Basketball
NBA: Nigeria’s Adebayo late show leads Heat past Celtics
The Miami Heat have not forgotten that they fought a close battle in the National Basketball Association Eastern Conference Finals last season, only to lose out to eventual champions the Boston Celtics 4-3.
On Tuesday night, revenge was on their minds as Bam Adebayo led a fourth-quarter fightback while shrugging off an injury to Jimmy Butler to edge past the pace-setting Celtics 98-95.
“They booted us in the Eastern Conference Finals last year,” said Adebayo. “I feel like a lot of guys still carry that.”
Miami were rocked by the withdrawal of Butler shortly before tip-off in Florida as they prepared to face the Eastern Conference leaders (35-14) and most bookmakers’ favourites for this year’s NBA crown.
But Adebayo stepped up with a 30-point performance as the Heat sent Boston spinning to a second straight loss following Monday’s reverse to Orlando.
Adebayo’s haul included a crucial contribution down the stretch as Miami overturned a 10-point deficit with just over eight minutes remaining to close out a hard-fought victory.
The Celtics looked set for a morale-boosting road win as they opened up an 87-77 lead midway through the fourth quarter.
But back-to-back three-pointers from Haywood Highsmith got Miami to within four points.
Adebayo then delivered a hook shot and a dunk in quick succession to make it 87-87 and then scored the go-ahead basket to give Miami a lead they would not relinquish as they closed out the win.
“Everybody has to take a bigger responsibility, everybody’s got more added to their plate,” Adebayo said afterwards.
“This team is built for that. We’ve had guys in and out of the rotation, injured or not. Just having that willingness to win, that’s all I can ask for from my teammates.”
His performance was the sort of display that could put him into All-Star Game contention as the NBA’s mid-season break looms.
The towering Miami centre, however, played down speculation that he could earn a second All-Star call-up after his lone appearance in 2020.
“I’ll just let the chips fall where they land man,” Adebayo told TNT television. “I’m out here hooping, enjoying this atmosphere, enjoying my team.
“All-Star game? I’d love to be in it, but it’s up to the coaches. But they’ve seen my body of work so far.”
Miami’s other main scoring contributions on Tuesday came from Highsmith, with 15 points off the bench, Max Strus (13 points) and Victor Oladipo (12).
Boston’s scoring was led by Jayson Tatum with 31 points while Derrick White added 23 points.
The Celtics welcomed back Robert Williams from injury but were missing defensive stalwart Marcus Smart, Al Horford and Malcolm Brogdon.
Miami improved to 27-22 with the win and are sixth in the Eastern Conference.
“It was just two good teams out there playing,” Celtics interim coach Joe Mazzulla said. “They made a few more plays at the end than we did.”
Elsewhere on Tuesday, Nikola Jokic returned from a two-game injury absence to lead the Denver Nuggets to a nail-biting 99-98 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Jokic drained a jump shot with 16.9 seconds remaining to give Denver a one-point lead – and victory – after a battling Pelicans fightback in the fourth quarter.
The Nuggets are top of the Western Conference on 34-14.
At Madison Square Garden, a 36-point performance from Julius Randle helped the New York Knicks to a 105-103 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen scored 24 points each for the Cavs, but the Knicks dug in for a win that keeps them firmly in the Eastern Conference play-off hunt, one win adrift of Miami.
–AFP
Musa Kida, the president of the Nigeria Basketball Federation (NBBF), has been appointed as a non-executive chairman of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC), the country’s apex oil company. His appointment is part of the sweeping overhaul that the Nigerian president, Bola Tinubu made in the first working day after the Sallah break.
The sacking of the board of the NNPC sees the appointment of Bashir Bayo Ojulari as the new Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO), replacing Mele Kolo Kyari. Prior to his current appointment, Kida was the Deputy Managing Director, Deep Water Services, of Total Nigeria.
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Basketball
NSC DG Bukola Olopade Congratulates NBBF Boss Musa Kida for new appointment as NNPC Chairman
The Director General of the National Sports Commission NSC, Bukola Olopade, has congratulated the President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF, Musa Kida, for his appointment as the new Board Chairman of the Nigeria National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Olopade said Musa Kida has been one of Nigeria’s most efficient and Productive Sports administrators who has sacrificed a lot for the growth of Nigerian Basketball.
The DG maintained that his latest appointment is a testament to his years of passion, hard work, dedication and a very successful track record in the oil sector for more than two decades.
” Musa Kida is an accomplished administrator whose achievements cut across both the oil sector and Nigerian basketball. I have no doubt that the NNPC Limited will attain better efficiency and attract more investment under his watch”.
” Under his leadership as the President of the Nigeria Basketball Federation, we have seen the steady growth of the country’s basketball and how the National teams have continued to achieve new heights.
” At the last Olympic Games in France, the Nigeria Women’s Basketball team, D’Tigress was one of the shining stories for Team Nigeria, where they set a new record by making it to the knockout phase before losing to the United States”.
” I personally know the efforts behind the scenes that kida put in for Nigeria to achieve that feat with the girls in France and the Nigerian girls have been an unrivalled team on the continent for some time now”.
The DG added that he does not doubt that Musa Kida will use his new position to further earnest the development of Nigerian Sports especially basketball especially now that there is a new focus on growing a sustainable Sports Economy.
” Whilst the Oil sector will benefit immensely from the Expertise of Musa Kida as the new Board Chairman of the NNPC Limited, Mr President, has further helped to place Nigerian Sports in a better pedestal by putting one of us in a very strategic place like the NNPC”, he concluded.
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Basketball
FIBA names Nigeria’s Agada among those who starred the most on the last day of the 2025 AfroBasket Qualifiers
The 16 teams that will be competing at this year’s FIBA AfroBasket from 12-24 August have been confirmed, with some teams securing their places on the final day of qualifying.
A quintet of individuals put in stellar performances to send their teams to this year’s African championship in style.
Teams have 169 days to prepare for the 2025 edition of the AfroBasket set to be hosted by former champions Angola, who will be chasing a record-extending 12th title.
FIBA- Africa looked at the matches and the players and featured nine players who were the stars of the final day on Sunday.
Here is FIBA’s analysis: The return of the Tokyo Olympian has been a blessing for Abdulrahman Mohammed’s Nigeria.
For the second game in a row, Agada was a thorn in their side’s side, scoring 23 points in a convincing 77-62 win over 2021 AfroBasket semifinalists Cape Verde.
The 30-year-old played just over 30 minutes and finished two rebounds shy of a double-double while adding six assists and five steals for an efficiency rating of 29.
Nigeria entered the competition after an 0-3 start, but his disruptive presence on the floor helped them to a 3-0 run to qualify, averaging 19 points, 7.7 rebounds and 6.3 assists.
The other players highlighted are: Ousmane Drame of Guinea, Karim Maneof Senegal, Childe Dundao of Angola, Siriman Kanoute of Mali, as well as Ntore Habimana (Rwanda) Aliou Fadiala Diarra (Mali) Allan Dokossi (Central African Republic)and Nisre Zouzoua (Cote d’Ivoire)
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