the best bowler this world cup.
Written by Brin Duggan
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