Tonight’s second leg of the weekly TNT doubleheader takes place in the Mile High City, as the Denver Nuggets are tasked tonight to defend home court in a short week against the visiting Utah Jazz, live on TNT at 10:30 p.m. ET.
The last time these two Western rivals faced off, recently-appointed All-Star reserve Donovan Mitchell dropped 46 on the Nuggets’ heads in a make-or-break time for the Nuggets to keep their top-3 spot in the West. Denver felt like they may have lost more than that one contest, for the better team right now surely looks like the 32-15 Jazz and though bost squads possess the same record, the eye test supposes that the Jazz are one of the more arduous foes the Nuggets will have to face this year if they’re to meet again in the postseason.
Utah has won 19 of their past 23 games during the span of the past two months, and they’re getting healthy and more accustomed to playing with one another as the games go by even more. Though they’ve dropped two straight, this Jazz team is hard to play against, and it isn’t just because of Mitchell’s scoring rampages and Rudy Gobert’s block parties he loves to put on at usual occurrence.
But this Denver team though? They’re no shy folk from showing up to compete against teams that would appear better than them on paper. Also, keep in mind, Utah is playing on the second night of a back to back since they are reeling from a loss to the Spurs in San Antonio’s AT&T Center and a redeye flight to a land that’s 5,280 feet above sea level. That Denver air is nothing to easily adjust to, so it’ll be interesting to see if the Nuggets take advantage of a fatigued Jazz team early with the compilation of pieces like Nikola Jokic (who just got announced as another All-Star reserve) and Michael Porter Jr., a rookie who’s taken the league by storm at the tender age of 19.
Tonight’s second TNT game should be a dandy to watch, so don’t miss it.
TNT’s Primetime broadcast cameras flash on to the TD Garden for another time tonight as the Boston Celtics do battle with the Golden State Warriors for the second and final time this season, and tip-off will occur at 8 p.m.
Celtics fans better get used to enjoying this feeling of not having to worry about facing a stacked Western powerhouse for a full year in GSW’s momentary hiatus from league-wide domination, as this year’s iteration of a Warriors squad displays all but a mere fraction of the franchise previous lineups composed of all things intimidating. As a Boston Celtic, it must be nice to know that there’s no need to gameplan for the backcourt onslaught of the Splash Brothers for a whole year, even if you only face them twice (barring any potential NBA Finals meetups in June, of course).
As for tonight, they face a Warriors team that’s already looking ahead to the Draft Lottery in June and the offseason where they’re sure to stock up on some additional firepower to supply with Curry and Thompson’s return to the hardwood. And the last time they were on the Parquet, they skated by in a 115-111 win over the Celtics, where Steph and Klay combined for 45 and Kevin Durant eviscerated the Celtics front line in a 33-point performance that kept the Warriors afloat in the Western top-two team race last year.
Things changed drastically since the last time they visited Beantown, as you know already. The Celtics were pushed to their limits the last time they faced these tenacious Warriors back on November 15, and they needed a high-powered offensive showing from Kemba Walker to grab their first-ever win in the newly-erected Chase Arena. For their last contest, Golden State fought hard for three quarters but lost gas at the end in a 115-104 loss on the road in Philadelphia.
Boston in the meantime has been rolling, with exception to the loss to the Pelicans, becoming one of the only three teams this season to hand an L to the Miami Heat inside the American Airlines Arena. They’ve won four of their last five games and with Jayson Tatum being announced as an All-Star for the first time in his three-year career, there’s a little extra motivation for the former third overall pick to go off against a team that’s struggled on the defensive end, now ranking 23rd in the league in team defensive rating. Tatum returns from a thigh ailment and should expect to see a minutes restriction to get accumulated to NBA pace again.
The first game of the night will tip-off at 8 p.m. ET, on TNT
Game two of ESPN’s Wednesday Night Hoops showcase features the Houston Rockets prepare to do battle for the fourth and final time this regular season against Carmelo Anthony, Damian Lillard and the injury-rattled Portland Trail Blazers at 10:00 p.m. ET.
This is the second time these teams lace up since the passing of the Black Mamba, Kobe Bryant, and though the grieving process hasn’t been the easiest for both teams, the show must go on. This game wasn’t supposed to be stapled onto the ESPN calendar, flexed into the national spotlight via the postponement of last night’s Lakers-Clippers game inside of the Staples Center.
For reasons a little too sentimental to be left to explanation, the two organizations decided to push their third duel of the season to a later date, thus setting up this matchup of the two-highest scoring backcourts in the NBA. The last time these two faced off, it resulted in Anthony getting the long-awaited revenge he had sought after being released by Houston a year ago.
Damian Lillard in the meantime has been on the most ravenous rampage of his career, averaging a wild 52.7 points per game over the course of the last three games and his Pacers were finally able to get over the losing hump with a huge win over Indiana, 139-129. And get this, per Casey Hodahl of NBA.com, the 158 points Lillard has scored over the last three games ranks sixth all-time for a three-game stretch.
Number one? Kobe Bean Bryant, with 175 back in 2007.
Offensively, Portland has been phenomenal in the month of January, led by none other than Dame, but on defense is where the Blazers have faltered, now ranked as the 27th-best defense in the NBA. Yet, irony flashed it’s cheeky smile the last time they played Houston, as the blitzing, trapping and double-teaming worked against James Harden in their ability to force the rock out of his hands and into the palms of others like Russell Westbrook and PJ Tucker.
Harden scored 13 points and honestly, since then, has been on the ugliest of slumps in shooting a mediocre 22.7 percent from deep in one of the greatest offensive seasons we’ve seen from any guard in league history. Granted, he’ll get out of it sometime soon now that he’s been cleared to return from an injured quad tonight, so that chance for Harden to explode for 40+, or something of that magnitude is already existent. Houston walks into this one with a previous win over the Utah Jazz in which Eric Gordon, starting in place for Harden, went ballistic in dropping 50 off a super-efficient 14-of-22 shooting outing.
Portland heads to LA on Friday in what could easily be the most emotional night in the history of the league but has a huge task ahead of them for their one-game homestand tonight.
NBA basketball finds its way back to a Barclays Center that’s sorely missed it, with the Brooklyn Nets hosting the Pistons on a night not meant to show any dry eyes.
ESPN is back to covering Basketball to the best of its ability in what’s been a somber week in the wake of Kobe Bryant’s passing. Yet, as the NBA legend would’ve wanted, the work must be done and the comfortability must be sacrificed in order to find the greater good, so we as journalists have to get the ball rolling again in documenting this great game, fans still have to fill the seats of all 30 NBA stadiums, and grieve in the most helpful way – around like-minded fans of the game who only want to heal by watching four quarters of the game that Kobe Bean Bryant made them fall head over heels with.
So, for tonight’s game, Kyrie Irving is confirmed to suit up tonight against a 17-31 Pistons team, after his Nets lost to the Knicks on what felt like the most emotional day in the history of the entire Association. He made the decision just 20 minutes ago, to be precise, and though it will be hard, it’s difficult to think that the former All-Star and one-time champ tonight won’t play without having his mentor and good friend on his mind.
As it goes for basketball, the Nets are healthy and the Pistons are banged up since Derrick Rose and Matt Snell are questionable to play in Wednesday night’s matchup. But the Nets need this one, badly. They’re only three games ahead of the Bulls in holding on to the eighth spot in the East, so they have to string together some wins.
It’s the third game in a seven-game stretch against sub-.500 teams and the Nets barely beat the Pistons in an overtime win last time on Saturday, then lost to the Knicks Sunday. After Wednesday, it’s the Bulls, Wizards, Suns and Warriors.
Meanwhile, the Pistons aren’t all that good either. They’re a whole 14 games under .500, they’ve lost three straight and have dropped nine of the last 14 overall. Duane Casey’s team isn’t doing all that hot, but behind the play of the returning Reggie Jackson (12.4 ppg. off 42.3 percent shooting) there is some hope of an offensive spark being lit in the Pistons’ backcourt.
Tonight’s game, again, will be broadcasted on ESPN at 7:30 p.m. ET.
Honestly, high school can be tough, hell being a teenager can be even tougher. Add in the ever-changing spectrum of sexuality this could be enough pressure to have anyone being an anxiety attack. While Otis Milburn (Asa Butterfield) has got you cover, a socially awkward high school student who been surrounded by manuals, videos and tediously open conversations about sex, because of his mother’s profession as a sex therapist. Otis has become a reluctant expert on the subject.
In the first season of an Netflix original series “Sex Education” after inadvertently assisting the school bully with his sexual performance anxiety, Otis’s love interest/crush Maeve Wiley—a confident but troubled classmate—convinced him to sets up an underground sex therapy clinic to educate their fellow students on how to deal with their sexual problems. But through his analysis of teenage sexuality, Otis realizes that he may need some therapy of his own.
If you were to ask me to describe “Sex Education” I’d use the words from Sophie Gilbert, staff writer at The Atlantic, “Sex Education debuted early in 2019, it felt like a delightfully earnest (and anglicized) patchwork of teen classics: the raunch comedy of American Pie, the small-town romanticism of Stranger Things, and the British oddball kids of Skins and The End of the F***ing World, with the sweet sex-positivity of Big Mouth thrown in for good measure.”
Otis and Ola sharing a moment in her room.
Now back for another season when we last left Otis, Ola (Patricia Allison) and he shared a moment in front of his home ending in him being aroused enough to finally able to masturbate. In the first episode, fans are made fully aware of this as we get a montage of Otis satisfying his sexual urge. This comes to a screeching halt when Ola tells Otis she ready to have sex and Otis can get an erection. He believes it due to the excessive masturbation and his broken his
Best Friends Otis and Eric realizing they’re lost on this “camping” trip with Otis’ father
Otis’s best friend Eric Effiong (Ncuti Gatwa) in my honest opinion had the best subplot and character developments within the series. He was never a character questioning his sexual stating he came out to his parents when he was 13, but He was someone who had to learn to love himself. Secret rendezvous with ex-bully Adam Groff (Connor Swindells) had Eric had this farfetched idea that once Adam was ready they would become public but Adam hadn’t even come to terms with his sexuality yet.
Rahim (center) First appearance in Sex Education
Enter in new transfer student from France Rahim (Sami Outalbali), an instantly popular guy due to his looks, accent and mysterious aura. Eric wonders if Rahim is gay his questions ae answered when Rahim asks Eric out through text. Eric felling his now and a relationship triangle is brought to reality when an argument with Otis helps him realized that Adam will never come around and why to be with someone who bullied you because he’s scared of his sexually. Once realizing this Eric goes through a positive character arc that allows him to be okay with himself and beliefs. So Eric accepts Rahim’s offer and the two begin dating.
Characters left to right: Aimme, Maeve, and Otis
Maeve Wiley (Emma Mackey) went through a lot last season her secret relationship with Jackson Marchetti (Kedar Williams-Stirling) ended with pregnancy and abortion. The scene of her deciding to have an abortion and be alone during the medical procedure was heartbreaking. Maeve was also a candidate for expulsion following the acquisition from the Headmaster Mr. Groff of selling the drugs. Maeve went through a lot and season 2 was no different even though there were some highlights like Maeve realizing her potential, quits her job and tries to get back into school, the hits keep on coming as her mother arrives at her doorstep with the baby after her abusive boyfriend kicked her out. The relationship hit some ups and downs but subsequently ends on bad terms after she is forced to make the right decision for her younger sister’s safety.
In all the new season of “Sex Education,” didn’t disappoint the subplot around all support characters major or minor were refresh pauses from Otis story arc. We got to see Jackson find his passion in something other than swimming, Otis’ Mother Jean Milburn (Gillian Anderson) became sort of chancellor for the students following a frenzy about a chlamydia outbreak were student believed the STD to be airborne. Jean’s expertise in the subject matter of sex made her the perfect person to bring on once the school realizes that better sex education is needed. This puts Mother and son in direct competition with one another unbeknownst to her. One episode that stood out was when the cast of girls introduced in this season and last, where accused of slut-shaming one of the faculty members. In a “Breakfast Club” style assignment the girls were forced to write about what bounds them together, the answer was shared experiences of unwanted sexual advances. This episode concluded the story arc of Aimee who was on the bus to school and traumatized when a man behind her masturbates and ejaculates on her. Throughout the season she preferred to walk everywhere because she couldn’t handle another encounter with that sick man. In an act of sisterhood Maeve, Olivia, Ola, Lily, and Vivgo meet Aimee at the bus stop to help her face her fears and ride the bus again.
“Sex Education,” is streaming now on Netflix catch up on one of the best teen comedy/dramas around. While season three has yet to greenlighted by Netflix show creator Laurie Nunn says she has already begun writing season three. “We won’t find out whether we get a series three until the end of January, so fingers crossed!” said Nunn, so if you are a fan of the series share with your friends who may be looking for something new on Netflix.
