Basketball, NBA: The Los Angeles Lakers have no chance of the NBA playoffs. Without the injured top player LeBron James, the record champions lost 110:121 at the front runner Phoenix Suns on Tuesday evening (local time). Because the San Antonio Spurs had previously won 116:97 at the Denver Nuggets, the Lakers can no longer make up the deficit in tenth place in the remaining three games of the main round. The Spurs are now safely playing the New Orleans Pelicans in the first round of mini-qualifiers. It is about one of the last two playoff places in the Western Conference of the best basketball league in the world.
Soccer, Netherlands: Ronald Koeman could become Bonds coach of the Dutch national football team again. The coach, who was sacked at FC Barcelona last October, is to take over the post on January 1, 2023 after the end of the World Cup in Qatar and succeed Louis van Gaal. This was reported in several media in the Netherlands, including the daily newspaper The Telegraph.
Van Gaal’s contract expires after the World Cup. The 70-year-old recently revealed that he had prostate cancer. According to media reports, Koeman, who successfully coached Oranje from 2018 to 2020 and left to coach at Barca, is to sign a three-and-a-half-year contract with the Dutch association KNVB.
Van Gaal’s choice for former world-class defender Koeman appears to be in agreement. “It’s a very sensible decision,” the former Bayern Munich coach is quoted as saying: “A year ago I was the only available candidate with the necessary qualifications, now it’s Ronald Koeman.”
Hockey, NHL: Even without national player Leon Draisaitl, the Edmonton Oilers are still on the rise in the North American professional league NHL. Edmonton celebrated their fifth win in a row by beating the San Jose Sharks 2-1 after overtime, in which Draisaitl was unable to participate for initially unknown reasons. The attacker had broken the 100-point mark in the previous game against the Anaheim Ducks (6-1). Meanwhile, captain Connor McDavid scored the winning goal against San Jose after 31 seconds in overtime. The Oilers are now second in the Pacific Division and are well on their way to the playoffs. Other German NHL professionals, on the other hand, celebrated victories on the ice. Striker Tim Stützle scored his 15th goal of the season in the Ottawa Senators’ 6-3 win against the Montreal Canadiens. And defender Moritz Seider once again demonstrated his great quality in the Detroit Red Wings’ 5-3 win against the Boston Bruins: The 21-year-old managed the 39th assist in the 69th game of the season.
