The game’s afoot! Get ready for this weekend’s sports/esports action!

NBA
Calling all you B-Ball fans out there! Strap yourselves in for a rollercoaster ride as we’re set for a feast of exciting NBA action over the next few days. With the new season now very much in full swing and the games coming thick and fast, we’re bound to be glued to our screens this weekend.

When it comes to the Eastern Conference, the Milwaukee Bucks are looking like the team to beat at the moment. The Bucks have well and truly hit the ground running this season, making it 6 wins on the bounce with a narrow 110-108 victory against Detroit Pistons in the early hours of Tuesday morning. Their talisman Giannis Antetokounmpo lit up the court once again and if he can bring his “A-game” to the court this weekend, Mike Budenholzer’s men will fancy their chances of extending their perfect start.

However, their next two fixtures won’t be a cakewalk for them. Firstly, they’ll have to deal with the Pistons again, who’ll be eager to avenge their recent loss to their opponents before locking horns with the Minnesota Timberwolves just 2 days later. Although (at the time of writing) it looks like an ideal time for the Bucks to face the Timberwolves, Chris Finch’s men have proven to be something of a bogey team for their opponents, having won 3 of the last 4 meetings between these sides.

Could they pull off another upset and derail the juggernaut that is the Bucks? Only time will tell!

Meanwhile, over in the Western Conference, Portland Trail Blazers are living up to their name as they sit (as things stand right now) joint-top level with Phoenix Suns. As if that’s not tense enough, these two titans will go head-to-head not once, but twice, in the space of two days in a pair of crunch clashes that will no doubt prove to be decisive in the race for top spot. With so little separating these teams at this point in the season, one thing’s for sure, there’s going to be plenty of thrills in store this weekend!

IEM Major Rio 2022

The anticipation in Rio de Janeiro will be reaching fever pitch proportions over the next few days as the Legends Stage of the long-awaited IEM Major Rio 2022 roars into focus. The Challengers Stage has already broken viewership records, with the number of peak viewers reaching just over 745,000 on day one and with the big guns set to enter the fray, it’s just a matter of time before the excitement around this tournament will reach truly stratospheric proportions.

When it comes to picking a favorite to finish top dog here, it’s hard to ignore FaZe Clan as they’ve been a force to be reckoned with at times this year, bringing home the bacon in no fewer than 5 S-Tier tournaments in 2022. 

That being said, they haven’t been quite the juggernaut that they were earlier in the year as of late. Although they bounced back from disappointing showings at BLAST Premier Fall Groups and ESL Pro League Season 16 with by picking up a Legend’s Spot at Intel Extreme Masters Road to Rio 2022: European RMR A, they made hard work of doing so after playing overtime in 4 of 5 maps against the likes of GamerLegion, fnatic, and Sprout.

Of course, they weren’t the only big name in this group to have a somewhat disappointing ESL Pro League Season 16 as the same can also be said of the legendary Natus Vincere as they crashed out in the quarterfinals against G2. However, NAVI bounced back in style at the Intel Extreme Masters Road to Rio 2022: European RMR B, where they secured a legends spot with 3 wins and 0 losses, and they will be hoping that they can keep up their winning form as they seek to lay down a marker.

Speaking of momentum, Team Liquid’s recent rich vein of form means that they are arguably the dark horses to take home the grand prize at this tournament. After cruising to top spot in their BLAST group, which saw them beating NIP and Heroic without losing a single map and an impressive second place at ESL Pro League 16, they secured their place in their Legends Liquid with a very strong showing in the American RMR where they notched up 4 wins and 0 losses.

Whether they’ve got what it takes to mix it with the big boys on this occasion remains to be seen, however. Either way, we’re in for some real thrills over the course of the next few days.