Thursday Sports: Rattlers Fall At Calgary, CFL Season Kicks Off!

CANADIAN ELITE BASKETBALL LEAGUE

CALGARY, AB — The Surge are on the board.
 
Sean Miller-Moore led the way with 27 points including the game-winner as the Surge topped the Saskatchewan Rattlers 102-85 at Winsport Event Centre on Wednesday in Calgary for their first win of the season.
 
The Surge’s last victory came in last season’s semifinals. Since then, Calgary lost the championship game to the Scarborough Shooting Stars and its first three games of the current campaign.

Elsewhere Winnipeg beat Brampton 92-90 and Ottawa got past Montreal 87-86.

NBA

BOSTON (AP) — Celtics 7-footer Kristaps Porzingis said he will be ready to “just go out there and hoop” for Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night after missing Boston’s last 10 games with a strained left calf. Porzingis said he couldn’t predict how it will be once he gets into a game for the first time since April 29. An offseason acquisition that helped solidify the Celtics frontcourt, Porzingis averaged 20 points, 7.2 rebounds and almost two blocks per game. But he was again dogged by injuries that limited him to 57 games. He left Game 4 of the first-round series against the Miami Heat and missed all of the next two rounds.

MLB

Isiah Kiner-Falefa drove in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles 3-2. Justin Turner singled off Craig Kimbrel to begin the ninth. Cavan Biggio ran for Turner, advanced to second base on Kimbrel’s errant pickoff throw before moving to third on a flyball and scoring on Kiner-Falefa’s base hit to right field.

WESTERN CANADIAN BASEBALL LEAGUE

Saskatoon 11 Moose Jaw 8
Weyburn 12 Regina 8
Medicine Hat 6 Lethbridge 4
Okotoks 12 Brooks 11
Sylvan Lake 11 Ft. McMurray 4

CFL

Brady Oliveira is ready to help prove Montreal Alouettes quarterback Cody Fajardo is wrong.

When Fajardo was preparing for Thursday’s Grey Cup rematch against the Blue Bombers, the reigning championship MVP was brimming with confidence about his team that upset Winnipeg 28-24 in last year’s title game.

“I think we have the best team in the CFL,” Fajardo told Montreal reporters earlier this week. “And I’ll always say that because I believe what this team can do.

“I’ve watched this team work for three weeks (at training camp) and so I’m extremely excited to go out there and prove and try and earn that right of being the best team in the CFL.”

Oliveira said leaders such as Fajardo should feel that way about their teams. However the running back believes the same about the Blue Bombers and plans to get off on the right foot in the clubs’ season opener at the newly renamed Princess Auto Stadium.

“We’ll see who has the best roster,” Oliveira said after Wednesday’s walk-through practice.

“We’re going to go out there and compete, execute this game plan that the coaches put together. We’re really excited for it and, yeah, let’s see who comes out on top and who has the best roster as of Week 1. It’s a long season.”

STANLEY CUP FINAL

The Edmonton Oilers know what to expect from the Florida Panthers. Lots of hits. Scrums after the whistle. A mix of skill and willpower.

But the Oilers say they’re not intimidated by the physical challenges posed by the Panthers. They’ll be ready to answer the bell when the Stanley Cup final begins Saturday night.

“We can be a physical team, too,” said Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl, second in the NHL playoff scoring race with 28 points. “Obviously, we like to play with the puck, but we’re certainly not intimidated by physicality. We’ve handled it well in the Vancouver series, handled it well in the L.A. series (first round). Dallas was a little bit different. But we’re a good enough team, we’ve got enough guys to know how to play that type of way as well.

“We’ll be ready to go.”

(CEBL Comms, Canadian Press)