Here are your top sports performers from Friday, April 5th, 2013 …
Tristan Thompson
The Cleveland Cavaliers young big man Tristan Thompson set a career high for points in a game Friday night, going off for 29 as his Cavs ended their 10-game losing streak by beating the Boston Celtics.
Thompson going up for a vicious slam. Credit: NBA.com
Thompson also grabbed 17 rebounds, 7 of which were on the offensive glass. He’s already one of the NBA’s best rebounders (9.5 RPG), so Cleveland faithful are just waiting for him to find some consistency on offense. He does average 11.5 PPG, which ain’t too shabby considering there are usually natural scorers like Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters on the floor with him. Regardless, Thompson’s emergence is huge for the Cavaliers going forward.
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Carmelo Anthony
While there were a few other NBA superstars who had nice offensive nights, it was Carmelo who stole the show yet again.
Carmelo had 41 points and 14 rebounds as his streak of phenomenal play continues. In fact, his NY Knicks now have 11 straight wins and look poised to claim the number 2 seed in the NBA’s Eastern Conference Playoffs. While their play hasn’t been the most consistent throughout the year, it certainly looks like they’re figuring it out once again at the right time with the playoffs around the corner.
Although it’ll be tough to dethrone LeBron James, Carmelo’s case for NBA MVP keeps getting stronger. He leads the conference in scoring at 28.3 PPG.
Carmelo driving baseline Friday night. Credit: USA Today
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Prince Fielder
While there were a handful of very nice performances from starting pitchers around baseball on Friday, there was a fair share of offense, too. And since chicks dig the long ball, that’s what we’ll focus on.
The Detroit Tigers looked very good in taking down the New York Yankees Friday afternoon behind their cleanup hitter Prince Fielder, who smacked his first two home runs of the season in the 8-3 victory. He drove in 5 runs in total, increasing his previous season total by 500%.
Although most of the talk surrounding the Tigers will usually be focused on Justin Verlander and Miguel Cabrera, Prince has what it takes to be an MVP candidate on the loaded Detroit squad, too.
Fielder celebrating emphatically for the crowd. Credit: ToledoBlade.com
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Zack Cozart and Todd Frazier
The Cincinnati Reds demolished the Washington Nationals Friday night by a score of 15-0. Pretty much everybody chipped in throughout their lineup, but it was Zack Cozart and Todd Frazier who stole the show, each hitting two home runs.
Shin Soo Choo and Xavier Paul also had long balls for the Reds, with starting pitcher Homer Bailey pitching in a nice performance of 2-hit ball through his 6 innings pitched.
Sure, the Nationals could be very good this season, but don’t overlook the Reds to win another division title and make a push for the NL Pennant, somewhere we haven’t seen the MLB’s oldest franchise in quite some time.
Sport Spritz 